Year 3/4a have been busy with their learning over the last two weeks; starting their new Learning Adventure on Henry VIII in History, exploring and investigating forces in Science and braving fierce dragons and sinister characters, such as Morgan Le Fay, in their writing on 'Myths and Legends' and 'King Arthur'. We enjoyed 'Hot-Seating' key characters.

Our term's Value of 'DETERMINATION' has turned our focus to presentation and handwriting where we've been thinking carefully about cursive joins and the consistent size of our letters within independent writing. Well done to all those who have been practising at home - SUPERSTARS!

Within Math, Year 3 have started their new topic on 'Mass and Capacity' and have worked hard at learning their KIRFS too as these have helped us with certain scales.
Year 4 are consolidating their understanding on fractions and are working hard at applying their knowledge of multiplication and division to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers. With the Multiplication Check nearly upon us, we're also working hard to have a quicker recall of our tables, improving our scores each day - Well Done!

What a quick Half Term that was Year 3/4a! World Book Day, St. Piran's Day and Science Week - time flies when you're having fun!

Science
Shadows have captured our interest in Science where we've investigated shadow length at different times of the day, how the size of a shadow can be altered by its proximity to the light source and that opaque objects cause the better shadows due to light not be able to pass through the object. We created our own shadow puppets at home too. Can you guess the creatures?

Maths
We found our 'snake tongues' for fractions this week, understanding wholes, numerators and denominators and comparing and ordering unit and non-unit fractions. We also discovered that the larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction. Discussing the importance of understanding fractions when at parties as we'd like the larger fraction of chocolate cake!!!
I've attached the Summer KIRFS to start practising too.

English
We've all thoroughly enjoyed our time in Narnia, describing Lucy's adventure through the wardrobe and meeting Mr Tumnus. We discussed the use of senses, similes and metaphors to describe nouns and used DADWAVERS to help vary our opening sentence starters. We experienced what it'd be like to brush past fur coats and had fun venturing into the wardrobe through drama. We ended the term by innovating the well-known story and created our very own version, applying our writing skills.

Learning Adventure - Geography
We have ended our topic on Italy with pizza making, linking our knowledge of fractions to design our pizzas. We also had the opportunity to look at Italian culture, researching: music, fashion, family traditions and festivals.

Did you know?
The first classic pizza was made in 1889 using mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.
It was made for both King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Italy during their visit to Naples, and it was from this that the Margherita pizza was born.



Thank you to everyone that popped into the open afternoon, it was lovely to see so many of you.

Our artwork has been inspired by American artist Andrea D'Aquino who creates her work using a mixture of collage and printing.

Year 3/4 A have designed their own prints for collaging and then used a digital image of themselves next to the infamous lamppost in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' (our English topic) to create their finished pieces. Well done!

We have also been enjoying our music lessons with Mr Warwick and the glockenspiels. 

A Spring or two in our step

Year 3/4A have had a great start to Spring Term 2.

English
Imaginary worlds is our theme and we're venturing into the magical land of Narnia to inspire our independent writing. Year 3/4A have been thinking how to create imagery with their description and hook the reader with their  use of adjectives and senses to describe a setting.



Math
I've attached the KIRFS for this Half Term.

Reading Challenge -

Congratulations to all that took part in the Half Term Reading Challenge. You merged into book covers - Fantastic!
Please remember to bring your Reading Journals in each day, recording any home reading. We will still be visiting the library each Friday afternoon and I wonder who can read at least 5 'recommended reads' from our class reading corner?


Science-  Let there be light!

Math
Year 4 have been looking at efficient methods of multiplication and applying their knowledge of partitioning and Place Value to support calculations. Using counters to manipulate multiplication allowed us to see how we exchange in a visual way.


English
We have been busy writing our non-chronological reports on 'Day of the Dead' applying the key features of report writing such as: 3rd person, present tense and technical vocabulary. We enjoyed completing the research and sharing 'Did you know facts' with the rest of the class. Thank you to Eliza who decided to wear her decorative mask during one session.


Sprouting Seeds
This week, we concluded our science experiment by writing up our findings. By gathering our observational notes and comparing our seedling samples, Year 3/4A could clearly see which factors affected plant growth.
To consolidate and apply our knowledge further, we've taken home sunflower seeds to grow.


'Day of the Dead' DT
We have investigated solutions in DT this week to see which one made fabric the most rigid by applying them to sample material and creating fabric paper.
We concluded that PVA glue was the strongest solution and used this to create fabric boxes using a fabric design linked to our Learning Adventure of Mexico.


NSPCC 
This week we took part in the NSPCC's 'Speak out' assembly, discussing the ways in which we can be hurt by others, why having trusted adults to talk to in school at home helps keep us safe and 'Bullying', linking it to the importance of demonstrating our Values of 'Friendship' and 'Kindness'.

Well done Year 3/4A! A fantastic and hard-working Half Term. 
I've attached the KIRFS for Spring Term 2 so please practise as often as you can. Homework will be set on ATOM and can I ask you to read as often as possible, taking part in the 'Reading Challenge' in order to add to our display in class after the break. I would love to see any amazing pancake combinations on Shrove Tuesday (13.2.24) so please take pictures and send them to me on the class Dojo.

Have a restful and hopefully sunny Half Term.
Miss A x

Partitioning in Math

This week we have been consolidating our understanding of partitioning and repeated addition to support our multiplication. We have discussed related facts and factors too. Keep practising those KIRFS.


English

We have revised our knowledge of: nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs to create some fantastic descriptive character descriptions as well as think carefully about how description creates imagery and can 'paint a picture' for the reader. We'll be moving on to innovate an adventure story in the next few weeks. Keep reading!

Science
Y3/4a have ventured into the topic of 'Plants' planning a fair test to see which factors will affect plant growth and how this compares to our 'control' plant.


P.E
"Pepperoni, cheese, tomato salsa and pineapple!" we've introduced Tag Rugby through fun games, learning how to tag, dodge using 'snake hips' and pass the ball. Well done Year 3/4a it was COLD! Brrrrr!

CONGRATULATIONS to all those who completed the Christmas Reading Challenge - there will be another one soon!

In the last couple of weeks Year 3/4A have been very busy and creative.
Year 4 have started their new Math topic on Area and Year 3, Multiplication and Division. We've been busy practising our KIRFs too, looking at the relationship between the x3 and x6 multiplication tables.

In Science, we've started to deepen our knowledge of 'rocks' and have looked closely at sedimentary rocks and fossils, creating our own from air-dried clay. Next lesson, we will carry out some tests on a selection of rocks to investigate their durability, permeability and density.

We've also started to write our own play-scripts consolidating our understanding of the WAGOLL; I'm sure some will be destined for Hollywood casting!