Elm Class Blog

Today Elm class went to the Cheltenham Science Festival. We had a great time learning and experiencing different science experiments! We had a great talk from Jess French about “Our Wonderful World” where we talked about different animals and our planet.

This week Elm Class have really enjoyed performing poems in English. They have been practising changing their pace and volume, as well as experimenting with sound effects and actions. In Maths, they have been finding the perimeter and area of different 2D shapes. There were some excellent pieces of work in their sketch books based on the work of designer, William Morris. The children were copying the features they liked from his designs and are already thinking about how they would design their own fabric styles. Elm Class also had their second session of Commando Joe’s where they had to design and build an Egyptian monument that was worthy of the Gods. All the designs were completely different and children thought hard about their reasons behind them.

This week Elm class have finished composing and performing their sonatas in music based on Beethoven’s 5^th symphony. They used their previous short compositions to create the 3 different sections. In English, children have been using emotive language to persuade and have been designing their own logos and slogans for The Little Shoemaker’s shoe shop. They loved looking at existing logos and slogans and trying to remember which product they advertised. In Maths, we have now finished looking at angles and are now moving on to adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator. In Science, they have been classifying vertebrates into different groups, such as reptiles and amphibians.

Elm class have had a brilliant first week back. In English, the children have been writing a character description of The Little Shoemaker and are now preparing a persuasive advert for shoes. In Maths, the topic is angles and the pupils have been identifying acute and obtuse angles before ordering and comparing them next week. They all really enjoyed being conductors in music and were showing great skill when keeping time. In PE, they had their first lesson on tennis and showed great determination trying to hit and control the ball with their racket.

We have been acting out different scenarios in PSHE to explore how we can keep ourselves healthy. This week we focused on peer pressure and were giving advise on how to address each situation assertively.

This week Elm Class really enjoyed their immersive Egyptian Day. They mummified a pharaoh, became Egyptian scribes, played games, built cities and studied a wide range of artefacts. Willow was so lucky he could join us!

It has been lovely to see the children in Elm Class making so much progress with their swimming over the last few weeks. The initial nerves seem to have passed and they are always keen to get in and learn new skills.

In Maths, we have now begun multiplying 2-digit numbers by a 1-digit number using a formal written method and the children seem to be picking it up quickly.

The children have been publishing their newspaper articles in English. These were based around the book, The Barnabus Project, and spread the news about the escaped animals running free around the local community.

This week Elm Class have been really enjoying their reading time. Many children have moved up to higher reading levels due to the amazing progress they are making. We are very proud!

In Guided reading sessions, children have been getting immersed in short stories with cliff-hangers and have enjoyed making predictions about what might happen next using evidence from the text.

In English, we have been reading The Barnabus Project and the children have been applying their knowledge of direct speech punctuation to write stories based on this book. We have been really impressed with the results.

It has been very busy in Elm Class trying to finish everything off before Christmas and prepare for the Christmas Play. In Maths, we have been practising our mental calculation strategies for addition and subtraction in preparation for column methods after Christmas. We are retelling the events of Mog’s Christmas Calamity in English through Mog’s perspective. We are finishing this next week. In Art, we had our first attempt at weaving. Some of the children found this very tricky at first, but we are going to show the school’s PRIDE value of determination to continue this next week. Mrs Tonks has been really impressed with the children’s recorder playing. The children already know 2 notes and have started to play different rhythms and melodies. 

Elm class have been busy writing their instructions on How to catch Santa this week and have been learning to use subordinate clauses to extend their sentences. In Maths, we have been continuing to complete addition calculations using mental strategies and they enjoyed playing a game against the clock in order to apply this. The children and the school mascot, Willow, really enjoyed their first recorder lesson. All of the children can now play the note B and have begun to play different rhythms. In RE, the class have been continuing to learn about the different Hindu Gods.

Children in Elm Class have enjoyed completing a Science investigation this week where they had to find the best material for muffling sound in order to make a new set of headphones.

They had to carefully plan the investigation so that it was a fair test and they used a soundmeter app to record the sound in decibels.

They had to make predications and give reasons for their thoughts based on prior scientific knowledge.

We all had to be silent when testing was in progress!!

The highlight of the last week in Elm class has to be the visit from Cain and Helen. Children learnt about different disabilities and were able to experience what having a disability might be like. They struggled to write their name with their feet and some children were challenged to put on a T-Shirt using only one arm. It was trickier than they thought it would be. Everyone was challenged to try this at home. The children found it very entertaining when they had to opportunity to feed the teachers. The teachers explained that is felt embarrassing and wasn’t very nice to be stared and laughed at. It was an important message to give the children.

Elm Class really enjoyed finding out about their rights and responsibilities in PSHE this week. We talked about the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child and the work carried out by UNICEF. They used pictures to prompt their discussions on the topic and further explore their rights and responsibilities at school. The children continued to look at Motte and Bailey castles in History and prepared some brilliant work to go on display in the school. We are all very excited about our trip to Warwick Castle next week to find out more about Norman Britain. It was lovely to welcome so many of our parents to open afternoon this week. The children loved having the opportunity to showcase all the work they have been completing this half term. Elm Class would like to thank all parents for their ongoing support.

This week Elm Class have started the Year 4 shape unit in Maths. They have started by looking at lines of symmetry.
In English, the children have all written an acrostic poem. These have been written up ready to put on display in our classroom as they were all so excellent.
Food webs were created in Science and the children got themselves in a bit of a tangle as they were so complicated! They then showed their understanding further by explaining food webs and creating food chains in their books.
In Music, children began to compose their own phrases of music on the glockenspiels based on Dvorak’s 9th symphony. Considering this was their first attempt, Mrs Tonks was very impressed by their efforts.