Performers: This week in 4F we have been busy learning our lines and practicing our performance for our school play on Tuesday 3rd February. If you have not already seen the invite, then please pop along if you can. The performance will be in the quiet garden area on Tuesday 3rd February at 1:30pm. It will last around 20minutes and the children have been working really hard to learn the script! We have been putting into practice some of the things we learnt about play scripts in English lessons over the last few weeks. The children have focused on their actions and on changing their tone of voice to suit their character and lines. We have also started to explore the issue of deforestation through looking at the play. Persuaders: In our English lessons this week we have looked at how writers use persuasive techniques in their works to convince people of their point of view. We have spotted those features and had a go at using them ourselves to write a persuasive piece telling people why we need to look after the rainforest. Children have learnt to use rhetorical questions, emotive language and to link their ideas together into separate paragraphs. I have included some of their examples here in the blog for you to look at. 'Provers': In science this week the children have started an investigation to prove that the stem of a plant takes up water to the leaves. We have been looking at celery(with leaves) to see the work that the stem does. We placed a piece of wilted celery into some water containing red food dye. The children predicted what they thought they would see. We will keep you updated on the results! Finally stars: Well done to my star of the week this week, Himakshi. She has impressed me with the extra effort that she has been putting into her homework projects. Lovely to see - well done! |
A week of Plays, plants and precipitation
We will start with 'precipitation': What an unusual week we have had this week! The class work of course has kept us busy as usual but the weather, well that really kept us on our toes! The thunderstorm on Monday evening led to much discussion in the classroom on Tuesday as the children were super-excited to see the rain and it was soon the hot topic of conversation. For me, I was more taken by the sheer volume of the thunder in the early hours of Tuesday evening! Very scary! (I also breathed a sigh of relief that 'Dibba' was last week!) 'Plays': During our literacy sessions this week the children have investigated the features of play scripts and used their knowledge to begin to create their own script from a section of Roald Dahl's The Twits . We discussed the details of the characters and the way that we could show their emotions. We even had a go at acting out some of the scenes before we did any writing. The children were quite amusing in their portrayal of the devious Mrs. Twit. We then began to write our play scripts, considering the actor's body language, facial expression and tone of voice. The children did me proud and have produced some great play scripts which we have enjoyed acting from to evaluate their effectiveness at the end of the week. 'Plants': As a part of our science this week we have been looking at the nutrients that a plant needs to take from the soil in order for it to be healthy and to continue to grow and function properly. The children then became 'plant doctors' and diagnosed which nutrient the plant may be deficient in from looking at the photo of the plant and an information file about what each nutrient does. The children used their critical thinking skills to do this. And Other activities this week: In topic, the children have been learning about camouflage and how animals are adapted to suit their rainforest habitat. They then used this information to design some of their own imaginary creatures, explaining how and why they are suited to the rainforest There are some very interesting deigns! In PE the children have been continuing their athletics and have been working on their techniques for the high jump. It was good to see how the children were working in pairs to mentor each other on the technique they used, using 'skill cards' to help them. In Maths this week, all groups have been looking at using and writing coordinates accurately. Stars: My star of the week this week for supporting others so well in my Maths lesson is Zaahid. Well done! North Star adventurers!The classroom was bustling with excitement on Monday morning as 4F arrived in school. They were looking a little different than usual too. It was the day that we went to the North Star Dibba Camp and the children arrived in their outdoor adventure clothing. After a few last minute checks, we were waved off by the parents (who looked as nervous as we felt) and we began our journey to the camp.
At the camp the children enjoyed range of activities including: archery, a high and low obstacle course with the ‘Bridge Of Doom and Rope of Doom’ which really tested our mettle (and saw Mrs. Morgan have some shaky legs!). Rock climbing and abseiling and orienteering were also on the menu. In the evening, we used our torches and warm clothing to go onto a walk into the Wadi. We then switched off our lights and gazed up at the sky. The night sky was beautiful, with its lack of light pollution and we learnt a little about the constellations, in particular Orion, about whom we also heard a myth. Throughout our days spent at Dibba the children took the challenges in their stride, that is not to say that they found them easy or were not scared. (Even the adults were a bit scared sometimes!) But we all found that when we pushed ourselves, we found ourselves grinning and feeling good! The children were an absolute pleasure to take on the trip and as staff, the whole of Year 4 were really proud of them. Their behaviour on the coaches was fantastic and whilst we were at the camp, everyone was so engaged and positive that we really enjoyed our experiences. They were a credit to both the school and to you. Well done boys and girls! We will be adding the photos of the trip next week when we have collated them. We will email you when we do so. Scientific investigators: This week in science, we have started to test our scientific reasoning and our investigation skills. The children were given some equipment and two plants of the same size. We asked the children to design an experiment to test whether the leaves help a plant to grow. Using what we know about photosynthesis and the various parts of the plant, we predicted that the plants would indeed need the leaves to help them to grow effectively. We then set about designing our experiments. Here is what we came up with We would remove the leaves from one of the plants – this is the ‘variable’ that we will change We would keep the leaves on the other plant – so that we are testing whether leaves make a difference. We would give the plants the same amount of water each time we water them – this keeps the test a fair test We would put them in the same place so that they are the same temperature and have the same amount of sunlight We will measure them daily to see whether they have grown and record our answers in a chart. Star of the week: It has been especially difficult to choose a star this week with such a busy and exciting time. There have been lots of ‘wow’ moments this week. However, I would like to say a big well done to Shenaya who impressed me with her ‘can do’ attitude at camp. Well done! Rather than including the usual kind of photo, I think it would be wise to show you this one, which captures part of the reasoning behind her certificate winning this week. Well done to all the children in the picture who achieved 100% attendance in their first term! What an achievement!
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May 2015
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