Monday 25th September

Thank you to all those parents who attended our induction meeting last week. I hope that you found it informative.

Just a couple of reminders:

Year 4 Kingswood residential - can you please return slips and deposit as soon as possible to confirm your child's place as Kingswood are already asking for final numbers.

Pantomine - don't forget our trip to see the Wizard of Oz at the Gateway theatre in Chester in December. Please can you try and send in the slip and money asap. If you have misplaced the letter there will be spares that you can pick up at the office.

And now back to what your child will be learning:

In Literacy this week we are continuing to look at spelling strategies so do keep playing those games linked in last weeks blog. We looked at a few of them in my class and they were a real hit, and will impact on their ability to remember how to spell words. We are also looking at plurals, so do check out:
http://www.funbrain.com/plurals/index.html

Alongside the word level work we will be investigating verbs and verb tenses. We will be asking the children to decide whether a sentence is dexcribing something that happened in the past, is happening now or is going to happen in the future.

We are reading a fabulous book at the moment called Grandpa Chatterji. It tells the story of a family who are visited by their grandad from India. Through looking closely at the first few chapters the children are beginning to make links with their topic on India.

In Numeracy each group is working on areas appropriate to where the children in that group are at. If you want to keep skills ticking over at home then check out:
http://www.funbrain.com/guess2/index.html - guess the number
http://www.funbrain.com/cracker/index.html - number patterns


In Science we are continuing our topic on Moving and Growing, and are still exploring animals with and without skeletons. Check out the links from last week to find out more about the human body. To learn more about worms look at:

http://www.yucky.com/flash/worm/
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/history/index.html

The children are very interested in our Geography topic and we have begun to compare our lifestyle to that of people living in India, and in particular Chembakolli. This week we are examining land use in the village and learning how to use maps and keys.

http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/india.htm - India information to explore
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/mappingourworld/mapping_our_world/index.htm - a site that looks at the differences between maps and globes and lots of different activities to find your way around a map. It's a teachers site but don't let that put you off.

And for something completely different check out:
http://www.highlightskids.com/GamesandGiggles/h11FreeGameTop.asp

Monday 18th September

The children had a fantastic week last week and have really set themselves up for an enjoyable and successful year. The teachers were most impressed by the behaviour and attitude to learning that we saw. Well done!

A big thank you to all those parents who have been listening to their children read and have remembered to write in their child's diary. We would greatly appreciate it if you could all try to listen to your child three times a week if you can and comment in their diaries. Sharing a book with your child does form an important part of their development as a reader.

In Literacy this week we are continuing to assess your child in their spelling. If you want to squeeze in a little extra practice then check out these great sites:

http://www.ictgames.com/plankgame.html - a version of hangman with a twist!

http://www.harcourtschool.com/menus/auto/18/49.html - a great range of spellings to practice from cvc words right through to the more ambitious words. Just re-arrange the words you hear til they are correctly spelt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/home_flash.shtml - a collection of fun challenges and games from the bbc.

http://www.fekids.com/kln/games/whomp/whomp.html - become the King of Monsters in this boggle style game - how many words can you find?

Alongside this we are exploring how to describe characters. Try making your very own monster at:

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/english/make_monster/index.htm

Can you think of super words to describe him?

In Numeracy we are exploring place value, ordering numbers and number bonds. Check out:

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/WashLine/washindex.html - a simple ordering activity.

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/Digitworks/digitmenu.html - a good mental workout practising different number bonds

http://www.sums.co.uk/playground/n5a/playground.htm - a fishy game for place value.

http://www.mathszone.co.uk/ - follow the links through KS1/KS2 bar and then go onto Place Value - there are a huge number of games.

In Science our topic is Moving and Growing. We are concentrating this week on looking at skeletons of different animals, including humans. Have a look at:

http://www.bonesandharry.co.uk/ - now don't be scared. Go into the Haunted House and find out all you can!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/moving_growing.shtml - again the bbc come through with a great site on our science topic.

http://insideout.rigb.org/ri/anatomy/casing_the_joint/joints_explorer.html http://www.senteacher.org/FileDetails/22/Skeleton.xhtml - both these sites show how our skeleton moves.

In Geography we are travelling to India to learn as much as we can about the people, place and culture. In particular we are looking closely at Chembakolli. What can you find out?

And just to keep you busy have a go at:
http://woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Games/lengame/tower.html

Monday 11th September

Welcome back everybody! The holidays just seemed to fly by and here we are again in September. A big hello to all our Year 3 children who have joined us in the Juniors, and to all our Year 4 children who seem to have grown up such a lot over the last 6 weeks.

This blogspot will be updated every weekend with information about what your child will be learning and doing over the coming week. It is a way to keep you informed of what is going on in school and in class throughout each term. As well as passing on information we will also be recommending relevant websites that may be useful for you to use with your child to support them in their learning. If you have any other ideas of what it might be useful to know please do tell us. Don't forget that your child also has a diary with them which can be used to communicate with their class teacher as well as writing in it when you hear them read or check their spellings.

This week

Since the children have started back at school they are in what we call their 'induction period'. During this time the children are given the opportunity to settle with their peers and new teacher, find their way around a new room (and for the year 3's a whole new part of the school!), establish class rules, responsibilities and expectations, as well as have the chance to talk about themselves, caring for others and ways of developing into successful learners.

The children have already been put into their Numeracy groups, and have been placed with the group that is best suited to their own abilities, skills and understanding.

Throughout the course of the year the children will be encouraged to explore lots of different ways of learning - it keeps the curriculum fresh, exciting and memorable. During this week your child will be put into their co-operative learning team and may well be coming home saying strange things like "I'm the shusher" or "I'm the go-fer". In our co-operative learning teams the children are given roles and responsibitities. By working together on some activites we are trying to help the children develop skills that will make them life-long learners.

In Literacy this week we are spending time finding out where your child is at and beginning to introduce the routines of handwriting practice, reading time, etc.

Important things to remember

P.E. will be on THURSDAYS normally. While the weather is still quite pleasant it would be great if you could send your child in with their P.E. kit on a Monday and encourage them to take it home on a Friday, as we may try and sneak out for extra sessions before the weather turns.

Swimming - the children in Year 3/4 will NOT be going swimming until the Spring Term starts in January.

Diaries - please can you try to ensure your child brings their diary to school every day. This is useful for if we have a message to send home, or if we have something specific to say about your child's learning, or even to be able to write in it to let you know if the have participated in a Guided Reading session. If you write a note for us to see, please remind your child to show us at the beginning of the day. With the many things that go on in school the message may get missed otherwise.