Monday 4th February

Welcome to this week’s blog spot.

Unfortunately Miss Robinson is still in hospital. She has really enjoyed getting all the cards and letters that have been sent. Please feel free to send in more things for her to read as it really cheers her up.

Book week was very successful with lots more children reading. The children looked great on Friday. We have never seen so many children dressed up and thank you to everyone who helped with the costumes. The Book Fair has been well attended but please feel free to pop in on Monday or Tuesday night. Please remember we do get 60% of the commission which we use to benefit all the children in school with new resources.

On Wednesday it is Ash Wednesday. There will be a service in school at 9.00am in the school hall. The service will consist of poems, readings and hymns. Ashes will be distributed in the hall after the service. Parents and family are welcome to join us.

READING RESULTS

In Mrs Harding’s class 81% were heard read this week at least once.

In Mrs Bethell’s class 68% were heard read this week at least once.

In Miss Robinson’s class 76% were heard read this week.

Please don’t forget to make a comment in their home diary as we only count these.

THINKING SKILLS

We will be doing some green hat thinking. We will be putting on our green hat and being creative in thinking about the answers and possibilities of different situations.
To find out more about the six thinking hats please see:

http://midsolutions.org/courses/cis230/ThinkingHats/greenHat.htm

http://www.debonothinkingsystems.com/tools/6hats.htm

If any body is having problems with the primary resources sites please copy and paste the site address into your task bar and it will go straight to the right place!!

LITERACY

In Literacy this week we will be looking at letter writing.
We will be looking at informal chatty letters and friendly e mail. By the end of the week we will be looking at more formal letters.

By the end of the week the children:
COULD know how an informal and formal letter is set out.
SHOULD know that a letter needs to include ambitious vocabulary and hold the interest of the reader.
MUST know the format of how to write an informal letter.
MUST know how to write their own address.

http://readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/activities/letters.shtml

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishD3.htm

NUMERACY

In Numeracy this week Mrs Harding’s class will be finishing off decimals and reviewing what they have learnt.
By the end of the week the children :

COULD be able to show what they have learnt by compiling a question and answer sheet.
SHOULD be able to add, subtract, divide and multiply decimals.
MUST be able to order decimals.

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/fracto.html

http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/scales.html

http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/switch.html

http://www.citycol.com/basic_skills/Quizzes/Maths/decord2.htm

http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/english/kidz/orderdecimal.shtml

In Mrs Bethell’s and Mr Slaven’s group this week the children will be learning about 3D shape.

By the end of the week the children:
COULD know the names and characteristics of all the 3D shapes.
SHOULD know what vertices, edges and faces are.
SHOULD be able to construct and recognise the nets for the 3D shapes.
MUST know the names of common 3D shapes.

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/longshape3d.html

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/3dshapes.htm

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=MatchingPairs3Dshape

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/3d/index.htm

SCIENCE
We will be starting to think about Earth and space.
The children will be thinking about the shape and size of the planets. They will also be learning some key facts about why the sun appears to move across the sky. ( when we have some sun of course!!!)
By the end of the week:

Children could know that the Earth spins on its own axis and the sun does not move around the Earth.
Children should be draw the comparative sizes of the sun, Moon and Earth.
Children must know that the Moon, Earth and Sun are all spherical.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/earth_sun_moon_fs.shtml

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/time/moon/phases.html

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/or/OrbitRotation.html

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/messenger/psc/PlanetSize.html

TOPIC
We are exploring local history and the changes that have taken place since the original Penketh village was here. We are starting by looking at transport and the links with the River Mersey and the Sankey canal.
The children will be finding out how the canals were man made and their purpose. We will also be looking at life on the canal.

http://www.canal-photos.co.uk/

http://www.ukcanals.net/iwmap.pdf

http://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/visit/virtualtour6.htm

If any body has any information or photographs, maps please contact one of the teachers. If anyone is willing to come in and tell us about Penketh long ago please feel free to contact us too. We are organising a visit to Penketh High School in the near future where they have lots of resource material.

http://penketh.com/

The children will also be exploring canal art and patterns. If you have any examples or ornaments at home could you please send them in.
To find out more about the type of art please click on:

http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=canal+art&mkt=en-gb

http://www.chestercanalheritagetrust.co.uk/Canalart.htm

That’s all from the three / four team. Have a good holiday and see you all next term.

Monday 28th January

Welcome to this week’s blog spot.
Unfortunately Miss Robinson was admitted back into hospital on Thursday and has taken a set back. Obviously, we are no nearer to knowing when she will be back. Our thoughts and prayers are once again with her. Mr Slaven will continue to teach in the Three/Four team.

This week it is going to be an exciting week as it is

BOOK WEEK!
This means that we will be concentrating on lots of activities to do with books and poetry.
On Monday and Tuesday David Horner will be teaching every class doing poetry. The children will have a great time and produce some fantastic POETRY work.


HOMEWORK
Homework will be a bit different this week and will centre on a book week activity sheet. The children will have a choice of what activities they want to participate in.
They need to do at least five activities. They will need to collect evidence of what they have done and colour in the sheet to record what has been done. There are lots of activities like:

Designing a book cover
Writing about a character
Writing a blurb
Writing a book review etc
If five activities are done they will get a star.
If ten activities are done they will get three stars.
If they do all the activities/most of them they will get five stars.
The children will have a show and tell session on Friday when they can bring in everything they have done/made. They also need to bring in their signed sheets.
To see the homework sheet please see:

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/pdfs/2bookweek.pdf

BOOK FAIR
On Wednesday the book fair arrives and is open from 3pm on wards. The children will have already had a browse of this and may even be able to show you their favourite books and the books that they have chosen for the class’s wish list. People will have the opportunity to purchase a book for their child’s class library. There will be a name plate put in these books to remind us of your generosity. This year we will get 60% commission on any books purchased all proceeds will go to buying resources for our school.
On Friday we will have the traditional dressing up as a book character. Please remember that if your child does not come dressed up then they need to wear uniform.

READING
Lots more children have been heard read last week. Please remember to write a comment in their diary. The percentages of how many children have been heard read this week are:

READING RESULTS
In Mrs Harding’s class 86 % were heard read this week at least once.
In Mrs Bethell’s class 50 % were heard read this week at least once.
In Miss Robinson’s class 76 % were heard read this week.

LITERACY
Lots of our class work this week will be centering around book week and book activities.
We will be writing a class adventure story together and using some memory techniques to help us and inspire us writing the setting of the story.

One sun location
Two shoe close by
Three tree in the distance
Four door sounds
Five hive feel something
Six sticks smells and other senses
Seven heaven something moving/something moving you.
Eight gate/kissing gate emotions and feelings
Nine wine looking from a different vantage point high/low

To learn more about story writing please see:

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/powerpoint/how_to_write_a_story.ppt


http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/powerpoint/settings.ppt


http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/powerpoints/discuss_setting.ppt

We will be doing all sorts of book reviews and the children need to bring into school a favourite book to share with their class. We will be doing art /craft work making book marks and designing front covers of different books.

NUMERACY

In Numeracy this week Mrs Harding’s class will be doing more work on fractions and decimals. We will be concentrating on decimals again. We will be learning how to order decimals looking at their value and rounding decimals to the nearest tenth/hundredth.
We will also be practising adding and subtracting decimals and moving onto dividing too.
By the end of the week the children :

Could be able to round a decimal to the nearest tenth/ hundredth.
Should be able to add and subtract decimals.
Must understand decimal place value and to be able to change decimals into fractions.

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/powerpoint/y5_t1_w5_tenths_hundredths.ppt

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/powerpoint/beginning_decimals.ppt

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/powerpoint/writing_decimals.ppt

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/BigCalculator.html

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maths/files/decimals.jpg

In Mrs Bethell’s and Miss Robinson’s group the children will be doing number bonds work. They will also be thinking of money and giving change from £5.oo and £2.00.
By the end of the week the children :

Could be able to solve number problems related to number bonds to 500 and 200.
Should know pairs to 200 and 500.
Must know their pairs to 100 with rapid recall.

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/docs/LH_change_from_2pounds.doc

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/docs/numberbonds_100_SS.doc

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/docs/numberbonds_to_100.doc

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/BigCalculator.html

Please remember that we all do weekly timetable tests when the children have an opportunity to win a bronze, silver or gold award. Don't forget it is still so important that you keep learning your times tables. Check out the links below for some good games to help you remember them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/multiplication/timestables/flash1.shtml

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/

That’s all for this week. Have a good one.
From the Three/Four team.

Monday 21st January

Welcome to this week’s blog spot.

Miss Robinson will still be off but she is now out of hospital after her pneumonia. We are very lucky as Mr Slaven is doing an excellent job and has agreed to keep working with us. We all hope that Miss Robinson continues to improve. Everybody is really missing Miss Robinson and we can't wait to see her again.

I am happy to report that more children have been heard read this week. The reading ages that we recently tested have mostly gone up. Please make sure you are reading for five minutes a day with your child. Joining a library could also inspire your child to read! Please encourage your child to read magazines, leaflets, their own books etc as it really does improve their reading. Reading allows a child to improve in all areas of the curriculum.

In Mrs Harding's class 62% were heard read this week at least once.
In Mrs Bethell’s class 48% were heard read this week at least once.
In Miss Robinson’s class 50% were heard read this week.

Swimming went a lot better this week and thank you to every one who read the label in the diaries and the message on the blog last week to label all the uniform. The children are now allocated to a swimming group and are being taught skills and swimming strokes. Please be assured that if your child has been put in the teaching pool it is for safety reasons and so your child can receive the relevant teaching.
There are a few children who received sad faces for having no PE kit or no homework on a Thursday.
PE kits can be left in school unless they need a wash during the holidays. Please remember that we do our spelling test on a Friday for the weekly spellings.


LITERACY

This week we will be moving onto non chronological reports. We will be finding and locating key information. We will be comparing the way information is presented in lots of different ways. We will also be learning about silent letters in words. Perhaps you could remind your child of a few words like knee, wrist, comb etc. Thank you.

By the end of the week all the children:

Could be able to retrieve information from a report and present it in tables and charts.

Should know the features of a non chronological report.

Must know that some words are spelt with a silent letter.

Must know how to read and and spell some of these words.

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/powerpoints/Non-ChronologicalReports.ppt

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/powerpoints/Non-chronological_reports.ppt

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/soundandspell/silentletters/game.shtml

http://www.northwood.org.uk/silent%20letters/silent%20letters%20wordsearch/activity_1.html

NUMERACY

In Numeracy this week Mrs Harding’s Math’s group will keep reviewing fractions and move on to decimals.
By the end of the week the children:

COULD be able to change decimals into fractions and be able to add and subtract decimals.
SHOULD be able to write a decimal as a fraction and write a fraction as a decimal.
MUST be able to recognise place value and tell you what the tenths, hundredths and thousandths are in a decimal number.

To help with learning about decimals please click on:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/decimals/introductiontodecimals/

http://www.coolmath.com/decimals/index.html

http://www.mathsisfun.com/decimals-menu.html

Miss Robinson’s and Mrs Bethell’s groups this week will be doing about ordering and comparing numbers up to 1000.
We will also be counting in 2’s, 10’s, 50’s and 100’s from TU and HTU numbers.

By the end of the week all children

COULD be able to solve problems ordering numbers.
SHOULD be able to order numbers up to 1000.
MUST be able to count in 2's,10's.50's and 100's.

http://www.aaamath.com/g33-ordernum5.html

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=BigCalcH

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/whatarenumbers/comparing/

SCIENCE

In Science this week we will be learning about irreversible/chemical changes. This means when something cannot be changed back. In the last two weeks we have been learning about

Boiling
Condensation
Freezing
Melting

All these processes can be changed back. Example: when an ice cube melts we can change it back again to ice if we freeze it.
This week we will concentrate on irreversible changes that usually have something to do with burning or cooking.

We will be doing simple experiments with the children to show them changes that cannot be changed back. These are called chemical changes and will be teacher led as it includes burning!!

By the end of the week:

Children could know what an irreversible and a reversible change is.
Children should be able to describe a chemical/irreversible change.
Children must know examples of a chemical change.
Children must be able to remember what a reversible change is.


To find out more about changes see:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/rev_irrev_changes.shtml

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/science/powerpoint/Changing_State_WWtbaM.ppt

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/topic/pwalsh/ketwin.ppt

RE

We are continuing our theme of celebrations. This week we are looking at the church’s celebrations. We will be looking at the different sacraments of the church such as marriage and the ordination of a priest.

TOPIC

We have started looking at maps and plans. This week we will be looking at a map of a village and making a plan of the village. The children will be following instructions and using symbols for different things on their plan.


That's all for now this week! Happy Reading!!

The Year Three/Four team.