Monday 2nd February

Welcome to this week's blog. Amazing that we are already in February! We had the pleasure of seeing Mrs Narraway last week with all her family and she is looking wonderful as normal!!

Please remember that next Monday we should start swimming. The children need to have their uniform named as it is much easier when they are getting dressed again!!! Mostly the children do not make it back in time to buy toast so on a Monday it would be better if you could send them with a snack instead. After swimming the children are always really hungry.


We will be sending out the parent interview times this week. please be aware that we do try to accommodate but sometimes it is necessary to change them.

HOMEWORK

This week the children will get their spelling sheet to learn for a test on Friday.

They do not have to do sentences.

They will get their numeracy from their Math's teacher on a Monday. Please make sure that they have it back in on the Friday as all the children and teachers mark the maths then.

WEEK THREE ISLANDS HOMEWORK.

You need a shelter!

This week the children need to write a set of instructions for another person who could be in the same position as themselves on an island. The children can write and draw a set of ideas/instructions about how they could build a shelter on the islands.


Remember to think about what materials and things would be available.

Think about protection from animals and harsh weather conditions too.

Don't forget to use pictures and labelled diagrams. Please make sure that it is done on paper so we can put all the work together at the end to make a book.


We have a very exciting week ahead in school. We have

Book Week!


The book fair is open after school every night. Please remember we earn commission from every book sold and all the money is used to buy materials and reading resources for our classes.


Our curriculum will centre around books and we will be doing lots of different things relating to books. On Friday the children will be allowed to dress up as a character from a book.


LITERACY


Our Literacy this week is linked with our BOOK WEEK and is all about READING. Through the course of the week the children will be finding out about the History of Books, How Books are Made, The Parts of a Book, including becoming an illustrator (choosing their favourite style), and the Different Genres of Books. There will be lots of opportunities for the children to talk about what they like to read and why. We will also be asking the children to bring in their favourite thing to read to share with the class - it might be a book, a comic, a letter. As well as checking out the sites below have a go at googling your favourite author!



http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/bookbox/home.htm - find out about your favourite authors and books. *****


http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/bookchooser.php - helps you to find the perfect book.

http://reading.ecb.org/ - follow the KIDS link, get your key and open the door to improving your reading!!! *****


http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/index.html - want to hear a story and improve your own story writing skills then try this site.


http://www.readingzone.com/

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ - a great place to find out about all the latest books.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/index.shtml


NUMERACY


The children are all working really hard learning their number facts and times tables and it's lovely to see their hard work paying off. Remember the more you can learn this year the easier lots of Maths becomes!


http://tutpup.com/


http://www.mathszone.co.uk/ - explore the multiply and divide section. Can you find any good games to recommend?

In Numeracy this week Mrs Harding's group will be refining their expertise with grid multiplication, adding decimals and the 24 hour clock. By the end of the week the children:

COULD be able to use grid multiplication and use 3 and 4 digit numbers.
SHOULD be able to add and subtract decimals.
SHOULD be able to use the 24 hour clock.
MUST be able to find a co ordinate in the first quadrant.


To see more please see:

http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/ma_num/swf/12-24Game.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/measuring/time/timesanddates/game.shtml

http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm

http://www.coolmath.com/prealgebra/02-decimals/index.html

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=washindex6

http://www.mathszone.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/multiplication/written/worksheet.shtml

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/shape.htm#Coordinates

http://www.topicbox.net/browse.php?subject=Maths&topic=Direction%20including%20coordinates

Miss Robinson was delighted with her group last week - we now have a class full of experts at COLUMN ADDITION - the children were working with 3 digit and 4 digit numbers, and could confidently carry numbers across the columns and explain why!!! Well done - I'm very proud. As well as that we even managed to sneak in learning how to make a number 10 x bigger or 10 x smaller by investigating how to multiply and divide by 10. This week we will be transferring what we have already learnt to help us with COLUMN SUBTRACTION. Keep using the websites from last week as well as the ones below:

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/851/DecompExpandv2.swf - this breaks column subtraction down so that you can see what happens with the 'stealing' method.

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/gameshoweasy.html - keep your mental skills for addition adn subtraction.

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/gameshow.html - a harder version of the game above.

By the end of the week the children:

MUST be able to subtract a 1 or 2 digit number from a 2 digit number.

SHOULD be able to subtract using the 'stealing' technique. Yes, you read it right, the children are now taught to steal from the top number rather than borrow and pay back!

COULD be able to apply the strategies they've learnt to work with any numbers.

In Mrs Bethell’s group we are still focusing on fractions in our main lessons – finding fractions of shapes, finding fractions of numbers, using our times tables. Yr4 will move onto mixed numbers and improper fractions. We will also be continuing to learn our times tables and doubling and halving numbers.
Please continue to help your child learn their times tables- these are vital for the quick solving of many problems in maths.

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/maths/num%20machine/num%20menu.html

http://nwlg.org/pages/resources/ma_num/swf/y5d3a3.html

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

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/851/Hitthebuttonv7.swf

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

I must be able to find a fraction of a shape
I should be able to use my x tables to find a fraction of a number
I could change an improper fraction to a mixed number – Yr 4 only

TOPIC - India

We will be linking to our theme of India to books in the afternoons this week. We will be reading an Indian myth and our curriculum work will be directly related to this. We will be reading the myth.

Kanai’s betel nut

The children will be drawing the world/heaven, writing descriptions of the characters and the settings too. Finally the children will be able to write a myth themselves in the same style.


AND FINALLY...

On Friday, the Friends of St Vincent's will be holding a cake sale in the hall at 3pm. Why not come along and browse the book fair at the same time? We will need cakes to be donated for this to be a success, so if you do send some in, in a container, please ensure it is named, so they can be returned to you.

That is all about now, have a good week,

The Three and Four Team

xxx