YEAR 3
In English this week we have been continuing our regular phonics support and independent writing with focus on fronted adverbials and paragraphs. We have also continued looking at the story of ‘Mowgli’s Brothers’ from Rudyard Kipling, where we have planned the next part of the story.
In Maths we have completed our bar charts based on collected data, and completing column addition strategies with 2-, 3-, and 4-digit numbers. The students have begun to use these strategies to successfully complete different problem-solving tasks.
In Science we have been continuing our unit on parts of plants, this week’s focus has been recapping some of the different parts of flowering plants and identifying the different methods by which seeds leave the parent plant (seed dispersal). In Topic, we have continued our unit on rainforest by researching and sharing information about the different animals that live at each level of the rainforest.
YEAR 4
This week, in English, we wrote our own interesting stories about Sabryna and Dia, the River Spirit, explaining why they are worried about how the people in the villages and city are affecting the river. The challenge was to use speech marks to show dialogue between Sabryna and Dia. We are so proud of our stories, which we typed in Microsoft Word!
In Maths, we practised measuring the perimeter and area of shapes. We revised the names of triangles and leant the names of different types of quadrilaterals. We now know how to distinguish between a regular and irregular hexagon, and a regular and irregular heptagon. Very interesting!
In Topic lessons, we continued researching Japan. It has been very interesting exploring the origami, the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures. We also discovered that the word Sudoku is Japanese and consists of the Japanese characters Su (meaning 'number') and Doku (meaning 'single'). Sudoku is a popular number placement puzzle.
During our Art lesson, we painted beautiful compositions, featuring gondolas in Venice.
YEAR 5
With the warm weather came a renewed enthusiasm and lust for life. The Year 5's were lively and active during the week, and they engaged in many activities with great enthusiasm!
In Maths we learnt to plot shapes on Graphs. We extended our knowledge by learning how to find the coordinates of given shapes, and how to plot the Reflections of shapes on a graph. I am satisfied that the children understand this topic and have an above average knowledge of plotting graphs. They further wrote Arithmetic and Problem-Solving Tests, which forms part of their Assessment. I am happy to say that everybody did well and seem to understand the basic knowledge they need in order to progress to Year 6.
We started and exciting new e-book in English about Explorations. We will be studying explorers through the ages and how their findings helped shape our world. As we are reaching the end of Year 5, we will be placing a lot of emphasis on writing skills. The students need to be able to write in an organized and coherent way. They should present their thoughts logically displaying a high level of abstract thinking. I was pleasantly surprised with the Comprehension Test they wrote during the week: apart from needing some translation for a few unknown words, they showed great insight in the comprehension about the Yeti!
The best topic of the week was our theme of Japan. The children loved exploring this beautiful country with its rich culture. They were surprised by some facts about Sumo Wrestling, excited about folding an Origami bird, and thrilled to complete their very first Sudoku. I hope this newly obtained skills will lead to a lifetime of fun and enjoyment!
