This week we thought about how climate change is affecting Antarctica and the world.  We learned that the glaciers are melting because of the way humans mistreat the world.  We talked about how energy is made in power stations and that harmful gases are sent into the air which leads to ‘global warning’.  We also thought about the effect the fumes from cars have too.  The children understood that this makes the seas rise and we have more storms, rain and hot or cold weather.  We then thought how we can help to stop global warming and talked about ‘clean energy’.  We looked at pictures of wind turbines and solar panels and the children knew a little about these already!  We understood that using these clean ways to produce energy meant the planet isn’t harmed.  The world is now working hard to make energy in a clean way.  The children also knew that electric cars were better for the planet than cars that ran on petrol or diesel.

Can you tell your grown up why the glaciers are melting?  How can we make energy to power our homes in a cleaner way?

In maths we compared length and height and measured the height of different objects in our classroom, using non-standard units. The children chose to measure the heights of the objects using cubes. They then recorded their measures pictorially on paper, using drawings and their own marks and numerals to show their understanding. We use language to compare, such as ‘the bottle in taller than the jug.  I know because it is 8 blocks high and the jug is only 4’.  We also really enjoyed measuring ourselves on our class height chart.  We compare our heights and saw how we can see who is tallest and shortest by looking at the marks on the height chart instead of each other.  We read the story of Titch, which is all about comparing height.

We also ordered and sequenced time, by looking at what activities we did on which days of the week and plotted the activities on a weekly timetable.

As part of our topic learning, on Tuesday we made ice-cream! It was fun to combine the different ingredients and predict what changes would take place after it was put into the freezer.  We saw that the liquid had frozen into a solid and become thicker.  We also loved eating it of course!

We also provided the children with a variety of materials (boxes, plastic tubs, card, paper, lolly sticks, paper etc) for the children to select materials to make a boat; maybe to take them to Antarctica!

We looked at a contrasting county to the cold Antarctica that we have been learning about, through the story of Handa’s surprise which is set in Africa.  We looked at some of the different pages from the book and examined how the fruits are described, e.g. round, juicy orange or soft, yellow banana. We then thought of our own descriptive words to describe actual fruit, after exploring them with our senses, then wrote our sentences and drew a picture.

This month we are celebrating people from the LGBTQ+ community who have had great achievements in medicine. We learned about Sophie Jex Blake (Born 1840) who wanted to become a doctor.  She had to fight prejudice so that she, as a woman could attend university and study to become a doctor. She then set up two medical schools. She paved the way for women in the future to follow their dreams.  We then made rainbow hearts at the art table to show that everybody is different and can love who they want to love.

In PE we enjoyed learning about ball skills.  We begun this unit by practising our rolling skills.  We had to try hard to aim the ball, catch the ball and roll the ball carefully to each other and to a target.

In Monster Phonics this week, we have learned the phoneme ‘oa’ and met Miss Oh No! It also featured in our Floatella story (which was the story of Cinderella with a twist!)  We wrote and read many words with this sound in.  Oue tricky words for this week are: come, some, were, one.  They are the next set to be sent home.

On Friday we enjoyed seeing so many parents come into the classroom first thing, to read and enjoy books with the children.  This will become a regular activity and we will let you know when the next session is nearer the time.  Next Thursday (7^th March) is World Book Day. You are also invited in to share books with the children on that morning too.  More information will follow soon.  The children are invited to come to school dressed as a word!  For example, as simple as ‘colourful’ by wearing colourful clothes, or more challenging such as ‘inquisitive’; dressed as an scientist!

Have a lovely weekend and we will see you on Monday 😊