Cedar Tree Class Blog
Cedar Tree Class
24/25 Blog 6 Cedar w.e 11.10.24
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Cedar Tree Class
Good afternoon
In English writing, the children have been busy editing and publishing their Day in the Life of a Roman soldier recounts - some of which you may see on display at parents evening next week, in the corridor outside our classroom (unfortunately there is not enough room for all of them). This will be used to assess their current writing needs and areas to develop.
In Maths we have moved onto adding and subtracting using formal column method (see link below if you are unsure how to support your child at home with this method). Year 3 generally will be 3 digit, Year 4 generally will be 4 digit numbers.
Following parent queries regarding the spellings in homework I would like to clarify that all school homework spellings follow a scheme which is linked to the whole school phonics programme and ours includes words from across the LKS2 spelling age range. The main teaching point we practise in class prior to homework being set and the key focus is the spelling rule. For example, in- as a prefix means 'not' so active becomes inactive. We teach the spellings linked to this as examples which follow the spelling rule. Most of the spellings also reflect the language your children are using either verbally or in their writing or that they are reading in their chosen texts/library books and therefore we use them to help boost their understanding of the standard English language.
Reminder - if you haven't booked your parents' evening slot please do so I can celebrate the progress your child is making this year so far.
Have a great weekend
Mr Dring
24/25 Blog 4 Cedar w.e 04.10.24
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Cedar Tree Class
Hello
We have been exploring a variety of descriptive devices this week as we continue to write our 'Day in the Life of a Roman Soldier' which have including a range of Year 3 and 4 spellings, fronted adverbials (one misty morning,), inverted commas (speech marks) and how to use emotions to add interest for the reader.
In reading, we have developed our vocabulary skills by honing our dictionary searching skills using our class novel 'Thieves of Ostia.' In Science, we have continued to group and classify animals using vocabulary such as vertebrates and invertebrates.
Roman Day photos - please see our class page on our website for the photos from our day/s at Murton Park. I have uploaded a gallery of pictures for you.
In Maths, we have been rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000 in Year 4 and in Year 3 using our knowledge of number bonds to answers e.g if I know 3 + 4 = 7 then 30 + 40 = 70 so 300 + 400 = 700. Here are some documents you might want to work through with your child to ensure they are fully confident.
Have a great weekend.
Mr Dring
24/25 Blog 3 Cedar w.e 27.09.24
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Cedar Tree Class
Hello
What an exciting week! We started it by practising both written and spoken ways to describe events from the past in preparation for our next piece of published writing - A Day in the Life of a Roman Soldier. All of us learnt ways that people might alter how they present information about themselves online and use 'avatars'. We reminded each other how to speak up to a trusted adult if we ever see or hear anything that upsets us or worries us whilst online. Parents please be aware that a lot of children recounted occasions this had happened to them and no adult was present so they didn't know what to do. Here is a link (there are many others you could use) which might help you start/continue conversations with your child about staying safe online (which some children were surprised included games such as Roblox and PS4/5 games).
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
The week was dominated by our fantastic trip/s to Murton Park - everyone had great fun - has your child informed you about anything they learnt yet? We will aim to add photos soon however this takes time whilst we verify permissions for nearly 100 children - thank you for your patience with this.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr Dring
24/25 Blog 2 Cedar w.e 20.09.24
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Cedar Tree Class
Hello
A week filled with both written and verbal description. We all thoroughly enjoyed 'hot seating' where we took it in turns to describe the tale of the Three Little Pigs from the perspective of one of the characters! This is part of our 4 week unit linked to our Roman Day at Murton Park and the children will use these ideas to publish a 'Day in the Life' of an ancient Roman soldier. In Maths we have continued to explore place value. In Computing, we have been learning how and why people can change their personal descriptions online.
Reminder - if you haven't contacted school to give permission for your child to attend our Murton Park trip next week, then please do so otherwise they will have to remain in school on that day with the opposite Year group in Cedar class (i,e Year 3s with Year 4s or Year 4s with Year 3s).
Year 4 - a few parents have queried why all of the children were in the same 'group' in their first two sessions at the pool. This is to allow the swim coaches to assess accurately the appropriate grouping for your child. After this, children will move across groups as and when they are assessed as ready by those coaches and also on how well they apply the skills being taught to them at the pool.
Have a lovely weekend
Mr Dring
24/25 Blog 2 Cedar w.e 13.09.24
Mr Dring (p.dring) on: Cedar Tree Class
Hello
This week we have been very busy exploring how to describe our character creations (aliens). It's been lovely to see the children's imaginations at work and we have some very unique characters. I will use this first piece of published work to assess the children's first writing targets, for example: remember commas in a list etc.
In Maths, we have continued to explore place value of numbers (yr 3 up to 1,000, yr 4 up to 10,000) and have started using the class counting stick to help us increase our speed and accuracy recall of the times table facts - starting with 2x. At the end of Year 4, all children will sit the government's Multiplication Times table check and their results will be published in their end of year report.
In P.E, we have started our hockey unit and in Music have been exploring 'the Nutcracker' composition. I'm looking forward to hear how the Year 4s found their first school swimming lesson later on Friday too.
I wish you a happy weekend.
Mr Dring