Author: Jamie Kilner

Our love for reading continues to grow in Year 3 and 4 as we have begun our new class novel – The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

We have been enjoying the early chapters and can’t seem to put it down. We have so many questions already.

The children are developing their own views about Edward and have been finding evidence from the text to justify their impression of him.

Help at home – ask your child about the story so far. Who is Rosie and what did he do? What does Abilene do to display her love for Edward? What are their thoughts about Pellegrina and why?

As you will be aware, the Year 4 will complete a times table check in a few months. We have been working hard in school to ensure children know their times table facts and can recall them quickly.

Thank you for all the hard work that you do for the children at home. I know that they are practicing lots as times table scores are consistently strong.

Help at home

There are many websites that help children and increase the speed at which they answer:

Maths Frame – https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

Hit the Button – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Times Table Rock Stars

Greetings from Year 3 and Year 4. We hope you had a wonderful and restful Easter.

We have quickly settled back into school life and the children have enjoyed seeing their friends and getting back to the school routine. The children have made so much progress since September and we are really looking forward to this Summer Term.

A few updates and reminders:
– PE days continue to be Tuesday (Y4 – swimming) and Thursday.
– Home reading. Please encourage your child to read at home with an adult or older sibling. Reading is an important aspect of a child’s learning and supports their understanding across the curriculum. Please also encourage your child to complete a reading activity in their reading record books each week. Any questions about this, please feel free to see me after school.
– Library books. We are lucky to have access to lots of fantastic books in our school library. Our library day is Monday; if your child wishes to change their book, they can do so on this day. Please also return any school library books that have been read. Any questions about this, feel free to see me after school or ask your child to speak to a Reading Ambassador.
– Water bottles. Please ensure your child has their labelled water bottle in school every day. Bottles need to go home at the end of each day to be washed.

Yesterday, the whole school attended church for our Easter service. Our Year 3 children performed Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. They did a fantastic job! A huge thank you must go to Mrs Bald who taught the children how to play.

Our Year 4 children talked about The Story of Easter and what each day means to them and how Christians remember. The children were able to talk about the things we have learnt in RE and used their oracy skills beautifully to relay this to the congregation.

Additionally, members of our class helped to tell the parable, ‘Road to Emmaus.’ Again, reading superbly well!

It was a wonderful service and all the children made the school proud. A big thank you to all the family and friends who attended too.

All of Year 3 and Year 4 would like to wish you a very Happy Easter.

Dance

This week we listened to and performed dance routines to ‘Mas Que Nada’ by Sergio Mendes.

We talked about how the song makes us feel and how we could move to the music. We performed our routines to the class, focusing on pathways and how we could move around the hall.

Help at home – listen to song together and share your thoughts about the music. What emotions do you feel when you listen? Do you share the same emotions? Could you put together your own dance routine to the music?

Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday

We have been learning about the significance of these three days in the Christian calendar. We have learnt about the crosses Christians use and what they represent. Yesterday our learning was supported by our whole school collective worship where Mrs Obbard handed each child a palm cross.

We have answered some difficult questions, such as – Would Mary call the day Jesus died Good Friday?

Here are some of the children’s responses:

No because it was her son that died not somebody else. And she was a kind mother to her son – Harper.

Yes she would because He gave his life for us – Leo S.

No as Mary will feel upset because Jesus was her son and he was badly treated people in Jerusalem – Madeleine.

Yes. She knows He did it for mankind and for taking away our sins – Tommy.

No. That would be a sad day for Mary because it was her son – Isla.

We have also made links to our own lives by thinking about the things that bring us joy, sadness and hope.

 

In dance this week, we listened to ‘Running up that Hill’ by Kate Bush.

We discussed how the song made us feel and what emotions we may want to include in a dance routine. The children, generally, enjoyed that music and some had even heard parents play the song before.

Afterwards, we worked in small groups and planned a dance routine to the piece of music. We had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed the lesson. We even learnt that Mr Roundtree likes the song too.

I recognise that family and friends are important.

I can find solutions to different problems.

We have been focussing on these two statements over recent weeks and learnt how we can make positive changes to our life and to the lives of others. We recognise unkind words and behaviours and that often words and comments can sometimes to taken out of context and cause offence (particularly online). We have also viewed people with different emotions and discussed how we should speak to these people and talked about the kind of things we can say.

We have discussed working with different people in our class and that it is important to include everyone and not leave people out. We know that it doesn’t matter what differences we have with others, it is still important to be kind and respectful. The following video caused a lot of amusement but also has an important message.

Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog (it’s along the play bar) and turn off autoplay – this
avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip
after clip.

We have all been focussing on our prosody skills this week. Using the poem Good Hope by Benjamin Zephaniah, we have strived to use intonation, tone and volume, whilst ensuring we project our voice and make eye contact with our classmates. We have also discussed some of the issues Zephaniah may have faced and the key messages taken from the poem.

Well done everyone!