Beginning of Term 2 - Preparing Discovery Table

Our Discovery Table is a very important part of our room. 

Children from other classes sometimes bring items in to put there. We have a lot of special treasures on display. 

We have all sorts of interesting objects there 

to investigate, feel and smell. 

Word Study- Two

We investigated some number words during Maths Week. 

We found out the "twig" and "twenty" and "between" 

are all related to "two". 

It is interesting that the "w" is only pronounced in the related words and not in  "two" itself.

See-saws and Levers

When we investigated levers being used as see-saws we discovered some very interesting facts about how it could be easier to lift a heavy weight. 
We used a lot of mathematical language related to fractions and comparison whilst doing this.

Maths Week

During Maths Week we did a lot of estimating of large numbers of objects, measuring and searching for different shapes. We investigated where many mathematical words came from and made many connections. We used standard and non-standard measurements.

Investigating and understanding the word <mathematics>

Measuring using feet

Estimating

Recording

identifying effective strategies for mental calculation

We visited Mr Scott's class during the week.

Ms Amy and Mr Daniel came in to tell us about how they used maths in their jobs. It was so interesting!

We created a large 'mindmap' about mathematics.

Turn Around Facts

Turn Around Facts

Knowing that 6+4 is the same as 4+6 is an important understanding in mathematics. We developed this understanding by physically manipulating the tens frames you can see in the picture. We literally turn around the frame to see the corresponding number fact.

Understanding the structure of words

Word sums show the important elements of a word:

the BASE 

is the most important element 

because it holds the meaning and the spelling;

and

the PREFIXES and SUFFIXES 

which can be fixed before and after the base.

We have been investigating the word <friend> and why there is an <i> in the spelling.

Ask your child to tell you the story of <friend> and how it is related to <Friday> and the Germanic Goddess of Love <Frigga>!

This is the word sum for <friendly>:

friend + ly --> (this is called the rewrite arrow) friendly

We could also write the word sum like this:

fri (meaning 'love') + end (an Old English suffix) + ly (suffix)-->

friendly

We constructed a very large word sum by acting out the different parts of the word.

Then we wrote our own word sums from all the words we discovered were part of the word family.
Every time we write and spell a new word sum we are learning how to spell the base!

Understanding how words are spelled

Do you know what digraphs are?

Digraphs are 'teams of two letters' that we use to accurately represent pronunciation.

di (meaning 'two') + graph (meaning 'to write') --> digraph

English spelling has many different digraphs and they can have more than one job!

We are investigating the digraph <ch>. 

We identified the words in this written passage that contained the digraph <ch>.

We discovered that <ch> can represent three different phonemes, like;

<church> <chef> and <school>

As 'word dectectives' we went searching for words in the classroom and in books that contained the digraph <ch>. We had to decide which phoneme they were representing and write the words in the correct column.

Understanding that digraphs can have more than one job (to represent different pronunciations) is a very important part of understanding how to spell in English.

Forces: Design and Technology

Design and construct a simple toy that has one moving part!

During this design and technology project the children learned how to construct a lever as a way to move a part of a toy.

Problem solving, discussing and experimenting were improtant skills that the children needed to use as they revised plans and designs to make their moving part work successfully.

Mr Jim demonstrated how to construct the lever with a pivot point.

The children learned how to design carefully with labels and clear diagrams to show the plan for the toy. This is a critical part of developing Design and Technology skills.