In maths, the Stars have been counting up to 20 and counting backwards from 20. The Circles have been spotting the number in numberlines counting in 2s and 5s. The Circles have been sharing objects into equal groups. The Squares have been dividing and linking division to the times tables and making posters to show their learning. The Fractions have been making posters about time.

We have written our own poems this week using some of the poetry skills we have been exploring such as ‘imaginative lies’ and ‘personification’. We enjoyed choosing our own subject to write a poem about but found it quite tricky to make our ideas into a poem and not a story.

On Tuesday we held our Harvest Festival. We sang a song called Conkers and the Harvest Song. We recited our Apple Poetry which we had lots of fun writing and performing together.

In handwriting our P4s have been trying to join whole words such as calculator!

Our Circles maths group have been practising counting forwards and backwards in 2s and 5s this week. They have been using this skill to work out the answers to some word problems. The Stars group have been practising ‘more than’ and ‘less than’.

In gym we practised some badminton skills and we got better at hitting a shuttlecock back to our partner. We plan to improve our badminton skills a little more next term.

On Monday we learned how to make a documentary about the Titanic story on the computer. We added film clips, music and titles.

We learned some techniques such as volume, pace, expression and actions to make our poetry sound more interesting when we recite it.

In drama, we learned how to make ‘still pictures’ with our bodies to show scenes from the Titanic.

This week the P2s and P3s have been learning about ‘double defence’ in phonics. This is when the magic e,i,y have their magic blocked by a double letter, such as in ‘yelled’ or ‘Peggy’.

We have been writing poetry about apples. We imagined that an apple was lots of different things such as a yo-yo, a clowns’ nose or an eyeball. We learned that this is called metaphor. We will perform our poetry at the Harvest Festival.

In maths the Circles have been practising counting in 2s and 5s. The Squares have been learning their 2,3,4 and 5 times tables. The Fractions have been working with time- reading a digital and analogue clock.#

In gym we learned how to do a push pass. We push the hockey ball across the ground with our hockey stick and then past our partner.

We learned how to play some different percussion instruments this week in a special workshop. We learned that keeping rhythm is important to make our piece of music sound good. We thought that the workshop was brilliant, clever and fantastic.

We had our Apple Day on Thursday. We learned that the fields around Stenton have names such as ‘Mansion Park’ and ‘Angle Park’. We also learned that some skeletons had been found in a field and that they were from the Bronze Age and were 5000 years old. We learned the correct way to pick apples from the trees which was by twisting them. We learned the names of different apples, such as Peasgood Nonsuch which is a dessert apple. We learned how to make apple juice. First we crushed the apples with a crusher. Then we squashed the pulp in the apple press. The juice was cloudy and delicious. We learned that apples come from all over the world but that local apples taste nicer. They are also better for our environment because they have no air miles. We enjoyed making apple and banana muffins and pies.

The Circles learned in maths about tens and units and we made numbers using lolly sticks! We learned what different two digit numbers mean. The Squares learned how to round numbers to the nearest ten.

In gym we are learning about hockey. We learned that we should keep our eye on the ball all the time and about the ‘sitting on the loo’ position!!

We have enjoyed using the internet this week to find out all about what the inside of the Titanic looks like. The P4s were using google to answer questions that the class had come up with about the Titanic. One of the facts we found out was that the trip to America would have taken 7 days, however the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank after 3 days.

We went into character and imagined that we were about to get on board the Titanic- this helped us to come up with ideas for our writing. Olivia said that this really helped her feel like she was on the Titanic.

On Monday we investigated how we could load ships to improve the amount of cargo they could carry. We made ships from tin foil and divided them into 3 compartments, then we  investigated different ways of loading them. We found out that each compartment should have an equal amount of cargo. Serena managed to load 99 glass beads into her boat- but it sank when she added one more!

In gym we learned how to hold a hockey stick properly and how to dribble the ball successfully.

In maths the Circles group practised jumping from one number to another using an empty numberline. We have been practising using different strategies for adding and taking away. The Fractions group have been working on their 2,3 and 4 times tables.

As part of our Titanic project we have been learning about materials that float and sink this week. We tested lots of different items like sponges, rubbers, shells, 3d shapes and plasticine. We made predictions first. We thought that the heavier things would sink. We concluded that the shape of an object helped it to float and also if it contained air. We also enjoyed drama and writing- going into role as passengers on the Titanic. Through this the children were able to more fully experience the thoughts and feelings of the Titanic’s passengers at the launch. Also we watched original film from the launch of the Titanic to help us understand what it was like.

This week we have been very busy in the wee cless. We have begun our project about Katie Morag and through this we will be learning about Scotland and how life in Stenton compares to life on a small Scottish island. We have been enjoying listening to and saying some Scots words. Have you ever heard the song ‘Heid, shooders, shanks and taes’?
In maths we have been learning how to give directions for a journey- and we hope to use this skill when looking at maps of Scotland. It’s hard to believe we have only been back for 4 days!