Elizabeth Class

Autumn Term - 2018/19

English

This term, we linked our writing to ‘The Victorians’ topic, and as a class, we read the Usborne children’s version of ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using the book’s fantastic bank of vocabulary, we described settings and created atmosphere in our writing. We also developed our skills of ‘showing not telling’ the reader how characters were thinking and then applied this to write detailed diary entries from the perspective of Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde! Later on in the term, we studied ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty. Using adverbials, questions and modal verbs, we created persuasive advertisements from different perspectives. In the second half of the term, we read extracts from the brilliant ‘Boy: Tales of Childhood’ by Roald Dahl. We were able to apply the features of an autobiography and the language style to our own autobiographies about our lives, which we really enjoyed!

Maths

At the beginning of this year, we began by developing our understanding of place value up to one million. By using concrete resources as well as reasoning activities, we became more confident with larger quantities. After this, we were able to apply this knowledge to round numbers to the nearest 10,100, 1000 and even 10,000! We also became experts at using the addition and subtraction column method where exchanging was involved. We combined this with our ‘OctoBAR’ bar model and part-part whole diagrams to solve multi step problems, what a challenge! As well as practising quicker methods for multiplying and dividing, including using multiples of ten and partitioning in our heads, we learnt how to calculate the perimeter and area of composite shapes. We had fun putting these problems into practical contexts and discussing their real-life purpose e.g. perimeter fencing for gardens.

Science

In September, we blasted off into space! We were fascinated by the phases of the moon and did our own investigation into how different sized craters are formed using flour and marbles. In addition, we learnt about the orbit of the Earth around the sun in relation to other planets. Using songs and mnemonics helped us to remember the order of the planets from the sun. ‘Materials’ was also a well-enjoyed topic in Elizabeth class! We conducted several investigations such as how to keep a cup of tea warm for the longest. We discussed the variables and which things should be kept the same to ensure fair testing and furthermore calculated averages from the data. A highlight of this topic was making casein from vinegar and milk and producing CO2 from vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to show irreversible changes.

Creative Curriculum

Elizabeth became immersed in our ‘Victorians’ topic this term by studying different sources and artefacts from the era. We were particularly affected by accounts of children’s living and working conditions during this time in history, especially the punishments in the Victorian school log books! In guided reading, we greatly enjoyed reading ‘Vile Victorians’ and learning more about their horrible history. We compared rich and poor lifestyles and used the internet to research various famous people who assisted the poor during this time e.g. Dr Barnardos. When comparing sources, we were interested to find out that some sources, e.g. diaries, are not as reliable as other more factual reports. Overall, this topic really inspired us and developed our historical enquiry.