Miss Nicholl and P4N

Dear Parent/Carer,

During our Weather topic in Term 2 we went outdoors to observe and record the temperature and rainfall using the weather station kindly donated to us by Mrs Johnstone. The children learned about the water cycle, the three states of water and also about the different climate regions around the world. During our trip to Dynamic Earth we added to this learning by taking part in a practical workshop where we made tornadoes, created static energy and learned the Water Cycle Dance.

Following our topic we studied persuasive language and how to convey our own feelings and opinions in letters, leaflets and posters. These were linked to our Weather topic, e.g. diary entries from the point of view of an Arctic Explorer, leaflets on the use of palm oil and posters on air pollution.

In Maths we continued to develop addition and subtraction strategies including using an empty number line and/or number square. We continued our work on multiplication and are continuing to build on this using sets and arrays.

I hope you find the following information useful.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Learning in Term 3:

Learning focus this term:

Through our Vikings topic we will be learning about:

• Why and where the Vikings settled in the UK
• Viking life- homes, dress, family
• Viking invasions- boats, trade and warriors
• Viking gods and sagas
• Viking religion and celebrations
• How to locate topic related books in a library

Core Literacy:

This term we will be:

• Developing our use of reading strategies
• Do book blessings to encourage children to share their opinions on texts
• Summarising the main points of a text
• Focusing on personal and imaginative writing and including feelings in our writing
• Using paragraphs, connectives and a wider range of punctuation in our writing
• Developing our listening and talking skills by performing in our class assembly

Children will continue to be given books of their choice from the class or wing library and weekly spelling homework. Please ensure your child completes this at home. Encourage your child to read widely for enjoyment at home and use the three sharings approach to discuss what they have read. There will also be OPTIONAL topic related homework of which the children can complete as much or as little as they like.

Core Numeracy:

This term we will be:

• Using counting strategies to multiply, using the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables
• For those who require challenge, we will also look at the 6, 7 and 8 times tables
• Linking multiplication to division using a range of strategies
• Solve sharing problems including using fractions
• Understand the value of fractions within a number line
• Look at simple equivalent fractions
• Understand the role of the numerator and denominator
• Record fractions

We encourage your child to use Sumdog at home to practice their maths skills. Children should all have a copy of their usernames and passwords. Quick recall of addition and subtraction facts to 10/20/100 would also be of great benefit and will help keep their mental maths skills agile.

Health and Wellbeing/Other

This term we will be:

• Visiting the local Alloa Library to locate and borrow topic related books
• Taking part in healthy eating lessons led by a chef
• Learning about healthy eating and diet
• Receiving specialist music, art and P.E. sessions
• Develop resilience using Cool in School strategies
• Doing a workshop on how to look after animals, including programming a robot. Led by SSPCA

Please remember it is our sharing the learning assembly on Friday 13th March, we look forward to seeing those who can make it.