Jim and the Beanstalk

In Year 3 we have been combining our learning on measurement with reading Jim and the Beanstalk by Raymond Briggs. 

In the story Jim is constantly running around to get different items of clothing measured for the giant.

Can you think of any other examples in life where measurement is important?

Is Rumpelstiltskin appropriate for children?

Letter from Mrs Lawrence

Dear Year 6,

Thank you for your fantastic letters recommending stories to include in the anthology. You make some very good points relating to each story. I am just making a final decision as to what stories I will include and then I will inform you of my choices.

This, however, is not the main reason for me writing to you today. Sadly Miss Waters and I have had a disagreement around the inclusion of Rumpelstiltskin and as this is your anthology we thought you may be able to resolve it.

Miss Waters thinks that Rumpelstiltskin is far too scary for small children to read and that it would give children nightmares. I, on the other hand, think that Rumpelstiltskin tearing himself apart is obviously fictional and the children will see the amusing side to it.

For me, the moral of the story is clear. I think Rumpelstiltskin very clearly shows children that greediness is not a good thing and can only lead to heartbreak whereas Miss Waters feels that because the king does not get punished in the end that the children will not learn the lesson.

Finally, we both believe that every story should have a baddie in it but that there is some confusion over who the baddie is in this story. I would have to agree with Miss Waters that it is quite discombobulating for an adult to recognise let alone a child. What are your thoughts? Who do you think is the bad character?

Thank you for taking the time to consider our conundrum. We look forward to hearing your thoughts as we know they will have the best interests of our young children at the source.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Lawrence. 

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Mrs Lawrence?

Math Curse

Year 5 based some Maths lessons on a book called Math Curse by  Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. 

The story was about a pupil being affected by the Maths curse and seeing Maths problems everywhere.

What maths problems can you create about every day life?

I'm eight

A child came into class today and told me that it was their birthday and that they had turned eight years old. This got me thinking about all the different ways we could make eight using our mathematical operations.

I'm sure most of you could do several for addition or subtraction like 6 + 2 = 8 or 10 - 2 = 8. However, I wonder how many of you can use multiplication, division or even apply the fraction work we have doing lately to get the answer eight.

Blog the most creative ways you can think of making eight using multiplication, division or your knowledge of fractions.

Hansel and Gretel a new version ...

In Year 3 we have been reading and writing about several different versions of Hansel and Gretel.

Now it is your chance to write your very own interpretation of what really happened.

You can change the story in any way you like.
Whether it be the setting, the characters or the witch's house, it's your story to take complete ownership of.

Flying above expectations

On Thursday, Year 5 had the treasured experience of going to watch Peter Pan at the National Theatre.

Year 5s (and anyone else who has watched the play), what was your favourite part and why?

Try and use your knowledge of complex sentences - something we have been learning about this week

Blogger of the month - November

This month the blogging was so impressive we have two stars!

Twenty cards, six piles

I have twenty cards with the numbers from 1 to 20 on. I want to put them in six piles.
It doesn't matter how many cards are in each pile.
But I want the sum of the numbers in each pile to be the same (so when you add the numbers in a pile together you get the same for each pile).

Which cards go in which pile?

A million seconds

How long is a million seconds? That's 1,000,000 seconds.

What about a billion? 1,000,000,000 seconds.

Predict what you think the numbers will be.
Will you measure it in minutes, hours, days, or years?
Then work it out!

How close were your predictions?

Top 10 fairy tales

Message from Mrs Lawrence to Year 6

Dear Year 6

I want us to create an Anthology of Bedtime Stories for Year 2 to encourage them to read and give them opportunities to explore classic texts. I would like you as Year 6 pupils to compile a list of fairy tales that you think would be suitable for the anthology. I need you to tell me why you think your story choice must be in the anthology: what lessons does it teach? What information does it give? How does it allow our imaginations to run wild? What makes it a wonderful story?

We will only have space for ten stories. We want to find the very best ones!

Thanks
Mrs Lawrence

Protests Turn Violent In Soweto

Year 5's have been writing newspaper articles set in 1976 about violent clashes between black demonstrators and police during the times of apartheid in South Africa.




Year 5 Red and Blue - write out your articles to share with the rest of the school.


Perhaps other pupils have a reflective comment to make and will state what they like about one of the articles.

The breadcrumb trail ...

Hansel used breadcrumbs to help him remember his route through the forest. Think back to our trip to Sydenham Hill woods and imagine you are Hansel or Gretel. 

How are you going to find your way back? 

What important landmarks did you see on the trip that might help you find your way home?

Below are some landmarks to help you. Can you think of anymore?

Convince the centaur

Finally you have found Chiron the centaur. 

In role as one of the servants, convince Chiron to take Jason and look after the future King.

Challenge

What if Chiron says, "If I take Jason, Pelias will surely kill me."

Game of cards

This pupil's cards are all different. There is a number from 1 to 8 on each card.

He has chosen four cards that add up to 20. What are they?
There are seven different possibilities.
Try to find them all. 

Challenge
What if he has three cards that add up to 16?

Building the Argo

Now that you have built your own model of the Argo using a variety of recycled materials, write a paragraph explaining how you did it. 

Then answer the following questions:

1. Would you change your design if you built it again? 

(What would you do and would you need any different materials?)

2. If you were to judge the ships that everyone built, how would you do this?

(What criteria would you use?)

A trip to remember

Tell me about a memorable school trip you have been on this year.

Try answer the following questions:

Where? When? Why? Who? What did you do?

Flying about

A bird flew north for 20 minutes, north-west for 50 minutes, then south for 20 minutes.

The bird keeps flying at about the same speed.

For how long, and in what direction, would the bird have to fly to return to its starting point? 

(If you're not sure about compass points then this might help you.)

Circling the Sun

Reading is one of my favourite things to do just before bed. It helps me to unwind from the day and lose myself in another world. I especially enjoy reading fictional books that are based upon facts or real-life so I can learn new things while I am relaxing with a good book.

I really enjoyed this book as it is set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, the tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time. Beryl Markham was one of the first females to get her B license for flying and she pioneered a new form of safari where she went up in the air to scout for animals and told the safari jeeps where to go to see them. In this book I learnt a lot about Kenyan traditions. Beryl was brought up on an estate with the native Kipsigis tribe and through the story you also see the journey of a young boy in the tribe as he becomes a man.

Have you learned about other cultures from a book? What have you learned?

Safari adventure

Tell me something that you learnt during our school trip to the safari park.

KS2 Maths Challenge: No 2

Your challenge is to use the numbers available (50, 75, 9, 8, 7 and 5) and the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), to make the target number of 640.

Each card can only be used once. It may not be necessary to use all the cards.

How close to 640 can you get? 
How many different ways can you make 640?
What is the most efficient way to make 640?

Ship ahoy!

During a diving exhibition off the coast of modern day Greece, a shipwreck was recently discovered which experts believe was designed, created and used during the Ancient Greek period, like Jason's Argo.

What would the ship have looked like on the inside and outside?

What would be its main features?

Would it look similar to any ships we see today?

Shape multiplication

Each shape represents a number between 0 and 12. Each shape is a different number.

Can you match a shape to a number? Can you explain how you know for certain?

Have a look at what others have said, this might help you.

Baddies

Sure, I eat people's grandmothers once in a while, but that doesn't make me a bad person ... it makes me a good villain.

Without a good villain, there wouldn't be any good fairytales.

Who are your favourite villains from fairytales? (Describe their appearance and character.)

Why are they so important to that particular story?

How would the stories be different if the baddies weren't there?

A helping hand

The wicked step-mother has convinced Hansel and Gretel's father to leave them in the woods. You are to write a letter to the stepmother trying to convince her to go and save them.

Remember to structure your letter correctly and explain why the children are in so much danger.

Cubed

This pupil had between 30 and 50 coloured cubes. When she counted the cubes in fours, there were two cubes left over. When she counted them in fives, there was one cube left over.

How many coloured cubes did she have?

What I'm reading: Rapunzel

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Rapunzel by Rachel Isadora. I have always enjoyed reading fairy tales especially when they are retold in different settings. Last year, I went to a theatre show in East London with my family and we enjoyed watching the performance of several stories from the Brothers Grimm's fairy-tale collection. Fairy tales can be quite dark and enjoyed by adults as well as children.

Not only is Rapunzel by Rachel Isadora bursting with colourful collages that reflect African culture, it also ties in really well with our other book that we have been reading in Year 3, The Village of Square and Round Houses.

What is your favourite Rachel Isadora book and why?
How are Brothers Grimm's fairy tales different to classic stories?

KS2 Maths Challenge: No 1

Here are the four challenges

1. Take any two-digit number. Reverse the digits and subtract your answer from your original number. What do you notice?

2. Take any two-digit number. Add its digits and subtract your answer from your original number. What do you notice?

3. Take any three-digit number. Reverse the digits and subtract your answer from your original number. What do you notice?

4. Take any five-digit number. Reverse the digits and subtract your answer from your original number. What do you notice?

Blogger of the month - October

Congratulations to the first Blogger of the month of this year!

What I'm reading: Kiffe Kiffe Demain

Kiffe Kiffe Demain is a book by the French author Faïza Guène. It combines two of my passions: French and reading. The book is about a Muslim girl named Doria from the Maghreb region of Africa (Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria), who is now living in Paris with her mum. Doria feels excluded at school because she is Algerian and not French, she also feels rejected by her father who has left her mum.

Kiffe Kiffe in French means 'same old, don't really care' and this is Doria's attitude in the beginning of the book. What I find most interesting is feeling part of her story, as her attitude towards life and her ambitions slowly change.

Tell me about a book that you have read which has really affected your own life.

African habitats

What are the features of this habitat and how do they affect the animals that live there?

Write a paragraph answering the question above and remember to use the key vocabulary we used in class this week:

vegetation  climate  camouflage  rainfall  predator  prey

Glorious gingerbread

We have been learning all about measurement this week both inside and outside of the classroom.

One of the key skills we have been practicing is the ability to estimate the heights and lengths of certain objects. 

Using what you have been learning about this week, can you estimate the height of this gingerbread house?

Don't forget your units of measurement and make sure you explain your estimation.

Fabulous Fairy Tales

This terms topic in Year 3 is fairy tales. This week we have been reading and discussing a large range of fairy tales. 

Can you name your favourite fairy tale and explain what you like about it?

What I'm reading: Journey to Jo'burg

Journey to Jo'burg is a book by the South African author Beverley Naidoo. The story tells of two young children's struggle to search for their mother in a time of need. Their younger sister is sick and they need to get help fast!

I found this book so interesting because not only does it tell us of the journey that these two children went on, it also taught me so much about the apartheid law in South Africa.

Apartheid was a set of laws that mean black and white people had to be segregated (separated) in many areas of their day to day life. In the book, we also meet characters who were determined to fight for their freedom. I found this very inspirational!

Can you think of any other stories where children have to go on an adventure or journey in order to save someone or something?

Junior Argonauts

These two Greek boys are thinking of applying to join Jason on his quest to find the Golden Fleece. But do they have the necessary skills, equipment and personal qualities needed to pass the interview?

What do you think would make a good Argonaut?

Think carefully about the personal qualities that might be needed on this long and possibly dangerous voyage.

What skills would be needed on the ship and when they disembark and explore on land?

Is there anything that might be useful to have brought along?

Reading by the river

I've been reading The Monster Crisp-Guzzler by Malorie Blackman. It's a very exciting book about a teacher who shouldn't eat crisps for a very important reason ...

If you've read this book, can you tell me what you liked and disliked?

Groovy Greeks

What do you know about the Ancient Greeks?

What would you like to find out?

A page here, there and everywhere!

I take a book wherever I go. At the moment I am reading The No 1 Car Spotter by a Nigerian author, Atinuke. As well as reading the book in class to 4 Blue, I have been reading in all sorts of places this week!

Can you guess where I am in these photographs?

Where do you enjoy reading?

What next for Sade?

In Year 6 we have been reading The Other Side of Truth. When we last read it Sade had started school and had just been moved into a new foster home.

Continue the story from here.
Remember the following points:

How will Marcia the bully treat her?
How will Sade respond?
What will happen to Papa?
Will Femi go back to his ordinary self and begin to speak with Sade again?
What do you think will happen next?

1 to 20

These pupils had a pack of twenty cards numbered from 1 to 20.
They arranged the cards into six unequal piles.
The numbers on the cards in each pile added to the same total.

What is the total and how could this be done?

(To work this out, you will need to use the cards numbered 1 - 20 which are kept in the teacher's pen pots in your classrooms.)

What if ...

What if you were Beverly Naidoo and had decided to write another book set after Journey to Jo'Burg, where Naledi had grown up and become an adult. Write a paragraph explaining what would happen in this sequel.

Consider the following points
Would she follow in Grace's footsteps or her mother's?
What would become of Tiro and Dineo?
What problems will Naledi encounter and how will she face them? (Think about what you have learnt about apartheid in South Africa.)

Name that face

(No real names have been used. Remember, do not name children in blog posts.)

Max, Polly, Ray and Ella are friends.

Their nicknames are Doughnut, Lexi, Dusty and Bozza, but not in that order.

Can you work out the nickname of each of the friends.

Clues

Ray plays tennis with Lexi and goes swimming with Dusty.

Ella has been on holiday with Lexi but travels to school with Bozza.

Doughnut, Lexi and Max play in the football team.

Doughnut sometimes goes to tea with Ray.