What we are learning this week in Lilac Class for the week beginning 7.10.24

In Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are beginning our new unit of learning entitled ‘Addition and Subtraction’.  We will be using mental strategies to solve addition and subtraction calculations, drawing on our knowledge of number bonds and counting backwards and forwards in powers of 10.  We will then be adding and subtracting four-digit numbers using column method and applying the inverse operation to solve calculations using bar models and part-whole models.   

In English this week, we will first be finishing off our Space Poems using a range of different conventions, such as alliteration, metaphors, similes and personification.  We will then start to write a diary account of a Conquistador in 1519 trudging through the tropical rainforest of Mesoamerica in search of gold and glory.  Lilac Class will be writing about what they hear, see, smell and feel and describing their journey sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to Mesoamerica.  We will then be considering what questions are going through their mind when they find the gigantic abandoned ruins. Before we start our writing, we will be ‘Hot Seating’ talking about what our experience has been like. We will also, in groups, be acting out this experience as role play. 

For our Whole Class Guided Reading our text is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and we are reading Chapter Six this week.  Lilac Class are going to be ‘word detectives’ working out what specific phrases mean in the text by looking carefully at the sentence they are in.  For example, ‘harbouring spies and fraternizing with humans.’  In RE, we are examining what moral behaviour means and finding out why Christians believe that confessing their sins to God is important. Lilac Class will be thinking about how they feel when they say sorry and confess to someone that they have upset and how they feel when they forgive someone.  

For our Time and Place topic entitled ‘The Ancient Mayan Civilisation’ Lilac Class are learning about how Mayan society was structured and the differences between an absolute and constitutional Monarchy.  For Science in Lilac Class, we will be making sundials in preparation for a whole class experiment.  Initially we will make a prediction based on our knowledge of the movement of the Earth around the Sun and then we will explain the results of our experiment.  For ICT, we are designing our own St Barnabas School website

In Art, Lilac Class are going to make Mayan pottery based on original Mayan artefacts.  This week we will be sketching the shape of our pottery and what design it will be decorated with, examining real Mayan pottery for inspiration!