Morpurgo Class
Welcome back to the second half term of Summer and the last half term of 2018-2019!
Summer 2 - EuropeThis half term, Morpurgo will be learning about Europe and they will be particularly looking at the difference between Europe and the European Union! We will also be looking forward to Sport's Day, The Gala Concert and the Summer Sizzle.
Enjoying the Glorious Weather
Morpurgo have finally had chance to enjoy the garden they redesigned. They have especially enjoyed using the seating to read during guided reading sessions. Summer 1 - Seeds of Change - Our Class Garden
Summer 1, our topic was Seeds of Change. We made a change to our own class garden, focusing on using recycled products as much as possible. Children from Morpurgo designed their own garden and they worked in teams to create and implement designs for different areas.
Second Half of Spring Term
RE Week (Easter)
Morpurgo created symbols linked to the biblical Easter story. These have now been displayed in church and we were lucky enough to visit church to look for other signs of Easter. 
Spring 2, our topic was Heroes and Villains. We learnt about the heroine, Florence Nightingale due to her connection with Derbyshire. We took a closer look at her life and her legacy.
PE
We have been joining movements together to create sequences in gymnastics. Here are some of the sequences we made.
History
As part of our topic, we explored using different evidence to answer questions about Scutari Hospital (the hospital where Florence Nightingale helped during the Crimean War). We used a soldier's letter and a drawing of the hospital to describe sight, touch, sound, taste and smell. A Giant Wasp Nest
This half term, Jensen's mum came in to show us a gigantic wasp nest, that they had found. The children (and staff) were amazed at the size of it! Thank you so much for this experience; it really created a buzz of excitement in the classroom. 
Red Nose Day (Comic Relief) 2019
Morpurgo had lots of fun dancing the day away at the dance-a-thon, as well as making laugh-out-loud biscuits. World Book Day 2019
We had a fantastic day exploring a range of activities linked to books. We started the day by reading the classic picture book, The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. We then linked ingredients to the features of the Gruffalo, such as raisins for the black tongue and smarties for the purple prickles before making Gruffalo Crumble. Yummy! The children also had the option to decorate a potato as a book character with paint and collage. The whole school had the opportunity to visit different areas of school on a book trail - one trail was based on looking for book characters and the other was looking for clues and answers linked to books. In the afternoon, we made our own character bookmarks and read a range of different picture books and we finally finished 'The Firework Maker's Daughter', which has been our class reading book.
Comic Club
Children in Morpurgo are very excited about the comic club that has started during break times. It has been set up by one of the children from the class and the children are currently creating a range of comics.
Dance Festival - February 2019
On Thursday, 28th February, Morpurgo took part in a dance festival at the Arc in Matlock. We showcased our dragon dance from our China topic and we also learnt a lindy hop dance, which the children really enjoyed. Thank you to all the parents who came to support the class. First Half of Spring Term 2019
Autumn 2 RE Week
This half term's RE week was focussed around 'The Fall.' This is the story of Adam and Eve disobeying God in the Garden of Eden. As part of this, Morpurgo looked at rules and the 10 commandments - we even made our own class commandments to help us get along more effectively as a class. Morpurgo also completed team games and we discussed how they reacted when presented with temptation. 
Morpurgo's Chinese New Year Festival
Thank you to everyone who came to support their child or grandchild in the Chinese Fesitval on Tuesday 12th February. The children were fabulous and we hope you enjoyed it! 
We also had a fantastic visit from Lucas' great uncle, who teaches in China. He came to share Chinese culture with Morpurgo and the children were fascinated by the images he brought with him. It also gave the children a chance to learn some Mandarin from a fluent speaker.
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HomeworkHomework is handed out on a Friday and due in by the following Thursday.
Spellings (orange words) WB:040319
strange strength suppose surprise therefore thought through various weight woman Spellings (suffix -ian) WB:110319
politics politician music musician mathematics mathematician optics optician magic magician Spellings (Orange Words) WB:180319
certain incapable continue independent disconnected describe courageous mountain library February Spellings (Prefix anti-) WB:080419
anticlockwise antifreeze antiseptic antisocial antibiotic anticlimax knot not whether weather Spellings (Prefix super-) WB:290419
supermarket superpower superglue superhuman superwoman superman supertanker superhero supersonic supersize |
The Great Race
The children in Morpurgo learnt the story of how the Chinese zodiacs were created. Here is our version of this legend.
The children in Morpurgo learnt the story of how the Chinese zodiacs were created. Here is our version of this legend.
Art - Decorating the dragon heads
We decorated the dragon heads ready for using in our dragon dance. The children chose the design and resources. They worked hard in teams.
We decorated the dragon heads ready for using in our dragon dance. The children chose the design and resources. They worked hard in teams.
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Sprinkling of Snow - 29th January 2019
As a sprinkling of snow fell to the ground this afternoon, Morpurgo were so excited that we took this opportunity to use our descriptive skills to describe the picture outside our classroom window.
As a sprinkling of snow fell to the ground this afternoon, Morpurgo were so excited that we took this opportunity to use our descriptive skills to describe the picture outside our classroom window.
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Exciting Snowfall
Snow fell like sugar crystals landing gently on the crisp ground. The floor was a blanket, thick and fluffy. White flakes, as white as a polar bear, floated elegantly through the chilly air. Slowly, it coated the grassy field, as well as the bare trees.
Snow fell like sugar crystals landing gently on the crisp ground. The floor was a blanket, thick and fluffy. White flakes, as white as a polar bear, floated elegantly through the chilly air. Slowly, it coated the grassy field, as well as the bare trees.
Spring 1 - China!
Spring 1, our topic was China. We were looking at Chinese New Year in particularly due to Chinese New Year taking place on Tuesday 5th February 2019. We took a closer look at the facts of the tradition, the Dragon Dance, pentatonic scales and we culminated our learning by holding our own mini festival.
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Science
We learnt about grouping and classifying living things this half term. See our sorting activity below. |
Geography
We learnt about physical features of geography, focusing on earthquakes and how they affect China. We built structures and tested their strength against movement. |
Talk For Writing
This half term we started by reading and writing information texts about Chinese New Year. Here are some photos and a video showcasing our hot task. The hot task involved the children creating their own information text.
This half term we started by reading and writing information texts about Chinese New Year. Here are some photos and a video showcasing our hot task. The hot task involved the children creating their own information text.
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Music
This half term, we learnt about pentatonic scales (scales with five notes) and we have been composing our own pieces. A range of pentatonic scales occur in Asian music. |
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Christmas 2018 in Morpurgo!
On Decoration Day we had such a fun day decorating the classroom and getting in the Christmas spirit. Thank you to all of the parents who came to join in and help.
The Digestive System
In science we had lots of messy fun exploring how the human digestive system works. We used various objects to represent the different body parts involved in digestion.
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Remembrance
100 Years
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We all made a Poppy to remember those who bravely gave their lives for our future. The whole school laid their poppies on the Village green underneath the memorial.
Have you seen them? |
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Viking Invasion!
Our first topic of the new school year is Invasion. During our first day back,we made viking portraits, learnt how to play Viking board games, wrote secret messages in Rune and did some research to create our own class fact book. Have a look at us in action below:
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There's a Monster on the Loose!
We've had quite an exciting start to the year! On Monday, we arrived at school to find enormous, monster-like foot prints. What could they be from?! Even the older children came to Morpurgo find out what was going on!
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Performance Poetry
In preparation for our poetry 'Hot Task', we've been exploring rhyme, rhythm and other features of poetry. We also had lots of fun reciting some monster themed poetry.
Long Ship Art Prjoect
In art this half term we have been working on a multi-media collage.
Next, we created our sea by splattering paint, using cling film and adding salt too. We then ripped the paper to create a collage of waves.
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Firstly, we used wax crayons and watercolours to create our sky.
Then we focused on our dragon ship. We carefully sketched out the ship in pencil, designing our own dragon for the prow and tail for the stern. We used patterns and colour to decorate our ship. We then finished off the wood with water colour. Sails coming soon! |
Active Maths
We've been learning about place value this half term, we've enjoyed playing active maths games using the knowledge we have learnt so far.
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Dahl Day
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We thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Roald Dahl Day. Have a look at our fantastic 'Dahl-ian' drink designs.
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States of Matter
We had a fun first lesson learning about states of matter, we even pretended to be particles!
Solids
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Liquids |
Gases |
Which drink is the fizziest?
We've been busy investigating how much carbon dioxide is in fizzy drinks. In small groups we carried out an open investigation.
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Each group was given four different cans of pop, a stop watch and a set of digital weighing scales. Some groups decided to shake their pop and leave it to rest and some left it rest overnight. Each group worked out the difference in weight before and after.
Which fizzy drink you think is the fizziest? 
Click on the button to watch a short video and find out!
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