Welcome to Morpurgo Class (Y4/5) |
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Welcome back to Spring 2! We are officially halfway
through the academic year!
Weekly Spellings: Spring 2
WB: 24th Feb - revisit all previous spellings from Spring 1 (homophones/near homophones/ -ation/sub- and super-/plural apostrophes)
WB 2nd March - words with the /s/ sound spelling with 'sc' (science, discipline)
WB 9th March - words with a soft c' spelt with 'ce' (centre, notice)
WB 16th March - words with a soft c' spelt 'ci' (cinema, circle)
Wb 23rd March - Word families (phone, homophone, telephone)
WB 30th March - Word families (solve, solution, insoluble)
World Book Day Homework
Book in a Jar Ideas:
Our current class reader:
Home Tasks while school is closed: Monday 10th February 2020
1)Rehearse your spellings for this week (they are in your planner).
2) Research, name and draw 5 inventions that were showcased at 'The Great Exhibition.' Why were these inventions unique?
3) Interview a family member about their favourite book/author.
4) Access the homework help websites below.
5) Draw an image of your favourite place in Derbyshire (it might be your home, a river or the poppy field from last year). We will talk about these next half term for our next topic.
2) Research, name and draw 5 inventions that were showcased at 'The Great Exhibition.' Why were these inventions unique?
3) Interview a family member about their favourite book/author.
4) Access the homework help websites below.
5) Draw an image of your favourite place in Derbyshire (it might be your home, a river or the poppy field from last year). We will talk about these next half term for our next topic.
Homework Help
As always, as well as their Friday homework, children should be reading at least 3 times a week at home, whether that be their accelerated reading book or their stage book (if they have one). Please can parents make sure this is recorded in the planner.
Children should also be practising their weekly spellings, which should always be in their planner or please see above.
Here are some links to websites to support learning at home:
https://www.purplemash.com/sch/longstone
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
https://myminimaths.co.uk/
Children also have TT Rockstar usernames and passwords to log on at home to practise times tables. This should be as often as possible. In preparation for the Y4 Times Table Test towards the end of the academic year, we recommend that children play 'Soundcheck.'
https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/33139
Children should also be practising their weekly spellings, which should always be in their planner or please see above.
Here are some links to websites to support learning at home:
https://www.purplemash.com/sch/longstone
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
https://myminimaths.co.uk/
Children also have TT Rockstar usernames and passwords to log on at home to practise times tables. This should be as often as possible. In preparation for the Y4 Times Table Test towards the end of the academic year, we recommend that children play 'Soundcheck.'
https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/33139
Home Tasks - things that can be recapped/spoken about at home
Here are some of the things we have spoken about in class this year:
Here are some of the things we will be looking at this half term:
- The Four Operations: addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of three and four digits
- Place Value: the value of each digit (2,345 - 5 ones, four tens, three hundreds, two thousands)
- Rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000
- Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, 1,000
- Missing digits from addition, subtraction, division and multiplication calculations
- Explanation texts (using cause and effect connectives)
- Diary extracts
- Biographies
- Poems
Here are some of the things we will be looking at this half term:
- Fractions: equivalent fractions, showing fractions in different ways, finding a fraction of an amount
- Adventure stories
- Fact files about places
Spring 2 Topic: Our Amazing Earth!
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This half term, we are exploring key geographical features of our Earth, such as mountains, rivers and tectonic plates. Morpurgo will carry out practical tasks to enable them to investigate these features, as well as becoming artists and producing landscape paintings of our local area inspired by Monet! Hopefully, our topic will culminate in a visit to Speedwell Cavern to explore an amazing part of our local area.
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Reading
This half term, we will be using a system with emojis to record children's book reviews in a more accessible way. Children will choose an emoji to match their view of the book and write a sentence to summarise their feelings. This will allow other children to choose a book based on more than just the front cover and the blurb (hopefully)! You could talk to your child about this new system. Why don't you review their next book together? |
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Geography
To kick start our new topic of 'Our Amazing Earth', we made papier-mache globes! Here are Morpurgo class in action:
To kick start our new topic of 'Our Amazing Earth', we made papier-mache globes! Here are Morpurgo class in action:
World Book Day 2020
Morpurgo had a fabulous day dressing up as a character from their chosen book. In class, we read an extract from 'A Place Called Perfect' and we created a pair of glasses to help us imagine our 'perfect' setting.
Morpurgo had a fabulous day dressing up as a character from their chosen book. In class, we read an extract from 'A Place Called Perfect' and we created a pair of glasses to help us imagine our 'perfect' setting.
Geography
Morpurgo class learnt about the 5 different types of mountains by making them and exploring their features.
Morpurgo class learnt about the 5 different types of mountains by making them and exploring their features.
Maths
This half term, we are learning all about fractions and the children are responding really well to exploring this area using graffiti maths - luckily, the graffiti can be wiped away! See our examples below.
This half term, we are learning all about fractions and the children are responding really well to exploring this area using graffiti maths - luckily, the graffiti can be wiped away! See our examples below.
English/Geography
Here are some examples of our cross-section pictures, which are labelled to show the features of a volcano. The children needed to carefully follow instructions in order to complete their picture.
Here are some examples of our cross-section pictures, which are labelled to show the features of a volcano. The children needed to carefully follow instructions in order to complete their picture.
Spring 1 Topic: The Great Exhibition!
During Spring 1, Morpurgo researched different Victorian inventors and inventions and the impact these had on history. We also looked at the importance of 'The Great Exhibition' in showcasing groundbreaking inventions, some of which we still see today! Furthermore, children invented their own item to solve an everyday problem.
Our Finale... The Great Exhibition Video! We hope you enjoy watching our half term in movie form!
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Winter Poetry
As winter came upon us, we decided to create some poetry to highlight this season. We used images to inspire our creations. |
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Music
We started our music this half term by recapping the instrument families and we discussed the different sounds of the instruments. We then listened to different pieces of music to see if we could hear specific instruments and name them. Here we are sorting instruments. We also created our own thumb pianos. See a couple of the examples below. 
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Australian Bush-fire Awareness Day - Art and Design
A couple of children in Morpurgo asked to hold a fundraising day to raise money to help animals injured in the Australian wildfires. School Council discussed this and they decided to hold a non-school uniform day, as well as bake cakes and make masks to sell. Here are some photos of Morpurgo children getting busy painting bird masks, inspired by Aboriginal art. As you can see, they explored making different shades of colour too. Below are photos of Morpurgo making their masks and then some of the finished product. |
Fond Farewell: We said a fond farewell to our friend Alfie this half term. We are super excited to hear lots of stories from his travels, when he gets back!
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Science
Morpurgo had such an engaging lesson looking at electricity. They made simple circuits using: wires, battery packs, buzzers, lights, switches and motors. Here are some of the children in action: |
Computing
During Spring 1, Morpurgo were game designers. They created games using Scratch and their games involved creating codes, which meant players needed to click the characters to win. |
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Autumn 2 Topic: Victorians!
During Autumn 2, Morpurgo learnt about the Victorians, particularly looking at the social and academic difference between rich and poor members of society . We used the story of 'Oliver Twist' and 'A Christmas Carol.' We also were busy preparing for our KS2 Christmas Performance and Christmas Concert, which went extremely well! Well done to everyone who took part!
Decoration Day 2019
Morpurgo had a great time during Decoration Day this year! We made felt Christmas tree baubles; paper reindeer baubles; Victorian style Christmas cards; gingerbread tree biscuits and Christmas wreaths. Thank you to all of Morpurgo for making it memorable and thank you to all the adults who supported throughout the day!
Morpurgo had a great time during Decoration Day this year! We made felt Christmas tree baubles; paper reindeer baubles; Victorian style Christmas cards; gingerbread tree biscuits and Christmas wreaths. Thank you to all of Morpurgo for making it memorable and thank you to all the adults who supported throughout the day!
Winter Chalks
We created some winter images using chalks.
We created some winter images using chalks.
Poetry
This half term, we wrote our own haiku firework poems and we also performed some of these too.
This half term, we wrote our own haiku firework poems and we also performed some of these too.
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Autumn 1 Topic: Romans!
Autumn 1, Morpurgo learnt about the Romans, particularly looking at their invasion of the UK and the impact that had on our country. We also settled back into our classroom and developed team work and learnt independence.
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Morpurgo's Roman Timeline
Morpurgo created their own timeline of the Roman period, which was based on our knowledge of the Bayeux Tapestry. We decided that it would be more exciting to find out about the Roman period by creating art pieces to showcase the important events. |
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Music
We looked at the history of Roman music and the instruments they played. Can you see any similarities and differences with modern instruments? |
Roald Dahl Day 2019
On Friday 13th September 2019, it was Roald Dahl Day, which is where we celebrate the birthday of this wonderful author. In Morpurgo, we created a front cover for a book titled 'Billy the Brave'; we read Roald Dahl's Hansel and Gretel rhyme and we also unpicked an extract from 'George's Marvellous Medicine' followed by creating our own 'Marvellous Medicine' poem.
On Friday 13th September 2019, it was Roald Dahl Day, which is where we celebrate the birthday of this wonderful author. In Morpurgo, we created a front cover for a book titled 'Billy the Brave'; we read Roald Dahl's Hansel and Gretel rhyme and we also unpicked an extract from 'George's Marvellous Medicine' followed by creating our own 'Marvellous Medicine' poem.
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Morpurgo's Marvellous Medicine
Bubbling broth and bone-chilling brew,
Wormtail froth and burning goo,
Boil and coil and fire-spitting spray,
Sizzle, fizzle, shout and sway,
Watch it glowing, tossing, smashing,
Hear it giggling, whistling, rumbling,
Grandma better watch and pray.
Bubbling broth and bone-chilling brew,
Wormtail froth and burning goo,
Boil and coil and fire-spitting spray,
Sizzle, fizzle, shout and sway,
Watch it glowing, tossing, smashing,
Hear it giggling, whistling, rumbling,
Grandma better watch and pray.
News Reports
Morpurgo worked in teams to create their own news reports about Boudicca and the Roman army.
Morpurgo worked in teams to create their own news reports about Boudicca and the Roman army.
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Maths
We ordered 3 digit, 4 digit and 7 digit numbers. Morpurgo ordered them from largest to smallest and smallest to largest. |
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Art
Morpurgo designed their own Roman mosaics using beans, peas and lentils. We are ready to put our designs into action using clay tiles. |
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Design and Technology/History
Morpurgo learnt about the aquaducts, which the Romans introduced. They designed and built their own system and we then tested them to see if they could carry water. Some were successful and some were not so successful but we had fun and we discussed how we could have improved them. |
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