This week we have been hard on multiplication looking at efficient strategies and using different written methods for multiplying 2 by 1 digit numbers. We have been using place value charts, expanded written multiplication and short multiplication. 
 
In English our focus has been on use of colons to write lists, developing dialogue and using questions to write a cliffhanger. 

We have begun rehearsals for our play 'Pirates verses Mermaids' and have even been using our samba moves from PE to choreograph a dance for the play. In RE we have continued to think about pilgrimage and in PSHE we have been writing our hopes and dreams. 

In science we have been investigating the speed at which sounds travels. 

Our spellings this week are:
serious
obvious
curious
hideous
spontaneous
courteous
furious
various
victorious
gaseous

We hope you all have a happy and safe half term holiday and we look forward to seeing you next term.

This week the whole school has been thinking about mental health and well-being. As a class we have been thinking about building resilience and about how we can cope when things don't go to plan. Our active blasts have had a well-being focus and we have also been reading The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charles Mackesy.

In maths we have been putting our resilience to the test continuing our work on multiplication and division: looking at multiplying and dividing by 11 and 12, multiplying three numbers together and investigating factor pairs. We have been really impressed with how the children are contributing their ideas in maths lessons and explaining their strategies and reasoning. Please keep practising times tables using our new Maths Shed subscription (same password as Spelling Shed which also needs to be used to practise weekly spellings please). 

In our English lessons we have been continuing to focus on conjunctions - co-ordinating and contrasting and writing dialogue in the role of journalists. 

Our spellings this week are the 'ee' sound but spelt with an 'i': 
merriment
happiness
plentiful
penniless
happily
prettiest
nastiness
beautiful
pitiful
silliness

Another busy week in Glyme Class. In English we have been working on using fronted adverbials to make our sentence structure more interesting, metaphors and similes. 

In maths we have been practising our 7 times tables and completing our end of block assessments. 
In art we have been finishing and evaluating our carnival masks - photos to follow soon! 

Spelling for this week are more -ous endings:
courageous
outrageous
nervous
famous
adventurous
advantageous
ridiculous
carnivorous
rapturous
torturous

This week we have been busy practising our multiplication and division in maths and writing our rainforest adventure stories in English. 

In art we began work on our carnival masks and in PE we continued our samba dance routines. In geography we thought about the difference between human and physical geographical features and plotted some of these features on our maps of Brazil. 

Our spellings this week have the suffix -sion:
expansion
extension
comprehension
tension
suspension
exclusion
provision
explosion
erosion
invasion

Welcome back to the new term! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish you a happy 2020! 
We are delighted to announce that Mrs Gold and her family welcomed their baby son Rowan on 30th December, all are doing well. While Mrs Gold is on maternity leave we are pleased to welcome Mrs Thornton, who will be teaching the class Monday to Wednesday. 

This week we have begun our work on multiplication and division in maths, beginning with multiplying by 10 and 100. In English we have begun our unit on The Great Chocoplot, another chocolate-themed book but with a rainforest setting which we will be exploring to help us write our own adventure stories. This week we have been working on expanded noun phrases, similes and repetition for effect. 

We have started work on our topic of Brazil - exploring its location this week using atlases, researching Brazilian carnivals and masks to start our art and DT unit and beginning to practise dancing samba in PE. Our other PE unit this term is gymnastics, taught by Miss Jackson. Photos of our artwork and dancing hopefully to follow in the next few weeks! 

Our spellings this week are from the year 3/4 list of challenge words:
complete
continue
experiment
famous
favourite
February
naughty
material
knowledge
remember

!In Science we have been learning about the different types of teeth and their functions. We thought about why animals have different teeth depending on their diet.
We planned an investigation to simulate what effect different liquids could have on our teeth. Rather than using our teeth we used egg shell which has a similar composition to tooth enamel. We chose to test immerse our eggs in water, vinegar, coke, diet coke, orange juice and milk to see what effect this would have on the colour of the eggshell. We talked about how to make this a fair test and how we might measure any changes that we saw. We made predictions about what we thought would happen but were surprised by quite how much of an effect the vinegar (acid) had upon the eggshell (see photos below)!  

We learned lots from our experiment, not least that we should have kept them in the fridge so that the milk didn't curdle! 

Luke also brought in what we think is a Megalodon tooth!

On Friday we started our maths lesson out on the astroturf measuring perimeter using trundle wheels. This really helped the children to think about what perimeter means and how we can measure and calculate it. 

Out of the Blue to perform at Appleton Primary School!

Mrs Barker is thrilled to announce that the Oxford University a capella group, Out of the Blue, will be performing at school for the children next Wednesday, 11th of December. Each KS2 class will have a singing workshop with the group, before the choir give a whole school performance at the end of the day. 

We are particularly excited to welcome Out of the Blue to school as former pupil Rhys Surtees is a member of the choir. He was part of Mrs Barker's first class, back in 2007!

Everyone at Appleton Primary would like to thank the Appleton Trust for their kind donation to pay for this special event.

Nine children from year 3 and 4 took part in a festival of badminton at King Alfred's. It was a fantastic afternoon and the children all really enjoyed the opportunity to learn and practise some new skills. 

This week in maths we have started our unit on addition and subtraction beginning with adding and subtracting 1, 10, 100, 1000 from 4 digit numbers. We have been enjoying playing place value millionaire! We have also started a new initiative to support the children with progressing with their times tables in preparation for the new government testing in June. ‘Times
Table Tuesdays’ give the children an opportunity to test their knowledge of their times tables in curriculum steps. Each week the children try to match or better their score from the previous week. If they achieve 18/20 or more they can take another step up our class ladder. We are delighted with the children’s enthusiasm and look forward to celebrating their weekly achievements with a boogie to M People’s ‘Moving on up’ . To help support your child with their times tables please encourage them to practise verbally and through the MyMaths homework. Timestables.co.uk is a really useful website and includes a multiplication tables check which can help children to know which tables they need to work on.  

In English we have been continuing writing our newspaper report on Charlie and Grandpa Joe's visit to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. We have been focusing on relative clauses and use of inverted commas and other punctuation for direct speech.

Our spelling list to learn for this week are some challenge words from the year 3/4 spelling list:

1. calendar
2. appear
3. believe
4. grammar
5. increase
6. interest
7. opposite
8. straight
9. strength
10. women

In our topic work we have been finding out about Anglo-Saxon villages and in science we have been finding out about how changing environments can have a negative impact on the plants and animals that live there.