Autumn 2 Bright Lights, Big City

Week Commencing 1^st November 2021

This week, we started our new topic called Bright Lights, Big City. We had a stunning start where we had a garden party. We waved flags, danced, made polite introductions and learned all about curtsying and bowing. In English, we learned all about recounts and diaries. We thought about our daily events and had a go at writing them down using words such as first, next, then, after that, finally. We also read a book called ‘Katie in London’ and had a go at writing a diary entry pretending to be Katie. In maths, learned all about subtracting. We learned how to draw objects and cross them out to take them away. We learned about using our fingers to take away. We also learned about counting back to help us subtract. In geography, we learned all about human features and physical features. We also learned what a city was. In history, we learned all about Guy Fawkes and what makes the 5^th November an important date to remember. We also had a go at making some fireworks inspired artwork.

• WhiteRose maths - subtraction videos

Week Commencing 8th November 2021

This week, we read a book called ‘The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’ by Charlie Mackesy. We read through the pages and thought about how it linked to mental health and well-being. We thought about our own feelings and we wrote down some examples of times we have felt different feelings. In maths, we worked on counting back and finding the difference to support us with learning to subtract. We also had a whole school maths morning on Friday. We explored maths dancing, using tangrams and we also did a maths escape room challenge. In history, we learned all about Remembrance Day and why people wear poppies. In geography,  we kept a weather diary all week long and we thought about how the weather changes over the seasons. We learned about the countries and capital cities of the UK. We learned more about human and physical features by looking more closely around our school area. We also learned more about London.

Week Commencing 15th November 2021

This week, we read a book called Fortunately, Unfortunately by Michael Foreman. We explored the repeating pattern of language in this book and then had a go at making up some of our own examples e.g. Fortunately, I got a dog. Unfortunately, the dog ran away. Fortunately, the dog came back with a bag of money. Unfortunately, the money belonged to a thief. Fortunately, the dog chased the thief away. In maths, we learned all about 2D and 3D shapes. We learned about their names and properties. We also learned about repeating patterns. In PSHE, we celebrated anti-bullying week by reading lots of different stories and informative PowerPoints. In geography, we learned about different London landmarks. We learned about how they are human features and we learned about what their purpose was. In art, we learned all about an artist called Stephen Wiltshire. We then had a go at sketching pictures of London landmarks from memory just like he does. In history, we learned all about significant individuals from our local area such as John Bunyon, John Howard, Sir William Harpur, Paula Radcliffe, Ronnie Barker, John Le Mesurier and Carol Vorderman. We learned how some of them had statues or things named after them such as the Harpur shopping centre.

Week Commencing 22^nd November 2021

This week, we read a book called Handa’s Surprise. We enjoyed learning the names of the animals as well as the fruit. We acted out the story, retold the story, compared the setting of the story with where we live and then we had a go at making up our own story based on this one. In maths, we learned all about counting forwards, backwards and finding one more and one less. In geography, we learned about position and directions. We learned about physical features and human features. We also compared London with Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to see what was similar and what was different.

Week Commencing 29^th November 2021

This week, we read some books by Steve Antony. We read ‘The Queen’s Hat’ and ‘The Queen’s Handbag’. We thought about what was similar and different with the books. We also thought about what the queen’s diary entry might look like based on the events in the book. We then had a go at writing our own diary entry based on a personal event. In maths, we learned about place value. We thought about how many tens and ones were in different numbers. We also explored how to compare the value of different numbers by looking at place value. In geography, we thought about seasonal weather. We learned about the placement and importance of landmarks. We also learned how to read a simple map and give directions to different London landmarks.

Week Commencing 6^th December 2021

This week, we learned about poetry and read a book called ‘My Village: Rhymes from Around the World’ by Danielle Wright & Mique Moriuchi. We enjoyed reading the poems and then looking on a globe to find the country. We also had a go at writing our own poems based on ones in the book. In maths, we worked on our number facts. We looked at how many tens and one’s different numbers are made up of e.g. 45 is 4 tens and 5 ones. We explored related addition and subtraction facts e.g. 5+1=6, 1+5=6, 6-5=1, 6-1=5. We also explored ordering numbers by value.  In geography, we made a class fact file all about London and the United Kingdom using everything we have learned so far. In science, we learned all about seasonal change and focused closely on learning about winter. We explored asking different scientific questions such as why does ice melt? We also did two science experiments! We explored floating and sinking and we also explored which type of paper makes the best paper aeroplane.