Spectacular Space Cadets succeed in science

As another week draws to a close, I once again reflect on how hard the class has worked this week and the clear progress they are already making. 

This week was the start of our new maths unit centred around addition. As a team we have explored the concept in many different ways, including using place value counters and grids to support in the process of addition, as well as using part whole models to represent this. The class showed great understanding of procedural variation and were able to spot how different representations were constructed. They have then began to look at applying their reasoning and problem solving skills to word problems to further reinforce their skills in context. I am so proud of how hard they have worked and the understanding they are developing around number. 

In our Literacy this week we have participated in a Spanish themed session where the children were trying all things Spanish. The reason for this, is that this week the children's writing focus is on creating a travel guide to Spain. In order to be successful writers we created an immersive learning opportunity where they researched Spain and its heritage, took part in Flamenco dancing and tasted a range of Spanish cuisine such as paella, patatas bravas and tapas. We then pulled out what makes a good travel brochure and used this to inform our success criteria for writing. Next week, we will unpick some of the grammar concepts we could include before applying this to our own writing. I can't wait for you to see the finished result!

In Science this week we have been busy conducting many experiments. We began the week by exploring the inquiry question "Does gas weigh anything?" We then created our own experiment with fizzy pop to prove that gas indeed does have a weight. The children were thoroughly engaged throughout and showed great knowledge of the processes by the end of the session. 

We also created our own water cycles in a bag this week as part of our learning. The class looked at the processes involved and how evaporation and condensation had links to changing states of matter. The recognising how liquid can turn to gas and back to liquid again using the heating and cooling process. 

Check back in with us next week to see what else we get up to!