Wednesday 27 November 2013

VI Awareness Morning

We were very lucky to have a special morning arranged by Mrs Hicks today. She arranged for Open Sight to come in and talk to us about what it is like to have a visual impairment and gave us the opportunity to experience what it would be like to be a child with VI.

Terry gave us a talk about how he lost his sight and how he lives with his impairment. He talked to us to about how even simple tasks can be tricky and that he uses a stick to help guide him. Terry can see things but they are blurry so he uses a stick to identify that he may need help, rather than to trace his path to different places. He also had a guide to help him with things such as driving!

 
We also looked at different foods and activities that can be good or bad for our eyesight.

 
We then took part in lots of different activities. By wearing different types of blindfold, we experienced different types of blindness. Playing simple games with a visual impairment actually made them very tricky!
 



Threading was also especially tricky!

 
We also worked as guides to help support a partner around the hall with their vision impaired. We realised that it was important to listen to what the person needed help with, rather than assume and do everything for them.



 
With a visual impairment, it was very difficult to work out where the chair was! Rather than pushing the person down on the chair, we worked out how to guide them so that they had independence and awareness of their surroundings.

 
Finally, we also had a go at making our name using Braille.

 
What did you take away from our VI awareness day?
 

Friday 22 November 2013

In science we tested what happened when a rubber band is used to propel a car.  The question the children were investigating was: can you find out how much force the same rubber band can produce? They were also being careful to make their test fair.




We have been working very hard in literacy to write creatively using adjectives, powerful verbs and adverbs.




We have been working very hard on our free weaving.  Some children have been adventurous and tried to create curves and blocks of colour as well as weaving in a button.  We may have to send some of these home to finish though, as time is running out!














The children have been busy baking bread this week, linked to the story The Little Red Hen.They have enjoyed pouring, mixing, kneading and shaping the bread mixture. We hope they have enjoyed eating them as well!!!!!


The children are also having alot of fun during phonics sessions and we hope they have been practising  and or teaching you at home.
The sounds and actions they have learnt so far are s,a,t,p,i,m,n, o,d, c and k!!

More photos coming soon!!!

Friday 15 November 2013

On Monday we had Visual Impairment  awareness morning.
 







Last week in Year 3 we spent all our literacy sessions focusing on reading skills and in particular using inference.  This is 'reading between the lines' and the children did very well at interpreting pictures, photos and parts of text.  We learnt how to look for clues like detectives.  Inference is a very important key skill in year 3 as the children become more confident and able readers. So thank you to all the parents who are supporting their children in reading at home!

Parliament Week

This week is Parliament week. Our local MP, Mr Thornton, came in to talk to us about the House of Commons, how parliament works and what his job involves. He also answered lots of our questions. What did you find out? 

Friday 8 November 2013

Saint George and the Dragon

We are learning about legends in our Literacy lessons. This week we have learnt about Saint George and the Dragon.


 
Firstly, we looked at the characters in this painting and tried to guess what we thought was happening.
 
We then listened to the legend of George and the Dragon. We acted out the legend and then we retold the legend in our own words, making sure we used VCOP.
 
 

Fantastic Homework!

Year 4 have been working extremely hard at home on their projects. The children were asked to carry out 20 points worth of homework, from a selection of activities, related to our class topic Knights and Castles.