Learning Experience Rationale:

Over the next six weeks, we will be exploring the Stone Age with the children, pointing out how exactly life would have been different for early man. We will point out just how long ago the Stone Age was, and place it as part of a continuum of history. This topic builds on their existing Historical Enquiry skills and knowledge gained when they were learning about the Spanish Armada and The Great Fire of London in Key Stage 1, and will prepare them for their future topics of Vikings and World War 1 and 2 when they move on to Unit 4. During the topic, we will also link to the topic of Rocks in Science, exploring how fossil records and dating are providing key clues as to what life was really like tens of thousands of years ago. 

Learning Experience Hook and Outcome

During the first week of school, we have planned a trip to Kent’s Cavern. This will give all children the experience of a real cave system to help them to imagine what life would have been like for people in the Stone Age. At the end of the half term, we will be inviting parents and guardians in to school to celebrate everything the children have created.

Maths

In maths this half term, children in Unit 3 will be learning and deepening their understanding of times tables, multiplication and division. At Preston, we believe that mathematical fluency is important. Being fluent can mean just remembering key facts, but it can also mean being able to find shortcuts to help you calculate the answers.

Vocabulary – over the next few weeks we will be exploring the following topic vocabulary.

Tier 2 – high level words – wandering, stumbled, tangled, inquisitively, pounded, furious, echoing.

Tier 3 – subject specific words - Neolithic, Mesolithic, Paleolithic, chronology, era, AD/CE, BC/BCE, circa, duration, Neanderthal, homo-sapiens.

Literacy

Over the next few weeks, children will be exploring a range of fiction and non-fiction books to do with the Stone Age. They will then be planning and writing their own version of a time-travel story using Stone Age Boy as a model text. As they write their creative work, they will be including some of the facts that they have learned  and drawing on their experience of Kent’s Cavern to make their stories feel even more authentic. We will be focusing on the skills of high-level descriptive language, as well as practising how to include inverted commas correctly within their narratives.

Music, art, poetry and film as part of this Learning Experience

We are very excited to be able to offer a wide range of music, art and film experiences over this half term. We will be looking at Cave Art, exploring what kind of sounds we would hear in caves, as well as watching a range of films to help pick out what is and what is not historically correct in the media.

Wider Curriculum

This half term, we are continuing our rotation focusing on ICT, Spanish and Philosophy for Children (P4C). P4C will encourage children to think more deeply about key questions, as well as teaching them how to articulate their ideas clearly. They will also learn how to disagree with an idea, without falling out with the person. 

British Value

This half term, in our Class Assemblies, we are learning about the British Value of Democracy.      

School Values

In Assemblies we are learning why Independence is important.

Home Learning

We challenge the children to create a stone age piece of art over this half term. This can be a model of a stone age settlement, or another piece of art inspired by our learning.

Reading at Home

It is important to read with your child at home, even if they are a confident reader. Please take to time to listen to them read or even read to them.

The Stone Age has a really rich breath of books that compliment the topic. Please visit the following website for a list of books that you could share with your child over the half term: https://www.booksfortopics.com/stone-age-to-iron-age

Dates to remember:

Kent’s Cavern Trip: Thursday 9^th and Friday 10^th January 2020

Home learning due: Monday 10^th February 2020

Non-Pupil day: Friday 14^th February 2020

Messages

*Every day you need to make sure that your child has: a coat, a refillable water bottle, a healthy snack for break time (if required).

*Remember that, due to allergies in school, snacks and packed lunch boxes should not contain nuts.