Unit 3 Autumn 2 Newsletter
Rotten Romans
Welcome back after what was hopefully an enjoyable half term break! Please find the details of our intended learning experience for the second half of the autumn term. Our new Learning Experience is entitled ‘Rotten Romans’ and is based around the topic of the Roman way of life.
Learning Experience Rationale: During this half term, the children will learn about the impact the Romans had on our country. We will explore how the empire grew over time, through many famous battles. The Romans aren’t just famous for conquering countries; they have left a legacy which is still evident today. Therefore, we will explore how they built roads and the incredible architecture they spread around the world.
Learning Experience Outcome
Children will each create an information booklet during the learning experience. Towards the end of the learning experience we will hold a ‘Roman day’. We will re-enact a famous battle and dress in Roman clothing. Parents are invited into school to read the booklets with their children at our outcome on Thursday 20th December at 2:45 pm in the school hall.
Maths
During this half term, the children will develop their knowledge and understanding of addition and subtraction. The children will be expected to use their prior understanding of mathematical concepts to assist them in solving a range of mathematical problems, including word problems. The children are challenged to become more fluent with their skills, which include multiplication tables and related number facts. There will be a particular focus on ensuring the children reason with their responses and recording this through journaling.
Home Learning
Please can you ensure that homework books are brought into class and taken home on a daily basis. All children will have weekly spelling and maths tasks. We also encourage children to log on to a computer and complete Read Theory and Times Tables Rockstars weekly.
Roman Homework task
We would like the children to design their own roman shields, either drawn on paper or made using cardboard (or any other materials!). The homework is due into school in the week beginning 10th December and will be displayed at our outcome.
Literacy
Through the six weeks learning experience, the children will be expected to write an explanation text in the form of an information leaflet, about the Romans’ way of life. The children will be basing their writing on high quality texts that will set the standard for the quality of writing we expect.
Reading at home – We expect the children to read books at home as often as possible. We encourage the idea of questioning your children about what they have read and asking them to find the evidence in the text – we have found that this process increases their comprehension skills and helps them with the Accelerated Reader quizzes they do in school.
Science:
This term the children will be learning about forces and magnets. Children will:
- compare how things move on different surfaces
- notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance
- observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others
- describe the properties of magnets
Spanish / PE / RE
Spanish lessons this half term will be based on greetings and classroom objects. In RE this half term, we will be looking at some of the traditional bible stories. Tag rugby will make up the PE activities for this half term and the children will be continuing to learn to play the ukulele within music sessions.
If you have any questions or if you would like to discuss your child’s learning further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Miss Pettitt, Miss Prior and Mr Kingdon