What we are learning this week in Lilac Class for the week beginning 24.11.25

In Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are using bar models, fraction walls and number lines to see the relative sizes of the fractions greater than 1. We are then adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator where only the numerators will be added or subtracted.  The denominators will stay the same.  After this, we will be working with fractions that have different denominators.  These fractions will be within 1 and one denominator is a multiple of another. 

In English this week in Lilac Class, we are starting our new piece of extended writing entitled ‘Come to Belize!’ We will initially watch travel site videos and read information on travel websites and in travel books.  Lilac Class will find out about what Belize is like as a holiday destination and why you should visit it. As a whole class, we will ‘Magpie’ language used and brain storm phrases and words that are examples of persuasive writing.  When visiting Belize, holidaymakers can see the lost cities of the Ancient Mayans, explore the tropical rainforests and swim in the Great Blue Hole. For our Whole Class Guided Reading text, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, we are reading Chapter 12 this week.  We are exploring the reader’s first impression of Aslan and how the children initially respond to him.  We will also be thinking about how C.S. Lewis creates tension in this chapter. 

In RE, we are finishing off our work where we are considering what a Messiah would think of our world today.  If God sent another messenger to Earth today, what would he say about our world and how would our world respond to him?  We will then be re-visiting our Big Question ‘Was Jesus the Messiah?’ drawing on the knowledge we have gathered throughout this unit.  What does the Messiah mean?  What examples from the texts that we studied are evidence that Jesus was to be the Messiah? 

In Time and Place, we are exploring the Mayan number system and we will be learning about how the Maya invented and used their calendars.  Lilac Class are learning about the Mayan calendar that was split into 3 parts: the Tzalkin (a day calendar), the Haab (the month calendar). There were more than 12 months in the Haab calendar because some had shorter days and the long count calendar has a cycle that lasts 2,880,000 days!

For Science in Lilac Class, we will be explaining how air resistance affects moving objects by conducting an investigation. We will be timing how long it takes 3 parachutes to hit the ground.  Each parachute is made of the same material but is a different size.  In ICT, Lilac Class will create a storyboard to explore a variety of filming techniques.  We will be deciding  which filming techniques to use and how to create and save video content on a digital camera.

In Art, we are finishing off painting and varnishing our Mayan pottery.  We are then sketching using 2B pencils a whole pepper and will use this as a basis for creating a drawing in the style of Yayoi Kusama using coloured pastels.