What we are doing this week in Lilac Class for the week beginning 6.11.23

In Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are continuing with our work on square numbers and then we will be learning about cube numbers.  Lilac Class will find out that a cube number is the result of multiplying a whole number by itself and then by itself again.  For example, 27 is a cube number because 3 X 3 X 3 =27. We are also representing cube numbers using manipulatives to complete calculations.  Lilac Class will then move onto multiplying whole numbers by 10, 100 and 1,000, looking carefully at a place value and Gattegno chart to support learning and find out what happens to the movement of the digits in the calculation. 

In English this week in Lilac Class we are starting to draft a non-chronological report about the different layers of a tropical rainforest using the features of report writing.  For example, using subheadings to organise information and fronted adverbials to introduce information.  Our reports will inform the reader about how rainforests are structured and what groups of animals live in the different layers. For our Whole Class Guided Reading our text is ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis and we are reading Chapter 9 this week.  We are thinking about synonyms for a variety of words in the text and the intention of the author: why do you think the author doesn’t want you to think Edmund is too bad?  We will be focusing on Edmund’s behaviour and what motivates him to do what he does, even though he is afraid.  In RE, we are thinking about what the Messiah will be like and where he will be born when he returns to Earth.  Lilac Class are also thinking about why the Jewish people are still waiting for the Messiah and what they expect him to be. 

For Time and Place, we are continuing to learn about the beliefs and religious practices of the Ancient Mayan Civilisation. We will be learning about the different gods and how they affected the lives of the Mayan people.  We will also be learning about the Mayan Creation Story.

For Science in Lilac Class we are starting our new topic entitled ‘Forces’.  We will be examining, by conducting a comparative experiment, the relationship between mass and weight as a force and learning about Sir Isaac Newton.  In Art, Lilac Class will be making Mayan pottery based on original Mayan artefacts.  This week we will be finishing our sketching of the shape of our pottery and what design it will be decorated with.  We will then be starting our clay modelling.