Welcome to Elm Class!

We are a mixed Year 3/Year 4 class. Our class teacher is Mrs Meeten.

Our swimming day is Wednesday and our PE day is Monday.

Elm Class Updates

25/11/24

Wow, what a fun, busy week it has been. We have been getting excited about our Christmas play, planning props and costumes. The singing sounds fantastic and the children have so many ideas to jazz it up! We have been practising our reading skills, highlighting evidence from the text and inferring meanings. We have continued nailing our addition and subtraction strategies. We examined ordnance survey maps again to find Anglo Saxon names along the River Parrett, as well as spotting wildlife on a video of the river. In DT, we worked on reinforcing cardboard using different techniques. In addition we have been trying out some Tai Chi movements to inspire our gymnastics topic and choreograph a dance. Well done Elm class you little superstars.

WC 18/11/24

A busy week this week; a few highlights: In Science we took part in the following muscle experiments where we found out about how amazing and unique our human bodies are:

1. Floating arms: while pushing, the muscles are tightening. When the partner’s hands are removed, the muscles take a few seconds to relax, confusing the brain and leaving a sensation of weightlessness.
2. Palmaris longus reveal: this particular muscle in the forearm is absent in approximately 14 per cent of the population and its presence is genetic/inherited from parents. The tendon (how the muscle connects to the bone) runs into the hand separately from the others, which is why it appears more pronounced when present. 

In DT we continued looking at packaging and how 2D nets become 3D shapes.  We looked in more detail at rivers, in particular the River Parrett. We are becoming more proficient at addition and subtraction strategies and have been enjoying the classic game 'Shut the Box' which is brilliant for keeping those key maths facts bubbling in our brains. We have started to look at our Christmas play; Children of the World, reading the script for understanding before we start to practice a performance. In PE we had great fun developing our rolling skills! 

WC 11/11/24

What a fabulous week in Elm class. I have enjoyed talking to all the parents about the wonderful progress that the children are making. In Science we have been measuring bones and making mini dancing skeletons. Look at the amazing horse skull and elephant vertebrae that Agnes brought in. Thank you for all the boxes, the children enjoyed de-constructing them and putting them back together. We had a fantastic trip to see the Super Chefs show. There we learnt about saving the world one dish at a time, how everyone can help in the kitchen, even boys, but also how both males and females can be super-heroes. We learnt how to make guacamole with some interactive singing and dancing and more importantly how we can say sorry and ask for help when we make a mistake. 

W/C 4/11/24

It was lovely to welcome the children back to school and hear all their exciting news about their holidays. As usual Elm class have been working super hard. In History we learnt about the gunpowder plot and worked as a group to sequence the events which took place. We also made our very own poppy wreath and read the story 

Where the poppies now grow.

We started our gymnastics PE unit of work and worked on different jumps and turns. In English we have been looking at 2 new books all about wolves and are ready to write our non chronological reports about wolves. Mrs Lawson came in and saw us using subordinating conjunctions and thought that our writing had really improved.

We started looking at the River Parrett using ordnance survey maps and began thinking about different types of packaging and how well it would protect the product and how well it presented the product inside. all in all a hard weeks work! Well done! 

W/C 21/10/24

Elm pupils have worked super super hard all term and have really thrived with the new routines that come with a new year group. The children are extremely proud of the progress that they have made with their reading and Times Table challenge scores. We have finished our comic strip art topic and the level of detail and care is very impressive. We have paused our history learning until the new year, where we will be looking at the Vikings!! The children have been using our emotion regulation station, where they are encouraged to name their feelings independently and then use a variety of strategies to overcome these challenges for themselves. We have been continuing to learn about wolves and practices using the subordinating conjunctions because, if, when and although!

Well done Elmies, have a great half term break

W/C 14/10/24 

Well done Elmies for a great week of learning. We have started a new English topic based on books about wolves. We started with a book called ‘Wolves in the Walls’ which is very funny. We carried on with out history topic thinking about what Anglo Saxons believed and finished our guided reading unit on A Street in Your Time, the children were so absorbed in this book. We continued mapping out our comics ready for final touches next  week. 

W/C 7th October 

Black HIstory Month

We have been learning about Floella Benjamin and how it was when her family was invited to England in the 1960's and what she has achieved. We thought about how many different  people have arrived on these shores in boats from the Anglo Saxon times to present day. We have also been really enjoying the poetry of John Agard. Elm class have written diaries and their thoughts about the poems. 

Click on these links to learn more John Agard poetry and Floella Benjamin

In Science we investigated more about light and tried to answer this question 'How does the distance of a light source affect the size of a shadow?' We had fun creating shadow puppets, making different sized shadows and measuring them. We finished our Light and Shadows topic with a mini quiz and there were many silent fist pumps with scores of 9/9!! 

The boys won battle of the band in TT rockstars and the top scoring players will be awarded certificates and a prize. Keep playing TT rockstars, it really does show in the daily maths lesson. 

WC 30th September 2024

Another busy week, we have finished Cloudbusting,  a book which is written entirely in different forms of poetry. We wrote our own versions of Isn't life wonderful. Come in and have a look if you need cheering up. The children came up with some beautiful imagery and words. We also planned out our amazing comic adaptations of some poems that we have enjoyed in class. Watch this space for our final artistic pieces. In PE we enjoyed our ball skills and learnt a new game called 'Don't feed the animals' In Science we continued investigating shadows, including measuring the length of shadows as the sun (torch) moved from sunrise to sunset. We practiced super observational drawing skills in Art to inspire us for our comic strips and you could have heard a pin drop! Photos of the finished art project coming soon!!

W/C 23rd September 2024

Highlights of the week:

Science - Investigating 'Are shadows the same for all materials?'

We compared the shadows made through lots of different materials like denim, foil and coloured plastic.

RE - Thinking about our own identity and comparing it to those who follow Hinduism

Art - Looking at how artists make marks and making visual notes in our sketchbooks.

English - Comparing poems and images to prepare for our comic strip in art

A date with Spring (we really enjoyed this one!)

History - We have begun reading and preparing a mini play about The arrival of the Anglo Saxons

W/C 16/09/24

We have had a very creative week in Elm class with our Art topic 'Telling stories through Art' and also publishing books based on the story Where the Wild Things Are. The children worked hard on using expanded noun phrases and are beginning to think about conjunctions and adverbials within their writing. We have enjoyed reading a text called Ice Palace and have worked hard on paired reading and choral reading with expression. I was very impressed. In maths we have continued with our place value topic and have been used dienes and place value counters to help us. In Science we had fun investigating reflections in spoons and trophies. We have started to learn some songs based on the Anglo Saxons and investigate what happened as a result of the invasion. Well done Elmies keep up the good work! 

WC 09/09/24

Well done to everyone for a full week of learning, here are a few highlights of the week. We are well into our class book called Cloudbusting, where all children have access to the text. It is a book told in different poetry formats and the children have formed some interesting questions about the main character. We have read an extract from the famous book, 'The Iron man' , and learnt lots of new vocabulary even  imagining events from the Iron man's point of view. In Science we did an interesting experiment with UV stickers to see how strong the sunlight is, the stickers reacted so quickly we could not photograph the results. We also found different light sources around the school and recorded them in a table. All the children can explain that some objects look like a light source but this is because it is a reflection. In Art we had a quick charcoal skills session, ready for some 'Telling Stories through drawing' next week. 

A warm welcome back to school for all members of Elm class

WC 04/09/24

We have had a busy week getting used to the new routines and expectations of the classroom, and I was so happy to give out lots of marbles in our jar working for our class reward. We have started our history topic looking at a book called A street through Time.The children are settled into routines for maths, reading and spelling.

What a wonderful week we have had. Even thought we are all tired, the children have been working hard on their Rainforest leaflets and completing the maths curriculum. I will post some pictures of them next week. We have been enjoying playing the Glockenspiel in music and have picked up the melodies very quickly. In PE we have been learning to pass the baton effectively.  We have set up our own investigations to compare rates of evaporation in Science and enjoyed the Willow Weaving and Dance Workshop for Olympic day. 

Enjoy the photos

WC 8/07/23

Continuing on the creative theme, Elm class have worked hard on completing the Kingfisher Project this week. We have a giant slow worm, Barn Owl, field mice, worms and a selection of woodland fungi, the children have written up their science experiments about soil permeability, the jobs that worms do in the soil and what treasures you can find, if you look deep into the soil.

We have carried on writing about the importance of rain forests, using a new book; The Great Kapok tree to inspire us. We will be redrafting the English work into persuasive leaflets which we will publish.

In Science we have continued thinking about fossils, in particular Mary Anning, and also evaporation. We thought about how Christians believe in Agape love and the children found meanings in the parables of the Widow's mite and the Feeding of the Four Thousand. In our maths lessons we have been thinking about shape and space and the year 4's have been moving onto statistics. Not to mention a fun swimming session, an intensive work out in PE and an exciting game of 'Lava Zone' Well done everyone!

WC 01/07/24

As promised, a gallery of our amazing sculptures. These were made from wire and a plaster plinth and then we built up form using strips of cloth. This was tricky to do, with sticky fingers and tables and lots of perseverance. We are very fond of them!

We have also been thinking about the rich fool and the widows mite in RE and what they teach Christians about Agape love. We enjoyed this song:

Build a bigger Barn

In Maths Y4's have been learning about different shapes and Y3's have finished their block of learning about time.

In English we have finished  our amazing poems about life cycles and conservation of British Wildlife. Our work will be on display in the hall next week for you to have a look at.

WC 24/06/24

What a super week in Elm. We have carried on with our topic of why the rainforests are so important, reading a book about the Daintree forest in Australia, and taking notes from BBC planet Earth Jungles. 

We have been finishing off our learning in history, by looking at paintings that were done at the time and spotting historical evidence of the Industrial Revolution.

In PE we practiced our skills of a good sprint start and the water race ready for sports day. We have some new pets to study in Science and have been feeding them our scraps to see how they change the soil, we also investigated whether carbon dioxide weighed anything. Ask the Y4's for the answer. 

We are getting excited for our sculpture project and can't wait to make our figures using wire! I will take some photos, watch this space...

WC 17.06.24

We have started thinking about our wire sculptures in art, by doing a modelling exercise with play dough and then some close observational drawing with tiny objects. Then we made some practice sculptures with one and a half pipe cleaners. 

We had a mega session of athletics, playing capture the flag, aiming bean bags and jumping hopping and running. Swimming was great because we have had so much practice and have really improved, Y4 were swimming two lengths and Y3; were practicing breast stroke. It is tricky to get all the movements co-ordinated. In Science Y4 thought made mini greenhouses to demonstrate the water cycle and Y3 undertook a variety of tests on rocks, to investigate permeability, durability and density. We have also started looking at the History of Willow and how important this is to Somerset. Ask your children all about it.