Exploring Scratch – position and orientation

In computing this week, children in Year 4 were continuing to explore Scratch which is something we learned about last year. However, we were developing our understanding by learning about the position and orientation of our sprite. This allowed us to make links to our prior maths units of coordinates and angles. It was so lovely seeing the experts support the less confident children as well as them grappling with it when it got a little tricky.

Parts of a computer

Last week in computing, we learned about the different parts of a computer and ensured that we knew the correct names to use. We discussed the purpose of each part of the computer so we understood their job. Children then completed a task where they had to label the different parts of a computer independently which they did a great job of.

Debating the Future of Our Forests

Yesterday afternoon Crew McLoughlin learnt about the pros and cons of deforestation. They were asked to create a speech based on the question: Should deforestation be illegal? Our crew had lots of brilliant ideas and arguments to support both sides of the debate. The highlight of the lesson was when some pupils shared their amazing speeches at the end. These speeches have inspired Crew McLoughlin to think more deeply about our guiding question: Why Should We Help Our Planet Survive?

Crew McLoughlin’s Expeditionary Learning

Over the past couple of weeks, Crew McLoughlin has been buzzing with excitement during their rainforest expedition learning! From exploring the layers of the rainforest to discovering fascinating creatures like poison dart frogs and jaguars, the students have fully immersed themselves in this vibrant topic. They have created gorgeous glossaries and fascinating fact files. Here’s a sneak peak at our working wall to show you a glimpse of our learning. 

Let’s Debate Deforestation!

Crew Rankin continued their geography journey by learning all about deforestation, the causes of this and how this impacts on people, animals and the planet. After looking at an image to really stimulate our learning, we were shocked to see the stark difference between a thriving forest and one that has been effected by deforestation. We then watched a video to help build our background knowledge, making notes of anything we found important. We then came together and created a class anchor chart to bring our learning together. Finally, we used this information to generate our own persuasive arguments as to whether or not we thought deforestation was a good thing. At the end of the lesson, we stood proudly and delivered these arguments to the rest of our crew. Miss Hamill was REALLY impressed with our emotive language and the facts and information we included.

Guess Who?

Year 3 absolutely loved playing our very own historical version of the classic game Guess Who?
The children asked insightful questions to try and guess who their partner had chosen. It was a lovely activity that sparked great discussions about people who have lived throughout history.