Learning News 3/4

Years 3/4

CAPA (Creative And Performing Arts): Drama

This term, Stage 2 has jumped into the exciting world of drama! We're learning to use our bodies, voices, and imaginations to tell stories and express ourselves through fun drama games. We've loved playing Emotion Charades, where we act out feelings without a word, and mirroring activities to copy movements and improve observation. One-word stories also help us collaborate and build imaginative tales as a class, proving that even a single word can spark an incredible story!

Writing

This term in writing, we are studying persuasive writing! We're learning how to convince our readers and present strong arguments, a skill that's not only important for school but for life too. We have been focusing on the "OREO" structure, a super helpful tool to organise our persuasive pieces. OREO stands for:

• Opinion: What do we believe?
• Reason: Why do we believe it?
• Explanation: Can we give examples or more details to support our reason?
• Opinion: Restate our belief strongly!

To make our arguments extra convincing, students are challenged to come up with at least three strong reasons, each backed up with evidence. We're also exploring how to use strong modality words (like must, definitely, should) and emotive language (words that make people feel something) to truly influence our audience. It's amazing to see how much thought and effort the students are putting into their writing to sway their readers!

STEAM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics)

This week in STEM, students were challenged to design and create their very own parachutes, using a variety of provided materials. This wasn't just about crafting; it was a real exercise in engineering design thinking! Our young scientists had to carefully consider the best shapes, sizes, and materials to ensure their parachutes would create enough air resistance to "float" gently downwards.

The classroom was buzzing with creativity and problem-solving. It was amazing to see the many different and incredibly creative designs emerge, each student applying their understanding of forces and motion in unique ways. From wide, billowing canopies to cleverly folded designs, the ideas were endless!

Next, comes the most exciting part: testing day! We'll be putting all our fantastic parachute designs to the test to see which ones achieve the slowest and most controlled descent.