Mr Dunn – 2023/24

Hello parents!

Wow! Another week down, lots of new learning took place, the children discovered and explored lots, worked well and collaborated together on a number of new projects.

Here is a summary of what we covered in class this week:

English:

• We delved into prepositional phrases, helping students understand how to provide more detailed descriptions in their writing.
• We explored synonyms and powerful adjectives, emphasizing the importance of using descriptive language to make their writing more engaging. The children sorted synonyms into groups and used thesaurus.
• Students had a creative writing exercise where they described a monster, applying the concepts they learned.
• We discussed the use of pronouns to avoid repetition, enhancing their writing by using words like “he,” “she,” “it,” “they,” etc., instead of repeating nouns.

Mathematics:

• In Year 4, we focused on rounding 4-digit numbers to the nearest 10, 100, and 1000, honing their number sense skills.
• For Year 3 students, we concentrated on reading and writing numbers, reinforcing their understanding of place value.
• Additionally, we introduced counting in 4s and 8s, helping students build their multiplication skills.

IPC (International Primary Curriculum) Lessons:

• During our IPC lessons, students engaged in activities related to conflict resolution. They learned effective strategies, created scripts, and role-played scenarios to practice resolving conflicts peacefully.
• Students completed their regulating emotions poster, continuing their journey towards emotional intelligence and self-regulation.
• We also discussed the importance of healthy eating and learning, the students conducted their own research and made a presentation about what they found out.

PE Lessons:

• Teamwork with Jump Ropes: Children worked in pairs, using jump ropes to transport hoops. This game encouraged cooperation, coordination, and communication.
• Hula Hoop Relay Race: We had a thrilling hula hoop relay race, where students showcased their speed and agility while passing hula hoops to their teammates.

Hello everyone and Happy Friday!

Another enjoyable week with lots of learning going on; this class continue to impress and students are going from strength to strength.

This week in maths, we continued our work on place value. We completed some work on comparing numbers using the great than, less than and equal symbols; the students used their bodies to make the symbols to help them remember. Also, we ordered numbers from smallest to largest and largest to smallest; to help the students, they wrote numbers on their whiteboard and got themselves into the correct order.

In English, we continued our work around writing fiction. We started the week by looking at how to write similes and then used some of the devices we learnt to produce a short paragraph describing a setting.

For IPC, we explored our ‘Brainwave’ unit a little more. To start the week, we built towers again to see if we could be more successful, using the strategy, planning, monitoring and evaluating. The students looked at memory and strategies to help them remember something. Then, we explored regulating our emotions and the impact our emotions can have on our learning; the students made a poster to show this.

Hello everyone!

A big well done to everyone on completing our first week back at school; it has been a busy and productive week. The students continue to impress me with how they have adapted to classroom expectations and routines.

In English, we started the week with a quick assessment; the children wrote a short story so I could see what they could remember. Also, we looked at an example and identified key features. Next, we began to look in more detail at each one; we spent some time looking at expanded noun phrases and punctuating and writing direct speech. To help with writing direct speech, I showed a scene from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ the students roleplayed as the characters and used this to help construct direct speech correctly.

In maths, we also started the week with a quick assessment and the rest of the week, the focus was place value. We spent a lesson where students used different equipment to represent numbers and explain the value of each digit. We then moved on to partitioning numbers, breaking down large numbers into more manageable numbers.

For IPC, we started our unit called ‘Brainwave’; the focus is metacognition. We started with an entry point by playing a code-cracking game; the students had to solve various problems to gain different digits. Then we spent a lesson on Growth Mindset and made a poster about this.

That’s all for this week; have a great weekend.

Hello everyone!

I have had an enjoyable first two days with my new class; I am super proud of how well each child has started, and I am excited to see where this year takes us. We spent these two days getting to know each other and going through routines and expectations. First, we quickly introduced ourselves and then played a get to know your classmates bingo game. Later, we made an all-about-me backpack to display in the class. Then we discussed how we would treat each other and the classroom, thinking about respect, responsibility and showing kindness. I also set the children a challenge; students worked as a team to see who could make the tallest tower from tape and straws.

Today in PE, we played teambuilding games, discussed each core value and made a poster. To end the day, we ensured we had finished our work.

Next week, I will hold a meet-the-teacher morning on Thursday, 31st August at 10:30. I will use this time to discuss the class timetable and expectations for the year and answer any questions you may have about the year.

A few other reminders for next week:

PE will be every Tuesday and Friday, please ensure your child is wearing appropriate clothing and footwear.

The library session is on Wednesday; children can take some library books home and return books they have read.

Friday is Homework day; homework will be assigned on Friday and children will have a week to complete it and return it to me the following Friday. All homework; is related to current learning to ensure that children understand the content.

Hello everyone!

Welcome Year 3/4 to Mr Dunn’s class! I am very excited to see you all on Thursday for the first day of the new school year. We will spend the first two days having fun, getting to know each other, and adjusting to new routines. Please remember to bring your lunch, a snack, and a water bottle. I look forward to seeing you all soon!