What we are doing this week in Lilac Class for the week beginning 3.2.25

For Maths this week in Lilac Class, we are using the easiest and most efficient method to solve a calculation using division.  We are exploring informal and formal methods such as partitioning, using known facts, factor pairs and number lines.  We will then be solving problems with both multiplication and division.  Lilac Class are then starting a new unit of learning where we will continue with our work on fractions.  During our first lesson, Lilac Class will be multiplying a unit fraction by an integer using multiplication number sentences with fractions, multiplying unit fractions by an integer.  We will then be multiplying a non-unit fraction by an integer, making a link between multiplication and repeated addition using bar models and number lines to support calculations.  We will also be converting improper fractions to mixed numbers. 

In English this week in Lilac Class, we are starting to plan a narrative poem about life in the workhouse. We will be using our Street Child text, other texts, BBC documentaries and photographs for stimulus and ideas.  We will then be drafting our poems written in the first person from the perspective of someone who is living in the workhouse during the Victorian period.  

For Whole Class Guided Reading, Lilac Class are reading Chapters 6 and 7 of Berlie Doherty’s Street Child entitled ‘Tip’ and ‘The Wild Thing’.  Examples of our inference questions which read between the lines are: ‘Why do you think Jim couldn’t tell the boys apart from each other?’  ‘How is Jim’s school different to schools today?’  ‘Do you think the schoolmaster likes Tip? Justify your answer with evidence from the text’.

In RE, we are finishing off our investigation of what keywords we could use to explain how a Hebrew would feel and experience.  This is an activity to consolidate our work about the meaning of our key vocabulary – persecute, oppression, justice, injustice, freedom and salvation.  Lilac Class are then exploring what Moses felt when he saw the Burning Bush.  The children will be studying a painting of Moses and answering such questions as ‘Why do you think Moses had these feelings and emotions?’ and ‘Why do you think God chose Moses to free the Hebrew people?’  Lilac Class will then start writing ‘conscience alleys’ for Moses and the Pharaoh.  We will be learning about the Plagues of Egypt and why they took place.  Lilac Class are exploring why Moses and the Pharaoh are both experiencing a dilemma, what these were and why the men were torn. 

For Time and Place, Lilac Class will continue to learn about the negative and positive effects of the Industrial Revolution on the population of Victorian Britain.  We are finding out what historical bias means.  Some events and aspects of the Industrial Revolution could be positive and negative depending on your point of view.  In ICT, we are connecting more than one output component to a microcontroller by connecting a Sparkle and a motor to a Crumble controller. In French, we are continuing our learning of words for dates and times.  Lilac Class are recapping the months and days of the week that they have previously learnt and be writing in French a timetable of daily routines.  We will also be involved in partner work creating questions and answers. For Science in Lilac Class, we are testing materials for their level of conductivity and will be finding out whether they are electrical insulators or electrical conductors. 

In Design and the Arts we are continuing with our Victorian samplers using thread and binka.  We will be learning to use a variety of stiches with different coloured thread.  We are basing these on our plans.