Debating and Rainforests

English

This week, both classes have continued their debate practice by writing their speeches. The motion – Should school uniforms be optional – has aroused stong feelings and we have had many excellent examples. The judging criteria is very detailed and the competitiors have to include a variety of phrases, vocabulary and techniques as well as having a strong arguement in order to gain points. These include using aliteration, rhetorical questions, adding personal anecdotes, quotes and including research data.

The structure and presentation of the arguement is also judged, with clear speakers, who use gestures and are confident at engaging their audience, gaining more points.

The competition is being held at Pudsey Southroyd Primary School on Wednesday morning and we are sure that our teams will give a good account of themselves.

English this week will return to looking at The Explorer and building up to writing our own adventure story set in the Amazon rainforest.

Maths

Last week we looked at ordering and rounding decimals, with the homework set to match this. This week we will be learning about percentages. Most children are familar with the term but using and calculating them can be tricky.

The video below will help the understanding of the concept.

Geography

This week in Geography, we carried out reseach into the different different layers in a rainforest. During the lesson, we looked at the height of each layer and the animals and plants that live in each. We also found out some amazing facts, such as 90% of all the animals in the rainforest live in the canopy!

DT

In the final weeks of the term, we will be creating our own stuffed soft toy rainforest animal, using fabrics, needles and thread. If your child wishes to create their animal with spare fabric you have at home (eg leopard print) then they are welcome to bring it in. The size of the toys we are making will be no larger than the fabric we have in school, which is around 30cm x 30cm. The children have used sewing techniques in Year 3 but one of the hardest aspects to master is threading a needle. Practicing this at home, if you have a needle and thread, will help them tremedously.

See you all next week.

Mr Beevers and Mrs Kroon