Leapfrog Game

By popular request!

Here is the link to the “Leapfrog” game that we used in todays Maths lesson.

Leapfrog Game

Leapfrog Game

Can you swap the 5 Blue and the 5 Green to the opposite sides?

I can (honestly!), even though I kept making mistakes in class!

Have fun and comment to let us know how you get on!

Mr W.

Year 3/4 Summer Topic – “Chocolate”

Just a quick post to share this term’s focus sheet with you again (in case you lost it!)

Is there something that you are especially looking forward to?

Comment to tell us!

Mr W.

This Term’s Artist Focus – Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso, (25 October 1881 - 8 April 1973), was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor.

As one of the most recognized figures in 20th-century art, he is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles embodied in his work.

Among his most famous works is Guernica (1937), his depiction of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Guernica

What can you find out about Pablo Picasso?

What is a draughtsman?

What is ‘Cubism’?

What do you think of some of his art?

Do you like it? Why? or Why not?

Share your ideas as comments.

Mr W.

Snakes and Ladders Game

Snakes & Ladders Game

Just for fun!

Here is a Snakes & Ladders game for 1-6 players.

Click the dice to roll it and use the counters to move.

Mr W.

Summer Term Topic – Teaser Trailer!

Welcome to the SUMMER TERM!!

I thought that I would give you a little teaser as to our new topic for this term  – I think you will like it!

Watch the clip, and then post a comment to say what you think the topic might be.

I will be impressed if anyone gets it right!

Hope you have had a great Easter and not eaten too much chocolate!

Are you rested and ready for our new topic?

See you next week!

Mr W.

New Record for Daily hits!

It is official!

We have a new Watsongowtsblog Record!

Thursday 16th April2009 has broken the record for the most visits in one day – 395!

This beats the previous best of Tuesday 24th March 2009 by a whopping 58 visits!

Congratulations!

Thanks to all our visitors, both regulars and people just passing by.

I hope you found what you wanted!

Mr W.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Just a final thought for you all.

Have a happy, safe and peaceful Easter break.

I hope that you come back refreshed and ready for the exciting summer term ahead.

Thank you to you all (children, parents, carers, everyone) for your support, it has been a successful term.

Remember that Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calender. (Yes, even more important than Christmas!)

Enjoy your hot cross buns, easter eggs, and any other treats you might be lucky enough to recieve – remember to say thank you, and think of those less fortunate than you.

Keep blogging, enjoy the games and try out some of the learning activities too.

I am on holiday for the first week so any comments that you leave might take a while before they appear online – be patient, we all deserve a holiday!

Have fun, be good, be polite, be helpful, be gracious, be honest and mostly importantly be back in two weeks!

Mr W.

Battleships!

In maths this week we have been learning about position.

In particular – finding positions on a grid when the columns and rows are labelled.

One of the activities was to play Battleships:

 

If you would like to play along at home, here is the link:

Battleships – General Quarters 2

Have fun – All hands on deck!

Mr W

Spellings and Homework – 26/03/09

Here are your spellings and homework for this week.

Remember homework needs to be handed in on Tuesday next week (31-03-09).

Spellings will be tested on Friday (03-04-09).

Literacy Homework 26-03-09

Maths Homework 26-03-09

Class Spellings 27-03-09

and here is the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Sheet

Remember to get the grown ups involved!

Remember I am keeping a check now on who does their homework on time.

“Errrrrr, I forgot” is NOT a good excuse!

If you have any questions, worries, or concerns – don’t forget to come and ask me!

Mr W.

New Record!

 

It is official!

We have a new Watsongowtsblog Record!

Tuesday 24th March 2009 has broken the record for the most visits in one day – 337!

This beats the previous best of Monday 12th May 2008 by 7 visits!

Congratulations!

Thanks to all our visitors, both regulars and people just passing by. I hope you found what you wanted!

Mr W.

Georges Melies – Cinemagician

I have been looking at lots of films by Georges Melies or as he was known the “Cinemagician”.

He lived and worked in Paris, France over 100 years ago and was a film-maker, one of the first.

I have found his films very interesting and cleverly made.

He made hundreds of films between 1895 and 1920 – many have not survived.

This one is called “Un homme de tetes” or “A man with heads”

This film was made in 1898, that is 111 years ago!

He is thought of as the father of modern special effects – his films were seen a MAGIC by the people at the time, and I think some are still quite special now.

Can you find out any more about him?

Can you find any more of his films?

What were they about?

What did they have in common?

Can you work out ‘how’ he did it?

Remember there were NO computers or CGI (Computer Generated Images) like we have now.

The next blogging landmark has been reached!

Congratulations everyone – today is a truly great occasion!

Watsongowtsblog has achieved 30,000 (Yes, Thirty thousand!) hits.

Now we are aiming for a new daily high score!

May 12th 2008 – we achieved 330 Hits, that is the best so far – can we beat it?

We had 315 on 11th February 2009 and that was the closest!

Mr W.

Spellings and Homework – 13/03/09

Here are your spellings and homework for this week.

Remember homework needs to be handed in on Tuesday next week (17-03-09).

Spellings will be tested on Friday (20-03-09).

Literacy Homework 13-03-09

Numeracy Homework 13-03-09

Class Spellings 13-03-09

and here is the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Sheet

Remember to get the grown ups involved!

Remember I am keeping a check now on who does their homework on time.

“Errrrrr, I forgot” is NOT a good excuse!

If you have any questions, worries, or concerns – don’t forget to come and ask me!

Mr W.

Character Trading Cards

In literacy we have been doing loads of work on stories, setting and characters.

Here is a fun online game that you can use to develop a character.

Read, Write, Think – Character Trading Cards

 

You can use it to invent characters for your story, and then you can think about the character in more detail.

Then you can make a set of characters that you might use in lots of different stories.

You might even make a card for a real person, or a story/film character that you know well.

Mr W.

Beatbox Chef

I like to share interesting and unusual videos – and I thought there would be some people who might enjoy it.

Can you Beatbox like this?

He does all the sounds with his voice, no instruments, no tricks.

I am not sure about the wig though!

Mr W

The Iron Giant – Ending

As requested by Jonathan.

Here is the very last bit of The Iron Giant.

Hope it is the part that you wanted.

Tell me what you think of the ending.

Is it good? Bad? Boring?

Why?

Create some WOW words lists in comments that we could use to describe the scene.

What camera angles are used? When? Why?

Mr W.

This Week’s Homework 04-03-09

Here is your homework for this week.

Remember it needs to be handed in on Tuesday next week (03-03-09).

Literacy homework this week is ‘Synonym Snap’ a game for you to make and play with your family.

Numeracy homework is a Fractions activity. because we have discovered that fractions is an area that we have found difficult to understand.

Synonym Snap Literacy Homework 04-03-09

Fraction Wall Numeracy Homework 04-03-09

Remember to get the grown ups involved!

Mr W.

Lincoln City Football in the Community – Multi Skills

Over the past 2 weeks, Year 3 have had the great opportunity to take part in Multi-Skills sports sessions led by Damian Froggatt from the Lincoln City Football in the Community team.

These sessions have focussed on a range of skills related to balance, control, and movement.

The children have really enjoyed these sessions and it has been wonderful for me to watch the childrens skills improve over a short time.

Over the next 4 weeks, all classes from Y1 to Y6 will also have the chance to experience these sessions.

A big thanks go to Damian for leading the activities!

Here are some pictures of the class taking part today.

 

Mr W.

Spellings and Homework 27-02-09

This weeks Homework:

Literacy & Numeracy Homework 27-02-09

Here are this week’s spellings.

Spellings continue to show real progress for all children. 

Remember to keep practising using the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method.

The more you practice the better you will get! (Just a quick run through on Thursday night or Friday morning isn’t enough!)

Thanks to parents and carers for supporting your children every week!

Here are this week’s Spelling lists – test is on friday.

Class Spellings 27-02-09

and here is the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Sheet

Remember to practice them!

See if you can move upto the next group!

Mr W.

This Week’s Homework – 25/02/09

Here is your homework for this week.

Remember it needs to be handed in on Tuesday next week (03-03-09).

Literacy homework this week is Talk Homework, with some questions from The Iron Giant for you chat with a Grown up about.

Numeracy homework is an activity related to our targets this term. Number pairs to 20.

Year 3 Homework 25-02-09

Remember to get the grown ups involved!

Mr W.

This Week’s Spellings – 23-02-09

Here are this week’s spellings.

Spellings continue to show real progress for all children. 

Remember to keep practising using the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method.

The more you practice the better you will get! (Just a quick run through on Thursday night or Friday morning isn’t enough!)

Thanks to parents and carers for supporting your children every week!

Here are this week’s Spelling lists – test is onfriday (27-02-09).

Class Spellings 23-02-09

and here is the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Sheet

Remember to practice them!

See if you can move upto the next group!

Mr W.

The Iron Giant – Adventure and Mystery Stories

We will be watching parts of “The Iron Giant” to support this work.

The film is based on the famous book by Ted Hughes called the Iron Man. It follows Hogarth, a small boy brave enough to fight against, and then become friends with the mysterious Iron Man.

Who was he? Nobody knows.

Where had he come from? Nobody knows.

How was he made? Nobody knows.

Can anyone think of any other Adventure/Mystery Stories that they have read, or seen?

In Literacy over the next few weeks we will be looking at Adventure and Mystery Stories.

What do you think makes an Adventure/Mystery Story?

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Also as a plee for help…I appear to have lost my Iron Giant DVD!

If you have one that I could borrow on Monday please bring it in!

Thanks

Mr W.

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Update: 25/02/09

Great news!

I have found my “Iron Giant “DVD!

We can use it now instead of the Youtube versions – Hooray!

I am certainly pleased about it!

Mr W.

Unusual Green Comet to pass Earth

An odd, greenish backward-flying comet is zipping by Earth this month, as it takes its only trip toward the sun from the edge of the solar system.

The comet is called Lulin, and there’s a chance it can be seen with the naked eye – far from city lights, astronomers say. But you’ll most likely need a telescope, or at least binoculars, to spot it.

The best opportunity is just before dawn one-third of the way up the southern sky.

On Monday at 10:43 p.m., it will be 38 million miles from Earth, the closest it will ever get, according to NASA.

The story behind the comet is more intriguing than its appearance – the greenish tinge may be hard for many to see. The colour comes from a type of carbon and cyanogen, a poisonous gas.

Lulin was discovered by a Chinese teenager two years ago. It still has many of its original gases – gases that are usually burned off as comets near the sun.

While all the planets and most of the other objects in the solar system circle the sun anti-clockwise, Lulin circles clockwise. Thanks to an optical illusion, from Earth it appears as if the comet’s tail is in the front as it approaches Earth and the sun.

“It essentially is going backwards through the solar system,” NASA said.

It came from the very edges of the solar system, 18 trillion miles away. Once it’s made the journey around the sun, Lulin will gain enough speed to escape the solar system.

If you are interested in comets, make sure you see it, but it’s not going to be easy to see!

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This report is adapted from: AOL News – Green Comet

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Let me know if you get to see it!

Mr W.

 

Class Assembly – Determination

On Thursday 12th February, we will be performing our Class Assembly.

 

The theme is ‘Determination’.

Determination – Year 3 Class Assembly

Here is a little sneaky peek!

All the children are involved and have a part to play within it.

Hopefully we will see some of you Grown-Ups there!

Come and hear the story of ‘Johnny Crow’, hear  a reading from the Bible (Luke 4 v.1-13), found out a little about some great scientists, inventors and doctors, for whom determination to succeed was essential!

Mr W.

WALL-E – Robot Instruction Writing

So far in Literacy this week ,we have designed our robots and thought about what they do and what some of the features they have which helps them do their job.

Like WALL-E with his caterpillar tracks, trash compactor, high power cutting laser, retractable arms and head.

Today we made our robots using plasticine! Great fun!

Here they are:

They are really brilliant, and the children have had a fantastic time designing and making them.

Let us know what you think – which is the best? Your favourite? Why?

I am really looking forward to the next stage!

Mr W.

Instructions – WALL-E

 

 

This week in literacy, we will be continuing to learn about Instructions.

We will not only finding out about the features of Instruction writing, but we will be using the film WALL-E as our starting point.

I am really excited about the learning that I have planned for us to do, and I am sure that you will be too!

If you have the chance, watch the film or some parts of it and look at the robots, what they look like, how they move, what they do and how they do it, as well as thinking about HOW you think they work. How would you describe the way that they operate.

If you can do this, great, if you can’t no problem, we will be watching some bits of the movie in lessons.

Very exciting!

Mr W.

This Week’s Spellings – 09/02/09

Well, it would seem that the snow kept me away for a day, but there is no escape from your spellings!

Here are this week’s spellings.

Spellings have been going really well and the children are having real successes – thanks to parents and carers for supporting your children every week!

Here are this week’s Spelling lists – test is next friday (13-02-09).

Class Spellings 09-02-09

and here is the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Sheet

Remember to practice them!

See if you can move upto the next group!

Mr W.

This Week’s Homework – 05-02-09

Here is your homework for this week.

Remember it needs to be handed in on Tuesday next week.

Literacy Homework 05-02-09

Literacy homework this week is all about Instructions, which we have been learning about this week. You need a partner (Grab a Grown-Up, they will like the challenge!) and you need to give them instructions to draw the picture without you showing it, then they have to describe one to you, without showing you! A challenge and you will need to give very clear instructions.  Have fun!

Numeracy Homework 05-02-09

Numeracy homework is solving problem involving time and yes, you can use a clock to help you!

Remember to get the grown ups involved!

Mr W.

World’s Oldest Woman?

I came upon this on the AOL news pages at the weekend, and I thought that it would pose an interesting question…

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Officials in Uzbekistan say they have found the world’s oldest woman and, if her age proves to be accurate, she would be the oldest documented person to have ever lived, according to BBC News.

 Tuti Yusupova’s birth certificate says she was born in 1880, that would make her 128, six years older than the previously oldest documented person – Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died at age 122 on Aug. 4, 1997.

News reports from Uzbekistan say that the birth certificate, and Yusupova’s age, have not been confirmed, nor have any international organizations come forward to accept her as the world’s oldest person.

Currently, that title goes to 114-year-old Gertrude Baines, who lives in California and whose father is believed to have been a slave, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Yusupova’s records came to light when officials searched for people over the age of 100 in honor of the country’s upcoming 14th anniversary of independence.

Yusupova married at age 17, which would mean she married in the 19th century and had two children.

She currently lives with her grandchildren.

 

Yusupova says her only health problem is that her hearing isn’t as good as it used to be.

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Dangle – Short Film

In literacy we are trying to use a more Visual Approach, using films, images, movie stills and short clips to inspire writing.

In BIG Writing this week we watch this short film from the BFI (British Film Institute), and talked about how you can create different sentences by looking at the different camera angles.

The children then were given a series of ’stills’ from the film and asked to write the story, thinking about what happened in the film and the different types of camera angle:

Long Shot – Looking at alot of scenery and characters in the background.

Medium Shot – A shot which shows the relationship between characters or a character and an object.

Close-Up – To show an emotion by looking at the characters face or an important detail.

EXTREME Close-Up - To show an EXTREME emotion or very fine detail.

High Angle Shot - Looking Down to look at what others are doing.

Low Angle Shot – Looking Up to demonstrate size.

Aerial Shot – Looking directly down from above

The children really enjoyed it and did some brilliant writing!

I can’t wait until next time!

Mr W.