Springfield House School- Information for Parents Autumn Term 1 2017 Class: Janine, Sam, Laurelle and Viv Lier Extreme Earth English The class story this half term is ‘Earthquake Terror’ by Peg Kehret. The children will use this as a basis for developing their own earthquake survival story. They will be producing non-chronological reports on earthquakes and will write a newspaper report about an earthquake. Each week there will be a focus on grammar, punctuation, spelling rules and handwriting. Through reading various texts on earthquakes, the children will develop skills in extracting information from non-fiction texts. Mathematics We will be consolidating and improving our skills in using formal methods of adding, subtracting and multiplying. The children will also focus on improving their understanding of place value, creating charts to gather data and present data about earthquakes in different ways. Through Maths Wizard, Froggy Maths and ’Rock stars’, the children will continue to develop and improve their skills in multiplication, division and converting measures. Geography The focus in geography will be learning about how tectonic plates work, how earthquakes occur and the effects of an earthquake. They will also gain an understanding of life in an earthquake zone and become familiar with the precautions and preparations required. History The children will be learning about dates of earthquakes around the world. Physical Education We will be swimming this term to improve our skills in water. The children will have a weekly session with the sports coaches to improve their skills in hitting, catching and throwing. Music Using the Charanga music programme, the children will be finding a pulse, clapping a rhythm and develop an understanding of pitch. They will have the opportunity to use simple percussion instruments. Religious Education and PHSE Our focus in RE will be considering living with rules and what impact Christian rules have on society. The children will be discussing about being fair. PHSE will focus on controlling our emotions when we feel scared. They will be challenging assumptions and learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Art and Design and Technology In art, the children will be designing art work around seismic waves using different lines and watercolour. Can you design a building to withstand an earthquake? The children will have the opportunity to build structures and test them on trays of jelly. They will learn how to join and measure materials, as well as adjusting and re-testing their structures. Science Would you hear an earthquake? The children will examine how sounds are made, how they travel, how we hear sounds and will be investigate how sounds become fainter the further away they are from the sound source. The children will also be discussing forces while building their earthquake structures in Design and Technology. Computing The children will using the internet to research information about earthquakes. They will be producing a slide show on Microsoft PowerPoint, incorporating images and using slide animations. They will be using the STEM program to design a town to house people safely in an earthquake zone.