What have MP2 been doing in their final week of the school year?
6 June 2018
IPC
Exit Point: Over the last two weeks Milepost 2 learners have worked really hard on designing and building a model containing a working circuit. They have shown lots of resilience and adaptability as they have worked very hard to solve problems and get their lights, motors and buzzers working. Unfortunately they discovered the frustrations of working with faulty components but despite this, they were able to get many of their circuits functioning. Solving these problems added another unexpected dimension to their projects which resulted in them practising lots of problem solving skills. Well done to everyone for persevering and a HUGE thank you to all the family members who took the time to come and view our projects, and listen to our presentations.
Year 3: Maths and Literacy
In literacy this week we have continued to write Haikus which are really fantastic! The learners have truly grasped the concept of the first line of 5 syllables, the second line of 7 syllables and the third line of 5 syllables. Everyone has been been writing their Haiku about some sort of nature and the learners have written some beautiful poems that they should be really proud of!
In maths this week we have been looking at all the different lines. We have learnt about horizontal, vertical, diagonal, perpendicular, parallel and oblique lines. The learners were surprisingly enthused by this and worked really hard. After a little confusion with parallel and perpendicular lines, all the children were able to identify the different types of lines! Well done year 3!
Year 4: Maths and Literacy
This week year 4 have shown their amazing design and creativity skills by making maths board games! The board games all contain a learning feature and the player has to test their maths knowledge, skills and understanding to win the game. The learners came up with lots of different designs and some of them based their ideas on Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly. The learners also linked their literacy learning by writing out the instructions to their games and verbalising a description.
I have made a huge effort to work as part of my team.
I am a great friend to all my class mates
I have a great attitude and am enthusiastic!
I have applied all my effort all year!
“Goodbye” and “See You Soon”
Well our final day has come in our current classes and we are all feeling a mixture of emotions. Whilst most of us are looking forward to the summer break, some of us may be feeling a little worried or sad about changes that are happening. We are all going through the change of class and learning facilitator but some of us have some bigger changes to go through. MP2 are sad to say ‘Goodbye!’ to Year 4 as they move up the school into MP3. We are also sad to be losing some of our learners who are going off on new adventures in new schools or even new countries but we wish them the very best of luck on their journeys.
MP2 have had a fantastic year of learning, made so much more exciting from their enthusiasm, resilience and cooperation. We’ve had great fun taking part in out of school visits; climbing, the science gallery and especially The Chocolate Shop! There have been many enjoyable special events such as Maths Day, International Day, Book Day and our amazing Entry and Exit Points! The sleepover was definitely a highlight of the year for many of us
After all the hard work, a holiday is well deserved so rest up, enjoy yourselves and thank you for all your support over the past year.
Have a GREAT summer everyone!
What have MP2 been doing this week?
31 May 2018
IPC
This week in learning journey, we have been working really hard continuing our projects. The learners have been really resilient because they have encountered many problems with some of the circuitry. They have been really creative with their ideas and have been very adaptable often having to change their ideas. The learners have been creating some very interesting creations from a reindeer to helicopters! Next week we look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday afternoon for our Exit Point where we can show you all of our fantastic creations!
Science Gallery Visit
This week, as part of our IPC learning, MP2 visited the Science Gallery at Kids City. During this visit we were able to experiment with the circuit challenges whilst also learning through other scientific areas such as magnetism, balance, sound, the solar system and gravity. It was a lot of fun to be real risk takers when cycling on the balance bike high up by the ceiling and spinning around in the space chair! Even Mr J had a go! What a great final out of school visit as MP2.
MP2 D.I.S.C.O
On Tuesday evening Milepost 2, together with Milepost 3, enjoyed the tunes of DJ Mr J at the end of year disco. With MC Mr Tom getting things going, everyone enjoyed showing off their impressive dance moves. Lots of fun was had by all and proceeds from the ticket and refreshment sales will be donated to the BraveHearts Charity.
iCAN’s Got Talent
What an amazing finale we had this week to our wonderful iCAN’s Got Talent show of 2018. The acts this year were the best we’ve ever had! Some fantastic skills were demonstrated from MP1, 2 and 3, including singing and dancing, songwriting, comedy and rubix cube skills! It was an amazing morning for MP2 in particular as two of our own learners were in the top 3! A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Noya who came 3rd and Brandon who came joint 2nd. Superstars in the making!!!
What have MP2 been up to this week?
24 May 2018
IPC
In learning journey we have started our ‘big scientific-technology project’. The learners have been designing, and have started making, their electronic device. We have seen some fantastically imaginative ideas including a Japanese style lantern, a helicopter and many, many more. The learners have been investigating how to use their circuits and how to construct their idea. We have been really impressed with the attitude and cooperation that MP2 have shown. Keep up the hard work MP2. We hope you will be ready to present them for our Exit Point.
Year 4
Literacy
In literacy, Year 4 have practised writing direct speech. We recapped on what speech marks, commas and other punctuation looks like and then learnt how to apply these when using speech. This was a lot of fun as we practiced using comic strips to write a short scene including speech.
Maths
In maths this week we have been consolidating our skills from earlier in the year by continuing to practise our time skills! We have been practising reading analogue and digital clocks, and writing down the time in different forms. The key vocabulary we are trying to remember is “o’clock, quarter past, half past and quarter to”.
Some of the problems we faced in our learning was forgetting the vocabulary, getting the hands mixed up on analogue clocks, not knowing when to use quarter to or quarter past and reading the hour before the minute when reading analogue clocks. Now we have identified these problems, we know how to improve next week!
OUR WEEKEND CHALLENGE: Every time we see a clock we are going to read it!
Year 3
Literacy
In literacy this week we have been developing our characters that we have created. The learners have been learning to act in role and really think about the personality traits of their character. We have been doing some ‘hot seating’ and the learners have been thinking about questions to ask. Through this we have looked at different types of questions and how we must ask open ended questions if we want to find out more about the character.
Maths
In maths we have been looking at division. This is probably the most challenging of the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and Year 3 have been amazing at tackling some very challenging problems. We have been working on dividing using a number line and some learners have even moved onto the chunking method. We have been really impressed with the resilience that Year 3 have displayed this week. Well done!
What has been happening this week in MP2?
17 May 2018
IPC
In IPC, we have been learning about how a variety of light bulbs work. We watched the video below to help us understand some light bulbs are different. We then experimented with magnets learning all about how they work and how to create our own. We were fantastic enquirers when investigating.
Now MP2 can’t wait to apply their science learning and invent a creation of choice using circuits and magnets. We hope to spend a whole day being inventors next week!
Year 4
Literacy
This week we have been continuing with our persuasive letters. Right now there are 71% of people in Cambodia who have access to state electricity…. SO THAT MEANS that 29% of people don’t have access! We wanted to make sure that everyone gets state electricity so we wrote a persuasive letter. Some of the features we have used in our letters include: groups of 3 when using adjectives; emotive language; rhetorical questions and hyperbole. One of the challenges faced when writing our letters was that we were making our sentences too long. We edited some examples of our work and improved it!
Maths
In maths we have continued to practise using a variety of written methods for multiplication. We have consolidated the grid method, learnt the long column method and, when we had ensured our understanding of place value, we learnt the short column method. We then used these to solve word problems and challenges. Some of these were multi-step problems and we needed to remember and use our other skills too. By solving word problems and puzzles we were able to demonstrate our understanding of how to apply these methods, such as in real life circumstances.
Year 3
Literacy
In literacy this week Year 3 have started planning their own stories based on the focus story, The Marriage of Ganesh. They have been thinking about the story and creating the characters for the story. In planning their characters, they have needed to remember that the two main characters both want the same thing. They have been very creative in their ideas. We are looking forward to seeing how their ideas develop into exciting stories.
Maths
This week Year 3 have been learning a new and exciting way of doing multiplication. After recapping multiplying using a number line, the learners discussed how that became difficult when using larger numbers. Their new learning was using the grid method for multiplication. They were very excited to discover how they could multiply larger numbers and also realised how important it is to learn the times tables!
This week has been RAK week (Random Acts of Kindness). MP2 learners have thought about the feeling of stress. We admitted that we have all experienced this in different ways but what is important is the way we deal with it. Each class came up with strategies to help them cope with when they have unpleasant feelings. We also talked about how completing a RAK towards another person can often help them to feel happier and combat stress. We all decided to take the time to think about what we are grateful for in our lives; our family, friends, school… We then pledged to do some kind things for others. Ms Gemma was thrilled when she arrived at school to find a coffee and chocolates waiting for her. It definitely made her day! MP2 also showed their appreciation for our LSAs. We realised how thankful we are for them and made them smile. 🙂
What’s been happening in MP2 this week?
10 May 2018
Child Led Conference
Thank you to all those families that came to CLC on Wednesday. The children truly enjoyed showing off all their hard work and explaining all of their learning. It was brilliant to see them really thrive throughout this experience. Sharing their learning with you is a great experience for them and it’s wonderful to observe how proud they are of all they have achieved and experienced. We hope you enjoyed it too.
IPC
In IPC this week we have been completing our investigations to find out which materials are conductors and which are insulators. We considered the variable we would change (the material) and thought about how to make it a fair test. We found out that most metals conduct electricity as the light bulb only lit when we added the metal item. We recorded our results and thought about our conclusion. We then went on to learn about the inside of a light bulb and how it works. We will also be learning about an electro magnet and creating our own. It’s going to be a messy week experimenting with iron filings!
Year 3
Literacy
Year 3 have continued to use the story The Marriage of Ganesh. This week they have focused on writing a character description. First the classes did a snowball activity which is a really fun way of building a bank of descriptive words. The learners discussed which words were most suited to each character. They also sorted the words that would describe the characters appearance and personality. They then selected a character to write one paragraph about his appearance and one about his personality.
Maths
This week in maths we have gone back to looking at multiplication. We began by refreshing what we already know and working out how to do multiplications using the number line to help us. We have been challenging ourselves with a new concept called the ‘grid method’. Using the grid method allows us to relatively easily multiply 2 large integers together. It has not been an easy concept to get our heads around but we are being resilient and it is beginning to make more and more sense.
Year 4
Maths
In maths this week, Year 4 have been looking at a variety of multiplication methods. The learners refreshed their memories of the grid method, some learners needed to consolidate using this. Some learners went on to work with the long written method and the short. It was challenging but Year 4 were very resilient and will be continuing this learning into next week to accomplish understanding.
Literacy
In literacy this week, Year 4 have been continuing to focus on persuasive writing. Firstly, we practised writing a formal letter, consolidating our knowledge of the features. Next we looked at a letter to The Minions, from Gru. He was persuading them to tidy their extremely messy workshop! It was a great example to start with to help us plan and write our own persuasive letter about access to electricity in Cambodia. We hope to show you some examples next week.
What has been happening in MP2 this week?
2 May 2018
IPC
IMP2 have begun their science learning this week, learning how to make a working circuit and how electricity flows. Before we started, it was important we were aware of the safety precautions we must take when around or using electricity. Unlike Dexter Duck (see the video below) we are very sensible when using electrical appliances and we displayed our understanding by thinking of ways to deal with potentially dangerous scenarios.
We then thought about how prepare an investigation with only one variable. Each class decided to test which objects or materials were conductors of electricity and which are insulators. We concluded that metal was a conductor and could pass electricity through it to complete a circuit. To conduct this experiment, we needed to ensure it was a fair test and as principled learners, we wrote it up step by step.
Year 4
Literacy
In literacy this week, we have progressed onto writing our own persuasive text. We used our knowledge from the debate last week to persuade the reader for or against this question; Should children be allowed to use electronic devices before the age of 16 years old?
We particularly focused on emotive and exaggerated language, amongst other techniques such as rhetorical questions and alliteration or repetition. We then practised giving useful peer feedback to improve our texts further and try to include all of the features within our persuasion toolkit.
Maths
This week in Maths we have been consolidating our knowledge of equivalent fractions of shape and amounts, whilst also practising new skills! We can now write equations and inequations using the greater than, less than and equals ( <, >, =) symbols involving fractions. This has been challenging as we need to use lots of knowledge and understanding in order to do this. We have been great cooperators when working in groups to match equivalent fractions and great thinkers when writing our equations.
Year 3
Literacy
After doing our exciting freeze frame activities last week, Year 3 have used the same photos to learn about using inverted commas or speech marks to show what their characters would have been thinking or saying. They learnt the rules of using the correct punctuation and practised including this in sentences before working with their freeze frame partner to write a short dialogue between their characters.
Maths
In maths this week we have been looking at addition. We have been learning to use the expanded column addition method. This method helps us understand the value of each digit. Everyone has done really well and our learning has been really successful. It has been difficult learning a new method but the new method has really started to click and we feel confident using it. It makes it possible to add big integers together!
Lightning learning this week in MP2!
25 April 2018
IPC
This week in learning journey we have had our Entry Point for our new unit, Bright Sparks! The children walked into the classroom which was darkened. Each table had lots of random electrical components on them (all safe to handle may I add) and the learners were set a challenge to get a light bulb to light up. At first the learners struggled and were a little confused, but after some resilience and persistence there were ‘Light Bulb moments’ like I have never seen before (please excuse the pun). The learners were so excited. This was a really successful Entry Point and has really ‘sparked’ enthusiasm for this ‘Bright Sparks’ unit.
Year 4
Maths
Year 4 have been great enquirers and thinkers this week in maths! We have been using scales and weighing different objects around the class. This was lots of fun as we had to estimate the weight first, and then check to see if we were correct! It was harder to estimate the weight than we thought it would be – sometimes we were completely wrong! We have also been practising our addition skills by calculating total weights of a group of items. We had to ”pack a bag” for the airport and make sure it wasn’t over the allowed baggage weight.
Literacy
In literacy, Year 4 have been studying the art of persuasion. We have practised identifying the features of a persuasive text and even used a range of persuasive words or phrases when speaking. This led on to planning a debate. When the statement was revealed, we were all shocked!
‘Children should not use electronic devices until they have reached the age of 16!’
In teams we listed our thoughts on this and then practised using sources to find evidence to back up our argument, whether we were in agreement with the statement or opposed. It got very heated!
Year 3
Literacy
Over the next learning block Year 3’s literacy learning will be based on the story The Marriage of Ganesh. This is a great story that offers the opportunity to discuss and think about a wide range of issues based on our personal goals. This week the learners were introduced to the story. They thought about the most important points in the story and made a story map. The next step of their learning was to work with a partner or in a group of three, step through the story and create a freeze frame moment. This was performed for the class and photos of the moment taken. They have used these photos to write a descriptive passage about that moment in the story.
Maths
This week in maths, we have been learning about different types of measurements. We have spoken briefly about the differences between imperial and metric measurements and how one makes a little more sense than the other! Therefore we have been measuring different lengths in metric, focusing on millimetres, centimetres and metres. We have been learning how to measure accurately using different types of equipment including rulers, trundle wheels and tape measures. It has been nice to get practical and down on our knees to investigate how to measure accurately!
Don’t forget, MP2 enrichment tasks are due on Friday 4th May or before. Some learners have already brought in or emailed their tasks and they are setting the bar high! Most importantly, it is also clear that they have had a lot of fun making them. Keep up the great work MP2! 1 week to make that project amazing!
The Chocolatey excitement of MP2 this week…
12 April 2018
IPC
This week has been an exciting build up to the exit point for the Chocolate unit. The learners had the opportunity to follow a recipe and make a simple chocolate which they enjoyed sampling and comparing to ‘real’ chocolate. Each group then went on to make the chocolate they designed on Family Learning Day. They had selected up to 4 extra ingredients to flavour chocolate with. Each group added the ingredients to melted chocolate to create their own chocolate invention.
In addition to all this learning we also went on an exciting visit to the Chocolate Shop. In small groups the learners had the chocolate making process explained and tasted dark, milk and white chocolate and cacao butter. After folding their own chocolate boxes they learnt how to use the machinery and pour chocolate into moulds. Each was given a chocolate heart to decorate. We all came back to school very happy with their little box of chocolate to take home.
Milepost 3 came to the Exit Point to see the information posters and presentations, to ask questions and taste the chocolate each group had made. They gave the groups feedback on the chocolate they had designed. The learners displays and ability to talk about the history of chocolate, their knowledge of where cacao is grown, their understanding of Fair Trade, nutrition and the process of making chocolate was an indication of the great learning that has taken place during this unit.
On Friday we celebrated iCAN’s International Day! This is one of the learners’ (and staff’s) favourite days of the year! The food was flowing from a wide range of countries across the globe: Japan, Korea, China, England, Cambodia, Australia, just to name a few! Thank you to all those who prepared this and kindly shared it with our iCAN community.
The learners had the opportunity to fly to 3 countries and take part in fun activities throughout the day. They visited different continents; Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America, and had lots of fun.
We ended the day by celebrating Khmer New Year where some Khmer members of our team performed traditional dances and we also enjoyed traditional Cambodian dishes for lunch. What a fun filled day!
And finally, have a fantastic break and ..
What have MP2 been getting up to this week?
4 April 2018
Family Learning Day
Tuesday was a great success with MP2 families joining us to take part in their children’s learning through maths, literacy, IPC, Spanish and ICT. The learners really enjoyed having mums, dads and other family members from home in their classes, and took the opportunity to really show off what they have learned over this past learning block. We hope you all enjoyed the visit and found it useful to see the routines and types of activities we use to engage the children and further develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. Ms Abbey and 4A are looking forward to holding their family learning day next learning block. Thank you to all those that attended.
IPC
This week MP2 have started our Technology learning. We have been focusing on product design and discussed packaging and brand names. We were super THINKERS when discussing who the target audience is for different products. This helped us to develop our own ideas for our product. We had a FANTASTIC tasting session where we tried different food and discussed which ones would be best suited with chocolate for our chocolate bars! We had to be great communicators when sharing our ideas in our teams. We thought about who we wanted to make a product for and chose our ingredients, designed a chocolate bar wrapper and came up with a name for our product. We also practised making chocolate following a simple recipe before we added our extra ingredients to try our new chocolate bar! We can’t wait to make these next week!
Year 4
Literacy
We used this video to help us practise retelling the story and improve our descriptive vocabulary. Watch the video and let us show you at home!
We then went on to write out our version of the story and some of us even made changes to extend our thinking further about what might happen next.
Maths
In maths we revising our learning about perimeter and area this week. We had lots of fun practising finding these using games on interactive resources and shapes.
Later in the week, something amazing happened! We received a letter from two very famous people, Beyoncé and Jay-Z! They were planning a new swimming pool and need some designing the shape to meet perimeters and areas. Year 4 were on the case!
Try practicing on the games at home:
https://www.interactive-resources.co.uk/
Year 3
Literacy
Year 3 have continued using The Gingerbread Man as motivation for their literacy. They are now planning their own version of the story. They have developed the setting for their story and created characters who fit into their setting. In selecting their main character they had to look at the characteristics of the Gingerbread Man. The fact that all the other characters wanted to eat him was the reason for them chasing him, so in creating their characters they needed to think “What made the main character run away from the others?”. Once they had created their setting and characters they went on to story mapping their story and thinking of a title in preparation for finally writing their very own versions.
Maths
This week, in maths, we have been continuing with angles. We have made posters that will help others to recognise different angles. We have even got out the protractors. This has been confusing but we have been resilient and are beginning to measure angles accurately. Using a protractor can be a really challenging task but we have been trying really hard and have really enjoyed this learning!
3J were all stars of the week due to all their hard work on their fantastic assembly. They demonstrated many of their personal goals whilst displaying their learning and made the whole hall light up with smiles. We really do have some amazingly talented hard working and talented learners in Year 3!
This week we have been talking about our families. We have had a lot of fun finding out about the learning facilitator’s families around the world and comparing them to our own. We have found that many of them have things that our similar to our families but also things that are different. Next week we will be talking about…
Next week, on Friday 13th April, we will be celebrating International Day. The learners will get the opportunity to fly around the world to different destinations and take part in activities relating to celebrations in those countries. We will also be visiting the food court to sample tasty dishes from around the world. We can’t wait!
What’s been happening in MP2 this week?
27 March 2018
IPC
In IPC this week, we have been completing our science learning by investigating which is the best material for the packaging of a chocolate bar. We decided to particularly focus on which material would protect the chocolate from being damaged by smell and taste. To do this we wrapped small pieces of chocolate in a range of materials and placed them in a sealed freezer bag with some large chunks of disgusting, smelly onion! We then left the investigation for a day or two.
When we went back to our experiment, we needed to find out the results. There was no choice, we had to taste and smell each piece of chocolate to compare the strength of the onion on our senses! At least we got to taste a little bit of non-onion tainted chocolate first to make a fair comparison!
Year 3 wrote up their investigation in a formal style and Year 4 documented it as a video. We hope you like our photos and videos below.
Year 4
Literacy
In literacy this week, Year 4 completed their final draft of a diary entry. We have learnt that redrafting is an important part of writing to ensure that we learn from our mistakes and complete the absolute, best learning we can possibly achieve. We then went on to learn about poetry where we particularly looked at haikus. It was fun to try and spot the haiku ‘mistakes’ and re-write them to fit the Japanese poems rules. Although haikus are very short forms of poetry, they can be quite tricky as counting the syllables per word and line is very important. We hope you like our poems below.
class_haikus.pdf
Download File!
Maths
This week in maths, we have been consolidating our coordinates learning. We have practised writing and using these to play real life battleships, move shapes around a grid and locate countries, cities and towns in an atlas. To demonstrate our understanding, we then created our own maps based on cool places such as LEGOLAND, Disneyland and a wildlife park! We had a lot of fun designing these and creating questions for our friends to answer using their maths skills.
Year 3
Literacy
Year 3 have been taking a closer look at the characters and story setting of the Gingerbread Man. They have made drawings of what they imagine the setting of the story would be like. After brainstorming their ideas of one of the characters in the story, they wrote detailed descriptions of their chosen character. Have a read of one of our learner’s lovely description of the old woman from the story.
“There is an old little lady called Cara. She is 58 years old. She has a world record in cooking. She has dry lips, grey glasses, curly white hair and is beautiful. She likes to sing, dance and smile. She runs very slowly because she is very old. She likes to knit for her children, grand children, friends and her wonderful, kind husband Jack who is a professional wood cutter.”
Maths
In maths this week we have been learning about angles and shapes. We have been discussing what irregular and regular 2D shapes are and what makes them regular and irregular. Not only this, but we have been looking at the angle family. We have been looking at the angles within shapes and have been doing some ‘angle yoga’. We have met the angle family! Mr Obtuse, Mrs Right and baby Acute have all been a great help when learning about angles.
Our talk topic this week has been theatre! After iCAN drama club’s epic (and final) performances of Grease, the whole school were talking about their favourite parts of the show and the personal goals that the cast and crew had needed to demonstrate in order to be part of such a performance. We then went on to discuss our favourite plays and musicals, and ones that we had seen before, in real life or otherwise.
Next week we will be talking about… Family.
Who is part of your family?
Who do you live with in your house?
What are your favourite things about your mum, dad, grandpa, aunty…?
What activities do you like to do best with members of your family?
What have MP2 been up to this week?
23 March 2018
IPC
In IPC this week, we have been continuing with our science learning. We have been focusing on what our different teeth are used for and why different animals have a variety of types of teeth. We looked at why herbivores teeth are mainly made up of molars and carnivores’ mouths have many canines. Alongside this, we have been looking at how different liquids can effect our teeth. We did a fantastic experiment using eggs. We left eggs in different liquids (water, coca cola, diet coke, orange juice and choclate milk) over night and looked at the effect the liquids had on the shells. It was really interesting and made us think about whether or not the liquids we drink are good for our teeth or not! After seeing the effects the sugar and acid from the liquids had on our teeth, we will certainly be making sure we brush our teeth on a regular basis!
Year 4
Maths
In maths, Year 4 have been learning about coordinates. We have looked at using these with up to 4 quadrants on a map. We have practised following instructions and answering questions based on drawing shapes using coordinates for directions. We then went on to play battle ships with a friend. We needed to plot our ships secretly on our grids and then guess the coordinates of our opponent. We kept track of the parts of the ships we had located to see who could get all of their coordinates first. It was a lot of fun! We would love to play with our families at home!
Literacy
This week, Year 4 have been continuing to write our historical diary entries. We have been great THINKERS when applying our historical knowledge about the story of chocolate. We have written detailed diary entries by Moctezuma (the Emperor of the Aztecs), Hernando Cortez, 18th century slaves from North Africa and Christopher Columbus. We tried to use different tenses to make it more interesting. We have edited our work and learned from our mistakes so we are going to do a re-draft to show all our improvements.
Year 3
Maths
This week in maths, we have been exploring fractions. Fractions are always challenging but we are really starting to get our heads around what they are and the different ways they can be used. We started by ordering fractions and we found out that the bigger the denominator is, the smaller the pieces are. We have also been finding out about how to find fractions of shapes. We found out some really interesting facts! We are now beginning to find fractions of numbers… it’s difficult but we WILL do it!
Literacy
This week, Year 3 have been practising their acting skills by preparing to perform the story of the Gingerbread Man. After watching the performance of the school production of Grease, they were able to identify what good actors do. They realised how important it is to use a loud voice, speak clearly and to face the audience. On Thursday the Year 3’s got together and shared their performances. What a lot of fun and what a lot of fantastic acting was shared
This week we have been talking about… happiness! In aid of International World Happiness Day, we all focused on the things that made us smile or feel happy in our lives. MP2 came up with a large variety of wonderful things! Some of us found that eating chocolate made us happy whereas others suggested that spending time with their family and friends was the thing that made them the most happy in life. Ms Fee, Mr David and Ms Gemma were witnesses to some of the MP2 boys ‘Happy Dance’ which made them smile and laugh a lot!
Next week, in light of our recent drama production of Grease , we will be thinking about the theatre. Do our learners know many plays or musicals? Which are their favourites? Have they ever taken part in one or would like to in the future?
WOW! What a spectacular performance of Grease iCAN’s drama club have performed this week! Some of our very own Year 4 learners were involved and did a spectacular job of singing, dancing and acting, contributing towards a show stopping performance. Thursday evening’s performance was a sell out…but don’t panic! If you did not manage to watch the show or you enjoyed it so much, you would like to see it again, another performance will be taking place on Wednesday 28th at 6:30. Get your tickets from the office at the front of school. See you there!
What’s been happening in MP2?
15 March 2018
IPC
Milepost 2 Learning Journey has moved onto science this week, specifically looking at the nutritional facts of chocolate. The learners have examined the labels on chocolate and identified the nutrients as listed in the labelling. They have researched what calories are as well as saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbohydrates, and how these affect us and our diet. Their research has also included how much exercise one would need to do to burn off calories. All the learners enjoyed a piece of chocolate and then went out into the garden to do 90 seconds of each exercise; skipping, throwing and catching a ball and running an obstacle trail in order to burn off the calories. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed working together as a milepost.
Year 3
Literacy
Year 3 are using the classic Gingerbread Man story during literacy. Over the next three weeks they will learn about making story boards, stepping through the story, acting out the story and finally rewriting the story with different characters and turn of events. They will also know the story off by heart so they will be able to share this with you. This week they have learnt that a story map contains the key points of the story. They identified the 10 key points in the Gingerbread Man and have completed a story map. They have also practised stepping through the key points without speaking. This has been challenging and fun!
Maths
This week in maths we have been learning to divide. It has been difficult but we have really started to come to terms with the concept of sharing equally. We have learnt that if you can’t divide equally and there is some ‘leftover’, then this is called a remainder. The children have done fantastic job this week and there has been some really deep consolidation of learning. Mr J and Ms Trish are so proud of the resilience that the children have shown.
Year 4
Literacy
This week in Literacy year 4 have been looking at examples of diary extracts and have been picking out the key features in our teams. We were great communicators and worked very cooperatively to come up with a group consensus about diary features. We were able to identify one of the most important features of diary texts – they are written in the first person narrative! We know this is different from the stories we wrote in third person narrative. We practised writing in the first person by recounting our weekend. We have also been focusing on the use of tenses in diary writing. We know that you can switch tense, depending on what you are writing about and when it happened. We are going to use our History knowledge from Learning Journey to write a diary entry from the point of view of a person from the history of chocolate!
Maths
In maths we have consolidated our knowledge of the inverse operation. We identified that addition is the opposite of subtraction, division is the opposite of multiplication and vice versa. We started the week by using the inverse operation to check if answers were correct. We progressed onto using it to find answers to missing number problems. Finally we applied it to check our answers to puzzles and problems. This way we were using it in real life situations by solving the problems, but then making sure we had solved them accurately. We have also revisited some of our maths skills through IPC by recording our research findings for the nutrients of snacks in our own graph or chart.
This week we have been talking about The Oscars! This has been an extremely appropriate topic for those Year 4 learners (and Year 5 – 9) who have been resiliently rehearsing for the drama club production of GREASE! It seems we have some budding stars amongst us. Buy your tickets for Thursday fast as they’re selling out! All proceeds go to SWIM Cambodia.
Next week we will be talking about…Happiness
What makes you happy?
How can you make others happy?
What does happiness look like?
What has been happening throughout book week in MP2?
7 March 2018
This week Milepost 2’s literacy has been so exciting. The learners have enjoyed sessions with Mr Phil, the story teller. They have not only enjoyed listening to his very exciting and entertaining stories but have also been learning to use their mouths when talking and enunciate words clearly. They have also had the opportunity to retell the story as if they were a character in the story, telling their story using I, me, mine and my. In one lesson they learnt that using voices and expression is just as important as the words we say and they had a fun session acting out scenarios speaking gibberish but with gestures and expression that made it clear what they were ‘saying’. There sure are some budding actors in Milepost 2!
Book week ended on a huge high for all of us with the costume parade! Well done to all those who dressed up in fantastic, imaginative outfits. You all really made the day!
IPC
This week in IPC, MP2 have been continuing to learn about the History of Chocolate! We now know that Hernando Cortez invaded Mesoamerica to colonise the area and take over from the Aztecs! We discussed this in class and shared our thoughts on his actions. We have also been practising and improving our skills by making a timeline of events. This has helped us to consolidate our knowledge of events and key people throughout the history of chocolate. Unfortunately, chocolate has a dark past, as we learned when we discovered that European chocolate makers used slaves from North Africa to work on their cacao farms in North and South America. We discussed what Human Rights are and showed our understanding of this by sharing our ideas with the class.
Year 4 Maths
In maths, Year 4 have revisited symmetry. We have learnt that there are different types of symmetry that we see in the world around us everyday. We practised completing shapes and drawings to show lines of symmetry, establishing that some shapes have more than one. We then linked our ICT coordinates knowledge to our maths learning and used reflective symmetry to move and recreate the shapes in up to 4 quadrants. We also applied our negative number learning to these axis, displaying our understanding.
Have a look at the documents below and see if your children can identify the lines of symmetry…
Letters.pdf
Downnload File
symmetry.pdf
Downnload File
Year 3
In Year 3 maths, we have been learning about multiplication. We have been investigating how to use arrays to help us understand how multiplication works and improve our reasoning skills. We have been linking this to our chocolate theme and have noticed that many chocolate bars are an array and show a multiplication. It has been great to use a different method to investigate multiplication.
What’s been happening in MP2 this week?
1 March 2018
IPC
History: In IPC we have been learning about the journey of chocolate and it’s discovery throughout time. We have learned new, and consolidated our existing, knowledge about the Aztecs, Christopher Columbus and Hernando Cortes and their involvement in the development and popularity of chocolate across the world. To put our learning into practice, we constructed a timeline to show the progress of chocolate in history. Linking to our society learning, we also considered the slave trade during these times and whether this was fair. We had lots of strong opinions which we discussed with maturity and thought.
Year 4
Literacy
This week in literacy we have been consolidating our writing skills by writing good copies of our own Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stories that we wrote. This task allows us to reflect on our writing, learn from our mistakes and improve our stories. We have been using dictionaries to check our spelling and peer-assessing each others work so we can help give next steps and feedback. Please have a read next week, they will be on display in the corridor outside the Year 4 classrooms.
Maths
In maths, Year 4 have been learning all about negative numbers. We know that negative numbers exist in the real world and have been using these contexts to deepen our understanding. We know that we need to understand about negative numbers so we can read temperatures on a thermometer, measure depth below sea level, and discuss money and what happens when we go below $0 on our bank accounts. We have also been practising ordering numbers on a number line, including negative numbers!
Year 3
Literacy
3J have been getting to know their new learning facilitator, Mr J. They have been writing about themselves so that Mr J can get to know them better. They have been learning about conjunctions and how to make themselves sound interesting using a variety of techniques including fantastic adjectives. 3T has been writing recounts about their holiday, with a focus being on using the correct tense and fantastic adjectives to make their stories interesting.
Maths
Year 3 have been revisiting the basic concept of addition and multiplication and learning to prove what they know by showing on a number line and teaching their friends what they have learnt.
This week we have been talking about the Winter Olympics. It’s amazing to see what risk takers the participants are in different events and the resilience they show to keep trying even when they make a mistake. The personal goal we are focusing on this month is Respectful, and it has been clear from watching video clips of the Olympians that showing respect towards each other, even though they are competitors, is a very important part of being a sports person.
Next week is… BOOK WEEK
Throughout this week we will be celebrating our love of books, reading and stories by holding lunchtime book swaps, listening to stories during break and lunch and decorating our classroom doors and areas with a book theme. We are also really lucky to be having a special guest come and visit us next week…Mr Phil the storyteller! After the success of his storytelling last year, he is returning to iCAN with a bank of new stories to share. Some of them may be a little chocolaty!
We have been learning through our creative arts celebration!
14 February 2018
ART
As our theme is Cambodia: Change throughout time, we started our celebration on Tuesday by stepping out into the city to view some of the French colonial architecture. We particularly focused on Phnom Penh post office and train station. We noticed how the buildings were often painted in similar colours and had curved doorways and windows. Some of us also spotted that certain buildings were derelict and pointed out the differences between them and the restored buildings. To make sure we didn’t forget the style of these buildings, we sketched them to take back to school and use later in the week. A special thanks to Vans Garden Cafe for letting us use their outdoor restaurant as a viewing location.
On Wednesday we created an improved team sketch of the building of our choice, then went on to select our favourite one as a class. By enlarging the sketch and cutting it into pieces, we took responsibility for one rectangle each and sketched that part of the picture onto a small canvas. We later went on to paint our canvas but added a modern, artistic twist by painting a pattern of our choice onto the building walls. By the end of the week, we had created a giant class piece of art made up of 16-20 smaller canvas pieces, We hope you like them!
Ms Becky, Ms Karen and MYs learners also helped us learn how to create some map art. This was a great opportunity for us to work with the older learners.
Check out our finished products…
Dance
On Wednesday we were really lucky to have BBoy Slick with us from Tiny Toones! He taught us lots of cool, new, hip hop moves and even showed us a bit of his own dancing. We were all super impressed! We then went on to learn a routine to ‘Up Town Funk’. After a lot of practice, we became really good at it.
On Thursday and Friday, Epic Arts came to visit and helped us learn different ways of communicating through hand signals and dance. They also did an EPIC performance for us in assembly.
MUSIC
As music in Cambodia has changed throughout time, we thought we would focus on the more modern forms of music; hip hop and rap. Year 3 and 4 each created their very own rap and linked it to their architecture and art learning from throughout the week.
We all had such a fantastic week full of fun and a significant amount of creative learning. We can’t wait to do it again next year!
What have MP2 been up to this week?
8 February 2018
IPC
Through our learning journey this week, we have learnt about the production of chocolate, from bean to bar. Using an adapted version of the structure ‘One Stray’, a member of each team in the class visited a different classroom to learn about a job role in the production line. When we returned back to class, we taught the other members of our team about our job role. Later we discussed and compared the four main roles in the production cycle, and created our own flow charts to display this. We will be moving onto learning about cash crops and fair trade.
Please save any packaging with a Fair Trade symbol on it and send it to the MP2 learning facilitators to share with the learners.
Year 4
Literacy
In literacy, Year 4 have finally studied the ending to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. After planning their own versions of the story, they have now written them focusing on the different areas of their literacy toolkit such as using descriptive writing. They have been super risk takers by using ambitious vocabulary and a range of new sentence openers.
A fantastic, principled job with continued effort Year 4. Well done!
Maths
This week in maths Year 4 have been completing their line graphs using the data that they gathered from MP3. We looked back at our line graphs from last week and wrote our own next steps about how we could make them better. We focused on this when we did our next graph – and when we compared the two, we could see how much we had improved!
We have also been showing our understanding across all our maths units by consolidating and demonstrating our learning in a written format.
Year 3
Maths
This week in Year 3, they have been practising recalling their times tables. They have used many different strategies to help them remember and apply them, enabling them to answer questions. Already, the learners are displaying great progress and will continue to do so with further practise.
They also had a fantastic opportunity to teach Year 7 how to draw the Flower of Life using their mathematical skills. The learners gave clear, accurate instructions to the older children and were all successful.
Literacy
In literacy, year 3 have been focusing on persuasive language. This was great timing as unfortunately, a letter had arrived from ‘Mr Boggington’ stating that he wanted to build a Chocolate factory and taking over all of the learners space for lunch and break time play! Well…Year 3 did not like the sound of that and therefore worked hard on their persuasive language choices to write a disgruntled letter back to Mr Boggington, changing his mind.
Lets hope our outdoor space is saved!
chocolate_letter.pdf
Download File
We have been thinking about what we would wish for if we had 3 wishes this week. (Unfortunately we could not wish for more wishes!). Some learners wished for a house made of chocolate, but then we thought about how that might not be practical in the hot climate. Others decided they would wish for new cars, like a Lamborghini but Ms Gemma pointed out that we were not yet able to drive it and so she would have to. There was a vast amount of differing wishes and many learners decided that one of their wishes should be something kind for others. This made us all smile! 🙂
Next week we will be talking about…
Travel
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
How many countries have you been to?
Which places are the most interesting to you – beaches, mountains, lakes, cities or the countryside?
What happened during in Sports Day and in MP2 this week?
1 February 2018
Last Friday we had a fantastic morning at NISC taking part in our sports festival. MP2 learners displayed excellent use of their personal goals; they were resilient when completing the long distance run, cooperative when taking part in the fun water challenge and showed adaptability using a variety of skills throughout the day. It was a great day with an extremely close result. Overall the Siamese Crocodiles managed to sneak a few extra points to win the annual team trophy. Congratulations Crocodiles!
IPC
In learning journey we have nearly finished our geography learning about chocolate and presented our presentations. We have done an excellent job of gathering information from a variety of sources and working together on how to present our findings. It was exciting to share our finished products. Check out our cocoa tree in the MP2 corridor which will display our amazing, hard work.
Year 3
Maths
In maths we are continuing learning about data collection and how to present information we gather. 3T have made bar charts about the learning facilitators favourite chocolates and the children’s. 3D have made bar charts to represent the things our class like in our lessons and daily routines. We will then present these bar charts to our new teacher to help him understand what we have already learned and how we learn best.
Literacy
In Year 3 literacy, we have started learning about persuasive writing. We have been sent a letter from a man named Bruce Boggington who wants to set up a pickled onion factory in our beautiful playing field at iCAN! We have been looking at his letter to see the persuasive language he has used to try and convince us to let him build it here! In response, we have been performing role plays and having debates to decide whether it would be a good idea or not!
Year 4
Maths
In maths this week, we have been continuing our learning about line graphs. We have been great thinkers when working hard to interpret the data from a variety of line graphs and answer the questions. We have also been practising constructing our own line graphs. We know that we need to draw the x and y axes, create a scale, label the axes, plot the points and join them up with a line.
Literacy
In literacy this week, Year 4 have continued to read the text Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We have created our own characters based on the book and planned our very own chocolate factory story. We look forward to applying all of our practised skills to our writing and creating an exciting, funny story.
This week we have talking about sports which has been a great follow up after our amazing sports festival!
Next week talk to us about:
3 wishes!
What would you wish for (and you can’t wish for more wishes!)?
What have MP2 been up to this week?
25 January 2018
IPC
This week in IPC we have been practising our research skills. We have been gathering information from a variety of sources in order to answer the research question: Where does chocolate come from? and make a presentation with our findings.
This was challenging as we have to read through lots of information to find the answers and then made notes on the key points. We have been improving writing in our own words, rather than copying the information from the sources.
Year 4
Literacy
In literacy we have continued our learning through Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We have focused on knowing the parts of a story and particularly planning our setting and character descriptions. We will be planning our own chocolate stories therefore we have designed our own characters. By listening to and reading the novel, we are improving our writing to make it as fantastic as Roald Dahl’s!
Maths
This week in maths Year 4 have been working hard to complete some tricky code questions. Using our understanding of division and the bus stop method we have wrote our own sums to be used in the codes. We have also started some new learning about line graphs. We have been focusing on the specific type of data that we could use in a line graph and deepening our understanding of this – now we know that continuous (measured) data is used!
Year 3
Maths
Year 3 started learning about gathering data and how to use the data they gather to make bar graphs. We thought about how to ask relevant questions in order to gather our information and also what types of preferences people have that we could survey. We then practised taking a survey to find out what chocolate the learners in 3T like best – milk, white or dark chocolate. This information was used to practise making bar graphs. 3T also took a survey of 4G’s favourite chocolate bars and 3D surveyed 4A.
Literacy
In Year 3 Literacy, we have been learning how to write Limericks. Here is a Limerick that helps us to remember how to write them:
A Limerick is cleverly versed,
The second line rhymes with the first,
The third one is short,
The fourth’s the same sort,
And the last one is often the worst.
We had lots of fun finding rhyming words and fitting them in to make funny Limericks. We practised editing and re drafting.
Come and read our finished product hanging in our classes. We are very proud of them
Next week we are going to be talking about SPORTS!
What was your favourite event at sports day?
What sports would you like to try?
Do you have a favourite sports star? Why do you like them?
Why are sports good for us?
Massive congratulations to Mr Tom and Mr Adrian who ran an extremely long way last weekend, all to raise money for the charity SWIM. The total stands at $3300 and is continuing to rise. What an inspiration these learning facilitators are to all of us!
What have MP2 been up to this week?
18 January 2018
IPC
After the exciting Entry Point for the new unit on Chocolate, the learners have now started learning more about where the main ingredient for chocolate comes from in the Geography learning tasks. They have discovered that chocolate grows on trees! Their first task has involved using a range of resources to research where cacao trees grow. Through their research they have learnt the ideal climatic conditions for the trees and have discovered that the world’s cacao is grown in these main regions – South and Central America, West Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania. All the information they gather will be presented in a format of their choice.
Year 4
Literacy
In literacy we have been practising our grammar by working on the past and a variety of ways to start our sentences. We have practised using subordinate clauses to add extra detail to our writing, making it more interesting. To follow up from this, we have started to read ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. We continued to work on the characters and setting in preparation for our very own Chocolate Factory stories that we will be planning and writing next week.
Maths
This week in maths Year 4 have been continuing to consolidate our division skills when using the bus stop method. To practise our skills we participated in a Question-Answer hunt that allowed us to show that we can use the bus stop method by finding all the hidden answers around the classroom! To further our understanding of division and the bus stop method we have now begun to use this skill to solve word problems. It is challenging but we enjoy it!
Year 3
Literacy
In Year 3 the learners have worked with a partner or individually to write great, amusing limericks. They have shown a lot of resilience and adaptability as they have practised using rhyming words, getting the rhythm and correct number of syllables into their limericks so they sound right. Once they published their limericks using their best handwriting, they illustrated them with colourful drawings. We hope you like them.
Maths
Year 3 have continued to develop their understanding of subtraction, using different methods to solve subtraction problems with 3 or 4 digit numbers. They have also practised solving word problems by reading a number story and deciding which operation to use in order to solve the problem. First they need to identify what information they have and what they need to find out and decide if they need to do addition or subtraction. They also continued to practise the times tables.
Year 3 had a fantastic time at their sleepover.
This week we have been talking about whether we would like to rule the world. We had mixed reviews although some of us discussed new rules they would enforce such as eating pizza everyday or only talking through singing!
Next week we will be talking about …Dreams.Why do we have dreams?
Why are dreams so weird?
Why do they get scary?
Many cultures believe what we dream about affects our real life and that we can read our dreams. What do you think about this?
Don’t forget that Sports Day is next Friday 19th January. Make sure you have your sun hats, glasses and running shoes ready for a day of fun!
 |  |
| Mr Tom | Mr Adrian |
MP2 would also like to wish Mr Tom and Mr Adrian GOOD LUCK for their Ultra marathon that they will be completing through Friday night and Saturday. They have raised a great amount of money for S.W.I.M to help Cambodian children in the provinces learn about swim safety and survival. It’s not too late to donate at:
https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/tomandadrianultra
Or upload pictures of you running to:
https://padlet.com/ican/icanrun
Password: icanrun123
Thank you for your support.
Welcome back! What’s been happening in MP2 this week?
11 January 2018
IPC
MP2 were incredibly excited today to take part in a new entry point!
We entered the 4G classroom, set up like a banquet hall with long tables and a plate for everyone! Next, we were blindfolded and told we were about to do a taste investigation. First we used our sense of smell to see if we knew what it was and then we got to taste each item, one by one. Some of them were disgusting! But some were delicious! Towards the end we tasted different types of chocolate and found out that our new learning journey is going to focus on CHOCOLATE! We’re so excited to find out what we’re going to learn next.
Year 4
Literacy
In Literacy we have revisited adapting verbs to the past tense using different rules. We extended our learning by considering how these verbs sometimes change back when we write or speak in the negative past. We have also practised our descriptive writing, using our prior knowledge of adjectives and adverbs to build up a picture in the reader’s mind. By using expanded noun phrases, we were able to include more detail and create higher interest. To bring together all of these skills, we had a go at independently writing a setting description.
Maths
In maths we have been tackling the tricky task of written division. We found out that there are many different methods to use when dividing, sharing with diagrams, number lines, chunking and the bus stop method. We were principled when setting out our work to make sure it was clear and to identify our own mistakes. By showing fantastic resilience, we kept on practising each method and we are getting there with determination.
Year 3
Literacy
In literacy we have been learning about limericks. These are usually quite funny! They are made up of 5 lines, lines 1, 2 and 5 end in rhyming words and lines 2 and 3 end in rhyming words. We had a go at creating some as a team and then independently.
Maths
In maths we have been looking at the different methods we know for subtracting 2 and 3 digit numbers. We have practised using a variety of methods including number-lines and the column method to work out answers to questions.
This week we have been talking about New Year’s Resolutions. We discussed many things that we would like to work on or change in our lives. We even found out that Ms Gemma is trying to eat less chocolate and run more often instead!
Next week we will be talking about what it would be like if we ran the world! Ask me these questions at home:
If you were in charge of the world what would you do?
How would you make it a better place for people?
If you had the choice to be in charge would you? Why/why not?