Welcome!

As you may know, I have been waiting, usually patiently, for the birth of our third child.

Today at 3:30 am, Beatrice was born, weighing 3.23 kilograms.
Is this closest to 7 pounds, 7 pounds 2 ounces or 7 pounds and 7 ounces?

Thanks for your kind messages. I'm sure Miss Anne will bring her into the class for you to see in the next few weeks.

Friday 21st

Good Morning,

I hope you all had a good day yesterday.
Please let me know what you have been doing at home.

Please check that you have done the activities from previous days.

Thanks to Samuel, Seb, Bua and Punn for responding to the Learning at home questionnaire. Please have a go if you have not done it already. I can see all of your responses when I look at my google docs. We will use some of the information when we get back to school...hopefully on Monday. Keep watching the school blog.

Well done to Joe - for contacting me about his wikispaces password...he now has a new one and can help add to the class wiki.

Richie now has his mymaths login details and so can now do the maths activities from a few days ago.

Today's tasks...

Maths - Answer these two maths activities. First this one, then this one.

If you make a mistake,

• try to work it out correctly on your own.
  
• If you cannot, ask an older brother or sister to try to explain.
  
• If they cannot, ask an adult.
  
• If there is no one who can help, please comment and either I will help or I will do a blog post and ask other classmates to help.

Read for at least 30 minutes. Comment either as a blog post, as a book review on the school library website (if the book is listed there), or in your blue reading record.

Keep adding to your research for your Egyptian book so that we can use the research in class. Adding to the wiki is another great way for you to share what you have found out.
Let me know if you want me to add another page to the wiki.

Please make sure you also do some exercise, eat healthily and help out around the home.

That's all for today.
Hope to see you on Monday, but keep checking the school website for details.

Today's learning from home

A big well done to Samuel, who has been editing the class Ancient Egypt wiki .

Many of you have logins for this wiki which allow you to read, edit and add information to the site. Please have a go, or let me know if you are not yet a member. I will then send you an invite and you will need to make up a name to use so that you can take part.

Here is an Ancient Egyptian quiz, which Miss Caswell kindly said we could use. You need to check whether facts are true or false and may use the internet. If you need to, please check with your parents first.

Please check your email inboxes and take the opportunity to read any old emails, keep the ones you want/need to, and throw the rest in the bin!

Log onto storynory. http://storynory.com/archives/educational-stories/ and learn a few tongue twisters! They are HARD!!

If you find any words that you do not know what they mean please write them in your Blue book. Later you can look up the meaning and write it with the word in your Blue book.

Don't forget to go to mymaths if you haven't done the two units from the last few days.
Here are some other links.

Please comment on the ones you find most helpful.

Maths Number
http://www.mymaths.co.uk/
http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/math-trainer-multiply.html
http://www.mathszone.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/
http://www.bigbrainz.com/
If you have lego, bricks, boxes or anything like that try to build a map of the Nile and Egypt (Like the one in our shared area) take a photo for our blog!

Hope to see you soon.

Egyptian Day Postponed

We have decided to postpone tomorrow's Egyptian Day.

That means we will still have Egyptian Day BUT it will be on another day.

All the teachers are very sorry, but don’t worry we will still do it.

Another day at home!

We are at home again! Bangkok is not safe for school buses to travel through so make the most of being at home.

Please check through the activities I have given for Friday, and Monday and do these if you have not done so.

Keep learning by:

Reading for 30 minutes...please read with an adult if possible...this might mean reading aloud, or it might mean the adult asking you about your reading. Please record you reading or thoughts about your book in your blue reading record.

Maths: enter data into this googleform. I will then ask you to interpret the data on another day.




Literacy and Humanities: carry on researching your chosen topic for you Ancient Egypt booklet. Don't forget to use the bloglinks here.

Please email me with your news or send a comments on the blog. I would really like to know what you are getting up to.

I hope to see you all soon.

Is water a mineral?

During our learning about rocks and minerals, Seb came up with the question

Is water a mineral?

We weren't sure of the answer so looked in books and encyclopedias. There weren't any convincing answers.

We looked on the internet. This site, which is a site you can add your own answers to, gave the answer of NO.

However, you have to be careful what you read on the internet...Last year I was playing around with a site callled wikianswers, with my daughters. We thought it would be fun to ask the question...Who is the best in 4M?...as you can see, it is quite easy to put information onto the internet which may be an opinion or may not be true.

Anyway, Seb went away and thought and decided that he NEEDED TO ASK AN EXPERT.

Luckily for Seb, he has a relative who is a scientist.

I asked Seb

"Can I publish his explanation to the blog?" and "Are you happy with his explanation or do you need another expert to back up his answer? "

He said :
It is ok for you to put it on the blog and I kinda want another scientist to back it up to see if they have the same idea.

So here's the reply Seb got to his email:

Dear Seb
It's GREAT to get a message from you.
I am not an expert on minerals but it seems to me that ice fulfills all the requirements of minerals that I learned in school. I looked to see if the requirements have changed since then, that is, whether there is a new definition of mineral.
It looks like in 1995 some mineral experts added a new requirement, which is that the crystal be formed by geologic processes. If you follow that definition, ice
would not be a mineral because it's formed rapidly and reversibly. However,
by the standard definition, I believe that ice should be considered a mineral.

So, if there are any science teachers out there or experts in minerals, who could add to our discussion, please comment.

Egyptian Day 20th May...hopefully

Year 3’s Egyptian Day is scheduled for this Thursday 20th May. At present we are still expecting this event to happen, however the current political situation could change all of our plans, so please keep an eye on the school website and check your emails for updates.

One of the highlights of Egyptian Day is the Pharaohs’ Feast! In order to satisfy the taste buds of all of our Year 3 Pharaohs we have divided the required food up into the following categories and classes.

Some children are allergic to nuts. Please do not send in any food containing nuts or nut products.

3M & 3P: Savories (these can include duck, chicken, pork and vegetarian dishes).
3C: Sandwiches.
3L: Cake or biscuits.
3R: Crisps/chips/breadsticks
3S: Fruit.
3W: Vegetables and dip or a salad.

What do shapes, pictograms and mummification have in common?

Good Morning 3W!
As you all know, there has been a lot of trouble and disruption in Bangkok and the school has had to close because of possible dangers on the bus routes to school.

So, to keep you busy and help you continue to learn, here are some things for you to be doing:
1.Read a good book for about 30 minutes. Afterwards spend 5 minutes writing your reaction to it...remember to use DETAILS from the story to back up your ideas.
2. There are 2 new activities on Mymaths for you to have a go at:
2D and 3D Shapes
Pictograms and charts.
3. Research Mummification and make notes.
After reading, answer these questions:
What does decompose mean?
What is an embalmer?
Why was the heart left inside the body?
Why was the body covered and stuffed with natron?
Why was the washed body covered in oils?
What does dehydrated mean?
Why was the body stuffed with dry materials?
Which god looked after the lungs?

Now try to get past the challenges of the underworld.

Don't forget to do some exercise, and I hope to see you tomorrow.

Oh...and what do shapes, mummification and pictograms have in common?

School Closed on Monday due to Bangkok Disturbances

School will be closed on Monday 17th May.



Learning will be from home on this day.



Check the blog in the morning for Monday's work.

Amazing optical illusion

Building in 3D...sort of!

If you like making models using lego or other construction materials, then you will love this site.

You build in 2D and a computer 3D model is built. Have a go.

What can you build?

Have a look here.



Here is an example from Jessie and Annabel, which they very cleverly took a photo of as a screenshot (Shift+prt Scrn) and then saved as a word document and THEN emailed as an attachment:



If you know that you need to have some practice naming 3D shapes and giving their properties (faces, edges and vertices (or corners)) then this site is the one for you. We used it in class. Click on the STARTER ACTIVITY button. Follow the link here.

Do you want to help wrap up some parcels? You need to know which net is the right one for the diffeerent shaped parcels. Follow this link.

Own Clothes day AND extra break time tomorrow!

3W have done really well by reaching 200 marbles!

The rewards are

• to wear your own clothes tomorrow, Wednesday 12th May, (some people brought them in today and so they will have this reward today)
• 10 minutes extra playtime toworrow, Wednesday 12th May.

Tonight's homework is 3D!

Make a shape from the net you were given today.

Remember to :

• Cut the shape out carefully and accurately
• Crease the dotted fold lines between the shapes faces and the flaps
• Decorate the blank side of the net (you could make the shape look like a real Egyptian pyramid, or you could use hieroglyphics to decorate a border)
• Cut a small hole in the shape for the string if you want to be able to hang up the shape
• Glue the shape together
• While it is drying, have a good chat with someone near you, sing a song or learn to recite the alphabet backwards...it's up to you, but it will help you pass the time as the glue dries.

Forgot your net? DON'T panic! Have a look here for some printable nets.

Have fun...in 3D!

Would you like to go to school on a boat?

That's what these children in Varanasi in India are doing.

Why do you think the school is on a boat?

Who organised the school?

Would you prefer to go to school on a boat? Why?

What do you think are the problems with going to school on a boat?

What kind of net do you not use to go fishing?

When you open up a 3D shape, you have a net.

If you open up a cube, you have a net with 6 square faces...but how many different nets could you make from a cube?

Try this site to have a go.
Solid shapes and their nets - cube

Egyptian Day - 20th May - get your costume ready!

Costume ideas will be coming out in a newsletter soon.

If you have any friends in Year 4 they might have a costume which you could borrow from last year.