Week Ending 8th November 2013

We have had a very busy week back at school! We have started learning about our new topic ‘Fire’ by looking at all the homework that the children have done so far. Lots of the children have found out some very interesting facts about fire, which made a good start to the investigations we shall be doing over the coming weeks. This week our learning has focused around Fireworks and Bonfire Night, building up to our school firework display on Friday. Other than learning in class, we have lots of out of classroom experiences this week…

On Monday we had a special assembly led by three people from the British Legion who taught us all about Remembrance Day and why it is important to wear a poppy. We also had our first gymnastics session with two teachers from Stoke City who we had for PE before half term. The children thoroughly enjoyed balancing in all sorts of different ways.

On Wednesday we took our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to the church to be blessed. We had a lovely service led by Katherine from Dovedale House and we learned that our shoe boxes are sent to countries all around the world to children. She told us that on a visit to Romania she met some children who had received shoe boxes for Christmas and they were so precious to them that they had kept the empty shoe boxes, whereas here we would probably throw a box away.

On Thursday the children had their photographs taken in the school grounds. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day in the Autumn sunshine, so the photographs should look fantastic! We are all looking forward to seeing the photos when they are developed.

On Friday afternoon we started Forest Schools again. In this weeks session we talked about the migration of birds, and how some birds decide to stay here for the winter even though there isn’t much food around for them. To help the birds we decided to make some very fatty treats for them. You can see what we have been up to in the photos below! We got very sticky mixing all the ingredients together to make our bird feeders – the ingredients are… lard, cheese, bread, seeds and dried fruit. We all took a bird feeder home to put in our gardens. We talked about how it is important to keep feeding the birds over the winter as they will get used to visiting the same gardens and make special journeys because they remember where all the best bird feeders are. 

Finally, most of the children (and teachers) are excited about the school firework display on Friday night. If Mrs Greenwood manages to get some good photographs of the fireworks then she will put them in the blog next week. 

 

Above: Taking the shoe boxes to church for our Operation Christmas Child service and all the boxes lined up ready to be collected and distributed to children around the world.

Below: Friday afternoon’s Forest Schools session with Ducks Class. First we listened and looked for birds and empty birds nests before making our bird feeders. 

 

 

Week Ending 24th October 2013

This is the last blog of the half term. It has been an exciting first half term back in Robins Class. In our topic work we have learned lots about Families and Neighbours, we have explored what it means to be part of a community and we have discovered what animal communities live around the school.

This week we have focused on hibernation and Autumn, following on from our Forest Schools afternoon last Friday and connecting to our Harvest Farmers Market on Thursday. On Monday afternoon we talked about different animals that are starting to hibernate, and what animals do to prepare for hibernation. We found out that some insects (such as bees) hibernate as well as animals like bears, bats and tortoises. We created our own cosy dens and role played as different hibernating animals. We also used our noses to sniff out food (popcorn!) to gather for our long sleep.

On Wednesday morning we baked Hedgehog Bread for the Farmers Market on Thursday. We worked in groups of 4 making the bread dough from scratch with flour, yeast, warm water, butter, sugar and salt. When the mixture was combined we kneaded the dough for five minutes – it was very good exercise! Then we shaped our dough into a hedgehog, snipped spikes with a pair of scissors and put currants on for its eyes and nose. We then left the bread to rise before baking in the oven. The whole school smelled of our delicious bread! We hope that all of our bread sells at the market, otherwise Miss Compton and Mrs Greenwood will be eating bread all half term!

In the afternoon we went to see Zoe at the National Trust who took us around the park looking and listening for animal communities and any signs of wildlife. We had a wonderful afternoon in the Autumn sunshine, walking through rustling leaves and searching for creatures and insects as well as evidence of larger woodland animals. We saw a large and beautiful buzzard flying over us, circling and looking for prey. We also spotted a woodpecker, as well as a rabbit, a squirrel and various birds such as crows.  We found evidence of a squirrel eating acorns as he had left crumbs on a tree stump! We also found the food of various animals in the woodland community such as creepy crawlies like millipedes and woodlice. We collected up some of the insects in magnifying pots so that we could examine them more closely. All the children had a fantastic time searching for animals, and although we did not see many larger woodland creatures, we were very pleased to have seen a buzzard and a woodpecker! We decided that most of the animals in the park come out at night time when all the children are tucked up in bed.

Thursday was a busy day preparing for the school Farmers Market. The morning was filled with putting the finishing touches to the bread we baked on Wednesday morning, as well as making sure the school was tidy and ready for all our visitors. The afternoon was a huge success. Lots of stalls were set up selling a huge variety of goods from dairy to clothing. The children loved seeing their bread on the school stall, and also looking at everything else that was on sale. The school cooking club made some delicious looking Autumn treats such as parkin and cinder toffee….mmm!

Below are some photos of what we have been up to this week. When we return after the half term holiday our topic will be ‘Fire’. Some of our learning will involve finding out about The Great Fire of London and how fire is used in different celebrations and festivals such as Bonfire Night and Diwali. We are all looking forward to this exciting new topic!

Have a happy half term holiday!

Love From Robins Class

Above: Walking around the park in the Autumn leaves looking and listening for wildlife.

Below: Baking Hedgehog Bread for the Farmers Market. We were very pleased to hear that all our loaves sold!

Weeks Ending 11th and 18th October 2013

Apologies for our lack of blog last week. Here is a bumper blog to make up for it!

For the last two weeks our focus in Literacy has been poetry. We have been looking at both rhyming and non-rhyming poems, as well as songs and rhythmic poems. This week we have written our own versions of two poems by Michael Rosen. One is called ‘Move It’ and the other is ‘Conversation’. Before writing the poems we thought of them in talking partners and then performed them to the class. When we were happy that our poems sounded good we wrote them down.

Here are a few examples of our ‘Conversation’ poems…

I am going to a boxing match.

Why?

Because it is fun.

Who?

Me.

Where?

To a boxing match!

How?

Because people are boxing…

 

I am going to the shops.

Why?

Because I need some tomatoes from the shops.

Why?

Because I need some to make tea.

Why?

Why don’t you stop saying why?

What?

 

I am going to the loo.

Why?

Because I need a wee.

Why?

Because I have drunk lots of water.

Why?

Just stop saying why!

Why?

 

Here are a few examples of our ‘Move It’ poems…

 

On a boat with a coat that could float.

In the car I saw a star when I was eating a bar.

On the plane I played a game.

Make a plane with a flame or a chain with a Great Dane.

Get a train with a crane.

In a car eating a bar and driving far.

In a plane on a lane.

On a plane on the main.

On a boat with a goat wearing a coat.

 

We have really enjoyed exploring poetry and creating our own poems. We have especially enjoyed thinking of lots of rhyming words!

In our maths lessons this week we have been focusing on counting in tens and learning about odd and even numbers. We have been playing maths games to help us remember what odd and even numbers are, and we have been using hundred squares to help us count in tens. We have learned that if you want to add 10 or take 10 from a number all you have to do is jump down one square or up one square instead of counting in ones (when using a hundred square). It is much easier!

In our Topic Work we have been learning about the history of our community and creating art work similar to the art created by some of the villagers a few years ago. Click the link below to see the art work that inspired ours.

http://www.ilam.org.uk/ilam-story.asp

Mr Boardman started his first weekly Forest Schools session a week last Friday with Ducks and Robins Class. We aim to do a Forsest Schools outdoor learning session every Friday afternoon. The week before last the children made hedgehogs from natural materials – photos of their exciting afternoon are below. During our Forest Schools session on the Friday just gone we made shelters for our hedgehogs, thinking about what would make them warm and comfortable whilst they hibernate. The children role played as ‘estate agents’ selling their homes to Mrs Greenwood the hedgehog and Mr Boardman the hedgehog. It was a difficult decision for the two hedgehogs to make as some of the homes included log fires, swimming pools and even gardens with trees and toys in! Photos of our second Forest Schools session are also below. We look forward to starting Forest Schools again after half term.

Week Ending 4th October 2013

As well as lots of other learning, this week the Robins have been having a lot of fun doing maths! All the children have been measuring using decimetres, centimetres and metres. The Year One’s have also been learning about symmetry, and the Year Two’s have been learning about computer programming and directions, including clockwise and anticlockwise quarter turns. There are lots of photos of our learning below. 

The children measured each other using decimetres.

We measured the classroom using decimetres too – we found out that it is approximately 79 decimetres long.

 

The Year One’s had fun practicing making symmetrical patterns with a partner. We found it tricky at first…

…but then we got the hang of it!

The Year Two’s really enjoyed using the BeeBots. They programmed in directions to get the little robots to move around a maze. Then they practiced their programming skills by navigating the BeeBots around a track (see below). 

Next week we will tell you all about what we have been learning in Literacy! 

 

Week Ending 27th September 2013

This week in maths we have been learning about money and time. During our money lessons we have practiced adding together different amounts of money using pretend plastic money to help us. We have looked at the value of different coins, and practiced paying for different items in ‘Robins’ Shop’. In our time lessons we have practiced telling the time to o’clock and half past. The Year 2’s have also looked at telling the time on digital clocks. 

In our literacy lessons we have been practicing writing lists and labels, talking about our favorite clothes. We have written fantasy shopping lists and labels describing our favourite clothes.

In science we have continued our learning about life cycles – this week we learned about the life cycle of a butterfly, and created our own drawings of that life cycle.

In our topic lessons we have continued our learning about our neighbourhood and community by  designing a new amenity for Ilam – we have had some fantastic ideas from sweet shops up treehouses to a slide around the school! We have also designed posters to tell cars to slow down outside school.

As promised on last weeks Blog, below are photographs of our classroom displays. We have worked hard doing lots of art, geography and writing to go on the displays. We hope you like the results!

 

 

Week Ending 20th September 2013

We have had another jam packed week in Robins Class. In maths this week we have learned and practiced our number bonds to 10 and 20. In literacy we have practiced sentence writing, remembering full stops and capital letters in the right places. Once again, Monday was PE day, and although it rained we still really enjoyed all the games and activities. Also on Monday we learned about what a community is and prepared for our walk around the village by thinking of some questions we wanted to find the answers to. On Tuesday we had show and tell, and as always we had lots of interesting things to look at and find out about. We also had our weekly swimming lesson – all the Robins loved floating on their backs like starfish! On Wednesday we had a walk around the village with clipboards looking for the answers to our questions from Monday. Some photos of our walk are below. In the afternoon we had a talk from a visitor about disability. We learned that some people need equipment to help them do everyday activities like climbing the stairs. Thursday we had an interesting science lesson about the life cycle of a frog, and then we made our own tadpoles/frogs using paper and split pins. Today we have completed our family tree display using homework from the past two weeks. A photo of the display will be on next weeks blog.

 

We found out the name of our local church – the Holy Cross.

 

Working hard thinking of attractive and unattractive things in the village. Not many children could think of unattractive things! 

 

Robins Class ready to go back to school after a lot of investigating!

 

Week Ending 13th September 2013

Last week we made sunflowers – for the stalks we wrapped wool around art straws, for the petals and leaves we cut out coloured paper. On Monday morning Robins Class did PE with Stoke City. We played Volcanoes and Craters and Guards. It was lots of fun. We are looking forward to next weeks lesson. On Monday afternoon Max, Harry, Joe and Sam went to Stoke City football club after school, they really enjoyed it. On Tuesday Robins Class went swimming, most of the children splashed the teacher! We all liked jumping in the pool. Alastair watched because he wasn’t feeling very well. On Wednesday we did science. We are learning about families and neighbours. On Thursday we had a music lesson. We have had a good week. We are all looking forward to next week!

Here we are playing volcanoes and craters!

The girls enjoying PE!

The boys waiting to play a game.

Our beautiful sunflowers.

First Blog – September 2013

For the start of the new academic year, Robins Class are going to be completing a blog together to share our learning journey. We will upload photos of what we have been doing in class along with some writing. I hope that by creating this blog we can create a lasting picture of what we have achieved throughout the year together, and share these memories with others.