Way back through time art has been used as a way of recording thoughts, feelings and to document history. As we started back in September Topaz Class used art to document an aspect of COVID -19 and this unprecedented time in history. We talked about how masks are an outward sign that life has changed as we know it. We talked about how they make us feel and the impact of them on how we see the world. We painted self portraits of ourselves wearing masks. A time capsule of 2020!
Topaz had fun this afternoon learning about Tudor timber framed buildings. Did you know ……..that because land was so expensive in towns and cities Tudor builders had the ingenious idea of building the first floor, and sometimes the second floor, wider than the ground floor. This created an overhang, which was called a jetty or gallery.
Topaz class had a blast of fresh air this morning practising rounding numbers to the nearest 10,100 and 1000.
Fire making Monday
Following the winter solstice this Monday, Opal Class decided to make the most of the lovely sunny weather while we still have it.
On Monday we searched high and low to find the tools and materials to build our own Stone Age fires. We set off in groups of 6 to find a base board to build the fire on, stones to strike together, dry grass to use as tinder and sticks to fuel the fire. The result was some brilliantly built fires that could cook a mammoth or sabre tooth tiger to feed the whole family.
Taekwondo Tuesdays
On Tuesday we took to the field to take part in some Taekwondo. We begun by practicing our walking and front stances and then began to learn how to perform the 3 key blocks, low block, inner block and high block. Once we had got the hang of these, it was time to put them together. We worked through Taegeuk El Jang (pattern 1) going one movement at a time and then worked on mastering the first 6 movements. ( a video showing the pattern is linked below)
Once we returned to the classroom we spoke about the language I had been using and after a few guesses the children worked out that it was Korean. We practiced the numbers 1-10 in Korean and the children quickly picked it up. Some were even willing to have a go on their own. A link to the numbers is attached below.
It has been amazing to teach the children some taekwondo for the last few weeks and I hope they are enjoying it as much as I am.
Toolkit Thursday
On Thursday we looked at the importance of cave art and the insight that it has given us into life in the stone age. We set out on a mission to create our own cave art telling the story of life today. However, it would be unfair for us to use modern tools to create our cave art. so, we set off outside and began looking for sticks, leaves, pine needles, grass, shoots, roots and berries that may be useful in our cave art tool kit. Next week we will see how our tools survived and attempt to create some cave art of our own.
Maths fun friday
On friday we took our whiteboards and pens outside to create a human number line! We made a number line to 100, a number line to 1000 and finally we played hotter or colder to help each other figure out their mystery number. Hopefully putting our place value work into a practical context will help us to understand the value of numbers up to 1000.
As promised, here are some photographs of our lovely classroom. We also have our family pictures up in our home corner; the children really enjoy showing their family picture to their friends.
Diamond class had this little visitor come to say hello to us all last week! We really enjoyed seeing him so close.
Yesterday in opal class the tensions were high, the ballot boxes had opened and election fever had set in.
13 brave children stepped forward and stated their interest in the roll of Opal Class Safeguarding Officer. They had 5 minutes to create a heartfelt speech that touched the hearts of their peers and inspired them to write their name on the ballot.
The speeches were amazing and each child really showed how passionate they were about the roll of safeguarding officer.
The votes were tight. However, after some independent adjudication, Eva Jackson came out on top. The crowd were blown away by her amazing speech about how she cares for her class the same way she would care for her family and her dog.
Overall all of the election candidates should be incredibly proud of themselves and a career in inspirational speaking could be on the cards for them all.
Mr Delaney
Today in Science we had a lot of fun learning about the function of different parts of the digestive system. We used a slice of bread to help us understand what happens at various stages. It got a bit messy at some points!!!!
By looking carefully at Tudor paintings, Topaz class were able to identify some important facts about Tudor fashions and styles.
The most surprising thing we discovered was that young rich boys and girls wore girl’s clothes and that children wore the same fashions as their parents! We also noticed that the ‘v’ shape was very fashionable, creating a slim waist on ladies dresses.
Sound and District Primary School blog 