Summer 2017
Our Learning Challenge this term will be exploring where we live. Not only will we be finding out about our own local history, legends and landmarks, we will also be comparing it to the Mediterranean and finding out why people choose to go there on their holidays.
As artists, we have studied the work of Monet and Klee. This term we will be looking at the artists who painted our region. We will explore the art of Norman Cornish, Tom McGuiness and LS Lowry.
As scientists, we will be exploring shadows. We will be developing an understanding of how shadows are formed and how they differ in size and shape. In addition, we will be identifying how Usain Bolt can move so quickly!
Spring 2017
Our Learning Challenge this term will be focused on re-discovering Ancient Egypt. As historians, we will be exploring the achievements of the earliest civilisations and the impact the Ancient Egyptians had on our society. In addition, we will be investigating the homes, food, work and leisure activities of the Egyptians but more interestingly, how mummies were wrapped up and why!
Our scientific question this term is ‘Are you attractive enough?’ As scientists, we will be exploring magnets and observing/investigating how magnets attract or repel each other and which materials are magnetic and which are not.
As musicians, we will continue our learning on how to play the recorder. We are making fantastic progress and developing our skills as the weeks pass.
Maths –
Road Safety – Durham County Council have been into school to teach us how to cross roads safely and they told us about the Green Cross Road!
We went out of the school grounds and stood beside the main road. This helped us to understand and appreciate why the Green Cross Code is a valuable strategy to use throughout life to keep us safe.
Scooter Skills – An action packed day, learning lots of useful scootering skills. We learned how to safely cross a road on a scooter and also navigate through an obstacle course practising our skills. We all feel like better scooter riders now!
Teeth hygiene –
How clean are our teeth?
We all found the visit from the school nurse ‘eye opening’ today! We found out lots of interesting facts about our teeth: what they are called, how many we should have as adults and children and more importantly-how to look after them!
It made us reflect on how we look after our teeth and what we should eat and drink more/less of!
We didn’t realise how much sugar we are choosing to eat/drink on a daily basis.
We are ready to start making the right decisions from now on! Look out for our big smiles!
Autumn 2016
Our Learning Challenge this term focuses on the question ‘Who Came First?’ As historians, we will be exploring the Stone Age through to the Iron Age. We will be experiencing life as it was in the Stone Age using the outdoors and the natural resources that surround us.
As scientists, we will be investigating rocks and soils. We will be researching and exploring what our Earth is made up of and how it impacts on life! We will work scientifically to investigate the properties of rocks and soil to help us understand more about them.
Antony Wootten – Children’s author Antony Wootten came into school to talk to us about his job. He writes books for children including The Season of the Mammoth and A Tiger Too Many. He told us a little about himself and his books in assembly. Then, in the afternoon, we did a workshop with him to find out more about how he writes his books! We all had a go at writing a description based on the front cover of The Season of the Mammoth and the results were brilliant.
Clay Modelling – Using clay we created Stone Age inspired shelters. We had to use sticks in the clay to ensure the structure were stable.
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3d Shapes – In groups we investigated different shapes and sorted them into groups depending on whether they we 2-dimensional (2D) or 3-dimensional (3D)
Poetry in Motion – Ira & Jane are poets, they came into our classroom today and together we created some imaginative and silly poetry! We wrote about autumn, the months of the year and the seasons (as well as a load of nonsense) to create poetry. We explored different types of poems and had written poems without even trying! The secret of writing poems is to write words…easy!
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Friendship – We have been learning all about the importance of friendship. Through discussions, stories and games we have been recognising the special qualities that we have and need in order to be a good friend. Tracy and Joanne helped us today to understand the importance of being a good friend and made the day really fun, engaging and inspiring.
What is soil? – To continue our scientific investigations, we decided to explore soil. Having very little knowledge of what soil is, we decided to carry out a simple investigation to find out more information about what is in soil. We used the outdoor learning area to set up our soil investigations. We are looking forward to see what happens when we have added water to soil!
After one day, we checked on the progress of our soil in a bottle experiment. We discovered that the soil had changed appearance! The different sediments and minerals created layers in the bottle. The heavy particles settled at the bottom of the bottle and the lighter/finer ones rested at the top of the bottle. Amazing!
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Geology – We are aiming to be ‘Rock Stars’ therefore we have been finding out about the different types of rocks that our Earth is made up of and the valuable use of rocks in everyday life. As scientists we investigated the properties of different rocks by testing how hard they are and whether or not they are permeable.
Life in the Stone Age – As historians, we have been learning about the Stone Age, it was the perfect opportunity to take our learning outdoors and be creative with the natural resources surrounding us. We were able to experience life as it would have been during the Stone Age. We built shelters, made our own hunting weapons, and even had time to make some jewellery! We didn’t even think about modern technology as we had lots of fun being creative and innovative!
Music – As musicians, we have been learning about how to keep the beat and rhythm during our music lessons. We have been exploring different musical instruments, learning how to hold them and play them both as individuals and as a team. We have been having lots of fun playing, composing, singing and learning at the same time!
