Term 2 is racing by and in Room 11 we have been busy learning all about dinosaurs. We have constructed dinosaurs, read dinosaur books and poems, sung dinosaur songs, drawn dinosaurs, made dinosaur hats, written dinosaur reports, danced dinosaur dances and made clay dinosaurs! Sadly, like the extinct dinosaur, many of our clay dinosaurs can no longer be found as they were turned into pinch pots!



Room 11 children love receiving visits from, and visiting our buddy class - Room 22. Last week we went to Room 22 and our year 5 and 6 buddies listened to our reading and then they shared with us their projects about space. We finished by watching The "Greenhithe Show" Episode 2 and Room 11 shared the "Doubles Rap" that we have been learning.

This Friday 23 June we will be helping to lead the school assembly with Room 20. We would love to see you at 11.40am if you are able to come.

Matariki Art in Room 26

 In Room 26 we have been busy learning about Matariki. We loved learning about Matariki and her 6 daughters and about Matariki breakfast. This week we created pictures of Matariki and her 6 daughters. First we weaved 2 pieces of paper together. Then we added the stars. Lastly we decorated Matariki with glitter.

Maths in Room One

Maths in Room One this week

Everyone like a cup cake right? But if you have a party you have to make sure everyone has the same amount of smarties on them if you want to avoid your guests arguing! We have taken this serious problem into our maths lessons this week to figure out how to equally share out Smarties. 

The Great Cover Up!

As part of our learning about measurement we have been using non-standard but familiar units as a measuring device. The children were given the opportunity to cover the surface of a wide range of chalk shapes using different sized blocks and lolly sticks.

Covering surfaces with a single unit also lead to discussion about shapes that tessellate, and are therefore useful for covering surfaces, and those that don’t. For example, rectangles and squares tessellate the plane, whereas circles don’t. Tessellating with non-standard units establishes the need to cover surfaces without leaving gaps and without overlapping.

Room One
Museum Trip May 2017

The children spent time learning about being a paleontologist.

They were invited to wear lab. coats and use magnifying glasses.

We learned about the dinosaurs that used to live in our part of the world.

The best part of the trip for many children was the opportunity to engage with the music.

Puppets.

For hundreds of years puppets have been used as an important tool for transmitting knowledge and are located in the fine distinction between entertainment and learning. They have been recognised as an educational tool for their ability to integrate art, communication and persuasion. I have long been interested in how the use of puppets can encourage shy speakers to share in a group and how they might give children the confidence to speak with more volume and for longer.

To observe whether this would work in my classroom I helped the children make their own puppets and we now use them regularly to practice speaking and listening.

Play readings

Some of the children have been enjoying reading, learning and practicing classic plays like the Three Billy Goats Gruff and other fairy tales. The children spend time rehearsing their lines and then present to the class. This is always fun for both players and audience.

 Dinosaur skin - what colour was it?

Using bubble wrap we made prints.

We thought that camouflage might play a part in the skin colour of herbivores.

The bubble wrap gives an interesting 'scale like' appearance.