At the end of term, Willows travelled by metro to The Customs House cinema to see the Disney film Elemental. They enjoyed the film and the snacks while they watched it too!
When they got back to school, they had a go at drawing the main character, Ember.
Our book this half term is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe written by C.S. Lewis. The children have carried out lots of work linked to it such as; descriptive writing, a biography and instructions.
To immerse them further into the story they got to taste some Turkish delight. The character of Edmund is lured in by the White Witch and given some Turkish delight, which he loves! However, I’m not so sure some of Willows would agree…
In their science topic, light, the children have been investigating reflective materials and how shadows are formed.
Have a look at the scientists at work!
Cherries and Willows have worked very hard building their greenhouses over the past few weeks in DT. They finished them this week by using cling film to create the walls, and left a doorway ready to put something inside. They also tested the strength of different materials and whether they were waterproof, discussing other suitable materials they could have used.
The children in Willows took part in a virtual author visit with singer turned author JB.
They were introduced to his book ‘Ace and the Animal Heroes’ and got to hear about his career in the band JLS and then how he became a children’s author.
The children got some tips on how to create interesting story lines and also took part in a farmyard quiz.
JB answered the questions we sent him and even gave us a shout out too!
How long did it take you to write the book?
18 months (but about 8 years in total, from when it was first an idea!!)
What is your favourite type of music?
Classical.
What do you enjoy doing?
I love my farm with all the animals and getting to spend time on it with my family.
This week, Willows and Cherries began building their mini greenhouses. Using hot glue (with adult support!) and lolly sticks, they created two squares and then added the frame ready for the roof to be put on next week.
Take a look at them so far…
To further their learning on money, the children set up their own classroom shop.
There were shop keepers on the tills who had to count the money they were given and shop customers who had to ensure they gave the correct amount for each item they bought.
They really impressed me with their money skills!
This week in DT the children continued their work on strengthening structures. Their aim is to find a suitable material to build their mini greenhouses.
They compared the use of cocktail sticks to spaghetti and found that the cocktail sticks worked much better to build their structures because they did not break as easily!
In science, as part of their scientific enquiry unit, the children in Willows have been making their own solar ovens.
They had to make sure that the materials they used were the most effective for making their ovens, so they had to think about what materials would reflect and absorb sunlight.
It was a brilliantly sunny afternoon so they headed out to melt their pieces of chocolate!
Willows joined forces with Cherries this week to create and test some 3D structures they made using spaghetti and plasticine. They found that spaghetti didn’t make the best structure… it was a bit flimsy and not very sturdy!
This is the first step in their journey to making their own miniature greenhouses for their DT topic this term.
Check in again next week to see them testing some other materials!
