Blythdale

This term’s theme in school is homes and habitats, and so to go with this, class 6B are going to be doing a round-the-world trip (of sorts!) in the 30 days we are in school this term. Each week we are going to be learning about a different continent and one of the key habitats there, looking at how animals have adapted to survive there. This week we have been learning about Africa and the grassland habitats there.

The children have written descriptive sentences about different African animals, and they have learned about the difference between carnivores herbivores and omnivores. Using this information, they created Top Trump style cards about different carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. They have practiced using the months of the year with calendars, and worked out a schedule for a round the world trip, making sure to visit each continent for a certain number of days. They have also solved time problems, adding up the number of hours it would take for each leg of the way when planning a safari adventure around Africa.

6B have created some wonderful African scenes, blending colours to paint a sunset-sky background and adding silhouettes of animals and grassland scenery. As well as this, they have practiced their life skills by learning to make beds in the school house, and cooking up some African treats – savoury chapatis and sweet kashata treats – as well as preparing and trying some African fruits like pineapple, passion fruit, papaya and melon.

This half term the children will be looking at different habitats. This week we have explored dinosaurs and swamps! The children have worked very hard measuring dinosaurs, printing shapes to make dinosaurs and then labelling their very own dinosaur. We also made dinosaur  3D biscuits. Have a lovely weekend everyone, be safe in the sunshine !

This week, 6B have been thinking a bit about the future. We’ve read the story A Superhero Like You, which is all about different jobs some people do. The children have talked about the different jobs – which ones they would like to do and what they want from their jobs in the future. We’ve also had a visit from a police officer this week, for which the children wrote some interview questions, some of them practicing the use of question marks and testing their questions out on each other. The children got to ask the police officer all sorts of things about his job, and found out loads of information about being in the police – some of them even got to try on a police helmet and handcuffs!

6B have practiced their reading, writing and spelling in phonics activities as usual, and we’ve had some time to carry out sensory play and team-building activities. The children have also practiced their social skills in turn taking and speaking & listening games. The children have started thinking about our topic for next half term, homes and habitats, and by using Google and some information about the continents, 6B have made lists of countries that they would like to learn about when we return from the half term break.

We’ve recapped the healthy meal plate this week, and the children have made their own healthy sandwiches so that if they’re hungry over half term, they can make a snack for themselves! The children have all worked really hard this half term so hopefully they’ll have a nice and relaxing break and come back refreshed for our final term!

This week 6B have finished off putting together their newspapers about Captain Sir Tom Moore. We have continued reading the story of his life, and the children used it to inspire some pieces of work to put into their papers.
They have created information maps of the world, using Google maps to identify where Captain Tom visited when he was in the army and learned a little more about his past life, writing sentences about the places he saw and visited. They’ve also created a model of a countryside scene with their own miniature Captain Toms riding a motorbike, and have taken photographs of this to use in their newspapers.
The children have continued practicing subtraction in maths, applying their knowledge of subtraction to solving word problems, and in phonics the children have continued working on reading, spelling and writing with their targeted sounds. The children have made a vegetable bolognese in cookery and we have had a big emphasis on speaking and listening activities this week, with the children taking part in lots of activities and games to practice their listening, turn-taking and interaction skills.

This week 6B have continued thinking about modern people we admire, and have started reading about the life of Captain Sir Tom Moore with a view to making their own newspaper over the next couple of weeks. The children have learned about his childhood growing up in Keighley, and thought about how his life as a child 90 years ago compared to their own nowadays. They have found key information from the text about Sir Tom, and used this to begin typing up a newspaper article about his life. The children will continue to research Sir Tom’s life next week, and will create various pieces to put together for their own newspaper.

In art this week 6B have looked at recycling newspaper and using it to create a picture of a natural scene that Sir Tom Moore might have seen as a child exploring the North York Moors, and in cookery they have used fresh British fruit to make a traditional fruit crumble pudding, showing excellent safety skills while using sharp knives and the oven. As well as this, the children have continued with phonics and handwriting as usual, and have spent time thinking about what makes good teamwork and practicing these skills in teambuilding activities.

This week 6B have been focusing on the life of Stan Lee, the creator of Marvel Comics. Following a couple of weeks looking at different superheroes, this week the class have been creating designs for their own web pages about their creator, Stan Lee. The children have practiced their skills using timelines, ordering events in his life, and have written in their English books about some of their favourite superheroes created by him.

The children have used the school computers to type up some facts about Stan Lee’s life, as well as create a title for their design, using different sizes, fonts and colours to add interest. Taking inspiration from Andy Warhol’s pop-art style, they have also produced a piece of work using a template of their favourite Marvel character to add to their webpage design, before putting it all together and sharing their designs with their peers, and giving lots of positive feedback.

As well as all this, 6B have worked hard (as usual!) in their phonics sessions, and have practiced their subtraction skills using apparatus such as numicon and lego bricks to help them out. They’ve also been in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and cooking noodles to make healthy, but more importantly delicious, stir-fries!