As part of our English and R.E. work this term, we learnt about the Easter Story by performing Resurrection Rock to friends and family. Two hard weeks of dedicated rehearsals and singing practice, saw us become centre stage for one, very special performance. The Easter Story, as told through the production, was linked by songs and bible verses, and captured the sadness of Jesus’ friends and family and the happiness felt by all when he rose from the dead.
Narrators: Thomas, Jago, Eulalie, Eden, Poppy and Caitlin
Jesus: Leon, Jago, Reuben and Asher
Mary Magdeline: Abigail
Soldiers and Chief Priests: Maisie, Katherine, Nathan, Neave and Ruth
Zebedee’s Sons: Matthew and Elijah
Disciples: Cirara, Aryan, Munashe, Harrison, Cade, Maya
Criminals: Owen and Caitlin
World Book Day 2018
Canadian Bears chose to base their learning around Enid Blyton’s book; The Magic Faraway Tree. In maths, we worked out the perimeter of lands found at the top of the Faraway Tree. In English, we wrote informal letters to our friends and family telling them about a land we had visited when we went on a trip to the Faraway Tree and in Design and Technology, we designed and created our fantasy shoebox lands.
Football Land Sparkle Land Volcano Land
We also had to dress up as a character from the book. We could choose from the following characters: Beth, Joe, Franny, Rick, Silky, Moon Face, Saucepan Man, Dame Washalot, Mista Whatsizname or the Angry Pixie. Can you guess who we were?
Part of our homework required us to think about what we would want future eras to think about us. Life and times from periods such as the Stone Age or Iron Age left many clues as to what life was like for them; cave paintings, handmade tools and fossils. We were tasked with making a time capsule that would reflect who we are, and give people in the future, an idea of what life was like for us.
Can you match the time capsule with its correct owner?
As part of our ‘Equipped for Life’ programme, we re-launched Jubilee University this term with ‘Make £5 Grow’ Virgin initiative. Focussing on two of our school values, independence and perseverance, we were given £50 as a class to invest and grow. The idea was to be able to refund Virgin their £50 and make a profit we could keep! We agreed that 10% of our profit would be given to a charity of our choice. We whittled our charity choices down to three, and took a private vote to decide.
Our class company was called Spring Ka-Ching and we built our enterprise on the theme of spring and gardening. We were given the task of designing a company logo; the class voted for the design created by Leon.
The products we prepared and sold were:
- Sun catchers – 50p
- Butterfly ornaments – 50p
- Bird feeders - £1.00
- Bird boxes - £3.00
- Spring themed Hama art £1.00
- Cheese and vegetable muffins £1.00
- Springtime sweet treat £1.00
- Grow a sunflower competition – 50p a go
- Funky Fruit scratch art magnet – 50p a go
Open wide - let’s take a look inside! We’re on a voyage of discovery to investigate the busy world inside our body!
Through a cross-curricular approach, Canadian Bears explored the world of Burps, Bottoms and Bile to create an imaginative learning journey of our Science based topic.
We completed lots of exciting experiments this term. These included:
- What effect do different drinks have on our teeth?
- What effect does salvia have on our food?
- How does food pass through the digestive system?
- Exploring an animal’s digestive system
- Do beans really make you windy?
- How well do we really brush our teeth?
Take a look at what we did…
Plain cracker in water VS Plain cracker in saliva
Exploring the liver of a cow
Setting up an experiment to show the effect of different drinks on our teeth.
Preparing food to show how it will travel through the digestive system.
Exploring how our food leaves the body!
Big Think- Glitter Germs!
As part of our BIG THINK this term, we discussed the importance of hygiene and the effect germs can have on us. We placed a small amount of glitter and blew it to see how it ‘spread’ and fell around us. This was to help us understand how germs ‘travel’ when we sneeze! As a result of our discussion, we then planned and wrote our own adventure stories on a germ. We created a germ character using blobs of paint and manipulating the direction of the paint by blowing through a straw. Here are two examples of our creations.
Bob by Poppy and Bobnesser by Phoebe
Harrison testing the spread of his glitter germ.
As part of our topic learning this term, we had visits from a dental nurse and Flat Stan First Aid. The dental visit covered various areas within the Science curriculum and focussed particularly on the types of teeth we have and their function. We took part in activities that were designed to show us how much effort is required to clean our teeth properly, investigated the eatwell plate and looked at the difference between manual and electric toothbrushes.
Flat Stan First Aid taught us many skills relating to basic first aid. We were encouraged to remember the skills, and use them in our daily lives if ever faced with a situation where we could help others.
We were taught to:
- Apply a bandage
- Perform basic CPR (call, push, rescue)
- Stop a nose bleed
- Treat a burn
We were issued with a Flat Stan First AID certificate and handbook for our participation. Any child enrolled with Brownies or Cubs should take their certificate to their club as they may qualify for receiving their first aid badge.
Guided Reading: The Demon Dentist
Our guided reading this term has been based around the Demon Dentist by David Walliams. Children have used their prediction skills to work out what will happen and how characters have felt and looked at the meaning of new and made-up vocabulary. We are yet to finish the book but we can all highly recommend it. We can’t say too much more as we wouldn’t want to spoil the read!
We looked at the work of Arcimboldo during an art session. We explored how he used every day items, particularly food, to create the upper body features of a human. He used the shape, colour and texture to add detail to his work. As a class we created our own art work using pictures of food. We also created ‘animals’ using food and took on our own interpretation of Arcimboldo’s inspiring work.
A valuable pair of diamond earrings has been stolen from The Grand Theatre in Moorgate.
The crime took place on the day of the dress rehearsal for a new play that is about to open called “In the Lime Light.”
For our science work on ‘light’ this term, Canadian Bears have turned detective in order to solve the case of the stolen earrings! We have enjoyed recreating the theatre in shoe boxes, and through a process of elimination, investigated possible suspects. The investigation has required us to explore how light works and travels. We have had great fun! The culprit has yet to be identified! Watch this space!
As part of our Hero and Villain topic we had a visit form Fire Fighter Paige. She taught us many valuable lessons. This is some of the information we have learnt:
Matches and lighters
Do not touch lighters and matches! If you see any laying around tell an adult and get THEM to move them. Younger children may copy you so if you touch them, they will too. Teach them to do the right thing.
They are like big noses that smell all day long. They never stop smelling. When we sleep our noses go to sleep so the smoke alarm smells for us!
You should test your smoke alarm every week.
If we see a fire you must shout FIRE! FIRE! Don’t shout HELP! Shouting help could mean different things. It wastes time trying to find out what is wrong. FIRE! FIRE! tells other people exactly what is wrong.
STOP, DROP & ROLL
If your clothes catch on fire, STOP, DROP AND ROLL. This will stop the fire from spreading.
Finally we have an escape plan ready:
Decide where and how you will get out of your house.
Test every door with the back of your hand. If the door is red hot it suggests the fire is behind the door so find another exit route.
Stay low at all times and crawl on the floor. The air is cleaner the lower you are.
Call out to others in the house that there is a fire. Make as much noise as possible.
Close doors behind you as you leave the house.
Find the closest exit. If a door is locked, make sure everyone knows where the key is to open it.
Get out first before you ring the fire brigade. Everybody should leave the house together.
Do not stop to pick up toys or pets.
Once out, ring 999. Give clear instructions to the fire brigade.
Do not go back into a fire.
If you can't get out using a door, stay in a room with the door closed. Stay by the window. The fire fighters will rescue you from the window.
Frankie the elf mysteriously arrived in Canadian Bears on December 1st. Last year Frankie was always getting up to mischief! Let’s hope he behaves himself, during the lead up to Christmas!
As part of our work on forces, Canadian Bears planned, designed and constructed their own mini parachutes, learning about materials and their properties. Over a series of lessons Canadian Bears investigated how to make the best parachute. The instructions were simple. The parachute had to glide to the ground, carrying a very precious piece of cargo, in the slowest and safest manner. Children were given a range of materials and resources to use. They were encouraged to help one another overcome any issues before seeking adult guidance. Armed with their parachutes and precious cargo (a lump of blu tac!) our design experts tested the chutes' suitability from the top of the building! The designs varied and it soon became apparent that some materials were better than others! The children had a fantastic time and the top 3 parachute designs were created by Ruth, Abigail and Owen.
Canadian Bears enjoyed their English and topic work based around the book of the Iron Man. Across the course of the term we completed poetry, diary entries, role play and newspaper reports. We also watched the film adaption of the book, The Iron Giant, and compared the two.
Our home learning required us to make and research robots. We had the opportunity to share our learning with the class in a show and tell session. Miss Liddicoat was able to take a seat and enjoy observing during this session as we had a new teacher that afternoon… Miss Robotocoat.
To round off our first term in Canadian Bears we held an assembly for our parents. We performed a musical piece based around the work of ‘STOMP’ and held a quiz with prizes, for the parents, based on their knowledge of Mighty Metals. We also performed one of our favourite assembly songs.
Please follow the link to hear the song we love to sing!