Book talk continues in MI

2nd September 2024Stacey McClare

Today we recapped the story so far by thinking about what the characters may be saying to each other and their thoughts. We worked in mini crews to think of our own ideas then shared these with the whole crew.

From here we unpicked the vocabulary that would appear in the text before text marking it when reading. We used an echo read, partner read then an independent read. We tried to think about the fluency of our reading today. Our reasons to read allowed us to show our understanding of the text which we all did really well. Our exit ticket allowed to order the events in the story. A great reading lesson in MI 🙂

Blasting into immersion week

1st September 2024Hannah McLoughlin

This week we have engaged with a range of tasks in order to guess the title and guiding question for the expedition. We have been scientists by exploring our solar system, naming and ordering planets, learning all about forces and to top it off going in the wonder dome, which deepened our understanding. We also painted some beautiful art work of the Sun, Earth and Moon. We researched the artist Andy Warhol, which inspired us to create images with similar techniques and relate to outer space. We used a variety of skills and tools in order to produce these including the use of varying brush strokes, dabbing of a sponge and flicking of a toothbrush to create different elements of our image.

Immersion

30th August 2024Ruth Shields

Today we took the opportunity to immerse ourselves in our expedition. Children came dressed up as evacuees which was lovely to see. The minute the sirens went off, we had to quickly build an Anderson Shelter to protect themselves from the bombs being dropped by the Germans.

Once we realised it was no longer safe, it was time to pack our suitcase and head off to the countryside.

The suitcases were packed and we then boarded the train so we could leave London and move to the countryside where we’ll be safe.

WW2 – Hook Week

30th August 2024Ruth Shields

This week we’ve started building some background knowledge about World War 2. We also put the main events into a timeline which took some great team work. Children had to consider days and months due to quite a few events happening in the same year. When we’d completed this, we used the timeline to help us create a knowledge organiser that highlights the key events and people.

Welcome back Crew Shields

30th August 2024Ruth Shields

We’ve had a lovely week back in school and we kicked the week off by spending time focusing on crew and building positive relationships. This will allow us to have a successful year.

Our guiding questions was ‘What does crew mean to me?’ and we’ve spent lots of time talking about the importance of crew. When we shared our thoughts today some of the things children said crew is a big family, happiness, supporting each other and holding each other to account.

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to take part in an escape box challenge. This required us to really put our heads together and use each other’s strengths to help us work out all the clues. The clues were maths linked and had problems solving elements. Even I had to get the odd clue to figure out the next step.

Space Art

30th August 2024Laura Hamill

Today, Crew Hamill proved what fabulous artists they are by fully engaging themselves in a painting of either the Sun or the Moon. After researching the artist Andy Warhol, we used our inspiration to create images of the Sun or Moon in outer space. We used a variety of skills and tools in order to produce these including the use of varying brush strokes, dabbing of a sponge and flicking of a toothbrush to create different elements of our image.

Wonderdome

30th August 2024Laura Hamill

To kick start our expedition, Upper Key Stage 2 were whisked off to the Milky Way within the amazing Wonderdome. We were able to fully immerse ourselves into our solar system, exploring each of the planets and learning in-depth information about the Sun, Earth and Moon. Matt, our space expert, was extremely knowledgable about all things space – past, present and future. We were able to discover that Earth is the only planet that humans can live on as it is in the habitable zone (also known as the Goldilocks zone) where the conditions – temperature, water and oxygen – are just right! We were also taught about the first astronauts to travel into space and land on the moon. Did you know there were THREE astronauts? Interestingly, it wasn’t just Neil Armstrong (the first man to step on the Moon) but it was also Buzz Aldrin, who walked on the Moon’s surface alongside Neil, and Michael Collins, who stayed in the space craft to keep it safe. We were excited to find out that there will be another attempt to travel to the Moon next year, with 4 new astronauts set to orbit the moon!