Today in expedition we were looking at solids that turn into liquids when heated up. We found out that it can change shape when it is left to cool down.Before we did our own experiment we looked at what happened to wax when it was heated up.
In our crew session this morning we made a raft out of twigs and pipe cleaners and put a sail in them, ready to see if they float.
In today’s experience lesson we practised our different talents ready for our Crew Marsh talent show. We discussed how a good audience should sit with good sitting, listening ears and magnet eyes on the stage. We started our talent show with Noah introducing the show, then we had a group of animals telling us funny jokes. We then watched a dance. After that, we had hula hoopers and bean bag skills. Finally, Noah closed the talent show thanking everyone for coming. I was very impressed with all the talent we saw!
In today’s writing lesson, Crew Hamill began with a silent conversation in which we walked around the classroom looking at chunks of our model text, making a note of things we noticed, any features we could find and any fronted adverbials we could spot. We were able to identify some key features of a non-chronological report, such as paragraphs, subheadings and fronted adverbials. Following this, we looked at some example double-page spread reports and worked in mini crews to annotate them with praises and notices. We then came together as a crew and shared these. We were able to use these to generate a checklist of non-negotiables that we are going to use when writing our own non-chronological reports. This list included things like neat, cursive handwriting and accurate, detailed drawings.
In p.e they were practicing the ball control and then finished off with a game of tennis in pairs.
in Crew Haddock, they were using their fine motor skills to make an emotion teddy.
Today, Crew Hamill conducted another exciting experiment to help us to understand that some things can change state. We began by recapping a previous science experiment from Spring term in which we investigated how temperature effects the rate at which ice melts. We discussed this as we were able to identify that ice (which is a solid) melts into water (which is a liquid) if it is heated. If this is then frozen again, it will return to a solid. We then put this to the test in two ways. To begin, we had a look at wax. We discussed that this was a solid and then placed it into a wax burner which provided heat. We then left this, observing it at intervals throughout the lesson to see what happened. The block of wax disappeared before our eyes and turned into a liquid! We then switched the burner off and watched as it slowly cooled and returned to a solid. Whilst this was happening, we worked in mini crews to investigate chocolate. We placed solid chocolate into a bowl and heated it over a pan of boiling water. We watched as the chocolate melted and then placed this melted chocolate into moulds. We left this melted chocolate to cool in the moulds and are excited to see our results tomorrow when we pop the chocolates out!
Our do now activity was a prediction about where we thought the tunnel led. We discussed the importance of giving full answers using because to explain why we thought that.
One of our predictions was thinking the bunny was about to enter Easter Egg Island which is a direct link to our current reading text about chocolate. We also had predictions about the bunny going to a fair because these are happy and bright places.
Once we’d given our predictions, we discussed how this could link to emotions and how currently the bunny is feeling upset but something is happening that will start to change his mood.
Our fluency focus was pausing and we are becoming more confident with pausing in the correct places to help our comprehension.
Finally, we went through the text and highlighted any vocabulary that we were unfamiliar with and text marked the definition.
Our new unit of music ‘Race!’ focuses on the theme tune from the 1981 film ‘Chariots of Fire’.
We began by passing a rhythm around the crew in a circle. We kept the beat nice and steady, ensuring that the next person did not begin tapping their beat until the person before them had finished their 8 counts. Once we had managed to successfully pass the rhythm around the entire circle, we then challenged ourselves by passing the beat round again only this time, the next person had to begin once the person tapping had performed their first four taps. We found this tricky but we were resilient and managed eventually to get the rhythm around the entire circle!
We started our work on the Chariots of Fire theme tune by watching a video of key events from the film without sound. We discussed what we had seen and created a list of themes based on the clips. We discussed the idea of a pulse being present throughout the music that represented the ticking of a clock. We talked about why a clock might be important and decided that it was to represent the clock timing the race. Using a glockenspiel, we practised playing a quick pulse with the note C. Whilst it was tricky to play quickly, we had to really concentrate to make sure that we did not play too fast or too slow and that we stayed in time with the other members of our crew.
As well as a ticking clock, the idea of a short motif representing a cheering crowd is included within the piece. We discussed how two notes (C and G) are used however the duration of the second note (G) is longer than C so would need to be held on for longer. Using untuned percussion instruments we practised creating this motif.
We split into two groups, one group focusing on the quick pulse of the ticking clock, the other focusing on the short motif of the cheering crowd. Layering these two elements together allowed us to see how piece of music are structured and also how stories can be told using just instruments.
We warmed up our voices by singing the ‘Cowboy song’, a call-and-response song that uses the pentatonic scale C-D-E-G-A.
We then watched a video of Bobby McFerrin. The performance showcased the power of the pentatonic scale and allowed for us to see how the pitch can move higher and lower, ascending and descending in scale. We talked about how moving between notes can also mean moving in and out of order, as long as the notes used are within the correct pentatonic scale.
To put this knowledge into practise, we began to improvise melodies within the pentatonic scale C-D-E-G-A on the glockenspiel. Working with a partner, we identified how the shape of the pitch moved up and down. We then played a game of ‘copy me’ where one partner had to create a short pattern using the notes from the pentatonic scale, the other partner had to listen and the repeat the pattern back before swapping.
