In expedition, we have used maps and digital technologies to find rivers and canals in the UK. We found several rivers and canals that flow through Doncaster such as River Don, River Torne, River Went, New Junction Canal and Stainforth and Keadby Canal. We then used the maps and iPads to label the rivers in the UK. To consolidate our learning over the last few lessons, we completed a Kahoot quiz.
Today, we had the exciting opportunity to work with author and illustrator Liz Million! Drawing inspiration from the prehistoric world, we explored the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. With Liz’s expert guidance, we brought ancient landscapes to life, creating cartoon illustrations of a prehistoric volcano erupting in the age of dinosaurs. This hands-on experience not only enriched our learning in science and history but also sparked our creativity and imagination.
Crew Hamill deepened their understanding on the early conditions of the mine from last lesson by exploring the dangers that people faced due to these conditions. To begin with, we looked at some artefacts that would have been used within the mine (helmet, gloves, pickaxe etc.) and discussed what these told us about working in a mine (e.g you could hit your head, get blisters on your hands, be injured by the pickaxe). We then worked in mini crews to create freeze frames of some mining situations that all involved a danger. Can you guess what these are from our photos?
Following this, we worked in threes to conduct interviews in which one of us was a miner in a given scenario and the others asked questions about the dangers. You can see some of our interviews here:
To consolidate our learning, we created a ‘wall of dangers’ by each writing a danger on a brick.
Today, Crew Hamill had their second experience lesson in which they were identifying the features of a non-chronological report. We worked as a crew to look at an example report, sharing ideas about what we noticed – the title, paragraphs and pictures etc. We then looked at a ‘non-chronological report checklist’ and used this to identify further features such as subheadings and an introduction. Once we were comfortable that we understood the features, we worked in pairs to organise a non-chronological report that had been jumbled up. We had to work out which subheading matched which paragraph, identify the title, introduction and conclusion, and then figure out which order we would put the information in before deciding where the pictures would go. Once we had done this, we labelled each of the features and explained why they were important. To consolidate our learning, we played ‘checklist challenge’ in which we had 3 minutes to write down as many features as we could remember before seeing who had remembered the most!
After a lovely weekend off, Crew Haddock started the morning with sensory circuit .
Crew Haddock had a lovely time in our forest area this week , building dens and going on the hammock.
Today, we looked at the different ways in which we use rivers. We first started by exploring the rivers and canals that flow through Doncaster. This included the River Don, Stainforth and Keadby and New Junction Canals. We recognised a couple of the photos which were taken in Doncaster. Then we looked at the uses of rivers and canals. We found that we can use rivers for transportation, leisure, irrigation, hydroelectric power, drinking water, habitats and ecosystems, and fishing. We then matched the use to the impact that it can have on the environment. Some of them had both positive and negative impacts on the environment. For example, people who use rivers for leisure activities such as kayaking and canoeing are improving their physical and mental health but they could pollute the waters and destroy habitats.
Lovely afternoon making memory jars. The child wrote down 6 memories and then linked each memory to a colour. Next, they put 6 piles of salt on each memory and coloured the salt. They poured it into their jars so that they could keep their memories with them.
During today’s lesson, Crew Hamill had the opportunity to experience a mining tunnel for themselves. Using tables and dark material, we recreated what a tunnel might look like. We turned out the lights to make things darker and played a coal mine soundscape to mimic the sounds of the mine. One at a time, we made our way through the tunnel, experiencing the dark, cramped and noisy conditions. We then had a small debrief explaining how we felt – lots of us were claustrophobic! Following this, we played true or false and moved to the side of the room that we felt was appropriate when presented with different facts about mining. If we agreed and thought they were true we went to one side, if we disagreed and thought they were false then we went to the other. To further demonstrate our learning, we read some fact sheets about life in the mine and created chotting sheets in mini crews that detailed the early conditions.
Today in writing, we have continued to build our knowledge about tectonic plates in preparation for when we write our next plot point. We watched some videos and chotted down loads of facts to support us in writing.
We then did a shared write which allowed Miss Shields to model how to put the facts into sentences.
