Bears@taddy

This afternoon, Tigers and Bears learnt about sea shanties and why they might be sung. They then learnt some pirate songs and sang them together, adding in actions.  Bea suggested that we could use instruments to accompany our song, so we chose instruments and practised keeping a rhythm whilst singing. Sol thought it would be nice if the instruments played at different times of the song, matching the sounds to the words. Samuel decided that forming groups of similar instruments would be the best plan. We practised taking turns playing our instruments and keeping them still when others were playing. The children followed instructions really well and did a great job of developing this song together, following their own ideas. Afterwards, some of the children chose to take their learning a step further and put their own words to the songs. They worked hard on this and came up with some brilliant ideas. They then asked to perform to the other children.  , A thoroughly enjoyable piratey aft

We have had a wonderfully busy day of making and doing today. This afternoon we returned to our pirate topic and continued our map and compass skills that we looked at last week.  The children remembered the compass directions and where North was in relation to our playground. We then used magnets to magnetize pins, ensuring that we only stroked them in one direction. The pins then balanced on slices of cork in a tray of water and the children were very excited to see them spin to face North. Many of the children wanted to continue with this at home, so you can find instructions  here  (with the cork) or you could try it with a leaf by going to  Mountain Leopard Training   (day 27 Forest School at Home). The children also made their own pirate island maps this afternoon. They considered why pirates might like to be on islands, including that they are surrounded by water and that there might not be any people around to catch them stealing. They then made their maps look old by tea-stain

Whilst many of us are back in school, we still have some Tigers and Bears beavering away at home.  Our home learning heroes have been doing some wonderful writing this week and it is absolutely worth celebrating/ Florence Florence has produced a fantastic Minibeast fact-file. She also went on a virtual tour of the London Underground and then wrote about it. Layla Layla has done lots of wonderful writing this week, including an information piece about snails and a beautiful description, setting a scene. She has been using pictures to help her to plan her writing before getting stuck in which is a great way of ensuring writing is well thought-out. Connie Connie has also done some fantastic work, including an information piece about Yellowhammers, and some writing about her favourite films. A huge well done to all of you. I'm hugely proud of all of the effort and enthusiasm you are putting into your home learning. Mrs C

This morning, we watched a clip about ‘The Cloud Maker’, who makes the clouds by blowing through his cloud wand. We then went up to the woods and made our own cloud wands using sticks and plants. The children made all sorts of fantastic contraptions and talked about how to adapt and improve them. On Sol's suggestion, Mrs Beswick then made a huge batch of bubble mixture for us to test our wands. The children loved it, and just look at the success that they had!   Afterwards, Tigers wrote weather reports about the strange occurrences of funny shaped clouds. We hope to record these weather reports next week. I was so proud of the perseverance of the children, learning to tie knots with tricky materials, and adapting their designs when they didn’t work as they had hoped. The laughter and smiles were just wonderful! Let me know if you make any more at home. Mrs C

I had a few technical issues yesterday which prevented me from posting. Here is what I was going to share with you: It has been such a joy to have so many children back in school today. They have done us all proud! The positivity and enthusiasm that they have all shown is just wonderful.  This afternoon, we worked on mapping skills (but I was obviously too absorbed to grab a photo). The children then used their imaginations to get creative. George got busy digging a ‘swimming pool’ All sorts of wonderful structures and dens were made. Lots of the children made these excellent ‘lettuces/cabbages’. I am thoroughly looking forward to another day of fun, laughter and learning with our fantastic children again today. Mrs C

Wow! Look how far we've come. Next week we will be welcoming many of you back into school and I absolutely can't wait to see you all.  You have all taken this unusual time in your stride; working hard, playing hard and smiling throughout. I am incredibly proud of you all.  Next week, I'm hoping that the children in school will help to do our blog. However, those of you who remain at home, please keep sending us your pictures! Let's take a look at some of our wonderful home learners! Alfie has done so much great writing recently - well done! Isabella has been working on this beautiful sequin art as well as her work. Connie has done some great sentence work, as well as making a cut-out picnic. Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend. Mrs C

Good morning. Happy Thursday! I promised a while ago that I would show you the artwork that I produced from Andy Sanders' pirate art lesson. I really enjoyed doing it and I know that a lot of you have loved the sessions as well. Please share your artwork with me! You have all been up to some wonderful things. I'm really looking forward to catching up with more of you over the next couple of days as well. Look at this wonderful writing that Layla chose to do. She is such a fantastic story-teller! Look this beautifully neat handwriting from Isabella! I love these poems that you can write over for practice. I also just had to share these gorgeous pictures of her with the calves. Just lovely! Alfie looks like he's been enjoying doing some Very Hungry Caterpillar maths! Connie has also been doing some great writing. I wonder who recognises the characters she chose to write about...?  Keep up the amazing work all of you. Mrs C