Beech Tree Class Blog 2023-2024
Beech Tree Blog
Weekly Update-23/2/24
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
This week, we have continued reading our class novel (Illustrated Stories of India) which the children have really enjoyed. We are continuing to work on a range of reading skills, especially inference skills, and it's been fantastic to see the children being super reading detectives and using the clues in the text to make great inferences and produce detailed answers to the questions being asked. Well done!
In English, as part of our unit of work on letter writing, which will revolve around Fairtrade farmers, the children did some role playing, with some children playing Fairtrade farmers, some playing non-Fairtrade farmers, some playing buyers and some playing the role of the supermarkets. The aim of the game was to get the children to understand how Fairtrade can benefit a Fairtrade farmer, especially with the amount money they receive from their produce, and how that can support them positively in different ways. We then compared this to the amount of money that the non-Fairtrade farmers received and how that would impact them in a negative way. The children really enjoyed the game and also understood how those different farmers would feel, depending on if you are Fairtrade farmer or not. They showed these emotions brilliantly with their acting. We have also been looking at the features of formal letters.
In science, as part of our unit of work on light, our first lesson revolved around light sources. We discussed what light is, what the term light source means, understanding the difference between natural and artificial light, looking at lots of different examples of natural and artificial light sources and highlighting and discussing any misconceptions about whether something is or isn't a light source and why e.g the moon is not a light source because it is actually just reflecting light from the sun.
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)
Weekly Update-9/2/24
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
This week, in our reading, we have continued to read Illustrated Stories of India, which the children have really been enjoying. We also read two stories called The Snake Charmer and Lord Moon, and we focused on our retrieval, inference and summarising skills. The children were super during these lessons!
In science, as part of our unit of work on soils, the children were conducting an investigation to find out which was the most absorbent soil out of peat, clay, chalk and sandy soil. They worked very well in their groups and tried hard to conduct their tests as accurately and as fairly as possible. The results were a reflection of this! Well done!
In DT, we concluded our Great Bread Bakeoff unit by creating our own bread and incorporating different foods into it e.g. banana, raisins and chocolate chips. The children worked in groups to create the dough. They then split it up, decided which food the wanted to place into it and personalised it to the way they wanted it to look. Finally, they baked their bread (which looked amazing and had a great smell) and then did the taste test to see how they turned out. They were all very successful and I was very impressed with how well the class worked together!
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)
Weekly Update 2/2/24
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
This week, in our writing, after producing a draft and then editing them, the children published their character descriptions based on a fictional animal. They worked extremely hard on these and produced some excellent work. We have now moved onto our poetry unit of writing, which revolves around Haikus. So far, the children have learnt about where they originate from, what they are usually themed around, how many lines they have and how many syllables they have in each line. We have also been looking at a variety of different examples and identifying what makes them a Haiku.
In our maths, we have been focusing on using the bus stop method for short division. This has been a challenge for some children; however, it’s been amazing to see how much resilience they have had and how much more confident they have become as the week has gone on. It’s also been brilliant to see all of the children using the inverse method (short multiplication) to check that their answers are correct. Well done!
In our DT, as part of our Great Bread Bake Off unit, we focused on creating our own design criteria for making our own bread. The children came up with lots of ideas that were essential, and it was lovely to hear all of their suggestions. The final part of the lesson involved the use of play dough. This was used to help the children practise making a range of different shapes for their bread and the children loved it!
In our P.E. sessions, the children have also been enjoying the dance class with Northern Arts. This week, the children created their own routines and they were great to watch! Below is a video of one of the routines.
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)