English - flashbacks

In English today we looked at a short video clip, 'The Piano'. Our focus was to include flashbacks in our writing- we wrote some group flashbacks, here is as example:

Everyday, I sit there and play my favourite piece of music. Specifically, I play the music that reminds me of the war; back in the days when I was a medic in the Navy. As I listen to my much-loved pieces, I remember memories of my past; memories that have lasted a lifetime. The music brings back the memories of the times I risked my life to comfort the wounded. Specifically, the time when I lost my brother. I ran to save him but I was too late.

By Neive, Dylan, Harry and Krysta

Living things - Science

In Science today we discovered who Carl Linnaeus is and what he is most famous for. He renamed flowers from the overly long Latin names to one or two word names that we know now. We learned that if an L. appears after a scientific name it tells us that Linnaeus named that living thing. A dagger sign after a name shows that the living thing is extinct!
Aristotle categorised animals into different headings by looking at their appearance and features. 

War Horse

Our focus in English is WWI, we've been reading War Horse. We also went to the theatre last Thursday to see War Horse live on stage, during our time in London we visited the War Memorial at the Tower of London - the ground was covered with poppies.
From our day out we have written a review and we are currently writing our own war stories.

Science projects

Over the last few weeks we have been studying a topic of our choice in science. Each group came up with their own question to investigate, e.g. Will a bigger balloon cause more static electricity? Which is the best liquid to melt ice cubes in the quickest? We have been using different scientific enquiry skills such as, observing over time and classification, to answer our question. We have all been able to answer our questions through the investigations we have completed. Tomorrow we will be presenting our findings to a panel of governors.

Small Schools Week - Art Attack!

This afternoon we have been doing yet another fun and exciting activity. We have been working on collages to display on our balcony using our visions from the canal. Some of us have worked individually and some of us have worked in a group. We have been capturing aspects of the Grand Union Canal including barges, the bridge and the the background - even the Willow Tree! 

To make our collages we have been using tissue paper, coloured paper, materials, card and more. 

Small Schools Week - Kayaking

This morning our class went to the Hemel Hempstead Canoe Club to take part in a kayaking session. We were taught, on land, how to paddle accurately and how to sit in the kayak to minimise the chance of us falling out - unfortunately Mrs Orton and Callum still managed to fall in! Even so they got back in their kayak and carried on. After freely paddling around in the canal for a while we all came back together and linked up in a line - ensuring we all held on tightly to the kayaks. We then had to stand up in the kayaks - trusting our peers to hold our kayaks still. After we had all successfully completed that challenge we knelt out and gave our kayaks an Eskimo kiss, we all held our balance well and no one fell in. We had a race without our paddles to the lock and back, and then we had to pick up a paddle for our return trip.
Everyone had an fantastic morning! We want to go back!

Small Schools Week - Whole School Zoo Trip

At the zoo we split into 3 groups, again we mixed with years 3&4 for the day. We decided what we wanted to see throughout the day to ensure we all had a great day. Some groups went to the bird show - it was amazing! There was a bird called Maggie, a crane, who listened to the instructions given to her by the bird trainer, a couple of burrowing owls, parrots and others. They flew so close to us, we had to duck!
We went to the elephant talk, as a whole KS2 group, and learned the difference between the African and Asian Elephants - Asian Elephants have smaller ears, African Elephants all have tusks whereas the Asian males only have tusks and Asian elephants are a lot smaller in size.
We also went to the Sea Lion Show - we saw them do an impression of a seal and a shark. They cleared up rubbish from the pool and put it in the bin, one even pretended to die. They jumped up individually to touch the buoys in the air., unfortunately they didn't perform altogether but it was still great fun.
We all went to the farm and were able to stroke the goats and saw the pigs.
Animals we saw on our travels were: monkeys, lemurs, bears, chimpanzees, a crocodile, rhinos, hippos, penguins, wild boars and many more!
Overall it was a fantastic day out. Check it out for yourself using the link below.

www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo