We arrrrr pirates!
Reception have been learning about pirates this week. They have had the chance to create swords, eye patches, treasure chests, messages in bottles and even pirate ships outside!
It’s the Year of the Tiger!
With Chinese New Year on Tuesday, we have entered the Year of the Tiger. The children have produced some fabulous writing and artwork based on these fearsome creatures, some of which is on display at Cannon Park Shops – do make sure you go and have a look!
My books this week feature tigers, and other animals.
First, I have The Tyger Voyage by Richard Adams (Watership Down) and Nicola Bayley. A gentleman tyger and his son set sail from Victorian England into the timeless unknown. Together they roam across the seas, through jungles, past ice-covered mountains and erupting volcanoes and many more unexpected hazards along the way.
Told in verse using language to capture the era the story is set in, which is also evoked in Nicola Bayley’s stunning illustrations, this is as captivating today as it was when it was first read to me as a child.
Next, I have Interview With A Tiger by Andy Seed, illustrated by Nick East. Get familiar with 10 fierce and furry beasts as they step up to the mic and share their habits, behaviour, likes and dislikes, favourite foods, and more. Each animal has its own story to tell… and its own attitude…
Having made a tranimalator, Andy Seed has scoured the planet to conduct some amazing interviews with ten spectacular, clawed creatures, including a tiger, wolf, and my personal favourite, a snow leopard.
Each interview is packed with fascinating facts about the animals and their habitats, with each creature’s personality shining through. It has to be said, their views on humans don’t show us in a particularly good light.
Nick East’s fabulous illustrations pair perfectly with Andy Seed’s trademark wit and warmth to create a perfect pleasure browser that can be dipped in and out of, but once I started, I found I wanted to meet all of the animals at once.
Finally, I have chosen Carnival Of The Animals by Michael Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman. Morpurgo’s poems are inspired by The Carnival of the Animals – a humorous musical by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. Building on this classic framework, Michael has added many more animals – they speak in their own voices, full of humour and vivacity, to tell of their lives and the impact of humanity on their habitats.
With full colour illustrations throughout, this celebrated partnership has created a gift book with a strong ecological message that will also ignite a love of poetry in young readers and will appeal to fans of The Lost Words. Above all it is a celebration of the natural world in verse, a book to treasure and to inspire.
Year 5: Fact or Opinion?
To increase our knowledge of the type of information that goes into biographies, Year 5 have been exploring the (sometimes subtle) differences between fact and opinion using a range of beautiful non-fiction books.
We even found facts about opinions, such as Albert Einstein really didn’t like school, while Abraham Lincoln loved animals.
Chinese New Year
To celebrate Chinese New Year, all children have been writing about tigers and creating a piece of matching artwork. Two finalists were selected from each class to have their learning displayed at Cannon Park Shopping Centre.
Today, the children walked up to the shops to see their writing and art on display. There were many proud faces as the children pointed out their learning. These 14 finalists will enjoy an afternoon of art with a local artist later in the term.
Year 2 Blast Off!
Year 2 watched the film, ‘The Way Back Home’, for the start of their adventure story writing unit in English. The boy in the story travels to another planet in his rocket. The children thought about what their own spaceship might look like if they travelled into space. Everyone showed the value of enjoyment making junk model spaceships.
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Open in new tab Tiger Week
This week the children in Reception have been learning all about tigers! They all did some tiger artwork including sketching, paper plate craft and shape tracing. The children also set up a tiger tea party and loved experimenting with different types of tea bags , designing invitations and even enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate!
Year 6: How did propaganda influence behaviour during World War II?
As historians, we have been looking at propaganda posters produced during World War II.
We worked out who the intended audience was, and how the words and images would evoke an emotional response in different sections of society. This was so that they would be more likely to behave in the way that the Government wanted them to, whether that be mothers from big cities sending their children to live with others in the country, women going to work in factories or on farms, or growing your own veg!
Then we created our own posters to persuade the British population to help the war effort in different ways.
Year 5: A roving reporter questions characters.
Year 5 are looking at traditional tales in English, and have been exploring an Ancient Egyptian version of Cinderella called Cinderella Of The Nile by Beverly Naidoo, illustrated by Marjan Vafaeian.
Having looked at similarities and differences between this version and the Brother’s Grimm version, we are now looking at the story in more detail.
We acted out the whole story, and then a roving reporter dropped in to see what the women in the crowd waiting to try the slipper on might have said, and to find out why Rhodopis was hiding in the bushes. We will use this experience to make our speech writing more exciting for the reader.
