Snow Days, Magic Wands, and Winter Explorers: What a First Week Back!
Wow, what a first week back it has been! We certainly hit the ground running this term—quite literally battling through the elements to get here. We want to say a huge well done to the children (and parents!) for managing the weather at the start of the week. By Friday, the snow was deep, but spirits remained high! Despite the chilly weather, the classroom has been buzzing with creativity and new learning. Here is a look at what we have been up to.
English: Magical Poetry
This week, our writers have been casting spells with words. The children had great fun writing poems centered around the theme of a Magic Wand.
We dived deep into the writer’s toolkit, looking at:
- Rhyme: Finding words that sound the same to create a rhythm.
- Onomatopoeia: Using "sound words" like zap, whoosh, and pop to bring the magic to life.
- Structure: How to organize lines to make a poem look and read correctly.
It wasn’t just about writing, though! We also focused on performance. The children practiced reading their poems aloud, using specific intonation, facial expressions, and actions to captivate their audience.
Geography: Destination London
In Geography, we have started our new topic by zooming in on our capital city. We looked at where London is located on a world map compared to where we are. To test our new knowledge, we played an exciting board game. The children had to answer "True or False" questions correctly to move their counters around the board. It was a competitive and fun way to learn facts about the city!
RE: The Choice
In our RE lessons, we explored the story of Jesus choosing Matthew to be one of his disciples. We spent time discussing empathy, specifically focusing on how Matthew might have felt being chosen, and how the others might have reacted. The children offered some very thoughtful ideas about friendship and belonging.
Outdoor Adventures: Hunters and Hiders!
It was wonderful to be back outside this week for our first lesson of Block 2. We started our session by taking a quiet moment to observe how our outdoor area has changed since the beginning of Autumn.
What’s for Dinner? We gathered at "Base Camp" to discuss a matter of survival: what hungry animals do to eat! The children were introduced to two very scientific words:
- Predator: The hunter (usually a carnivore).
- Prey: The one being hunted (usually a herbivore).
Using a "talking stick," we named pairs of animals like the Owl and the Mouse or the Fox and the Rabbit. It was fantastic to see the children confidently identifying which animals eat meat and which prefer plants. The Predator Triangle The highlight of the lesson was a high-energy game called Triangle Tag. This helped us understand how animals work together to stay safe.
- The Setup: Three children formed a "protective triangle" by holding hands to guard the Prey.
- The Mission: One child acted as the Predator, trying to tag the prey using gentle "butterfly touches."
The teamwork on display was brilliant! The children rotated quickly to keep the "Protectors" between the predator and the prey. There was plenty of laughter, but also some genuine tactical thinking. Reflection Time Before heading back inside to warm up, we sat down to tackle a tricky question: "Can a predator also be prey?"
One of our insightful Year 1 explorers gave the perfect answer:
"Yes! A snake eats a frog, but then a hawk might eat the snake!"
We are so proud of how safely the children played and how well they cooperated to keep their teammates safe.
Have a wonderful, warm weekend.
