Beech Tree Class Blog 2023-2024
Beech Tree Blog
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 :)
Weekly Update-26/1/24
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Beech Tree Blog
Hello everyone,
This week, in maths, we have been focusing on using the written method multiplying 2 digits by 1 digit and 3 digits by 1 digit. This was a challenge for some children at first, however, throughout the week the progress has been unbelievable and it's so lovely to see the children using this method so confidently now.
In our writing, as part of our descriptive writing unit, we have focused on creating our own hybrid animals (elephly, parrigator, snowl etc) which the children have drawn and then described. We have then been focusing on putting our plan together, which will help to the support the children as much as possible when writing their character description. Finally, the children have started to write the first draft of their character description.
In science, as part of our chemistry unit of work, the children have been exploring soils, understanding what makes up soil and learning about different types of soil. Then, the children have conducted an experiment to see what is left of each soil when it is put through a sieve. We then discussed the results, why that's the case for each soil and the children then drew their observations into their books. The children really enjoyed it and learnt lots of new facts in the process!
In our topic lesson, the children learnt all about Fairtrade, what it is, why it started, how it supports farmers throughout the world, which parts of the world different goods come from, and understanding how we can contribute to support these farmers. The children then took part in a game called Banana Split. The aim of the game was that each child in a group would take on the role of an individual or an organisation involved in the process of getting the good from the starting point to the end point e.g. banana worker, shipper, plantation owner, importer and shops and supermarkets. The children all had the information about what each role does. The children were then told that they had 30p and they had to negotiate with one another as to who would earn more of that 30p for their role in the process. Over three attempts, the children negotiated with one another with the amounts changing each time. I then told the children what the amount that each role actually earns, which shocked the children, but allowed them to understand why Fairtrade is so important and necessary.
In our P.E. sessions, the children have also been enjoying the dance class with Northern Arts.
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)