Willow Tree Class Blog
Willow Tree Class Blog 2020-2021
Weekly Update 23.7.21
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Willow Tree Class Blog 2020-2021
Hello everyone,
The children were given a homework project which revolved around them choosing any person of their choice that inspires them. They had six weeks to create their projects and they were given complete creative freedom as to how they presented them. Some children presented them in booklets, some presented them as videos and some presented them as PowerPoint presentations. Each child presented them to the rest of the class, telling the class why they were inspired by their chosen person and to read a few facts about that person. Every single child produced a project and they presented them really well. Whilst some children were a little nervous at first, it was definitely great for their presenting skills and for their confidence and I'm very proud that all the class were very supportive of each other. Well done everyone, I really enjoyed finding out about who inspires you!
This week the children had an outdoor history lesson. They became history detectives and together in their groups they had to analyse a range of replica artefacts that have been found at Skara Brae and make inferences about them
After 6-7 weeks of growing them, the children are finally taking their sunflowers home to plant in their own gardens. All of the plants that we planted have grown, with some growing faster than others. Hopefully, within the next week or so, the children will see the flowers fully open up :)
Well done, Willow Tree! You've all been brilliant and resilient during another challenging year! Have a fantastic summer, look after yourselves and stay safe!
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)
Weekly Update 16.7.20
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Willow Tree Class Blog 2020-2021
Hello everyone,
This week, Willow Tree have finished reading the fantastic final chapter of Stig of the Dump. The children have thoroughly enjoyed the story, but also have lots of questions that they would love to ask Clive King about the ambiguous ending to the story. They have also written some wonderful reviews of the book and as a class they have rated the book as a 4.5 out of 5 story.
In Maths, we have completed our unit of work on Geometry, which the children worked very hard on. The children were also given the opportunity to create a variety of three dimensional shapes using a variety of different materials and identify the faces, edges and vertices of their particular shapes.
As part of our Stone Age to the Iron Age topic, the children have been learning about StoneHenge, focusing on how it was built and looking at the possibilities as to why it was built and what it was used for. The children had a brilliant debate, arguing their points as to what they thought StoneHenge was used for. They tried really hard and were very persuasive with their arguments. As we have been focusing on StoneHenge, the children have also created some fabulous artwork with half of the class depicting the silhouette of StoneHenge in front of a rising, early morning sun and with the other half of the class depicting the silhouette of StoneHenge at night with a full moon shining from behind. Here are some wonderful pieces they have produced.
Willow Tree had their Sports Day last week. They all gave it their absolute best effort and supported each other brilliantly. They were humble in victory and gracious in defeat and I expected no less from them. I'm very proud of the way they conducted themselves. Here are a few snapshots below of the children competing in the different events.
Weekly Update 9.7.21
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Willow Tree Class Blog 2020-2021
Hello everyone,
This week the children completed their own new chapter for Stig of the Dump, there were some absolutely fantastic pieces of writing and the children should be really proud of themselves.
We have also started to read the final chapter of Stig of the Dump and the children are excited find out how the story ends for Barney, Stig and Lou.
We have continued our work on Geometry this week, focusing on parallel lines, perpendicular lines and 2-D shapes.
The children also performed their song for the Big Sing assembly and they were brilliant. Below is a video of their performance.
Big Sing Assembly-Bringing Us Together
Below are also a selection of pictures from the Fun Fair from last week, the children had an absolute blast with all the activities provided.
That's all for now :)
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)
Weekly Update 2.7.21
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Willow Tree Class Blog 2020-2021
Hello everyone,
It has been another busy week in Willow Tree, the children have been doing their end of year assessments and I am very pleased to say that they have tried extremely hard and that all of their hard work and effort throughout the year has really shown through :)
We have continued reading our exciting class novel (Stig of the Dump) and have been reading the penultimate chapter of the book, which has left the class asking lots of questions and making lots of predictions as to how Clive King will conclude the story.
In Literacy, the children have been planning to write their own alternative chapter to Stig of the Dump and have just started to write them up. They have come up with some wonderful ideas and I'm really excited to read their alternative chapters. One idea that I really love is having the character of Stig speak for the first time because so far in the story, Stig has not spoken.
As part of our Stone Age to Iron Age topic, the children have been learning about cave paintings, where and when the earliest cave paintings were discovered, why they were created, what images appeared in cave paintings and what stories were being told. After learning about cave paintings, the children created their own. First they started by painting the background, then drawing their own images of hunters and animals and using of oil pastels to colour their images in. Finally, the children used tea bags to make their cave paintings look old. The class all worked really hard on their cave paintings and produced some lovely pieces.
Our Science topic this half term revolves around Plants. Willow Tree have been growing sunflowers for the past month and they are coming along very nicely. Using some leftover seeds, we decided to conduct an investigation. Can plants grow and survive in the dark? This was the question that began our investigation and since then we have been monitoring two young plants that had been planted at the same time, in the same soil and given the same amount of water, which we then separated, putting one in the cupboard and leaving the other outside. Everyday the children have been observing changes that they can see, using the correct scientific language and every four days we have been noting down the differences between the two plants. The children have noticed that the plant outside has been growing taller and its stem has thickened, where as the plant in the dark has started to droop, its leaves have shrivelled and it has lost its healthy colour. We are making our final observations today and concluding our investigation with what we have found out and if there any other questions that can come out of it to lead to a new investigation.
That's all for now :)
Take care,
Mr Kyriacou :)
Weekly Update 25.6.21
Mr Kyriacou (n.kyriacou) on: Willow Tree Class Blog 2020-2021
Hello everyone,
This week, Willow Tree have continued working on Geometry, specifically focusing on right, acute and obtuse angles, as well as a focus on drawing horizontal and vertical lines accurately, to create different angles and shapes. In the images below, the children were locating different areas and items within the KS2 playground which has right angles. They were using an orange square to confirm whether it was a right angle or not. If the square fit in perfectly between the two lines, then they could identify it as a right angle. They really enjoyed the activity and it really helped to embed that knowledge of how to identify right angles.
Our topic this term revolves around the Stone Age to Iron Age and this week the children have been learning all about Skara Brae. Alongside learning all about how it was discovered, who discovered it, the time period that it dates back to, where it is located and what was found, the children also used Google Earth to travel from Rufford Park to Skara Brae and to explore it as if they were there in person.
That's all for now, take care :)
Mr Kyriacou :)