World Book Day
Today was that time of year again, the best day of the year – World Book Day. The costumes were simply amazing and we all looked brilliant. It was also great to see some Roald Dahl Characters: Veruca Salt, The BFG and Mr Willy Wonka.
We spent part of the morning making our ‘book door’ for the whole school competition. We based it on a Wonka Bar and surrounded it with our very own Golden Tickets.
Skipping Festival
Earlier this week, we finally got the chance to show off our skipping skills at the skipping festival at Wetherby High School. We started by competing in the skills showdown. In pairs we demonstrated: speed bouncing, side swings and crossover skips. Even though only 1 minute long, each competitor was exhausted from the effort they put in.
Then we moved onto our skip dance routine. We’ve worked really hard on this over the last few weeks. It wasn’t only about showing our skipping skills; we had to count beats, watch other children move for cues and be looking where we were standing.
We came away with a haul of certificates for our efforts as well as first place in the crossover and butterfly skills.
Well done, 3/4.
Chocolate Masterteers
Finally the time came this week to make our chocolate bars! After much tasting, testing and planning, we began by melting the chocolate on the cooker with the help of Mrs Walton. We then had to rapidly mix our fillings and flavours in before the chocolate began to harden again. We finished by pouring the chocolate into moulds and allowing it to harden overnight.
Our job didn’t end there though. We then had to design the logo and the packaging to go with our chocolate. We looked into what makes a good chocolate bar name and also studied existing design. Finally, we got to take them home and devour them.
Mr Wonka’s Challenge
Last week, we received a letter – or challenge should we say – from Mr Wonka himself. It turns out he is trying to make a chocolate bar that wouldn’t melt in children’s pockets. He thought the best people to test this would be children themselves.
So we set about: collecting different samples of chocolate; heating them up; observing when how long and at what temperature they melted; and then recorded our results.
During this investigation, we focused on making sure we were carrying out a fair test. We used the same amount of chocolate, the same cups etc and only changed the type of chocolate.
Living and Learning: Staying Safe
Recently, we had a theme week all about staying safe. We thought about all the times and places that we needed to stay safe. We first considered the classroom and how we could make it a safe place. We had brilliant suggestions about keeping the room tidy as well as how we can make people who are feeling upset feel safe.
We also had workshops from the Police about stranger danger and how to recognise adults who can help us. Our road safety workshop was especially interesting. We learn all about the need for wearing a seatbelt and the consequences of what can happen in you don’t.
Chance to Shine Cricket
Over the last few weeks, Tom from Yorkshire Country Cricket has been coming in every Wednesday to help develop our cricket skills. We have played some fast-paced and fun games as well as working on our batting, fielding, bowling and teamwork skills. All the while we have also been focusing on: being a team player; showing resilience and perseverance; and showing respect to our fellow players.
The cricket coaching is part of the Chance to Shine movement allowing young children to play and learn through cricket. A letter will shortly be coming home about opportunities to play cricket in the local community along with the All Stars Cricket Coaching later in the year.
This would be a great opportunity for children to ensure they are getting their 60 minutes of activity each day.
Welcome to the Chocolate Room
What a day yesterday was! After finding the last golden ticket and meeting Mr Wonka, we – along with Charlie and the four awful brats – found ourselves outside the Chocolate Room.
The hall had been transformed and filled with contraptions from Mr Wonka’s imagination to make his most wonderful sweets and chocolate. We let our imaginations run wild as to what everything could be and what it might smell, taste, or even sound like.
We then went back and wrote all about our experiences in the chocolate room. The pieces of work and descriptions that came out were simply amazing. We can’t wait to see what other surprises await in Mr Wonka’s factory.
Living and Learning: I know how to make things better
The children all brought in some fantastic responses to the creative homework about making things better. We had posters about how to be a good friend, a game about making good choices, a guide to how to say sorry, and a game based on friendship.
Here are some of the pieces that we decided we liked as a class for their creative and presentation.
Living and Learning: I know what a drug is.
Our Living and Learning statement this week is ‘I know what a drug is’.
We thought about all the different types of drugs people may put into their bodies.
We noticed there were many types of drugs that can be helpful if people are ill. Everyone agreed that even these drugs, such as paracetamol and Calpol need to be taken in the correct amounts and with care.
There was lots of grown up discussion about why people may put other more harmful drugs into their bodies.
“If some drugs are illegal why do people take them? Erin
“If you take too much of something it will damage your body but a little bit might help it”. Cohen
Using a life sized body outline we began to think about how different types of drugs affect the different parts of the body-including the mind and how people feel.
We shall be continuing this important topic next week during our Living and Learning session.
Our class novel
We have now begun our new big topic based around our class novel – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. From what we have read so far, we are all completely hooked by the odd characters and vivid descriptions. We are all eager to see what happens to Charlie and the other wicked children. During the topic we will: conduct science investigations, make collages, make chocolate bars and write all about Charlie’s adventures.
Of course, the book is written by the wonderful children’s author, Roald Dahl. It would be well worth a visit to Wetherby Library to choose more books written by Roald Dahl. You may even discover another children’s author whose work you enjoy.