Monthly Archives: December 2016

A Christmas Thunk

14th December 2016Newsphilosophy, Thunk, writingMiss Manson

Sometimes it’s a great idea to exercise your brain by doing some extra thinking. Thunks are a good way of doing this. A thunk is a thought or an idea that you can discuss with friends. Those of you who have tried philosophy either in school time or in the after-school club will be familiar with this type of thinking. Thunks are also great for sharing on a blog – just like this one. Here’s a seasonal one for you. Read the thunk and then write down your first thoughts.

Would you rather live in a democracy or a dictatorship run by Father Christmas?

P.S. The UK is a democracy – adults have the right to vote for MPs to represent them in Parliament. Power is shared. Recently, the EU referendum and the vote for the American president were also examples of democracy. In a dictatorship, one person has absolute power. They are not elected by the people of the country. The dictator can make decisions without asking for permission.

End of Autumn Term Evaluation – Maple 1

7th December 2016NewsMiss Pickersgill

Wow – what a full and busy half term we have had Maple 1!

We would like you to write a paragraph or two, explaining what you have enjoyed and learnt this term. Please use cohesive adverbials to link your sentences together.

Here’s a few ideas to help remind you of what we have done this term:

English – Journey to the River Sea
Maths – addition and subtraction, solving problems, bar model
Topic – learning about Brazil
Science – forces
RE – the Christmas story
JIGSAW – celebrating difference
Reading challenge – Zoom to Zibo
PE – dance and outdoor games
Reading with Holly 2
Assemblies
Clubs

Thank you and we look forward to reading your blog posts.

Mrs Mitson and Miss Pickersgill

Learning Grammar Outdoors

5th December 2016Newsgrammar, outdoors, writingMiss Manson

Maple 2 said that they wanted to do more learning outdoors, so that is what we have been doing.

Today’s lesson was a grammar treasure hunt! Every child had a sheet listing 16 grammar terms: noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, adverb, preposition, determiner, clause, conjunction, subordinate clause, relative clause, modal verb, noun phrase, passive voice, active voice and subjunctive. The challenge was to create sentences which included examples of all 16 terms, with bonus points if the sentences made a paragraph.

And where did the inspiration for this writing come from? Being outside. Sometimes, sitting on a chair at a table just isn’t quite enough to give us the ideas we need.

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Watch this space for the results …