The Journey by Aaron Becker

English
The Children used the skill of freeze frame to act out The Journey by Aaron Becker.
If you had something magical that could take you on adventures, where would you go? What would you do? How would you stay safe?
Throughout this book Bluebirds have followed the journey of a girl and her magic. They read about the adventures it took her on. From her home, to a forest, along canals into a castle, flying over the desert and back home to meet a boy with a magical purple crayon.
I wonder if they will go on more adventures with their very magical crayons, what do you think?

Seed Dispersal

Science

Today Bluebirds learnt how plants disperse their seeds to enable new ones to grow.  The seeds are dispersed so they are not near the parent plant because otherwise both parent and young plants would be competing for nutrients and water.   The class looked at pine cones and sycamore seeds.

Mrs Parry cut open a poppy seed head from her garden so the we could see the seeds inside.  We all enjoyed watching films of seeds being dispersed by explosion.  We all made 5 different sized paper versions of a sycamore seed and tested how long they took to land on the floor. We made sure we used a stopwatch and held the paper at the same height each time.  The results were surprising!

Art, Music
This afternoon, Bluebirds have been getting the mood for the Platinum Jubilee.
First of all we watched an old film clip of the Queen’s Coronation as some children thought we were celebrating her birthday! Mrs Parry shared a book with them called “Little Elizabeth” which was packed with information and facts about the Queen’s life.  Next we made a timeline of some events with photos of periods during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
We watched an amusing short film about the Queen’s hat which even included her special Corgi dog!  Here is the link:
After that, we all got crafty and created a collage in the shape of the Queen’s profile like we see on our stamps. (Look out for these on display during Arts week in July!).  We also styled some golden crowns with fancy paper plates.   We learnt to sing a special song called Platinum Jubilee – watch our recording of the chorus!

Here is the whole song.

 

 

Rhythm of the Rain 

English
Imagine you’re a jar of water that been poured back in a stream. Where would you go? Where would you end up? What would you see along the way?
This is the task Bluebirds were set in English. They used hotseating and all had a chance to ask questions of the jar of water. Children who wished to sit in the hotseat were different parts of the water’s journey. The rest of the class then asked the jar of water what it could see, hear, smell, feel and taste (the 5 senses).

Roots

Science
Bluebird’s topic in science is all about plants. The children have been learning about what plants need to survive and the job of each part of the plant.
In today’s lesson Bluebirds examined the roots of an onion carefully. They discussed what they thought the job of the roots were.  They also talked about what would happen to a plant if it had no roots; the fact that it would die or fall over without them.
A plant needs roots to anchor it to the ground and also to suck up water and nutrients from the ground around them.

Telling the Truth

RE
Bluebirds listened to the story of Naboth and King Ahab and the vineyard.  They were shocked to hear that because the whole truth wasn’t told something much worse happened. Elias said the King lied as he didn’t fully explain all the information to his wife.
As a class, we could thing of situations when the full truth isn’t told, often to avoid getting into trouble!  We also chatted about when we have lied or told only half-truths and how it can make us feel.  Mrs Parry told the class about the Ten Commandments. Tatenda explained these are a set of rules for people to follow, made by God. Next, the children watched a film clip about a boy who received too much change when he bought something from the shop.  The children then reflected upon these questions in their books.   It was pleasing to see the high morals of the children – well done Bluebirds!
  1. How do you feel if someone lies to you?
  2. How does it make you feel if you tell lies to someone?
  3. Do you feel bad about lies that no one knows you have told?
  4. In the film, Joshua and Leslie receive too much change.   What should they do?

Expressing Ourselves

PSHE
Today, Bluebirds acted out the story of the Lion, Mouse, Fox and Human. After the drama they talked about different type of characteristic and how each one behaved. They learned there was basically three ways of approaching a difficult situation, argument or conflict. Some people would be aggressive, others passive and some assertive.  The children learned what each word meant.
Aggressive: sounding angry, trying to win or get your own way by force or because you are bigger or stronger, without thinking of the other person.
Passive: giving in or running away from the situation so that the person left gets their way or wins, because they don’t want to say anything.
Assertive: trying to come up with a solution or result that everyone feels OK about.
Bluebirds split up into small groups and acted out each one of the ​characteristics. They looked at which kind of person was best to solve any problems they may have or face in the​ playground. They then decided that the best characteristic was assertive, as they could think of other ways to reach a solution.

E-books

Computing, English
Over the last few weeks, Bluebirds have  collected lots of facts about Ancient Egypt to help create their own online E-books. The children found this fun and informative, learning so much more about Ancient Egypt and how their community worked. They used all the information they had gathered to help with their own lift-the-flap hide and seek book which Bluebirds are writing in English.