Night is a blanket

D1 and D2 have been learning how to write similes and metaphors this term.  This week we looked at the story called "Night is a blanket" and then wrote our own pieces of writing about the night.  Here is a selection from a few children so far.

BY JONNY
Night is a giant letting the blanket go.  The night is like a blackbird hovering over the earth.  The night has holes that are stars and the biggest hole is the moon.  The night makes its people go to sleep - a deep, deep dreamy sleep.  The night blanket eats the light in its path and makes the night.  It is like a giant piece of black paper.

BY BREE
The night is like a tent covering up the light.  The night sky is like when the light is turned off.  The night covers like a blanket.  It is when you are in you're bed and you can't see.

Perimeter Perimeter!!

We are learning about perimeter in D1 and D2.  We learnt it is the OUTSIDE measurement of a shape.  We had great fun making squares outside on Friday and measuring the perimeter.  We were having fun and learning at the same time :)

We tried a 1m sided square.  We easily figured out the perimeter was 4 m.  We then tried a 3 m square.  It took up lots of space.  Simi and Oliver quickly figured out 3+3+3+3 = 12 so the perimeter must be 12m.  Great thinking!!

Shooting Stars!

It has been a while since we had new work on our Shooting Stars wall. This is where we share good examples of things we are ALL trying to learn. Children's own work is often the best 'teacher' for other children learning the same skill!

We have 2 writing super stars here:

Samantha has shown us a great example of a 'complex' sentence.

Complex sentences are tricky to explain to 7 and 8 year olds! With Samantha's example, we could see a sentence with another idea 'tucked' inside it. Samantha is learning to use commas to make this extra little idea stand separately. Here is her sentence with the special part highlighted:

Once upon a time in Magic World Jenny Jackhound, the half jack rabbit and half hound, was using her magic reading powers!

You know you are doing it right if you can take out the highlighted part and the sentence still makes sense! Very tricky...

Jonathan showed us how changing the length of your sentences makes your writing more interesting to read.

If all our sentences are short, our story will sound 'choppy'. If all our sentences are long, it might just put us to sleep! We need a mixture of both types of sentences to make our story enjoyable to read. Here is part of Jonathan's story about hacradeens (apparently this is a new sea creature that has been discovered!) with the short sentences highlighted:

Hey! Have you ever heard about a hacradeen? Today I'm going to talk about them. When they are angry their eyes light up red. Red is my favourite colour. Hacradeens can play skeleton too. Get it? Sometimes they light up as a skeleton!

Kingdom Kid Award!

Our latest Kingdom Kid award has a special story behind it! It was for Matthew Y and this is what his certificate says:

Matthew has reached an important goal this year through his diligence – he completed his first ever cross country race! Matthew worked hard during practices to build up his fitness and finished well on the race day. He never gave up and that is what Kingdom Kids do! You shine, Matthew!

What's so special about finishing a cross country race? Well for Matthew and his family it is a really big deal! Matthew's heart is not always as strong as other children's hearts in his class and up till this year, he has not been able to compete in the big cross country race at the end of all the training. This year he did... and came about 10th out of 25 boys which is a huge achievement! What was most impressive though, was his great attitude to have a go and succeed this year. Way to go, Matthew! We are all very proud of you!

More Super Science in D2

On Thursday D2 explored the idea of how fat and soap work together.  We used milk as it contains fat, coloured water and soap on the end of a cotton bud.  We found out that soap loves fat and that fat moves, bends and rolls around to join up with the soap.  We had lots of fun watching the colours change.

INTEGRITY IN D2

We have been talking about integrity this term.  It is doing the right thing when no one else is looking.  D2 have explored what integrity looks like in the classroom, in the playground and how to have integrity in our friendships.  We made this video of our ideas so far.  Enjoy!

My Life Rulz

My Life Rulz is a wonderful programme that teaches children about who they are and the incredible value they have in God's sight. It encourages them to know they are important in the world and that they can 'stand strong' through the ups and downs of life!

Last term D1 went through the programme with Mrs Thompson and at the end they made these awesome posters to take home.