Monday 30 March 2020

Hello Year 2!

Hello Year 2, 

I hope you are staying safe at home and enjoying your home learning packs.

We have been checking to see which children have been logging in to Reading Eggs and completing their assignments set by their teachers. Some children are logging on regularly, however, there are few children who have still not accessed Reading Eggs. It would be great to see more children logging in and using this fantastic resource.

Remember to start your day following Joe Wicks’ PE lessons. Has anyone learnt a dance with Oti yet?

How are you all doing with your Times Table Rockstars? 

Keep checking the school website and blog for updates on activities you can complete at home.

Look after yourselves and remember the Government advice:


How to make Easy Chocolate Mousse




Easy Chocolate Mousse

You will need:
160g dark chocolate
4 eggs
50g caster sugar
Method
1. Start by finely chopping your chocolate and placing into a heatproof bowl. Next, add 75ml of water and place over a simmering saucepan to melt the chocolate. Once all your chocolate is melted allow time to cool slightly.
2. Next, beat the egg yolks and half of the sugar together in a bowl until pale and thick before slowly incorporating the melted chocolate.
3. The next step is to whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually mix in the remaining sugar. Then, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture a third at a time.
4. Place into serving glasses, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 4 hours to set.


How to make Homemade Chocolate Digestives



Homemade Chocolate Digestives

You will need:
350g wholemeal flour
150g cold butter, diced
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
55g dark muscovado sugar
2 – 3 tbsp milk
150g milk chocolate
Method:
1. Pour your flour and butter into a food processor and blitz until it looks like breadcrumbs.

2. Next, add the bicarbonate of soda, sugar, 1/2 tea spoon salt and milk to bring it into a dough. Once in a dough, flatten in a disc shape, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30mins.
3. Heat your oven to 180 celcius, line your baking tray with baking paper and cut 10-12 biscuits and arrange on the trays.
4. Next, bake for 15-18 minutes until golden and let cool. Once your biscuits have cooled, melt your chocolate in a bowl. Then, dip one side of your biscuit in the chocolate and leave to set.


How to make Rice Krispies Cakes




Rice Krispies Cakes

You will need:
100g milk chocolate
50g dark chocolate
100g butter
4 tbsp golden syrup
100g Rice Krispies
Mini marshmallows
Method:
1. Start by melting your chocolate with the butter and golden syrup in 10-second bursts in the microwave. Once everything is melted, stir in the Rice Krispies and coat with chocolate.
2. Then, place your mixture in either 12 fairy cake paper cases or nine cupcake cases. Now, put marshmallows on top to decorate and leave to sit for 1 hour.


How to make Unicorn Fudge




Unicorn Fudge
You will need:
800g icing sugar
10 tbsp condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Food colouring (red, blue, green)
100g softened butter
Method:
1. First cream your butter, condensed milk and vanilla extract. Then, add in the icing sugar and mix with an electric mixer or hand.
2. Once your mixture looks like bread crumbs, start rolling the mixture into a ball and split into three.
3. Once you have the mixture separated in 3, add a few drops of food colouring to each one. We only added one of the food colours to each mixture to help get the colour even.
4. Next, grab a baking tin and split each of your coloured fudge into smaller balls, then place around randomly in the tin and join them together. Make sure to add rainbow sprinkles now!
5. Finally, place in the freezer for an hour or overnight and cut into slices to enjoy!


How to Make Playdough at home




The BEST Homemade Playdough

Ingredients
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1 cup of water
  • 2 tsp cream of tarter
  • 1/3 tea cup of salt
  • 1 Table spoon of vegetable oil
  • gel food coloring
Instructions
1.   Mix together all the ingredients, except the food coloring, in a medium saucepan.
2.   Cook over low/medium heat, stirring. Once it begins to thicken, add the food coloring.
3.   Continue stirring until the mixture is much thicker and begins to gather around the spoon.
4.   Once the dough is not wet, remove and put onto wax paper or a plate to cool.
5.   After cooling (30 minutes) knead playdough for a few seconds.
PLAY!
6.   Store in an airtight container in the fridge!

Suggestions
Why not make some things that you were learning about school. How about the different sections of a plant, or the different stages of a life cycle of your choice? You could use playdoh to help you do your maths by breaking pieces off to help you count or why not practise measuring and weighing? Break pieces off and see if you can get them the same weight?
How about making your favourite story character with the doh and then make up a new story about them? Write it down and draw or take a picture to share with your friends and teacher when you return to school.

Hello Year 5!

Hello Aspen!

Believe it or not I have been really missing climbing our many stairs at school multiple times a day; what a great form of exercise it is! If there are 8 steps on each flight, and 4 flights to get to Rowan/Maple or 8 flights to get to Aspen/Hawthorn, can you work out how many steps you take each day at school. Think about trips to assembly, music, playtime, lunchtime etc.

I've been making sure I have been doing some exercise each day in my home - make sure you do as well and get the rest of your household involved as well if you can.

A huge congratulations to all of you who have been accessing your online learning.
Many of you have been reading the books your teachers have selected for you on Reading Eggs/Eggspress - keep it up! If you are having any problems with Reading Eggs/Eggspress, Mathletics or Times Tables Rockstars, please email the school office and we will try to resolve the problem as soon as we can.

I will be updating the league table for Mathletics and Reading Eggs/Eggspress on Friday so make sure you log on and have a go!

Stay safe and well,

Mrs Stone and the Year 5 Team

Total Darkness - free online game from The Science Museum




Total Darkness is exactly that – a new, free online game from the Science Museum Group, specially designed for children aged 7 to 13.
Players have a limited amount of time – as long as the batteries in their torch stay alive – to step into an online world that has been plunged into darkness and use their science skills to try and find out what caused the mysterious power cut.
Gameplay will help to get kids thinking like scientists – using everyday skills, they might not realise relate to STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
Total Darkness is very interactive; players navigate through the darkened streets of the town, armed only with a torch, facing challenges, from lost pets to melting ice cream, that requires developing their skills in curiosity, communication and creative problem-solving.
Along the way, they will meet a cast of curious characters in an effort to find new theories as to what might have caused the blackout.

Looking after your mental health and wellbeing - 4


'A guide to anxiety for kids'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfSbWc3O_5M

'What causes anxiety and depression - Inside Out'



Below are some tips from 'helpguide.org' aimed primarily at children with autism, however they are tips that all children benefit from, especially at the moment. 


Provide structure and safety

Be consistent. 
Stick to a schedule. 
Reward good behaviour. 
Create a home safety zone. 

Find different ways to connect

Look for nonverbal cues. 
Figure out the motivation behind the 'tantrum.' 
Make time for fun. 
Pay attention to your child’s sensory sensitivities. 

Something fun, quiet, calming and therapeutic everyone in the house could do- shadow drawing. Whether the sun is shining, or you use a lamp.



Friday 27 March 2020

Wellbeing challenges

Make sure that you follow advice from the government. 
Therefore some of these challenges may have to be adapted, or wait until restrictions are lifted. 


BBC Bitesize - Update on getting the most out of BBC online learning



Update from BBC Bitesize about how to get the best from the website and information about how to watch online lessons.

Please click on the link below

RSPCA - fun activities to do at home




Fun activities for children from the RSPCA

Please click on the link below

Learning with Celebrities online



Story Time with David Walliams












Maths with Carol Vorderman














PE with Joe Wicks








Dance with Oti Mabuse










Science with Maddie Moate

Singing with Gareth Malone


Are you missing choir?

Sing along at 5:30pm each afternoon with Gareth Malone on Youtube. He has put together the 'Great British Home Chorus' ... sign up here!

https://decca.com/greatbritishhomechorus/

You can access backing tracks and join in rehearsals every night.
The youtube link is here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzlUXj0Cwgk 

Virtual Tour of Chester Zoo today!

Chester Zoo are doing a virtual tour today through their Facebook Page. It starts at 10:00am and continues until around 4:00pm this afternoon.






Start a bucket list!

Wishing you could be somewhere else, doing something different, seeing someone different? Most people do right now.

Rather than getting annoyed, upset or frustrated that you can't do those things, start a bucket list! Note them all down, and when this is all over, you could slowly work through them and cross them off the list. 

Lots to look forward to!

Thursday 26 March 2020

Hello Year 5!

Hello Year 5!

I hope you have settled into your new routine of staying at home well and are finding lots of different ways to keep busy and to help out the people you live with. You have done fantastically with your online learning so far. Many of you have completed some tasks on Reading Eggspress and lots of you are creeping up the scale on Times Tables Rockstars. Here is our league table for Mathletics:
Aspen - 14 hours and 15 minutes
Hawthorn - 12 hours and 45 minutes
Rowan - 5 hours and 58 minutes
Maple - 4 hours and 34 minutes
Can you help your class win the league next week?
 
We will be uploading some more Writing, Science, Reading, Maths, Well-being, Art and online learning activities for you soon, so please keep checking the blog. Remember to record your learning so you can show your class teacher when we return to school.
 
EXTRA CHALLENGE: How many words can you make using these letters only once? Can you find the 7 letter word?
  n       o       e       t       l       i       a 


Did you manage to join in with the Joe Wicks PE lesson on Youtube every weekday morning at 9am? I have been joining in with my own children, imagining the thousands of other children taking part all over the world!

This week, alongside your learning, try to write down three things you are thankful for when you wake up in the morning – it will help you start your day positively. This week I have been thankful for the sun shining, lots of supermarkets opening early for elderly people and my neighbour leaving some milk and bread on my doorstep - what a thoughtful gesture!

Have a happy and safe weekend; remember to keep yourselves busy and, most importantly, be kind to one another.

From,
Mrs Stone

INTO FILM


IntoFilm logo
INTO FILM have put together many of their film guides for you to use at home.

They are designed as informal discussion prompts for after viewing a film, to encourage family conversations and interactions. They also feature extension activities that children and young people can take part in on their own, without the need for constant supervision. 

Below, they've collected 50 film guides with extension activities to help keep young people of all ages engaged. 

Many of the films are titles they believe people are likely to own on DVD, but where possible, they'll also point out some that are currently available to view on streaming services.

Watch The Wind in the Willows (the Musical) for free


Click on the link below to see the new Wind in the Willows Musical filmed live from the London Palladium in 2017.

Year 4 Maths Challenge!

It has been great to see the amount of Year 4 children who have been logging onto Mathletics this week! So far the totals are as follows:

Poplar Tree - 5hrs 33 mins (22 people signed in)
Oak Tree - 5 hrs 11mins (15 people signed in)
Pine Tree - 4hrs 11 mins (20 people signed in)
Ash Tree - 1hr 7mins (4 people signed in)

Well done Poplar Tree but watch out... looks like Oak Tree are hot on your tail! Keep up the good work everyone.

If you are looking for an extra challenge try to find the value of each egg. Write your solutions down in your thinking journals.


BBC Orchestra - Stories and Magic

Stories and Magic with the BBC Orchestras

Have you ever:

  • been to a witches party?
  • been to Mars?
  • visited the United States of America?
  • met a fairy?
  • stood in the middle of a storm?
You can do all these things with the BBC 10 pieces programmes.


Click on the link to 30 pieces of music to discover and explore, and go on some magical adventures.

Can you imagine what the Firebird might look like? Can you draw it?  

What is the 'Fast Machine' and what might it look like?

What do you know about Mars? 

Does the music make it sound like a fun place to visit?

Can you hear the 'Lark' flying in the music?

Educational TV Shows & Films


TV Shows/Films


Brain Child (U) - Brainchild makes science fun, cool, and accessible to everyone!  Each episode tackles a topic that's important to kids (and adults!) with comedy, experiments, and interactive games. This show also has a website where you can access fun activities to complete after watching the corresponding episode. Link to the website can be found here.

https://www.brainchildshow.com/


The Who Was Show (PG) - Based on the popular book series, this live-action sketch-comedy show brings important historical figures, like King Tut, Marie Antoinette, and Pablo Picasso, to life in an entertaining and hilarious way. 

Horrible Histories - Horrible Histories is a British children's live-action historical and musical sketch comedy television series, based on the bestselling books of the same name by Terry Deary. Please follow the link for worksheets based on the shows.

Ask the StoryBots (U) - Ask the StoryBots is an American live action/animated children's television series based on the characters from the StoryBots educational website and videos. Music from the show can be streamed following the link https://www.storybots.com/music

Odd Squad - Young government agents Olive and Otto use math to investigate strange occurrences in their town. They have their own website where you can access related games and quizzes. https://pbskids.org/oddsquad/

This documentary explores the ocean depths and the creatures who live within.
A biographical drama based on a true story. Drew Barrymore stars in this film about a reporter writing about whales trapped in the Arctic Circle.
Comedian Kevin Hart uses his silliness for good, teaching viewers about some of history’s unsung black heroes.
Teenagers at NASA’s Space Camp dream of traveling to Mars while experts reflect on the future and history of NASA.
Bill Nye faces climate-change skeptics as he demonstrates the importance of scientific evidence.
This Netflix series is a lot like Planet Earth, except it urgently calls for viewers to think about the ways that human actions are putting the nature and animals the series covers in peril.


Looking after your mental health and wellbeing- 3

Click here to see 'Apps to support your wellbeing'

Support with-

  • anxiety management, 
  • grief and bereavement, 
  • moods, 
  • self harm,
  • suicidal thoughts. 

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