Class 2
Welcome to Class 2!
We finished our science topic about electricity with a trip up Stickleghyll to visit the National Trust's hydroelectric project. We were very lucky to be guided by Neil Winder, the Langdale National Trust ranger.
As we climbed up beside the ghyll we learned about the history of the area. The ghyll had provided power for a fulling mill using local wool. We heard how the area has to be managed for farmers, tourists and wildlife. Neil told us about the history of humans in the valley from the stone age axe factory to the modern day. We were really lucky to get to handle a genuine stone age axe-head.
It was a very hot day and a very steep climb and we were delighted to finish the trip with an ice-cream back in the car park.
June
In honour of World Environment Day this week we learned more about some of our native creatures.
We thought about the different habitats found in the Langdale environment and focused on our very own woodland habitat. While we are all familiar with the woodland during the day, on Tuesday we learned about the nocturnal animals that might visit our wood by night. We were joined by the Year 2 pupils for a taster morning and split into five groups representing five of our favourite nocturnal animals: bats, badgers, foxes, owls and hedgehogs.
We carried out a range of activities including creating awesome environmental artworks of our creatures, dissecting owl pellets (gruesomely fascinating) and of course thinking about what our final creature, the human, would do in the woods at night - light a campfire and toast marshmallows of course!
May
Class 2 have had an amazing week taking advantage of the sunshine and our exciting grounds to extend our learning.
In Maths we have been looking at measurement. We carried out activities to estimate the height and ages of some of our trees. Did you know that there are trees in our grounds that are over 200 years old and 35m tall?
We used our skills in measuring capacity and mass to make delicious cinnamon drop scones which we cooked over the campfire. We also created our own fruity drinks to wash them down. Our only disaster was burning the popcorn but Zeke has given us a great idea to try next time.
Our science topic has been Sound. While our experiment in measuring decibels was interrupted by low flying aircraft, we demonstrated how sound waves move more easily through solids than gasses by making string telephones up to 20m long.
We finished up the topic by creating our own musical instruments. We demonstrated what we had learned by designing ones that could play sounds at different volumes and pitches.
May
Our pirate display is looking fantastic. We have: messages in bottles from Ben Gunn, descriptions of pirates, our own pirate portraits and a giant treasure map which forms part of our work on coordinates. Please do pop in so your child can show you their wonderful work.
May
As part of our pirate topic we have been reading Treasure Island. This week we imagined that we are Ben Gunn marooned on the island. We wrote letters to put in bottles asking to be rescued. Don't they look old?
Message in a Bottle
April
Today we started our science topic about sound. We learned that sound is caused by vibrations. Next, we carried out a range of experiments using musical instruments to find ways to see and feel the vibrations. It was great fun, very noisy and involved lots of vibrating rice grains. Finally, we carried out a sound survey around the school grounds to see what we could hear and worked out what was vibrating to cause the sound. Even peaceful Langdale had lots of different sounds to identify.
April
We made Easter biscuits as part of our celebrations. We wrote instructions for how to make them and then enjoyed our cute and tasty treats.
March
Yet another exciting week in Class 2. We started the week with a Viking Day, with costumes, bread making, wild boar hunting and making coins, and ended the week celebrating World Book Day - with more dressing up! We've worked so hard in maths that the teachers got a rest as the children taught each other! In science we've set up our cress growing experiments, so we're eagerly waiting for next week to see how they've grown. We're testing different conditions for growing, so I hope we remember all the places that we've put the seeds!
February
This week we have been learning all about the great outdoors. We've had a visit from the Wildlife Trust, where we learned about different birds, investigated habitats in our school grounds and went exploring with some binoculars. We've followed this with our new science topic about plants. Using our newly planted gardens, we looked in the different flowers at the parts inside, such as stamen and stigma. What better way to spend a sunny science lesson?!
January
Our current science topic is creating a lot of opportunities for outdoor learning. We're learning about habitats, so we've been studying our various outdoor areas, thinking of hazards to habitats and looking at different ecosystems. Watch out - we're building up to a piece of work to persuade you all to be more aware of habitats too!
December
What an exciting time of year this is! We've had a Christmas Dinner altogether, a Christmas party and a Christingle service, to name a few!
Class 2 have enjoying out 'Forest Friday' sessions outside recently. This week we took our maths problem solving lesson outside with us and worked in small groups on our place value and understanding of number. We have also been learning about capacity so took the opportunity for some practical work....definitely an activity for outside after Mrs Thornhill tried a very messy demonstration!
November
This term our Year 3's have joined Class 1 for some very exciting new opportunities. They have been working with a group in Ambleside for some 'Inter-generational Dance' and enjoyed some yoga sessions with Kate. They have loved practising their dance moves and learning some new poses, as well as creating some of their own!
September
In preparation for our Harvest Festival, Class 2 have been working hard in literacy. We decided to write a poem to perform in our special assembly. We worked in groups to gather as many harvest words, thoughts and feelings, then gathered together to create our class poem, which we memorised and performed together.
In our recent maths topic we have been refreshing our understanding of fractions, using these paper strips to find equivalents and to help us with our questions and challenges.
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