This week in Literacy we will be designing our own Olympic mascots and writing a character description about them. Click on the picture below to watch a video about Wenlock and Mandeville.

Busy Fire Station

I like Fireman Jim because he climbs the ladder.

The story is funny when the fireman gets trapped under the net by mistake.

At the end they drink hot chocolate.

By Elliott

Reception - Ruby Class

We have had a fabulous time this half term learning all about toys and games. It all began when we found a present left over after the holidays which was Slinky the Dog from Toy Story. Andy wrote to us asking if we could take care of his toys and we have been looking after Slinky ever since.

In Week 2, Andy sent us some toys from Ghana to look at. We were so amazed to see the football, boat guitar and doll made from leaves. We had never seen that before. Some of us tried to carry a bowl on our heads like the people in Ghana do, but it was very tricky!! We also made some frisbee's using straw and rattan. They were great fun and we enjoyed teaching our friends new games to play with their frisbees. We also found out about some othe games that children play around the world and loved playing Dodge Ball which is played in America and Japan, and Learning how to do French Skipping.

In Week 3, Andy sent us his game of operation but unfortunately it was broken. Using our investigative skills, we managed to work out how to make the light and buzzer work by joining them to a battery using wires to form a circuit. We were all thrilled when we finally got the bulb to light up. Andy was so pleased that we cou;d help fix his game.

In Week 4, We made a plan to design a new playground and then used this to help us make a 3D model of our playground. We all worked really hard. joining straws, card and other materials together to complete our playground and make the swings and roundabouts actually move.

FInally, this week, Andy sent a huge box to us that was covered in dusty old cobwebs. He had found the box in his attic but we do not know who it belongs to. Inside we found some amazing toys that were very old. There was a very old doll who had ringlets in her hair, lots of old cars and bricks that were made from stone, so they were very cold to build with. Some of the toys looked very similar to the toys we use today. There was a skipping rope and a cup an ball catcher that were made from wood but the toys we use today are mostly made from plastic. We looked very carefully at a poor old bear and a new bear and tried to describe things that were the same and things that were different. The old bear was not fluffy anymore and had a big hole in his foot, but the new bear was soft and cuddly and had a shiny nose and eyes. We also made a kite to help to rescue Old Bear from our story book. This week we have also been learning the story of 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff' using our Story making. We are all getting very good at using the story language to retell the story and love the part where the troll falls into the water with a mighty splash!!

We can't wait to show you all the things we have learnt during look at learning tomorrow. Hope to see you there!

On Tuesday Little Gems will be starting a new topic called 'Come and Play'. We will be learning all about toys and how to play lots of different games. Our role-play area is now a game playing area, with lots of different games to play. If you have any board games that you would like to donate to this area, they will be gratefully received. Keep an eye on our outdoor areas too. We have some exciting plans ahead!

This week we have been thinking about some warm food to send to the Bears as they are getting a bit fed up with just eating fish. Ruby Class decided that we would make some delicious vegetable soup. We each thought about the vegetables we would like in the soup and then came up with a shopping list for Mrs King.

Our Recipe for Vegetable Soup

Peas

broccoli

carrots

parsnips

potatoes

Vegetable stock

1/2 an onion

A clove of garlic

We all had a turn at chopping up the vegetables into small pieces and worked really hard as a team to break the broccoli into tiny bits. Mrs Stoner then fried some onion and garlic and boiled all of the vegetables with some stock.

Once the vegetables were soft, we blended them  using a blender, and finally, the best bit, we had a chance to try the soup.

Some of us thought it was so delicious, we went back for more and Mrs Stoner even had a bowl full for her lunch!

At the start of the week we had had an intruder in the classroom, which turned out to be a polar bear who was looking for a book about Alaska to take to Ruby Bear! As he couldn't find one and had made such a mess of our book corner, we had to sort all of the books back into piles of fiction and non-fiction.  We then had a chance to write a page for our class book on Alaska, using all of the information we have learnt over the last few weeks. We can't wait to see what Ruby Bear thinks of our book. We are going to choose a winning front cover next week...so watch this space!

We have had another busy week in Ruby Class! Ruby Bear contacted us by email on Monday and said how pleased she was with the cards that we made last week. she said they really helped to cheer all of the bears up. She also sent us some magical pictures of the winter in Alaska. We loved seeing the magical ice and snowy mountains. We thought really carefully about words to describe the pictures and are going to write them in a very special poem that will then be recorded onto a video to send out to Ruby Bear. We think Ruby Bear will really love all of our hard work.

The bears also sent us a map of the igloos where they are staying. They wanted some help to know how far away the fishing ponds are from the igloos because they have to carry lots of heavy buckets of fish through the snow. At first we were not sure how to help, but now we know that the bears need to measure the distance and they can use anything that is the same size. We practised our measuring using plastic hands, feet, rulers and in Year One we tried measuring much longer distances with a trundle wheel, which measures in meters.

 In the afternoon we have been learning how to direct a bee-bot (a small little robot) across an icy path to the other side of the pond. We had to give the bee-bot exact instructions how to move one space at a time. We loved watching him listening carefully to the instructions and then moving by himself!

I wonder what Ruby Bear will want us to do next week?...........

Missing Ruby Bear

This week in Ruby Class, we were all really sad that Ruby and the other bears have still not returned from Alaska. On Monday,we got a letter and video message from Ruby bear saying they were feeling very lonely, so we have all been busy writing them cards ready to send to Alaska. We really hope that Ruby Bear likes our drawings and writing.

The bears have been having all sorts of problems this week. Diamond bear has been fishing, but the naughty polar bears keep on taking the fish. We have been helping them to work out how many fish they have left using our taking away skills. Next, Ruby Bear was having problems with the eagles swooping down and taking the clothes we sent to them last week, so again we tried to help, using our numbers and clever counting. The bears have also had a problem with the huskies as they have been so tired because of the cold that they have not been able to pull the sleds... the bears are keeping us busy with all of these problems!

Ruby bear was so pleased to read an email from Cameron it really cheered up up. She says she would love to hear from anyone else who can email her too. Her address is: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 We have also had some very busy afternoons, learning how to mix colours and learning about warm and cool colours. We have really enjoyed painting ice kings and snow queens in cool shades of blue, just like the artist Andrew Hem whose paintings we have really enjoyed looking at this week. We can't wait to show our grown ups all of our hard work!

We have heard news from Little Gems bears that have been lost in Alaska.  Unfortunately, the rescue mission is going to take a bit longer than we expected and if all goes to plan, the bears should be back home on 2nd December.  The bears would very much like to hear from you.  You can email them a message while they are away.

The addresses are...

For diamond bear - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For Sapphire bear - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For Topaz bear - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For Ruby bear - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The bears would love to hear from you.  I am sure they will write back when you send them a message.

Happy writing!

Today all of Little Gems had an emergency meeting because our class bears did not come back from Alaska. We got a special message from them asking for help. Click on the blue link below to watch the video.