Leopards@taddy

Today, the Leopards explored three different types of rocks and learnt how they are formed.  We looked at sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks.  We used crayon shavings to create the three kinds of rocks. The crayon shavings represented the minerals in our rocks.  First we explored sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are formed when rocks on the surface erode and the particles gradually cement together and harden. To create this, we placed a small handful of crayon shavings onto a piece of foil. We then rubbed the foils in between our hands to heat. We then squeeze and squished the foil together with as much pressure as we could. Carefully we unfolded the foil and revealed our sediments to rock.  Next we made metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rocks are formed when sedimentary, igneous or other metamorphic rocks are altered by pressure and heat. For example, marble. We placed another spoonful of crayon into a boat shaped piece of foil and placed it ontop of some hea...

As part of our English this week, the children were exploring different emotions of characters in our story ‘The Last Garden’ through facial expressions and body language.  The children analysed the children and families arriving back to their city after the war was over.  They then worked in groups to create a short scene from the book focussing on what each character might say and how they could portray their emotions through facial expression and body language. 

In PE this term, the Leopards have started to learn how to play Netball!  We have started off by looking at the different skills needed in order to play the game. We practiced different types of pass: chess pass, shoulder pass and bounce pass.  We then focussed on the importance of footwork in Netball. We played lots of games practicing pivoting and running onto the ball. 

Every week in the Leopards we have Show and Tell time. It’s great for the children to be able to share something to their audience and describe what it is or where they might have been. Often it creates great opportunity for discussion.  This week, Alfie brought in some fossils! As we have been exploring fossils in our Topic ‘Rocks, Relics and Rumbles’ the children were really intrigued and had many questions. We discussed how fossils form and the different fossils we could see.  Hatty wanted to share with us a book she had been reading at home ‘The Oak Tree’.  She was able to tell us all about the story and the children were so intrigued that we found time for Hatty to read the story to the class. She read with such great confidence and even used her tone of voice to create emotion throughout the story! Well done Hatty, you should be so proud! 😊   

During our English lessons this week, the Leopards had the opportunity to read aloud to their peers. Reading aloud can support all children as they hear pronunciation and fluency of words.  The children were all super engaged and motivated and by reading to their peers, they were able to explore new vocabulary together and explore the book as a team. It was great to see the children’s confidence and how comfortable they were to read out loud!

 This afternoon the Leopards started their new topic ‘Rocks, Relics and Rumbles’.  We invited a special guest, Adam, from Tunstead Quarry to come into our class and run a workshop exploring different rocks. The children learnt all about different types of rocks and investigated their properties. We also got to find out more about Adam’s role at Tarmac and how they extract rocks and the uses for the materials.  The children asked many thoughtful questions and were exited to see different types of rocks, equipment used in the quarry and watch some videos taken just this morning of what working in a quarry looks like.