Salsa!

What a treat Class 4 are bringing home for you for dinner tonight!!  I hope you like onion, garlic and chilli because the children certainly enjoyed preparing the ingredients and the classroom is smelling rather interesting as I type!  I was so impressed with how safely children used the vegetable knives to practise chopping and dicing, some for the first time they told me.  We had tears from many, but luckily it was only them discovering the the effects of chopping onions!  

First we chopped the tomatoes, learning the correct grip to use so our fingers were tucked safely out the way.  

Then we peeled and diced the onion (perhaps a little more onion that would normally be added into a salsa but at least everyone had a go!)

Then we crushed garlic, squeezed limes for the juice and gave the salsa a good stir.  Some of us, who were feeling a little brave, added a pinch of green chilli on the top.  

I hope you enjoy tasting your salsa tonight.  Please let us know what you thought of it through the comments at the bottom of the blog. 

Wishing you all a very happy and restful weekend, 

Mrs McMillan

Save the Rainforests!

Our Theme and English work this week has focused around the theme of saving the rainforests.  We have learnt about the harm that destroying the rainforests has on local native tribes as well as larger scale across the world.  

We wrote letters to persuade people to save the trees, animals and people that live in the rain forest.  I was so impressed with the use of persuasive features, Class 4 certainly proved that they can show emotion through their writing.  All letters were excellent but a special well done must go to our Wonderful Writers this Week: Abigail, Louis, Conrad, Kirsty, Holly and Juliette. 

In groups during our theme lesson, children worked on persuasive posters.  Here are just a couple that were close to being finished.  

Year 5 children also enjoyed their first Oaks and Acorns session of 2016 where they planted sweet pea seeds.  They then had to put forward their business plan for selling the plants at the Summer Fayre.  Each group had their own ideas and strategies to raise the most money possible.  

 
 

And they cleaned up well too!

It just remains to wish you all a very happy and restful weekend, 
Mrs McMillan

What goes in....must come out!

Year 4 have been learning all about the Digestive System as part of their science learning.  Yesterday, there were screeches of excitement and disgust as we carried out an experiment to model how the Digestive System works (or in their words - make poo!) 

The incisors chopping up the food in our mouths

Adding some saliva

The molars mashing and grinding down our food

Down the oesophagus

Into the stomach

Into the small intestine

Squeezed along the small intestine

Through the large intestine

And out!!!!

In other learning this week....
We have been learning how to use 'drop in' clauses in sentences to add more detail.  

Our theme lessons this week saw us learning about life in different towns and villages in Mexico.  In groups, children had to decide where they would like to live and put forward a persuasive argument to convince me and Mrs Allen to live either in the town or the village.  Both sides of the argument were put across very well by different groups, although we both opted for the quiet life in the village!