Wednesday 26 November 2014

Who is this?

We looked at parts of a picture that started to tell a story. We only saw a small part at a time so we could really think about each new bit of information, ask questions and make up our minds about what we would discover.

There was a young lady in old fashioned clothes.

A storm was brewing and the lighthouse was shining out to sea.
We talked lots about what she was looking at, the rough sea, her wooden rowing boat and her worried expression.

Then we saw the wrecked ship. It must have crashed in the storm. We decided this lady had seen the ship from her lighthouse and rowed out to it. She must be very brave.

Now we had a name to go with this brave lady. 
Grace Darling. 
We then had a quick visit from Grace to our classroom and asked her some questions we needed answering. She rescued some people from a boat. Others died.

Then we watched a film about her life and the amazing rescue she did with her father, William.
Watch it here      http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01dd493/clips






Monday 24 November 2014

An unusual place.

Somewhere in the world is an unusual place.
There is a circular room. It is about 6metres across.
In that place was a room and some stairs. Unusual stairs. If you went up the stairs you came to a bedroom with very little furniture. 

What could this place be? "A castle?" "A house?" "A lighthouse?"
Who lived there? 
Further up the stairs were more rooms. What was in them? "I know, there is a lantern room."

Somebody lived in this place with their family.
"Are you Mr Grinling?" No
"Are you real?" Yes
"Were you in a film?" Yes, after I died.
"Are you a lighthouse keeper?" Yes
"Are you young?" Yes
"Are you a boy?" No

Outside a storm was brewing....
then raging....
into a full blown tempest.

The walls of the lighthouse were strong. 
If they could speak I wonder what they would say...
"I am strong." 
"I'll keep you safe."
"The storm is terrible."
"The wind is freezing cold."

What do you still want to find out about this story? 





Friday 21 November 2014

Instruction manuals.

Do you know how to make a model lighthouse? Then look no further.
Follow these instructions for success.













Monday 17 November 2014

Winch builders to the rescue.


Have a look at this letter we received from Mrs Grinling.
We investigated the parts on a well just as Mrs Grinling had suggested.
We identified an axle, a handle, supports, rope and an object to lift. 
Then we had a go at trying to build a winch ourselves.



After we had practised constructing these winches we then tried to include them into our lighthouses.
Here are our finished models.


We made sure our lighthouses were brightly coloured so they can stand out in the landscape.

Our lighthouses have a lantern room with a bright bulb and lens and they had to have a balcony so the keeper can walk around the outside and clean the windows. 

Small windows so the weather doesn't come in and a unique pattern so sailors can tell which lighthouse is which.

 Some of us included a helipad on the roof so keepers and visitors can easily reach the lighthouse. 

We are very proud of our lighthouses and were thrilled when we made our winches go up and down.





















Wednesday 12 November 2014

Instructions

We have been learning about instructions.
An instruction needs to have a time word, a bossy verb and be in the right order.
We wrote instructions for making a jam sandwich and for washing our hair. 

We followed a set of instructions.




The final instruction said to make the snake come alive!

We had fun making up a play with our snakes.





Master measurers

We had to solve a problem. Do the largest feet always jump the furthest?
So we set about finding a way to find an answer.

"We need to measure our feet first."


"Then we need to measure how far we jump."
"We can put tape down so we jump from the same place."
"Put tape down to mark how far we jumped."


"Now measure the gap between the bits of tape."
"Make sure we always start the tape measure from zero."

It is not always the case that the largest feet make the longest jump, but sometimes they do.

"The tape measures aren't long enough!"
"We have to use rulers as well."


"If someone has big feet that will make the distance we measure longer"
"We should have measured to their heel not their toes"