Tag: Beech

Hi everyone!

Beech ladies here – We have created a short story in video format based upon an activity we have done lots in class.

For this activity, we split into groups and each group is given the responsibility of deciding a key part of a story to help create it. For example, one group or pupil will have a selection of characters, another pupil or group may have some scenes or settings to choose for the story and other groups or pupils will have story problems, solutions and endings to choose from. The idea is to encourage us to use our thinking caps and listening skills (as well as improvisation skills!) to build an imaginative and fun story. This was our version after we rehearsed it a little! Mrs Wilson chose some characters, Mrs Howie made up some settings, Mrs Brady thought of some dilemmas for our characters and then Miss Woodburn thought of solutions for the dilemmas and finally, Mrs Shields gave us our ending.

(P.S The camera flipped after the video downloaded which is why we appear to point in the wrong direction!)

Anyway, we hope it makes you smile #Staysafe

Click here to see the video if you cannot see the play button below

Here is a link to the prompt cards we use in class for this activity.

Hi everyone!

This week I thought it would be fun to have a music and sound themed week!  

Task 1. [Art] Create your very own musical instruments! 

You can make an instrument out of just about anything – as long as it makes a sound.  Your challenge is to create a musical instrument out of household items.  It can be a shaker made from a plastic bottle with rice inside, or a drum made out cardboard boxes and a wooden spoon, or even something a bit more creative.  Have fun experimenting with all the different sounds and instruments you can make.  Here is a link for some great ideas in case you do feel like getting crafty!

Task 2.  [Literacy] Sound Stories. 

Create sound effects for a story!  An excellent sensory experience that lots of us really enjoy is a sound story, which is basically a story that has props that helps us to make the sounds that are inside a story.  A good story to create sound effects for is ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen. There is even a very well know song that goes with this story! Here is a link to a Youtube video of someone who has created very simple sound effects using mostly household items.  Here is another link to give you some other prop ideas.

Task 3. [Science] Explore sound. 

You will need a large bowl (glass works best), clear plastic wrap or clingfilm, a radio/CD player (or anything that makes a loud noise) that can be placed close to the bowl or vice versa and either grains or rice or small bits of scrunched up tissue paper. Here is a link to watch the experiment being done.

• How high can you make the rice jump?
• What was your favourite sound to make?

Task 4. [Music and Science] Create a water xylophone.  

Here is a link to show everything you will need and what the end result should look like!   The idea is to demonstrate that when you strike the glass, it vibrates which creates a sound.  The depth of the water inside the glass determines the pitch of the sound.  Try to figure out which glasses make high pitched sounds and which glasses make low pitched sounds!  Can you make a sound pattern or melody?  Have fun experimenting with the different sounds and sound patterns you can make together!

Task 5 [ICT] *Digital Learning Week*  

• This excellent music resource from the BBC allows you to experiment with instruments, sounds and songs – try it out on your iPad or tablet!
• Our favourite and most requested song in the Beech class before lockdown was ‘Dance Monkey’ by Tones and I.  There are lots of dances and Zumba routines that people have made up to go along with this song!  See if you can find one and dance along to it!  Participate in any way you can – you might want to play along using the instruments you made earlier!  This is my favourite Dance Monkey dance as the smallest ‘dancer’ made me smile
• Download this virtual piano game on Twinkl to experiment with notes and tunes.
• Remember to keep an eye on our Youtube channel for any new dances by Mrs Murray!
• Some music and dance apps that are free to use or download are GoNoodle, Just Dance Now, Kids Music and GarageBand (Apple software only). Simply type in the name of the app into your app store then download.

Remember – all activities are simply suggestions and completely non-obligatory.  You can try one or try them all, totally up to you! Feel free to leave comments or post a photo, I would love to see how you’re all getting on.  

You’re all doing amazing  

Take care, guys

 

Hello, everyone.

One of our favourite things to do in the Beech class is to read a story together.  We have even participated in an SQA unit that is based around exploring fictional stories and the characters within them.

We choose a book for us all to read and offered some suggestions of activities to try out! The fun activities will be based on the main character of the story!  This week’s story is called ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ by Giles Andreae – you may have heard of it!

Have a listen to the story HERE then, if you like, try out some of the activities below! Feel free to post any photos or comments on this blog to let us know how you got on.

Task 1. Explore heights using non-standard units!

*Activity recommended if you have a garden* Giraffes can grow to be about 19ft tall! To see what that looks like, mark out a starting point at one end of your garden and take 19 (count out loud together!) steps in a straight line and mark the point where you finish.  Take a step back and check roughly how tall a giraffe is! If you enjoyed this, why not find out the height of other animals in the story and compare their sizes!

 

Task 2. Check out a LIVE FEED from a real zoo.  Here are some links to zoos that have cameras in their giraffe enclosures. Look at how the giraffes move.  What are they getting up to?  What kind of food do they eat?

San Diego Safari Park, USA

Greenville Zoo, S.A, USA

Folly Farm, Wales, UK 

 

Task 3.  Become a researcher! Work with an adult to find out the answer to the following questions that you might on an animal fact file:

• How tall to giraffe’s grow?
• What colour is a giraffe’s tongue?
• What colour is a giraffe’s skin?
• Do all giraffe’s look the same or different?

 

Task 4. The word ‘giraffe’ begins with the letter ‘G’.  Here is a fun craft activity you could try that lets you explore both the letter ‘G’ and a giraffe pattern.

 Templates can be found online.

*Bonus literacy task* – Why not have a ‘G’ scavenger hunt?  How many things can you find around the house that begin with the letter ‘G’?

 

Task 5. Life-skills, sensory and fun!

Here is a link to a zoo animal game on Twinkl which you can download and play.  How many animals did you guess right?

Here is a link to the wonderful Singing Hands duo, Tracy and Suzanne.  They are reading and signing the story ‘1, 2, 3 To the Zoo’ by Eric Carle.  Have a listen and try to count how many giraffes you can see!

Below are links to playdough recipes.  Work together to make the dough then try to roll out the different shapes of a giraffe.  E.g. A round body, a long sausage-shaped neck and long thin legs.

Non-edible – https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe

Edible – https://rainydaymum.co.uk/how-to-make-edible-playdough/#wprm-recipe-container-28288

Remember – all activities are simply suggestions and completely non-obligatory.

Take care, guys   Missing you all.

Hi guys!  Here are some activities you could complete this week. Please share any photos you have with us!  Hope everyone is staying safe –

Numeracy 1⃣2⃣3⃣
What is the weather like today? If it is raining, why not find an empty container (or carefully cut off the top of a plastic bottle) , find a flat surface outside and measure how much water has gathered in the container at the end of the day? (Don’t have a ruler? There’s an App for that!)
Or
Is it sunny outside? If you have chalk and a flat surface why not trace round some shadows? You could draw round Mum or have have Mum draw round you! Leave the shadow for exactly one hour then go back to the same spot. Has the shadow changed position or shape?

Life-skills
Help with the washing by loading clothes from the laundry basket into the washing machine. Can you separate the clothes into their different colours? What about tops and bottoms? How many items of clothing have gone in? How many pairs of socks can you match?

Literacy
One of favourite books to read in class when winding down is ‘The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet!’ By T.Fletcher and D.Poynter. Why not listen to the story together (https://youtu.be/a82WeOmE5YM)
And complete a dinosaur craft project together. My personal favourite is making a skeleton out of pasta!
 

 

Or try some shower writing. Make a room hot and steamy, take in a mirror and see how many shapes, patterns or letters you can make on the mirror.  See if you can guess what each other has drawn!

Music/Dance/P.E
Have you checked out Mrs Murray’s dance routines on Youtube? Find the links to these dances and loads more activities on our school website homepage under the heading ‘Home Learning Activities’.
Link: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/ea/willowbankschoolkilmarnock/ 

*BONUS ACTIVITY*
Lockdown Journal! When it is safe to do so, all of us will be able to go back to school. I thought it would be really interesting for us all to have a great big catch up when that time comes. Why not start creating a daily or weekly journal of the time you are spending at home with family? This could take any format whether it be taking a photo a day and storing it in am album or asking an adult to help write a simple diary. I have included a template that you could use or borrow ideas from We can’t wait to hear all about what you’ve been up to.

*These templates can be found and download for free on the Twinkl website.

I will be posting a new challange on Monday but I wanted to pop something on here just now for you to start working on as this task may be on-going. For this task I need your help.

My Mum (Mrs Woodburn) is a nurse at Crosshouse hospital and is working with lots of patients who are in hospital for sometimes long periods of time.  Usually they have daily visitors or can go for a walk to pass the time but at the moment this isn’t possible.

Staff at the hospital are reaching out to children and young people to create and send in pictures, artwork or stories to help cheer up their wards and to help keep the patients smiling. This is your task!  I will post some ideas below for you to create something bright and cheery.  If you post pictures here of the finished product I can safely print them off and send them into the hospital for you.

Ideas:

  all you need is coloured paper, scissors and glue to make this cute rainbow.   create a handprint rainbow if you have any paint at home.   take part in a nature scavenger hunt and creat a rainbow with the colours you find!  if you happen to have some bubble wrap hidden up the loft, now is the time to get it down and have some fun! Simple but effective way to create a ‘magic rainbow’ of you have any paint at home.  you could make some inspirational rocks to hide in a place of your choice.

Alternatively, if you have access to a printer, this link takes you directly to Twinkl where there is a NHS apprecitation themed colouring in template to download. *click below*

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/nhs-rainbow-window-poster-t-tp-2549682

Happy Mother’s Day to all the lovely Mum’s out there when it comes.   We had fun in the Beech class creating a photo and designing a frame to give as a gift this Mother’s Day.  We also made a 3D card to take home, we hope our gifts will make someone smile