The Tallest Class in Banton Primary
Every Friday a group of Biggies make some scones which we eat as a snack in the afternoon.
Today we had an extra treat. The honey from our bee hive was collected a week or two ago.
Most of us though the honey made our scones extra delicious.
This was a great way to end the term.
On Monday the Biggies spent a morning in Dow’s wood.
We looked around for autumn colours, measured the ages of some oak and beech trees, kept our eyes peeled for plants and creatures we could put in a food chain. We also had time for quiet writing and drawing.
We saw an owl going through the trees, found spider web galore and walked a couple of miles. We covered some maths, literacy, our IDL topic about Food Webs and more. Lots of learning & fresh air.
I enjoyed everything and I don’t have a favourite because I found everything very enjoyable. I had a lovely trip to Dow’s wood that day and I would love to go again.
Gene
I learned about the size of an oak and another tree that I forgot its name.
I drew, wrote, had my snack and a lot more.
I liked most of the stuff that we did, the measuring trees were a bit hard though. It was hard because we had not tall people (we were all small) We had a small paper notebook with us and we did activities in it like we made a colour list, we measured trees as you know, we wrote on blank pieces of paper you could do, a story, a poem, a picture poem. All that sort of stuff we also drew. We also had to find 3 interesting and cool leaves.
Chloe
I learned how different trees spread their seeds. For example a Hawthorn tree spreads its seeds through animals eating them.
I enjoyed walking where the old train track used to be because there was a really good view of trees and there was so many colours.
We did some measuring of trees, writing and some art work of things we could see.
I really loved it because I enjoyed how we did our colour list and we measured the trees. We collected 3 leaves and we stopped for snack time. We sat in a quiet space and we wrote and drew. Then we went back to school just in time for lunch.
We walked talked and sat on rocks.
We also wrote and did more walking and drew.
Back in class we though a bit about food chains & webs.
Last Friday The Biggies took part in the School Harvest Assembly. As well as collection food for food banks we made bread to go along with the soup made by the younger children. We used Juliet’s recipe and the bread turned out really well.
We also shared some of our learning so far. The class discussed what to include and we settled on Wolves, Coding and Monsters as our topics.
The children then went into groups and discussed what they could say on these subjects, wrote their own scripts and made a slide to go along with their words. I pasted some of the reports they wrote below along with images from their presentation slides.
The class all did a great job, from deciding what to do, writing scripts, producing slides & talking.
Now here is some fun facts about wolves, did you know wolves don’t howl at the moon they howl to communicate, wolves are apex predator that means they are top of the food chain. Wolves has two layers of fur, the inside to keep them warm and the outside to protect them from the bad weather.
Alexia
First we brainstormed using post-its on the things we could talk about, our included: eye of the wolf book, wolf faces and information texts.
Lexi
On Friday I felt nervous about talking in front of the parents.
I think my voice was clear because that is what my gran said.
Next time I am presenting to others I will try look up that the parents when reading.
Last Friday the class presented to our parents and friends on our learning. My group talked about wolves, When talking in a group we need to think about, speaking clearly and all words should be understandable.
Chloe
On Friday I felt good at first, but when it was my time to speak I got really nervous.
I Think it was really cool to be there and talk in front of all the parents, because they were there to listen to us and have a good time.
Next time I am presenting to others I will try to slow down a little bit.
We have been doing some research about wolves. First we we used Safari to find some websites. We used more than one site to check the information. The whole class gathers all the information on a big board. We wrote notes to help our writing. It was interesting and fun.
Noah
We then wrote text for different sections, I wrote:
We were working on our scissor action extenders. First we used 6 pieces of card and put them together with split pins. Then we drew and cut out our monster heads and bottom jaws and finally coloured in our monsters.We practised in class. To help me speak I thought about starting with a nice and clear voice.
Xander
On Friday I felt happy and nervous. I think it went well.
We practised in class. To help me speak I thought about starting with a clear and nice voice.
Tony
On Friday I felt nervous at the start because I had a lot to say but I got through it.
I think I did a good job and I’m very proud of myself.
We then wrote text for different sections, I wrote:
We have been making a bee game because we have a bee man coming to our school every week. He comes to our beehive for a hour or less. He brings bee suits so we can come. So we thought of making a been game ,had some problems like when the bee wouldn’t move or the flowers wouldn’t disappear when they got to the end of the screen. But we fixed the problems so now we the bee can move, the flowers can disappear. Because we changed the code of the flower and bee.
Jason
We then wrote text for different sections, I wrote:
Recently we have been working on a bee game on scratch. Scratch is a programming web site and there is also a scratch junior for younger ones. You drag code blocks to create lines of code. There’s to many code blocks for me to explain them all but you can listen to the others for more information on our bee game though. But be for the others speak, I need to tell you some basic code blocks, move your number of choice, rotate your number of choice and one for scratch only, next costume.
Gene
We practised in class. To help me speak I though about speed, clearness, looking at the audience and speaking loudly.
Robert
On Friday I felt a bit nervous but when I spoke I was a bit less nervous.
I think it was a good experience that I will remember.
Next time I am presenting to others I will try to talk a little bit clearer and louder.
Last Friday we had our harvest assembly and presented to our parents and friends about our learning. My group talked about coding on scratch and micro bit. When talking in a group we need to think about being clear, looking up at our audience and not holding the microphone too close to our mouths.
Juliet
First we brainstormed and wrote on post-its things we would talk about, ours included what scratch is, our bee game and the introduction or reintroduction to micro bits.
We had our first session in the MakerSpace this week. We had to follow some instructions to make a Scissor Action Extender Monster.
After making their monsters the Biggies then made some short green screen movies using their monsters, you can see them at the end of this video:
Although the monsters seem simple and the videos were very short we learn or practises a lot of skills:
We have been reading The Eye of the Wolf by Daniel Pennac in class. This has lead to some research and the start of some writing.
We also too an idea from Darrell Wakelam and made our own 3D Wolves. This allowed the Biggies to use their practical and creative skills.
We might add some more detailed images once we have named our wolves.
We have got the first few days of Primary 5-6-7 under our belt now. One of the first activities we did this was to make pictures from our faces. These are made with the sketchBook app. As well as a fun activity it also helps us learn a bit of using layers in a graphic application. This is a very useful digital skill.
We also used our design skills to think of a logo for the class. We use this on our blog, teams and on digital versions of our work. You can see it has been added to the new header on the site.
It was a hard job choosing which one to use. The class vote was a tie, so I consulted other members of staff. That was difficult until Mrs McLeod came up with the great idea of combining a couple of designs. I think all of the class should be very proud of their work.
We rather raced to finish our term 4 MakerSpace project. The class did brilliantly especially with adapting and refining their models as they went on. We could have really done with a little more time, but this reflects the real world.
On Wednesday it was the Biggies turn to work with Meik and the beehive.
First we got suited up: Trousers inside wellies, Fully zip head mask, no gaps, gloves.
A tip: Don’t push face mesh onto face cause a bee could sting you!
If a bee gets in the mask you stay calm and squish it with your gloves.
At the hive we learnt about bees. We pulled the frames out to check on the bees and make make sure the queen was there.
Meik told us a lot about bees, this is some of what we remembered:
Juliet
- The different colour of the cell things on the frames you could tell the flower the pollen was from
- If there was a new queen the queen would get some of the hive and swarm
- You need to destroy the queen cells
- If you take the queen away for 2 or 3 minutes and bring her back they will kill her and raise a new queen
- They try to clean the queen after she’s in the cage on the hive
- Only smoke calms the bees
- There is a strap around the hive so it doesn’t blow over.
Chloe
- We pulled out all of the frames to see the buzzy bees
- To make honey bees take nectar the digest it vomit it up then an other bee takes in and vomits it up till it makes honey!
- He destroys the other queen been eggs so that they don’t develop to bees and take away the other bees to start a new nest
- The nectar that is in the middle are different colours because it is from different flowers
Olivia Rose
- Only one drone mates with the queen.
- The queen mates once in her life.
- Different colour of cell – different flower.
- The paint on the queen depends on how old she is.
- Drones don’t do anything but eat the food.
- Bees eat the nectar and vomits it up, another bee eats it. It keeps going until honey is made.
- The hive is really clean, you could eat your food out of it.
- If a new queen is born the queens swarm.
- Bees dance to communicate.
Harry
- Different coloured pollen depending on the plants
- The queen will be killed if left for only 2-3 mins
- The queen bee cells grow on the side of the honeycomb
- The drone bee cells grow on the centre of the honeycomb
Rory
- I learned that the queen does not control the hive
- I learned that the different colours of pollen cells can tell you what flower was used.
- I learned that bees vomit into each others mouths to make honey
- I learned that they have to destroy the queen cells to make sure no more queens are born.
- I learned that bees dance to communicate.
The first thing we did was Photoblitzer. At it’s core, photoblitzer is a website that Mr. Johnston gave all of us. The web page had a small list of photo ideas, then we had twenty minutes to take pictures going along with the list.
Nathaniel
Next we had a game of capture the flag in the playground. This is a new game for the Biggies and went down really well. Lots of running, laughing and thinking.
After our photo blitz challenge we did a game of capture the flag, I had never played it before but it was really fun. Mr. Johnston split us into two teams team red, & team yellow. My group started off as team yellow, my team had me, Olivia, Lexi, Alexia, Rory & Tony. In the first round most of them came sprinting and I tug Juliet, Harry, & then Xander. Team yellow won the first round
Chloe
After the interval we headed down to Dow’s Wood. We started by searching the wood for new creatures to add to our collection at the Banton Beasties. This is a new site that well will make public soon. We found quite a few interesting ones and a few more got away.
One Beastie was not very welcome. We were attacked by swarms of midges. This made our other activity in the woods more difficult than usual, we stopped to spend some time writing and drawing. It is a credit to the Biggies that they got some done!
In the woods, a thick tree canopy shades mossy rocks. In the woods, big blue flys lurk uncatchable. In the woods, midges bite continuously and with no mercy. In the woods, ferns are everywhere. In the woods, there is no escape from midges. Juliet
King of the Forrest For he is king of the forest He has a centurion of bugs For he is king of the forest There’s a smile on everyone’s mug For he is king of the forest He cares for the children For he is king of the forest He has a crown of ferns Placed on by a hern Nathaniel
The Nature Poem Deep down in the woods, Through the lush leafy forest At the heart of the woodland, This is how it starts. Xander
We constructed some painting pendulums in the playground in the afternoon. This was messy but fun and gave some interesting results. The next day we took our art, edited it in Snapseed to boost the colours. We then but it on a virtual gallery wall and added ourselves as a visitor.
We have been searching the playground for different creatures, and today had a go at making some of our own.
Inspired by work done in the Biggies in 2018:
And by A garden alive with art: all-natural insect sculptures
We searched the playground for natural materials and created these amazing insects.
