Category Archives: Literacy

We love being inspired by wild places and the outdoors in literacy!

The Frog Life Cycle

When we were looking for signs of spring we were paying close attention to birds building nests and were on the lookout for frog spawn. Richelle brought some of her tadpoles into the class for us to look after. We have watched our baby tadpoles Alex, Sophie and Paulita, turn into frogs. We had to feed them boiled spinach, but we learned they stop eating while they are absorbing their tails into their bodies. We used spring water to top up their bowl because it has no chemicals and keeps their home nice and clean(ish). We had to tip the tub at an angle to let the tadpoles walk out when they got their front legs and stop them from drowning because they stop using gills and start breathing air.

Watching them get back legs and front legs was really interesting and exciting. We felt sad when we had to let them go but they had to live the rest of their life in the wild and have babies of their own!

You can help frogs by making a nice habitat in your garden – you could even use a bucket filled with rainwater and some plants!

Check out the videos we made about it using our DoInk app and stop motion!

Sounds of the Woodlands Class Poem

Sometimes we feel calm and enjoy the quiet in our woodlands so we wrote a poem about it! We went to the woodlands and we all wrote a few lines for a list poem. We shared our ideas and chose our best line to go into our class poem.

 

The wind flying past my face and creeping around my hair,

The trees going side to side as the wind blows,

Fresh air turning into a garlicy smell and crawling up my nose,

The yellow and blue flags swaying and flapping quietly in the wind,

The leaves were silently unwrapping themselves,

They slowly came down from the trees when I walked next to them,

All the white crystal snow is melting as the bright yellow sun shines on it,

The trees dance beautifully from side to side as the branches twist and turn,

The silent logs sit on the ground never making a sound,

Not a sound, not a movement from all these quiet logs,

Silent dogs behind the sharp fence,

Little woodland animals noiselessly crawling around,

Not a sound from the branches dancing in the air calmly,

The silence of a bug waking across your page,

Trees pushing their way through the ground,

Paper is decomposing quietly and glass is just waiting to cut you when you fall on it,

The trees are walking up to me like the day has began,

The cool air brushing through your hair feels so nice,

shivers going up my spine and a tree is as still as a statue,

The leaves falling onto the soggy ground very gently,

Leaves sprouting on the trees as Spring is making it’s appearance.

By Primary 5S

Getting inspired for writing outside

This week we had a really foggy morning so we went outside to get some inspiration for some free creative writing.

Aniah has written a fantastic story starter using lots of figurative language to describe what she noticed in the woodlands.

‘One foggy day I went to the woods. I saw trees moving and the rain on the tips of the tall branches looked like beautiful tiny crystals. The clouds were silvery, I couldn’t see much because of the mist. It felt creepy and cold. Every time the rain hit the ground it sounded like footsteps…’

Great job Aniah!

 

Our Woodlands Writing

It was a beautiful morning so we went out to the woodlands for some inspiration for our writing. We wrote down words that recorded what we saw, heard, smelt and felt. We did some free writing to share our morning!

In the Woodlands by Chloe

In the woodlands I see fungus on logs, flags on trees, mystery dens and holly bushes. As I walked down the woodlands I hear birds tweeting lovely songs. Every step I take I can hear sticks cracking. I was so excited at first and I started to get calm as I went but I got very cold. When I sniffed I smelled the lovely smell of fresh air. I even smelled a tree. It smelled like earth and moths. The dirty ground smelled like grass.

The Woodland by Nikola

In the woodland. Long branches that look like monster claws spread across the sky looking like they want to grab me. I saw a big, green, brown bent tree and lots of brown leaves, branches, grey feathers and other things. The birds were tweeting. All the cars and the planes sounding creepy but also dogs barking at us. I felt the sun and the wind, also the cracking branches under me. All the nature up my nose. Feeling weird from head to toe. All the bugs under my feet, really creepy wanting to bite. I take my feet away, scared there’s glass under my shoes. With brown leaves stuck to you and fuzzy birds nests up in the trees.

Out in the Woodlands by Tom

My eyes burn from the sunlight as it glistens on my face. The smell of smoke blocks my nose. Crunching twigs snap beneath my feel while birds chirp like there’s no tomorrow. As I look up the birds jump from branch to branch. Twigs and leaves sneak into the back of my shoes.

The Nature Woodlands by Billie

When I went to the woodlands I saw leaves falling down from the trees. My feet crunching when I walk. I felt the logs when I was tripping over the wind blowing on my face. Shivers going up my legs. The I felt Lucy touching my feet. I walked on and heard the birds singing in the trees. Then I heard airplanes flying across the sky. I heard Owen tapping on his white board. Then I see lots of frosty mud crunching and breaking. I see fuzzy nests in the trees made out of lots of sticks. Then I smell lots of dry wood trying to crawl up my nose. Then I felt good sizzling breakfast coming out of the houses. Then I smell smoke coming from the school.

The Woodland by Elle

Leaves were crunching whenever I stepped on them. I heard birds tweeting in the sky. The wind was blowing in my face whilst an airplane flew in the sky. I wandered through the woods. I danced about and smelt the beautiful fresh air, it was like I was dreaming. I touched a dirty, bumpy brown tree whilst I walked past a green bush. It rubbed up against me and felt soft. All the wood had beautiful carvings on them. Coldness running through my body, I was shivering. Birds were flying in the sky, leaves falling off the tree. There was dirty grass and dirty mud all over the ground. Tree branches swaying with the wind gently. My day in the woods was so fun. It was a nature adventure.

 

A Walk in the Woods by Ryan

I was walking in the woods and I heard the beautiful tweeting of birds, however I saw the amazing holly. I feel motivated to have a look around. Nevertheless I smell the wonderful smell of grass growing.

A Walk in the Woods by Abigail

The sun shining on my face. Birds singing all around me, Crunching twigs under my feet. Leaves scattered on the ground. Trees grown so tall. Wind nipping my face. Creatures running all around. Insects in and out of the ground. Smell the smell of nature. Soft under my feet, leaves like pudding. Moss grown on trees. Birds wings as strong as wind. Leaves blowing all around me. Stones being moved by ants. Roots of trees under my feet. Big trees, small trees, trees split trees in half. Twigs being used for dens. Big branches scattered on the ground. Holes for in trees for owls, plants been grown.

A Walk in the Woods by Muhammad

I can hear bird tweeting and singing as I walk in the frosty air. I can feel the leaves and branches below my feet. I can see the cold sun shining on my cold face. I touch the old tree with my eyes closed trying to calm my nerves. It makes me feel that I am special. I can hear the cars and buses on the distant road. I feel the wind gliding onto my face and hands. I can see the wind pushing the leaves. I can hear the wind as I quietly sit on a chunky log.

A Walk in the Woods by Rachel

As I walk in the subtle, tranquility of the woods I can hear the birds chirping and singing beautifully. I love the beautiful and peaceful atmosphere as the sun glistens in the day. I feel very joyful as I pass by a birds nest filled with chicks. The trees blow in the wind I stand and let the breeze blow in my face.

A Walk in the Woods by Nia

As the crisp leaves crunch under my feet, the bright sun shines in my eyes and I am blinded by the beautiful beauty. Silently the cool breeze blows against my face and birds tweet throughout. My breath is visible and the damp bark is something I smell as my mind is at peace as all is quiet. Shadows are dark against the floor. Big holly bushes pick the air and nettles sting the ground. Bird nests lay in the oak tree and baby birds are looking hungry. Squelchy mud and dirt cover my shoes and rocks have moss creeping up them. Grass is growing and stumps are icy while logs are rolling. Bugs are walking on my page as I write away.

A Walk in the Woods by Andrew

I hear pigeons calling in the trees and many other birds. There’s a cold, gentle breeze blowing on my face but I’m not the only one. The cold air sends shivers down his spine. All the trees are bare except for some holly trees but the stone I’m sitting on makes me wet. As I look around I see some rubbish but the sight gives me light. Some dens are here but the birds and insects you can barely see but you can hear. There are some brambles but they are not ready to be eaten. I sit there smelling something stinky. I taste coldness in the air. As I walked along leaves crunched under my feet. I never want to go because it was too fantastic

Meet Chris Marf Shields

This week we had another visitor in our school! We found a frog or toad near our door! Meet ‘Chris’!

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We had a ‘who am I?’ internet research challenge to find out what species we had visiting us and some interesting facts about her/him.

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We found out he was a… common tree frog! We named him Chris. Here are some of the facts we found.

Facts about Chris the common tree frog:
Full name: Chris Marf Shields
‘Ranidae’
Britain’s most common frog, also found in Europe. They are often found in garden ponds
Males grow to 9cm and females 13cm
Average weight: 22.7g
They eat algae, insects, snails, slugs and worms
They vary in colour from grey, brown, yellow and olive green. Limbs and backs have dark blotches
They breed at age of 2-3 years old
They are found in February to October
Common frogs hibernate through the winter, either at the bottom of ponds (breathing through their skin) or on land under refuges such as compost heaps

Chris did not like the noise in the playground so we carefully captured him and released him back into the wild!

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