Where were we learning about today?

Today we looked at some mysterious items in a bag to try and work out what we were going to be learning about today. The clues were: a packet of noodles (were we going to be learning about food?), a picture of some strange symbols we didn't recognise (was it some kind of writing?), a map ("it shows you where you want to go," said Fallon), a panda (we know they eat bamboo...), a picture of some kind of parade with a dragon (what were they doing?), and some sticks ("for eating noodles," said Brianna).

Can you guess what we were learning about today? It was China!

Pandas come from China, and noodles are often eaten in China, with chopsticks. The map was a map of China, the strange symbols were Chinese writing and the picture was a Chinese New Year parade. We talked about our own experiences of Chinese food and what we thought the country might be like.

We used the wok to cook some noodles, stir fry vegetables and sweet and sour sauce. We tried to eat it with chopsticks - it was tricky but some people really persevered!

This afternoon Mrs Waites showed us some exciting things from China and told us about when she lived in Hong Kong.

We looked more closely at Chinese writing and used thin brushes and black paint to try and copy some of the symbols and numbers. Well done to Charlie, Jack and Brianna who all earned a house point for their super effort and great work with their Chinese writing.

Coloured ice!

Yesterday we told you about the coloured water we froze to see if we could make coloured ice. This is what we had in the water tray today..!

What do you think happened to the coloured ice when it melted?

Ice adventures!

This morning we were investigating the icy North Pole where polar bears live! We had ice cubes in the water tray and talked about how they felt, what happened when we held them and what they were made from. We learnt and used words like melt, freeze, frozen, solid, liquid, pour and hard to describe the texture and the changes. The ice melted in our hands and when we put it in some cups of water. We could tell the ice was melting because it was getting smaller and there was water in the cup - this is because when ice melts it changes back into water.

Then we made some snow and created some icy and snowy scenes using Arctic animals like polar bears and whales. Some of us made polar bear masks and we used ice and snow shakers, white glitter and white felt to make beautiful scenes of the North Pole! We drew around a stencil of a polar bear and cut them out before adding them to our Arctic pictures.

We also decided to make some more ice. We talked about what we needed to make ice - water - and what we had to do to it - make it very cold. So we filled an ice tray and put it in the freezer. We talked about how we'll know when the water has frozen and become ice - it will be hard and you won't be able to pour it. We thought it would be ready in ten minutes, but when we looked back it was still liquid!

Then this afternoon we had to perform a rescue mission! Miss Ayres found some bears that were frozen in ice! How could we get them out?! We thought about trying to smash the ice to break it, but we thought that might hurt the bears. We decided a much simpler way would be to melt the ice. But which would be the best way to melt ice?

We decided to try some different ways and see which was the quickest. We put one piece of ice with the bear in in a cup of warm water, one in a cup of cold water, one in a cup without any water inside and one in a cup without any water outside. Which one do you think melted the quickest?

We predicted that the one in the warm water would melt the fastest because ice melts quicker when it's warm. Fallon was very good at explaining this and remembering the words we'd learnt this morning to talk about melting and freezing. We thought about the bear in the ice outside and what might make the ice melt quicker - Jack said it would melt quicker outside if the sun was shining, which we all agreed was right because the sun is hot.

We discussed how we would know when the ice had melted - were we going to spend all afternoon watching the ice melt? That didn't sound very fun! Emily suggested we "keep looking back at them", so we decided to do a "bear check" every five minutes. We looked at the clock and every five minutes called "Bear Check!" Then we checked our bears.

The first bear to be freed came from the ice that was in the warm water, so we put a number one next to that on the board. Quite a while later the bear in the cold water was free, so we put a number 2 next to that one. By home time the bears in the cups inside and outside were still trapped in the ice! Do you think they'll be free by tomorrow?

We went back to check on the ice we made this morning - some of it was frozen, but some was still water! We also decided to make some special ice for Nursery tomorrow - we mixed some food colouring with water and poured it into the ice tray. Check out our blog tomorrow to see if we managed to make coloured ice!

Habitats and hibernation!

This morning we learnt all about habitats. Did you know that different types of bears live in different parts of the world? We had some pictures of bears and we had to match them to the place they live. We also looked on the globe to find the different places, such as China, where pandas live in the bamboo forests, and the North Pole, where polar bears live.

In Play and Learn time we looked at the globe and a smaller globe which has animals we can stick on with velcro. Some of us also sorted other animals into different habitats, for example, the desert, the ocean and the rainforest. Jack was super at this!

This afternoon we were learning all about hibernation. This is when some animals go to sleep through the winter. We read the book 'When will it be spring?' and talked about what hibernation means and why some animals might hibernate. Then we sorted pictures of different animals and talked about whether they hibernate or not. Do you think these animals hibernate?

Hedgehogs?
Cows?
Bears?
Dogs?
Goldfish?
Bats?

Tomorrow we are going to learn all about one of the types of bears we've looked at yesterday and today and explore their habitat in more detail. Which bear do you think it will be?!

Learning about bears

This week we are learning all about real bears! We talked about the difference between story books (fiction) and information books (non-fiction). We came up with some questions that we wanted to know the answers to and talked about where we could look to find this information, such as in books or on the internet. We researched different kinds of bears and learnt some facts to tell the rest of the class. Did you know...

The sun bear is the smallest type of bear.
Pandas eat bamboo.
Polar bears live in the North Pole.
Polar bear cubs are born blind, pink and with no hair.
Some bears are really good at climbing trees.
Some bears eat fruit, nuts and berries. Some bears eat meat.

This week we are going to learn lots more about bears including the different parts of the world they live in. Which bears do you think live in China? You'll find out later this week!

We're going on a bear hunt... the alternative version!

This afternoon we wrote an alternative story of We're Going on a Bear Hunt. We chose different places to visit in the story and for each one thought of two adjectives to describe it, such as "thick, oozy" which is used to describe the mud in the story. Then we decided on the action and sound we would make as we travelled through that place. We practised the story, then worked in groups to make cards to prompt us in our storytelling. Each group had one place to make a picture of. We thought about which materials to use, how to make the picture and what we needed to write. Then we practised telling our story again before performing it for Mrs Comer!

Here is our version of the story:

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

by Reception

We're going on a bear hunt.

We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day!

We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A beach!

A sandy, shelly beach.

We can't go over it.

We can't go under it.

Oh no!

We've got to go through it!

Step hop jump!

Step hop jump!

Step hop jump!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! The sea!
The wet, blue sea.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Swim swim swim!
Swim swim swim!
Swim swim swim!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A desert!
A hot, dry desert.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Need some water!
Need some water!
Need some water!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! Mountains!
Big, snowy mountains.
We can't go over them.
We can't go under them.
Oh no!
We've got to go through them!

Slip and slide!
Slip and slide!
Slip and slide!

We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.

Uh-uh! A cave!
A narrow, gloomy cave.
We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Tiptoe! Tiptoe! Tiptoe!

WHAT'S THAT?

One shiny wet nose!

Two big furry ears!

Two big goggly eyes!

IT'S A BEAR!!!!

Quick! Back through the cave! Tiptoe! Tiptoe! Tiptoe!

Back through the mountains! Slip and slide! Slip and slide!

Back through the desert! Need some water! Need some water!

Back through the sea! Swim swim swim! Swim swim swim!

Back through the beach! Step hop jump! Step hop jump!

Get to our front door.

Open the door.

Up the stairs.

Oh no!

We forgot to shut the door.

Back downstairs.

Shut the door.

Back upstairs.

Into the bedroom.

Into bed.

Under the covers.

We're not going on a bear hunt again.

Bear Hunt Adventures!

Today we went on a bear hunt!

We went through the long, wavy grass...

Through the deep, cold river...

Through the thick, oozy mud...

Through the big, dark forest...

Through the swirling, whirling snowstorm...

And through the narrow, gloomy cave...

Where we saw one wet, shiny nose... two big furry ears... two big goggly eyes... it was a bear!!!

Quick! Back through the cave (tiptoe tiptoe), back through the snowstorm (hoo woo hoo woo!), back through the forest (stumble trip stumble trip!), back through the mud (squelch squerch squelch squerch!), back through the river (splash splosh splash splosh!), back through the grass (swishy swashy swishy swashy!), get to our front door, open the door, up the stairs, oh no! We forgot to close the door! Back down the stairs, close the door, back upstairs, into bed, under the covers!

We're not going on a bear hunt again!