Nature and Respect
The theme this term was about respect both with one another and with nature. We looked at topics such as protecting the global environment, how Medieval people worked with nature to live, and how we can use nature (such as apples) to create something manmade (such as apple pie). It’s been a busy term, here’s a look at some of what Oaks have been up to in their different core subjects.
Literacy
- Introductory letters: Each student wrote a letter to introduce themselves to the class.
- Apple pie recipe: Students practised writing and following instructions, which led to making our own apple pie and later selling it.
- Persuasive letter to Marianne asking for a loan: Students wrote Marianne a letter asking for a loan to introduce the concept of capital with the promise of a return on investment.
- Medieval Storytelling: Students compared the narrative tales of William Tell and Snow White.
- Playscript: Read a playscript on William Tell and later re-enacted it.
- Class book – The Boy at the Back of the Classroom by Onjali Q. Rauf, which explores the integration of a Syrian refugee into a typical British classroom.
- Through these different forms of text, students practised grammar such as simple past tense and connectives. They also practised structures commonly found in texts listed above and challenged to expand their vocabulary. We will continue to work on these fundamentals throughout the academic year.
Bilingual History and Geography
Pupils learned about the Medieval way of life.
Then students needed to winnow the wheat.
After winnowing, students milled the grains into flour.
We made bread dough with our self-milled flour.
Additionally, we learned about Medieval clothing and made our own.
We baked the bread while learning about Medieval food.
We also danced a Medieval dance!
The objectives of this term were to learn about the characteristics of Medieval society and its people. We focused heavily on social status and how it worked with the system of Feudalism as a whole. For example, through winnowing and milling grains ourselves, we learned concretely how much work went into making a single loaf of bread, which gave students a basis for understanding why white bread would be for the richer nobles while brown, coarse bread was for the peasants. We also looked at Medieval clothing, housing and other aspects of general life to build an idea of how people lived in the past and how that compares to today.
Pour découvrir les activités en français, téléchargez le PDF ici !
La découverte de la période médiévale à travers différentes activités culturelles, artistiques et culinaires.
Becoming aware of our Earth
We learned about the impact of global climate change throughout the weeks of Global Climate strikes. Considering the term was about nature and responsibility, it was perfect timing, and there’s no time better to start learning about the environment than today. Caro came in as a guest speaker to educate us on how we can live a zero-waste life in order to stop wasting plastic. We learned a lot from her talk and challenged ourselves to waste less and help our planet today.
ICT / Computer Class
Students were introduced to touch typing and Excel spreadsheets. First we practised how to type with our fingers in the right place, particularly focused on typing with two hands. We will continue to work on this skill throughout the academic year. Later we took our apple pie business and itemised the expenses and income of the business on a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet proved to be an excellent introduction into the world of accounting, business, and programming. Students itemised the inventory needed to make apple pie (e.g. apples, flour, butter, sugar), but then used the computer to multiply the price and quantity of the ingredients and add them together for a final expense. We did the same for income and subtracted the final income and expense to calculate the profit. The spreadsheet worked so that any change of inventory would automatically change the values of expenses and show a new profit. Overall, we bridged mathematics, business and programming from the simple creation of an apple pie.
End of Term Play – William Tell (Scenes 1-6)
Students read and acted out William Tell. We learned a lot of vocabulary while learning about how to bring a character to life. To end the term, we performed part of the play in front of an audience of parents and friends. Please find the full play below.