The History of Britain workshop
Following the performance, Years 3 and 4 took part in a History of Britain workshop on Thursday afternoon.
The workshop started with everybody warming up their bodies, faces and voices.
Then the children went on to create statues out of each other. The challenge was to theme their statues on historical figures that they learnt about from the play. This included Winston Churchill, Thomas Farriner, Cavemen, Romans and Vikings. Which historical characters can you spot in the pictures below?
The statues then formed a museum, with the artists stepping away. We discussed rules for our museums:
- One child said: ‘Statues have to stay still!’
- Another added: ‘No talking if you’re a statue!’
- To everyone’s amusement, one statue asked: ‘Is it OK to breathe?’
The pupils were then put into groups of six and were challenged to make a freeze frame of a given time in history that they witnessed during the morning’s performance.
Harman explained: ‘A freeze-frame is like creating a portrait with ourselves.’
The first freeze-frame was to recreate Queen Boudica warring with the Romans.
The next freeze-frame was to show scenes from the Victorian times. Children were specifically fascinated with the forced jobs children had to do at this time.
When asked, Sam said: ‘I wouldn’t have liked to be alive during the Victorian times as I wouldn’t like to work in a dangerous factory. I might lose a limb!’
Brilliant acting, Year 3 & 4! Well done!
The History of Britain performance
On Thursday, Key Stage 2 were treated to a performance from Hobgoblin Theatre Company: The History of Britain.
The journey started 800,000 years ago where we were introduced to ‘super hairy man’. We learnt that these men hunted with flint.
Then came the Ice Age, 120,000 years ago. This was when the land we now call ‘Britain’, separated from Europe to become an island. We found out that this was when the English Channel was created. We learnt people continued to hunt with flint tools and this was when the boat was invented.
The journey continued to 4000 BC, the Stone Age. This was when Stonehenge was created. Farming and clay pottery both became an organised trade in Britain.
We zoomed forward to 800 BC, where people built hill forts, began to trade with Europe and make jewellery.
60 AD saw the Romans control of Britannia for 70 years. Queen Boudica revolted against the Romans.
Did you know Colchester was the capital of Britain at this time?
Then, it was 878. We met King Alfred and the Vikings…
We learnt that there was a lack of a British army and ships to fight the Vikings invading Britain at this time. Did you know King Alfred’s decedents went on to unite all the British tribes under one King?
Fun facts:
1. Vikings didn’t actually have horns on helmets!
2. Many Viking words influence our language. Wednesday, Thursday, market and street are all Viking words!
We flashed forward to 1066: the Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror brought Britain out of the dark ages. Children learnt that William came from Normandy of France to beat King Harold in battle.
We sped forward to 1348 and saw an interview with an early victim of the plague. The victim said he was infected as he was preparing for the feast. A flea from a rat, stowed away on the ship, had carried the disease to Britain.
We learnt that the symptoms of The Black Death included a high temperature and vomiting. Victims died within a couple of days. Soon, half of the population of Britain died.
The play then went to 1215, when the Magna Carta was introduced. Children learnt that this was when an official parliament was formed and people in charge of the country had to listen to he opinion of the people.
We then traveled to 1558 and met Queen Elizabeth I.
The children learnt that the Great Fire of London took place in 1666, in the form of a well-known cookery show! Children saw how the fire started in a baker’s oven and spread, engulfing a large portion of London.
Can your child remember where tea, initially shipped to the UK, was from? How did it travel to the UK?
Can they remember the vocal warm up tongue twister?
During the Victoria times what major form of transport was invented?
The play ended with an appearance from Winston Churchill. We learnt that Churchill was voted as the most important British historical figure as he was the Prime Minister during the Second World War.
Well done, Key Stage 2! Fantastic audience participation.
Show and tell
In Year 3, pupils earn Dojo points as a reward. Pupils can earn Dojo points for being on task, good teamwork, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones, participation and making good choices. Once pupils get to 50 Dojo points, this is celebrated by getting a prize and bringing in a show and tell.
We’ve had some brilliant show and tells so far this year with pupils sharing things they treasure from home. This has included: Yu-gi-oh cards, artwork, certificates, stick insects and a giant marrow. One child in our class recently won a certificate for writing an epic story from the Broughton Hall Children’s Literary Festival. Well done! Check out the pictures below!
Unrelated to Dojo rewards, if there is a big event within your family, like a new sibling or winning a prize/certificate out of school, we would like to celebrate this in class too. Please encourage your child to share these events during show and tell.
Writing
This week, we have been looking at instructions. We have specifically investigated recipes.
One of the features throughout recipes is adverbs. Initially, the children found adverbs tricky to grasp. We talked about how adverbs add information to (or describe) a verb. However, I can officially announce that Year 3 are now adverb experts…
To start with, we spent time picking out adverbs from recipes. We talked about why we need them.
Saahir: ‘We need them so we know what order to do the method in, like ‘first’ and ‘last’.’
Billy added: ‘We need them because it makes the writing more interesting.’
We talked as a class about low value adverbs – ones that we hear all the time. We then agreed a list of high value adverbs that would be really interesting and a little bit challenging to use.
See the pictures below!
Can your child remember the difference between: finely and finally?
A History of Britain – in Freeze Frames
The whole school thoroughly enjoyed watching the Hobgoblin Theatre performance of A History of Britain this morning. It was very fun and very informative.
Year 5 and 6 were then lucky enough to attend a drama workshop from them which was equally fun and equally informative.
We warmed up…
We moulded each other into people from different points in history…
We got into groups and created tableaus of different events in history…
At home, ask us about the performance and about what we learnt about the history of Britain from it. You’ll be amazed!
Living & Learning
This week, reflecting and remembering are the two Rs for learning that we have focused on for Living and Learning. We talked about the importance of both of these Rs and what they mean to us. We also carried out a game that puts both of these Rs into practice.
The class sat in a circle and played ‘I went to the shops and bought…’. The aim of the game was to remember the sequence of items that the children before had listed, and then add to it themselves. Initially, we thought the class may struggle after ten items. As the session went on and more children had a turn, we quickly realised how wrong we were!
Without being prompted to do so, the class had made up actions to accompany each item that was listed. This meant that the class supported each other to remember the long shopping list. When we reflected on the task as a class, the children commented how useful the actions were when they were trying to remember all the items on the list.
Astonishingly, every child could remember the full 30 items on the shopping list! This was due to their quick thinking and developing a strategy to help them to remember. Well done, Year 3!
Ask your child – can they still remember any items?
Back to the Victorian times
This week, we have travelled back in time to the Victorian era in our Time Travel topic.
So far in this topic, our learning has covered some of the key history objectives the children need to know by the end of Year 2.
Firstly, the children were shown this object. They were asked to make and justify a prediction about what the item was used for and how it would be used.
Ideas included:
- a fire lighter
- a pump
- to pick up litter
- a brush for scraping
- to rake and collect grass
- to clean clothes
- a mop
- to squeeze water out of clothes
What do you think this could be?
After discovering that it was an early vacuum cleaner, the children were provided with some other vacuum cleaners and had to work together to place the objects in chronological order.
We talked about how each vacuum was different to the previous one and how this item has changed over time.
In this learning, the children were demonstrating the following historical skills.
- Sequencing objects over time
- Recognising that changes happen over time
- Debating different interpretations within their group
Reflection
LO: Reflect and Remember
What does reflect mean?
To reflect think deeply or carefully about.
synonyms:
think about, give thought to, consider, give consideration to, review, mull over, contemplate, study, meditate on, dwell on, brood on/over, agonise over, worry about, chew over, puzzle over, speculate about, weigh up, revolve, turn over in one’s mind
As part of our 8Rs for learning, today we thought about reflecting.
What does it mean to reflect? “Take some time to sit and think.”
What can you reflect upon? “I can reflect on the choices I make.”
Does reflecting help you to think about your next steps? “Yes, because I can change things.”
Road safety
Year Three greatly enjoyed their road safety assembly this week. Anne, from Leeds City Council’s road safety team shared some important messages to make sure the children know how to stay safe. See the pictures below!
Can your child remember the song about the Green Cross Code?
Living and Learning
This week’s Rs of Learning are remember and reflect.
We played some memory games, discussing how our short and long term memory work and developing some techniques to enable us to remember more.
We reflect on our learning lots and we’re pretty good at it too. Take a look at the blob tree that we sometimes use and discuss it with your child at home.
- Which blob represents you getting up in the morning?
- Which blob represents you on a Saturday?
- Which blob represents you being told to tidy your room?
