Week 7 - 25th October

Happy Half Term Apples! 
 
The children have been very tired towards the end of the week and are definitely ready for a restful week off. Whatever you're up to, stay safe, have fun and make some unforgettable memories!
 

Just a quick reminder: this week we've had a real issue with shoes! The problem has occurred when children have change back into their shoes from wearing their wellies and their shoes haven't been named. We have many children in Apple Class and lots of them do have the same shoes - and even in the same size! Please, over the holidays could you write your child's name in all clothing and shoes! (Thank you and apologies if this doesn't apply to you!)

 

We've been back on the farm this week - this time focusing on the jobs that a farmer has to get on with at harvest time. We watched combine harvesters in action and the children were fascinated by this amazing piece of machinery. We have had so many fabulous discussions about the function of the parts, the size, the colour and the crops that they cut.  Added to this, we continued to think about other pieces of farm equipment - the tractor and the telehandler which are also very busy during the harvest. It would be great if you could spend time at the weekend chatting about how farmers harvest their crops and the job of the combine harvester. The important words we used about the combine were: 
header/reel - the bit at the front that cuts
cab - the bit where the driver sits
tank - the bit where the wheat grains are stored
shoot - the bit that transfers the wheat grains from the tank to the trailer
  
Thank you to you all for bringing in junk model materials, the children had great fun making their tractors and combine harvesters and they were able to explain their choices (this is a light for the tractor, these are the wheels etc.) They all really thought carefully how they could join the materials together and later thought about ways to improve their model. Well done everyone! 
 

Back down in our outdoor provision the children again were drawn to making tractors and combine harvesters! They took it in turns becoming the farmer (driving the machine) and picking up more and more passengers on the way. Our conversations were mainly around  'whose turn it was next to become the farmer' - but we did get some purposeful conversations too 'what would make good wheels for our tractor.' From one of the videos we watched at carpet time, it told us that the tractors have 'tracks' in the tyres which helps the tractor from getting stuck in the mud! 

 

Mrs Grimes managed to get a bunch of wheat from a local farm and the children very much enjoyed exploring this, finding the little grains and crushing them with a stone to make flour. After lots of discussion around wheat and how the farmers use farm machines to harvest and cut the crops during harvest time. We had a go at using flour (the children should tell you that comes from wheat) to bake muffins! We baked Apple, Cinnamon and Raisin Muffins to eat at snack time! 
 
 

Amongst our busy week learning all about Harvest time on the farm, we've had time to continue and reflect on our Autumn learning and this has centered around the story Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert (if you'd like to listen to the story follow this link https://youtu.be/bqW-j3WV6g8 ). This is a super story about a Leaf Man that is blown away by the wind. He travels over meadows, mountains, rivers and past lots of leaf animals. Can you remember any animals that he passes? We read the story everyday and practiced recalling key phrases. For example, "a leaf mans got to go where the wind blows". The children really enjoyed joining in!

 
Afterwards, the children had a go at creating their own leaf characters. Some of us made leaf men and some of us made leaf animals. We thought carefully about what they should look like and what type of leaf or Autumn treasure we would need.
 
 
When we come back to Apple Class on Tuesday 5th of November we'll be diving straight into our new themes "Bonfire night!" Please over the holidays could you start saving and collecting tubes - kitchen roll tubes work the best for rockets! Thank you very much! 

 

We wish you all a very happy half term, enjoy the photos below!

Ms Farrar and all of the Apple Class Team. 

Exploring wheat and flour 
Making our own tractor or combine harvesters 
Apple Class Combine Harvester 
Creating our own responses to Leafman 
Apple Class Bake Off!