Category: Pioneers Class

After reading and discussing this beautiful book, we set out to find all the things we needed to retell the story and make the coat for the tiny woman. The book references porcupine spines and we couldn’t find any of those in Sleights but we found some parts of a pine tree that were similar. One Pioneer suggested that the inner part of a feather would look similar.

We discussed lots of things that could be a danger when out foraging, for example,the road,the car park,  slippery surfaces and different types of berry and fungus. The Pioneers are already aware of hazards in the forest such as low hanging branches and thorns and nettles and holly.

We used dough to stick everything together.

The focus and discussion were great.

The Pioneers went to the forest to make some soup. We read the instruction together and then got stuck in with the collecting and identification of seeds and leaves to add. The team worked well together, filling and refilling the water containers and sharing out conkers and pumpkin seeds.

Everyone helped to transport our kit and ingredients up and down the very slippery slope.

A good day.

This week the Pioneers have been reading Pumpkin Soup and discussing the feelings of the characters. We found out that the cat, the duck and the squirrel had different points of view and that this can be difficult.

We have been painting and adding detail to our illustrations. The Pioneers are starting to write some words now to label things. Some Pioneers were spotted writing independently and overheard saying,”I love writing and phonics” Many are realising that they can now put their phonics into action which is totally wonderful.

Pumpkins of different sizes are in the kitchen and have been added to pretend soups. They have been part of story telling. They have been used for subitising and counting and the big pumpkins have been washed and covered in stickers and drawing pins to make designs inspired by Rangoli patterns.

The pumpkins will stay around next week to let us investigate what is inside and to save the seeds for next year.

There is so much learning which takes place while we make an apple crumble. We looked at the tree and the stalk and the leaves and the seeds. We made a list of the ingredients we needed and the equipment required. We discussed safety measures and why we needed a chopping board and the need to wash out hands.

The Pioneers read together the key words-cut,rub,mix,pat,tap and hot. They mixed and they stirred and they rubbed and the sifted. They talk about the job of the sieve and looked at how the apple peeler worked. It was fascinating to watch the peel fall off in ribbons and leave the apple in slices.

The Pioneers assembled the crumble and await to eat it after swimming.

They can all identify the ingredients,the equipment and are able to talk through the process.

And there really was not too much mess.

It have been lively in Pioneers this week especially at the end of the day when we have got out the box of untuned percussion instruments. We’ve all had a good go at making some noise. As all good musicians know, silence is important too. We have tried out stopping and starting and been highly successful. It’s been great fun marching to the beat of our own drum.

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The Pioneers have so many wonderful places to learn. We step outside the classroom into a wonderful space surrounded by green. There is always sand and water to explore and lots of things to climb on and to build with. This week we worked under the canopy to explore printing and colour and to get our acorns ready for their “hibernation” to plant next spring. We used a story map to remind us of what we needed to do and this included words that we could segment and blend.

Later in the day we walked around the edge of the field and the forest looking closely at the colours around us. The selection was fabulous. The Pioneers noticed the different shaped leaves and the changes that have happened since we returned to school.

The Pioneers spent the day outdoors exploring our wonderful site. We packed up our trolley and took responsibility for the kit we needed. Some helped to carry some very heavy buckets. We talked about looking after ourselves,looking after others and looking after our environment.

As we went along we pointed out hazards like nettles and thorns and big holes in the ground. We speculated that these could have been made by badgers.

Our first Forest Find was a sycamore tree and it’s seeds so we stopped to take a look . We walked the boundaries and discussed where it was safe to go. We then set up camp next to the Oak tree and had a good rummage around. Lots of ladybirds were relocated and acorns and leaves made their way into the treasure boxes. We shared a good book before moving up onto the field to explore.

We had snack in our outdoor area and a good phonics session before lunch.

In the afternoon we headed back to the forest to look closely at leaves,selecting some to press for printing later. One Pioneer suggested this.
We pulled some vegetables which was very exciting.  One Pioneer could identify the vegetable from the leaves.

To finish the day we repeated our bread dough making from last week with greater efficiency and a different kind of mess!

It was glorious.