On Friday, Rowan Class had another Commando Joe session. The focus was on teamwork and finding different ways to navigate an obstacle course while transporting jerry cans. As an added bonus, the children got to compete against each other over an obstacle course. Here are some photos of the children in action.
In English, we have been studying The Island, a book by Armin Greder, about a man who is washed up on an island to be discovered by the local inhabitants. The book deals with the themes of immigration and prejudice with the fisherman coming across as the most ambivalent character. In the book he argues for the stranger to stay, but his motivations don’t always appear to have the stanger’s interests at heart. Rowan class were asked to write their own persuasive speech from the point of view of the fisherman. Here is some of the children’s work.
Evie
Gracie
Harry
Jonathan
Toby
Due to overnight snow, the school is closed today. Exercises have been posted on Education City for Year 6. Please log on to Eduction City to complete them.
On Monday, Rowan Class were visited by Mr Munro, who came to give a talk about some of the dangers of computer and video games particularly those which are ‘free to play’. Mr Munro told the class that they were being sold as companies now employ psychologists and behaviour specialists who advise them how to keep people playing games. Often this comes in the form of small rewards which makes gamers think that they are succeeding, but this is a design! Mr Munro showed the class how psychologist F.B. Skinner conducted research on animals such as rats and birds. Skinner’s research showed:
1.Animals will do boring things for small rewards.
2.They will do it more for certain types of reward.
3.They develop a ‘fear of missing out’.
4.You get a bad reaction if you force them to stop.
5.It works on humans
Mr Munro argued that if you are aware of this design, then you will know when to walk away. He was clear that games can be highly stimulating, but there are also so many other things that you can do and there needs to be some sort of balance.
We would like to thank Mr Munro for his time and for giving such an interesting talk.
Today, Rowan Class visited the Ure Museum at the University of Reading as part of our history topic on the Ancient Greeks. The children handled some artefacts and had to come up with an explanation of what the artefacts were used for and how they knew. Next, the children sketched a vase they particularly liked and needed to explain the significance ofd the vase. Finally, the children needed to work in groups to storyboard their own myth based on a painting which they had seen.
The children had a great time and will be writing a trip report as part of their history topic.
In our RE lessons we have been discussing ritual. Ritual is defined as: a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order. We compared ritual with routine and identified some of the rituals we take part in. The children identified: baptism, birthdays, weddings, Christmas, New Year and Easter. The, in groups, they created freeze frames to show each ritual. Can you guess what they are?
