Dinosaur Dig

Yesterday I enjoyed another school assembly in which Amy's Year 2 class presented the various topics they have been studying this term. Amy's group told us about their topic on Dinosaurs and their Archaeology Day when they came to school dressed as archaeologists and went hunting for dino eggs in the garden. They pretended the "Mummy" (mother) dinosaurs were watching so they had to be very sneaky when collecting the eggs. Once they had each found an egg, they took it back to their "laboratory" (classroom) and carefully cracked open the hard shells. Then, each child used reference books from the library to research the particular dinosaur they had found and write up a fact sheet about it.Also, as part of Archaeology Day, the children got to dig in sand tables and collect pieces of broken pottery, then try to assemble them like a 3-D puzzle. The children reported that it was very challenging but fun.

You may notice many silly hats in the audience. This is because it was also "Hats for Haiti" day. The children each donated some pocket money in order to wear a hat to school. The goal was to raise at least 200 GBP in order to purchase a Play Kit to send to children that are coping with the post-earthquake crisis in Haiti. As an added reward, the head teacher offered an extended playtime - 30 minutes instead of 15 - if the children met their goal.In actuality, the school raised double their goal amount! So the children were very excited to be able to send two play kits to Haiti (though they were disappointed Mr. Green didn't give them a double-double amount of playtime...)

The final part of the assembly involved a quiz about dinosaurs that the children had created on their own. I must admit, some of the questions were quite tricky!

And finally, what fun would primary school be without a good tune to wrap things up?

Of course Amy loved the dinosaur/archaeology topic. She has been fascinated with dinosaurs since she was about 2 years old. As for other topics they are currently focusing on:

"Literacy": they are working on improving their writing of paragraphs and stories, including lots of adjectives and connectors. Stories need a beginning, middle and end and are most interesting when they present a problem or conflict that has an eventual resolution.

"Maths": multiplication tables, and how to write number sentences to fit natural "arrays" we discover in real life

Science and History, of course, has been focusing on the dinosaurs/archaeology.

RE (Religious Education): Christianity (they just finished a lengthy study of Judaism).

We are really pleased with the progress that these little ones are making and very happy that Amy enjoys her school and has fabulous teachers/staff that provide plenty of great opportunities for learning and growth. It's always fun to see what the kids have been up to at school...