Respecting differences

We have been learning about the Jewish religion. We found out about the different things you might find in a Jewish home.

We learnt about how Shabbat is celebrated every week and what happens in the synagogue.
We listened to the story of the beginning of the Jewish faith when Moses led his people from slavery in Egypt.
We researched the festival of Pesach and found out how all the foods on the Seder plate remind Jews of this amazing journey.

We read about the ten Commandments that God gave to Moses and we wrote our own commandments.

We also composed our own psalm based on David's psalm 8 reflecting on the beauty of the world around us
and praising God.

Making a difference.

We have been finding out about life in Brazil.
We looked particularly at the cocoa farmers and learnt how chocolate is made.We drew our own flow charts to describe the process.

We discovered that some cocoa farmers work very long days in difficult conditions but do not  get paid enough for their children to go to school, have medical care, or even to have enough healthy food to eat. We think this is unfair!
We learnt that through choosing Fairtrade we can be sure that the farmers who grew the cocoa pods for our chocolate will have been paid a fair wage and that their families will enjoy their rights in the future.

             If you want to make a difference shout ''Fairtrade!''

Sports Day Activities.

It was a great day of individual achievement and teamwork enjoyed by everyone!

Pottery masterclass!

Here we are having an expert explain to us the skills and techniques involved in making pots on a potters wheel!

                                                     Wow! Aren't these amazing!

Amazonian pots.

We looked at some examples of Brazilian pottery. There were all different shapes of pots and many were decorated with animal shapes to reflect the Amazonian Rainforest.
We made our own pots using the pinch pot method.

We added Rainforest creatures to decorate and attached them using slip which is a paste made of clay and water.

We then painted our pots using Brazilian flag colours.

Carnival celebration!

   In International Arts week we researched Brazil through the internet and books.We made a display of our fact files.

We watched a video clip of Carnivals in Brazil. We loved the energy and excitement of the parades. We listened to the samba rhythms and  made our own percussion instruments so we could recreate the sounds and rhythms. Luckily we have our very own wonderful drummer who skillfully led us in our carnival band!

Come on Brazil!

This week is International arts week. We are looking at the art and culture of Brazil.........and following the football as well!!

Brazilians love to wear colourful clothes especially at Carnival time!
Here we are tie dying shirts in the colours of the Brazilian flag
First we washed and rinsed the shirts.

 Then we explored different ways of tieing or banding the material and predicted what sort of pattern would be made.

 Next we dyed them very carefully and left them to rest.










After a couple of hours we had a great undoing of bands. We were so excited!

 Most patterns came out as we predicted. Each one was different and each beautiful in its own way!