Earthquake!

This week, we have been learning about the earthquakes that often strike in Japan. We found out why earthquakes occur and what people can do to prepare for them.

This video helped us to understand plate tectonics:

We learned about the 'Drop! Cover! Hold!' routine that children are taught in schools in earthquake-prone areas and found out about the best ways to be prepared for an earthquake.

Using our new knowledge, we designed these helpful information posters:

Finally, we learned about how buildings can be constructed to be as safe as possible in an earthquake.

We used spaghetti and marshmallows to create our own buildings, then tested them to see how they withstood an 'earthquake'! Some were much more successful than others!

Our Visit to the Embassy!

Source: wikipedia

On Thursday, we had the honour of visiting the Embassy of Japan in London's Piccadilly.

We had a wonderful afternoon learning about Japan and meeting some of the members of staff from the Embassy.

Firstly, we looked at the manga exhibition on display at the Embassy, as we will be beginning our own manga projects soon.

Source: http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/event/manga/2014/manga_jiman_14.html

 

Then we were taken through to the spectacular ballroom, where we met Miss Soni. Miss Soni taught us lots of interesting facts about Japan.

After the presentation, we split into two groups. Each group took part in two activities: Japanese calligraphy and Yosakoi dance.

The calligraphy class was fascinating and we had to follow very strict rules. It was important to sit with the correct posture and hold the brush in the correct way. We learned a number of Japanese characters, including those for river, mountain and life.

Our teacher from the Embassy was very impressed by our efforts and said that we were the best behaved class they had had at the Embassy- well done, everyone!

The Yosakoi dance workshop was led by Miss Soni, who had performed in the Japanese national Yosakoi finals with her team in Japan.

We each wore a special 'happi' coat and held two 'naruko' (wooden clappers).

It was great fun to learn all of the moves and poses! It certainly helped us to learn our Japanese numbers, too!

Welcome to Japan!

 Kon'nichiwa! Welcome to Japan!

St. Clare's Classroom has become Japanese for the next half term; we look forward to welcoming our visitors next week during One World Week!

 This week, we began learning about Japan and we have created some beautiful work. After finding out about where Japan is and looking closely at the map of Japan in our 'Map from Memory' game, we began the topic with some artwork.

We learned about koinoburi, Japanese fish kites, which are flown across Japan every year for Children's Day. After finding out about the history of kites in Japan, we worked in groups to make some koinoburi of our own. Aren't they beautiful?

On Wednesday afternoon, we spent some time learning about traditional clothing in Japan. We then combined our learning about Japanese clothing with a famous Japanese artform: origami. Each of us made a lady or gentleman in a kimono from paper. Here they are, looking very smart indeed:

On Thursday, we had a wonderful trip to the Embassy of Japan in Central London. Keep your eyes peeled for a special blog post to follow soon...

Bridges of the Thames

 Source: cpbs

This week, we used Thinglink to display what we had learned about some of the bridges over the Thames in Central London. We embedded text, images, video and website links into each image. Check out some excellent examples:

By Jack N. and Harry

By D and Christopher

By Maria, Jada and Stephanie

London Docklands

Today, we learned about the London Docklands and how the area has changed over time. We discovered the history of the Docklands and its ups and downs.

We made these Animoto films and Thinglink presentations, to teach others about what we now know:

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/787267975504723969

By Daniel and Jack G

Caoimhe and Erhun

Jess and Gracie: https://animoto.com/play/J3v2UWHzQaYCue81APKxUQ

Justin and Cesar: https://animoto.com/play/iNc111GORIC30I483rK5FQ

Owain and Harry: https://animoto.com/play/y21W0noZmLh3l1bqmNcyCg

Mina and Emily: https://animoto.com/play/Jf0i4zurFlCwrTBcnKzA1w

Stephanie and Maria: https://animoto.com/play/yh2qEmmQmDNGl2b4Rlj73w

Rory and Jack N: https://animoto.com/play/TUBl4Ws03xFaT5wX3ey3Uw

Darcy: https://animoto.com/play/MGnRUhlVMyjzizncF9Txpw

Sophia and Kenan: https://animoto.com/play/8GnWL4tTJUAMDwHctS9TCw

Jada and Elizabeth: https://animoto.com/play/emSk11JMsRVygbmOO08eUw

D and Christopher: https://animoto.com/play/gX7VjXemiSxcyK09xnibRw

Thames Explorer Workshop!

On Wednesday, Kate from the Thames Explorer Trust came to visit us at school. All of the children in Year 5 took part in a workshop, learning all about the Port of London.

It gave us a chance to show off what we already know about the River Thames and to learn lots of fascinating new information. We learned about shipping routes around the globe and how we import and export using the River Thames.

Kate brought along some HUGE maps for us to explore in the hall.

We also performed in some drama challenges and explored the history of the Thames from the Roman period, through its Victorian history, the closure of the Docks through to modern day London.