Class 2 are enjoying a Math main lesson which follows the adventures of some colourful and clever number gnomes.  Woodsy Gnome has been helping to build wooden shelves in King Counting’s Treasure house to help organize the sorting and counting of the treasures.  By keeping the 1’s, 10’s, 100’s and 1000’s in their correct places and stacking the shelves on top of each other we have been introduced to vertical sums.

A favourite part of this main lesson are the games involving dice and bankers as we trade gems.  We work as teams to find out how many treasures we have each day.  Often the numbers are up into the 1000’s.  Soon King Counting decided it was time to start giving some of the treasures away and subtraction with borrowing and carrying has been the challenge!

Amazingly, this has tied in with the completion of our very colourful and well accessorized knitted gnomes.  Belts, vests, scarves, backpacks, kittens, chickens and mice – all gnome sized - have been emerging.

In craft we are now hand stitching our own designs onto fabric squares to create bunting for use by the shire as decoration around the community.  And in beeswax modelling there are some very creative and intricate mini worlds being designed.

We are watching our silkworms grow day by day as we make sure they have fresh mulberry leaves from the school tree.  We have heard the therapeutic story of Silky Wriggly and painted mulberry trees that grew from little seeds under our paintbrushes.

Our Silkworm Poem

I am a silkworm brown and white.

I only eat mulberry leaves day and night.

I am a silkworm I wiggle and squirm,

But one day I’ll stop as you will soon learn.

When I’ve spun a cocoon I’ll look lifeless and still,

But growing and dreaming and changing I will…

One day emerge, it won’t take long,

I’ll be a moth with wings like a silent song.

Such treasure I left you, see my silken thread,

I’m no longer with you -  I’m flying free instead.