Illuminated Manuscripts

Whilst studying Medieval history this term, we have been looking at illuminated manuscripts. Following a visit to the British Library in London
http://www.bl.uk/,  we were inspired to have a go ourselves.
“M” and “A” have been learning about the importance of parables in Christianity, so we thought it appropriate to use a parable as the subject of [...]

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The Black Death – Raising Questions

This term we have been finding out about Medieval history. We began today’s session by making a concept map of our prior understanding of the Black Death and its relationship to aspects of Medieval life. We then created a series of questions which we raised in order to clarify our understanding of the disease and its place in [...]

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Medieval Gallery Visit – Museum of London

Today we visited the Museum of London, which is located at 150 London Wall, within sight of St Paul’s cathedral and in the City.
Our initial aim was to visit the Medieval London exhibit.
We took along our Fizzbook tablet PC, which allowed us to create some blog articles “in situ” using our Live Writer software and [...]

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Museum of London – The Great Fire of London

A poem by “A”, inspired by the Great Fire of London exhibit at The Museum of London and created on the museum’s magnetic wall using available word tiles:
 
A fire suddenly burned
The wind was hot
The night was red,yellow and orange
People ran
A scream
A frightened cry
Tumbling house
Blazing street
Choking
Scared
FIRE!

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Bank of England Museum

Today we visited the Bank of England Museum. The Museum, on Bartholomew Lane in the City of London, has free admission. It tells the story of the Bank of England from its foundation by Royal Charter in 1694 to its role in the present-day economy.

The children and I really enjoyed the exhibits, particularly the one [...]

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Visiting Ham House – National Trust

This week we have been enjoying a visit to London. We always love visiting the museums and welcome the opportunity and the challenge to live life at the pace of the city, if only for a few days!
However, we were happy to take time out for a “breather” over the weekend by making use of [...]

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Henry II and Thomas a Becket

Thomas a Becket, born in London in 1118, was the son of a merchant. When working as assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas was introduced to King Henry II. They became friends.
Henry II appointed Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, no doubt hoping that his friend Thomas would support him in his dealings with [...]

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Reporting the First lunar Landing

During personal project time this week, “A” has been researching the story of the first lunar landing.
Here she has written a news article as though she was a journalist at the time of the Apollo 11 mission:
FROM EARTH TO THE MOON
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”
These are the words spoken by [...]

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Galileo – a Biography

As part of their literacy studies this week, “M” and “A” have been writing a biography of Galileo. They have used books and the internet to research into Galileo’s life and work, endeavouring where possible to check the information across a range of sources.
Here is “A” ’s account of Galileo’s early life:
Galileo Galilei was born [...]

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Investigating Chinese Poetry – The Story of Hsi -Chun

As part of our new project on China, we have begun by reading some Chinese poetry. Straight away we discovered that early Chinese poets (writing between 200 and 100 BC) used a more literal style of writing. We struggled to interpret the poems initially, as we attempted to apply our own westernised understanding of poetry; [...]

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