How to write a quality blog post

To help us think about what makes a quality blog post we have made a video with what we think is important. We hope it helps you with creating quality posts too. We will be watching our video to help us remember  what to think about each time we write posts. So far we have written posts after a lot of discussion and note making. Next time we write posts we will be doing it individually and as independently as we can, so we will be watching our own video again. To see our latest posts please scroll down to look at our posts about a visit from Steven Cooper, Tom Muir's visit and what we think about Fantastic Gymnastics. This video will be posted in the sidebar so that it is a handy link for when we (or you) need it. Happy blogging!

Mental Strategies for Addition

We have made a video to explain some of the mental strategies you can use for adding mentally. It is now added to the P5 Maths Channel where there are lots of videos about number at the P5 stage. This is quite a useful way of revising how to work things out in number and helps parents understand how we do it too. We hope you enjoy the video and find it useful. Explaining how to do something always helps us with our thinking when we are learning something new.

Tom Muir tells some Tales of Viking Lands

Tom Muir is a storyteller. On Tuesday Tom came in to tell us some terrific Viking stories that Vikings told a thousand years ago. In all the stories there was a god and most of the gods were very powerful. Storytelling was very important to Vikings. The Vikings believed that all the gods in stories were real. The god Freya had gold hair and was the god of love. She was ever so powerful. The god Balder was called Baldur the Beautiful. He had no enemies even the animals loved him. Thor was overly big he had a very long ginger bierd not everyone like him but he was still a great god.

Sofia, Erin R and Cierra

Tom Muir told us a story about the gods and the story was about when Thor lost his hammer. One morning Thor woke up he checked for his hammer on his table but it was not there so he checked under his bed but he couldn't find it there. So he shouted Lokey! So Lokey went to Freya to ask for her falcon suit. So he gave it to him but Thor couldn't fit in it so Lokey said he could go and get it for him. So he flew across to the Giants house.

Tyler, Erland and Kaydan

Tom Muir started telling stories when he was 26 or 27. Tom doesn't forget complicated stories. He told us stories about Vikings and the Gods of Viking lands. The captain god was Odin. And the most worshiped god was Thor the god of thunder.

If you want to hear more of his stories you can get his book.

Brogan, Aiden and Darby.

A visit from Steven Cooper

On Tuesday Steven Cooper came into our class to tell us about his work. He is a jeweller he has a shop called Aurora in Orkney. One of the things he told us about was his tools. One of the tools was the triblet he uses it to make the rings round on the inside. There is also a tool called engraving tool it engraves the runic writing on the rings also Steven has a tool called the leather hammer which he uses to hit the ring so it gets its shape. Then he showed us a needle file witch filed the jewellery down. The last tool he showed us was his pliers which he used to bend the silver into shape. He also showed us his magnifying goggles which he uses for locking really close up at jewellery.

Kaylen, Daisy and Lauren.

The silver came in shapes and sizes of stripes. In a video he showed us how he makes jewellery. First he made the silver into a ring shape with pliyers so he put the ring on a machine that polished it when it was done he used a silver solder To join the ring he said he has to be very very careful because it is hot. He finished it off with ruins carved with the engrading tool it said health and happiness.

Declan, Scott, William

The most expensive ring her ever made was an engagement ring he created £15 000.

He learned how to make jewellery at The Longship then he left and started Aurora.

Erlend C, Cameron and Finlay.

Fantastic Gymnastics

Photos by William.

This term in PE we are doing gymnastics. We are focussing on rolls, jumps and balances. Last week we got split into groups and we made up sequences. We were in groups of 4. We think we're getting the equipment out so we are excited for next week's gymnastics lesson because gymnastics is fantastic.

by Erin K. Caitlin and Aneisha

We were doing rolls and balances and sometimes we needed people to help us stay straight in a hand stand. Then we practised and got better and better.

Rolls can be forwards or backwards or sideways. Sideways rolls are the most difficult. A Teddy Bear roll is when you sit down and hold on to the back of your legs and roll around.

Balances is when you either stand on one hand or two and you can also stand on one foot or two, for example: handstand 'bow and arrow'. A bow and arrow is when one foot  is on the ground and lift the other leg up and hold on to the tip of your foot.

Jennifer, Pippa and Paige.

These jumps are what we have been practising we use to do a one eighty. Now some of us can do a round off. A round off is a half flip and half cartwheel or a three sixty some of us can do a one handed cartwheel! we would like to improve on cartwheel, handstands or headstands and reach our goals.

Jake, Bruce and Angus.

Our visit to St Magnus Cathedral and the Orkney Museum

A blog post by Class 5.

At the cathedral Fran told us that when it was being built you would be able to see the Peedie Sea in front of the cathedral. Red and yellow sandstone was found under the museum around a ramp or jetty where the builders brought it by ship from Eday. Now when you look across the road you can see shops. The land was reclaimed and shops were built there about two hundred years ago. 

The stone mason carved their mark so the chief mason would know how much to pay them and to see how much work they did. They all had different marks. We felt the symbols because we would be touching history.

The paintings on the roof got covered in plaster and painted white. The paintings were of gardens, patterns and saints. The paintings would be painted in bright colours and patterns. The covered up every bit except the one that was left because you couldn't see any of the pictures on the other ones.

In the middle of the cathedral there are four hooks on the pillars. They were put there by Cromwell to tie his horses. It was at the time when there was no king or queen.

Fran told us more about the St Magnus story.

When Haakon arrives at Egilsay.

Earl Rognvald.

Kol Rognvald's father.

 Years ago Magnus's nephew went to Orkney and said, 'If you make me Earl of Orkney I'll build a cathedral in Magnus's honour'. The people of Orkney agreed. 

When the church was getting rid of the bones of the saints the people of Orkney hid the bones of St Magnus in a pillar in the cathedral. Five hundred years later when they were repairing the pillar they found the box with St Magnus's bones inside it. They knew it was St Magnus because the skull had a big crack in it. They put the bones back in the pillar in a new box. They box is behind the stone with the cross on it. The original box is in the museum.

In the Viking age if they needed to cut grass or crops they used a sickle. At the museum today we saw a real sickle used by a Viking. It was made out of iron. You could only see the hook because it was broken and it was rusty all around. We saw Viking board pieces as well. They were made out of whalebone . The pieces were some beads. They were in a pouch so they were together. They were buried at a Viking grave at Scar in Sanday.

In the Orkney museum we looked at a box that had had St Magnus's bones in it. They put the bones in a new box back in the secret place.The old box is ancient and fragile.

The comb was made out of deer's antlers. The male deer's antlers fall off every year. They carved the deer's antlers. The men and women used combs for their hair. They hung them on their belt or in a pouch. The combs had some designs on it.

In the museum we looked at a sword and it was really rusty. The end of the sword was broken. Blowflies had laid eggs on the sword and when the eggs hatched there were maggots. There were little cases on the sword from the maggots.

The whalebone plaque was made out of whale bone. It was found in a grave in Sanday.

Viking model house challenge

Where did the Vikings eat, sleep, rest, cook, play and tell stories? Where did they store their precious jewellery, weapons and make their clothes? Where did they care for their animals? 

Making the model houses in groups.

Our challenge was to make and label a typical Viking model house in an hour showing how the Viking home provided these things. Some of the houses even had outdoor toilets! 

Our finished models.

You can read our comments about the task below..