Using the 5 Senses for Descriptions

As planned - albeit a few months later! - I took the girls to the first of several different locations so they could practise using their five senses to write more detailed descriptions. We also recapped all five verbs in Arabic, too.

Our first stop was the woodland area of Martineau Gardens.

We focused on one sense at a time, making notes of at least one example for each, then adding in anything extra to any other box once they'd got into it (we walked round with clipboards which they loved the novelty of!).

You can download the worksheet template here.

Later on at home, they used their notes to write sentences underneath a picture of where we went.

First, we read a couple of examples of descriptions from their favourite book series at the moment: Willow Valley. The opening chapters always begin with a nice description, so we read a couple of examples and talked about which senses were being used for each thing.

e.g. "It was a bright, sunny morning in Willow Valley. Butterflies danced through meadows of clover, birds sang in the trees, and shimmering dragonflies fluttered over the river. The cave-houses on the rolling green hills all had their doors open wide as happy little animals pattered out to play in the sunshine." [Willow Valley - A Seaside Rescue, by Tracey Corderoy]

I asked them if that description was better than just saying, for example, "In Willow Valley there were butterflies, birds and dragonflies. Animals played outside." They said the description in the book was better because they could imagine being there!

I let them free write, so no spelling aid, reminders about capitals and full stops, spaces between words, etc... and put the sandtimer on for 30min so they had a set time to write in - in between talking to each other and to me before they wrote their sentences down! One of them finished within the 30min, the other decided she wanted to write for a little longer. I'm thinking of using this piece of writing for some editing work later on, giving them the chance to check for mistakes and improve.

You can download the second worksheet template here.

I left a blank in the title so we can re-use it for a different location and they will already be familiar with what to do. I might print out a photo again, or leave that space empty for them to draw a picture... Or we might link to ICT and have them type up their description into the file on the laptop. Will see how it goes, insha'Allah!

Morning Activity (Arabic reading/understanding)

We've not done as much work from the Madinah book as we should have over the past few months; I'd become complacent since joining an Arabic speaking club... 😅 So when I finally decided to pull it out the other day, I was disappointed to see the girls had forgotten some of the things they'd previously been confident in when we covered them! And we've not done nearly enough reading practise as we should have been either, so they've become a little slower in that too. 😩

It's hard finding the time at the moment with a newborn to tend to! So I've come up with simply putting something on the whiteboard each morning for them to work on while I get breakfast ready or feed and change the baby. Once they've answered the question, we can eat breakfast... A little motivation to keep their attention. 😂

Some examples... We started off by having to match the sentence to the correct picture. I chose vocabulary which they seemed to have forgotten as a way of revision - so they would use the pictures as prompts to help their reading and the sentences helped them remember old vocab. 

After a few days of those, so they got used to the idea and routine of it, I changed the question slightly... So a longer sentence (actually two: a question and answer) and they had to say which image illustrated it correctly.

So this helps revise old grammar points too.

I write the task on the board after they've gone to bed, so the first time they see it is in the morning. It's working well for us so far as I've already seen their reading improve - whereas before I struggled to find time to fit in focused Arabic reading on a daily basis, this is a nice top up for those days when we really don't have time. It's also been good for their teamwork skills as they can discuss what they think and fill in the gaps where the other struggles. Between them they've always managed to work it out, while I'm sure they wouldn't have been able to alone! 💕 My messy handwriting also doesn't help, so being able to decipher it is a skill in itself too. 😂

***EDIT***

Some more examples as we've continued:

Recipe: Honey & cinnamon flapjacks

Dry Ingredients:
200g rolled oats
1tsp cinnamon
handful chopped nuts (e.g. pecan, walnuts) to taste

Wet Ingredients:
150ml honey
1tbsp golden syrup
handful of sultanas / chopped dates to taste
100g salted butter

Topping:
flaked almonds
drizzle of golden syrup / sprinkle of demerera sugar

1) Preheat oven to fan 180C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, leaving some paper hanging over two of the sides.
2) Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3) In a saucepan, gently heat and stir together the wet ingredients until the butter has melted.
4) Pour the melted wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and carefully mix until completely combined.
5) Tip the mixture into the baking tray and press down flat. Sprinkle on the toppings of choice.
6) Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. It will still be slightly soft when done.
7) Leave to cool before lifting out of the tray, using the overhanging paper to help.Cut into portions.

Store in an airtight container. Each batch lasts maximum 1 week in this house! I don't know if they would keep for longer. 😂

Science/Arabic - The Sense of Touch

The Sense of Touch - اَللَّمْسُ

I can feel... - ... أَنَا أَلْمَسُ

We reminded ourselves of the five senses and which part of the body we use for each one - we talked about how we feel things with every part of our body, so our skin, but it's easiest to use our hands and fingers when we want to know what something feels like!

I wrote the word "texture" on the whiteboard as a new concept. Something's texture is just the way it feels... So we talked about some familiar objects and how the word they use to describe what it feels like is its texture, eg their skin is soft and smooth, a tree trunk is rough and bumpy... Then we quickly read through some of their younger sister's "That's Not My..." book series, emphasising the word "texture" for the material on each page. This was also useful in giving them some ideas for words for later on.

I then gave them a piece of coloured card each so they could draw around their hands to represent the sense of touch and then cut them out (fine motor skills and scissor practise). Our 2 year old joined in with this part too; obviously I had to help her with the drawing and cutting! One of the twins asked me to neaten up her cut out hands for her while the other was happy doing it herself. Then they stuck these down onto another piece of coloured card.

I'd already prepared a variety of materials from around the house (chosen to encourage them to use a wide range of vocabulary and so help their descriptive language) which they felt one by one before sticking down around the paper. We also used this opportunity to remind ourselves of the Arabic for "I can feel ..."

The materials I chose for them were:

1) a feather

2) cotton wool

3) a piece of shiny gift bag

4) a piece of foam

5) blu tac

6) a lolly stick

7) velcro hooks

8) glittery card

9) scrunched tin foil

10) pipe cleaner

Some things they stuck down with PVA glue, the others with sellotape - it was good to hear their reasoning for why it was easier to use sellotape for some items and why they could only use sellotape on the edges rather than simply on top (or they couldn't feel the texture!).

After a break, to let the glue dry, we got out one of the big whiteboards and brainstormed a list of vocabulary they could use to describe the textures on their paper, making sure they had at least one word for each thing. There's something about writing on a whiteboard kids find fun, mine being no exception, so doing this as a shared activity was really effective!

To finish off, the girls had to choose one word to describe each texture and write them down inside the fingers of their cut out hands - 10 textures, 10 fingers! They could use the whiteboard display for ideas and spelling help. 

Obviously the toddler didn't do this last part! But she really enjoyed the gluing activity and got to hear all the lovely vocabulary being used to copy whilst talking about what she'd made. 😁

Science/Arabic - The Sense of Taste

The Sense of Taste - اَلذَّوْقُ

I taste... - ... أَنَا أَذُوقُ

We talked about the sense of taste and how everything can be sorted into 5 main groups: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami.

The girls were then blindfolded and I gave them something to taste, one at a time. First, they guessed what it was (... أَنَا أَذُوقُ - if they didn't know the Arabic word they could just say that word in English!) then I told them which category that food was an example of. The foods we did were:

Sweet = teaspoon of honey. They already knew what sweet meant!

Salty = ready salted crisps. They already knew salty, too!

Sour = slice of lemon. These foods make your mouth pucker up.

Bitter = spinach leaf. These foods make you want to stick your tongue out.

Umami = cheese. These foods have a really strong flavour.

They took off their blindfolds and I gave them some more foods to taste; some were distinctly only one of the five basic tastes, others were a mixture - I tried to choose a variety that would lead to a good discussion and understanding!

The foods we used and the groups we thought they belonged to were:

banana = sweet

fizzy belt = sweet & sour
kiwi = sweet & sour

cucumber = sweet & bitter
dark chocolate drops = sweet & bitter
whipped cream & coffee = sweet & bitter
popcorn = salty & sweet
salt n' vinegar crisps = salty & sour
tuna = salty & umami
Marmite on toast = salty & umami
soy sauce = salty & umami
ketchup = sweet & umami

Finally, they filled in the below worksheet and recapped sorting using a two-way table.

We did the worksheet later on in the day so they had to think and remember which foods they tasted! We wrote down what they could remember on the whiteboard then I helped them fill in the gaps. Then they worked through the list sorting them into where they thought they best fit. Lastly, they could colour the pictures if they wanted! And we talked about which taste each picture represented.

You can download our worksheet template here. I forgot to blank out half of the squares for their copies but it's fixed in the original file now. 😊

Recipe: Chocolate chip shortbread

Makes 20-24 biscuits:

150g salted butter (at room temperature)
75g caster sugar
225g plain flour, plus extra for rolling out
100g chocolate chips
2-3tsps Demerara sugar

1) Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
2) Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3) Sieve in the flour, a little at a time, stirring together with a wooden spoon.
4) Tip in the chocolate chips and bring the mixture together with your hands to form a soft dough. Try not to overwork it to get a better texture to the biscuit. When the dough comes away from the bowl, leaving it clean, then it's ready.
5) Lightly flour a surface and roll the dough to the thickness of the chocolate chips. Cut into shapes and place on baking tray.
6) Sprinkle with demerara sugar for an optional sweet crunch!
7) Leave to chill in the fridge for 20min and preheat the oven to Fan 180C.
8) Bake for 12-14min until the edges turn golden brown.
9) Leave to firm up on the baking tray for 5min before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
10) Enjoy with a cup of tea or glass of cold milk!

Another cub to the pack!

Alhamdulillah, we welcomed a new member to our family in the early hours of this morning. 💕

She and I are both doing well, but this is the reason posting has and will significantly slow until we find our feet and get into a comfortable routine! Her birth just so happens to co-oincide with UK summer holidays, so I'm telling myself I don't need to worry if the academia slows and the girls spend a couple of months just playing. It's what their school-going peers would be doing anyway. 😏