Tuesday 23 April 2013

Dover

On Saturday we went to Dover. On the way there we saw where Thomas Beckett was killed.




Then we went to Chilham. It's a place where Emma was filmed. We went there to see some of our ancestors' graves. When we got there we looked around and we found a few. One of them was my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather William Pullen. He was born in 1764 and died in 1842.

Outside the church where many of my ancestors were christened, married and buried.

Next to William Pullen's grave.
At Dover we saw some people celebrating St George's day. Jacob, Elsie and I played a game where we pretended the French were attacking. We could see France and I realised it was easier to swim the English channel than I had thought.


We went inside Dover Castle and into the kitchens. I pretended I was a food critic. As we were in the kitchens a lady came and said the King was going to dine and we could come and watch him. So we went. It was very lifelike. The King told the lady to tell him a story. She told him about Sir Lambvell. Sir Lambvell was a brave knight and one of the knights of the round were jealous of him and they laughed at him. So he would go out and hide in the forest. One day he went further into the forest than usual and met some fairies and a fairy queen. He asked the queen if she would be his love. She said yes, but only if he would never tell anyone about her. He agreed. One day Guinevere (King Arthur's wife) told Sir Lambvell that she was in love with him. He was furious and accidentally said he was in love with the fairy queen. Now Guinevere was furious. She told King Arthur that Sir Lambvell said she wasn't the beautifullest lady in the kingdom. King Arther said Sir Lambvell should be burnt. When he was about to be burnt, the fairy queen came and rescued him.

After that I saw a World War II hospital tunnel.

Dover Castle



In the kitchens
Helping tell the story - I was a knight.

white cliffs of Dover.

Monday 22 April 2013

Newtonia

Last week we learnt about Isaac Newton. We decided to make a game about him and his discoveries. We called the game 'A Voyage through Newtonia'. It included cards with questions about his scientific experiments and theories, and a set of instructions on how to play. When you landed on the different squares, you either went forward, missed a turn, rolled again or went backward, depending whether it was about one of his triumphs or one of his setbacks.

Here are some pictures of NEWTONIA!



Wednesday 17 April 2013

London


Last week we went to London. I did so much I can't tell you everything, but I'll show you some photos.

Hampton Court Palace



Henry VIII's kitchens - I'm holding some fake fish

Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station

The Tower of London
One of the ravens at The Tower of London

St Paul's Cathedral

A fox we saw in the back garden of the place we were staying!
Buckingham Palace gates

Big Ben!

Inside the British Museum

Some of the statues from the Parthenon



Kensington Palace

Sitting in the place Queen Victoria sat on the day she became Queen

See 'Dippy' at the Natural History Museum

Downing St (where the Prime Minister lives!)
Buckingham Palace

Changing of the guard

Fortnam and Mason (a posh shop)
Westminster Bridge

Museum of London

Getting wet in the rain


Tuesday 16 April 2013

Emma


I have recently finished Emma, by Jane Austen. Jane Austen is a very witty writer. She writes about marriages. She is such a good writer. I never know who will marry who!

In Emma, Emma Woodhouse meets Harriet Smith. She instantly becomes friends and, not wanting Harriet to marry a farmer, made her reject Mr Martin's proposal. She wants Harriet to marry Mr Elton. But it turns out Mr Elton wants to marry Emma (because of her money)! Emma of course refuses.

Mr Elton goes away and, while he is away, Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill come back. Then Mr Elton comes back. He has married Augusta Hawkins.. She is very mean.

Emma thinks she is in love with Frank Churchill. Then Frank Churchill holds a ball, and even though Mr Knightley doesn't like dancing, he goes to it. At the ball, Harriet has no-one to dance with. Mr Elton doesn't want to dance with her and is very rude. But, even though he doesn't like dancing, Mr Knightley dances with her. Later, Frank Churchill saved Harriet from some gypsies. Then Harriet says she is in love with a very superior person. Emma thinks she is talking about Frank Churchill. Then Emma goes to Box Hill. She is mean to Jane Fairfax's aunt. Then Frank's aunt dies. Frank Churchill says that he has had a secret engagement with Jane Fairfax. Emma thinks Harriet will be very sad. But then it turns out Harriet's in love with Mr Knightley! Then Emma realises she is in love with Mr Knightley and is devastated. But then Mr Knightley proposes to her! Later on Harriet is proposed to again by Mr Martin. She accepts.

The main characters in Emma are Emma, Mr Knightley, Harriet, Jane Fairfax, Frank Churchill and Mr Elton.

Emma is a rich girl who is very patient and clever. But she is spoilt. Her mother died when she was young and now she lives with her father.

Mr Knightley is the only one of the characters who can find fault with Emma. But he ends up marrying her! His predictions are always correct. He is my favourite character because he is so kind.

Harriet is Emma's best friend. She lives in a boarding school and nobody knows who her parents are. She is pretty and humble. She also has a good temper.

My favourite part in Emma is the trip to Box Hill. Emma flirts with Frank Churchill. Then Frank Churchill playts a game and Emma is mean to Mrs Bates. Later Mr Knightley scolds Emma about it. Emma is sad and decides to make up to Mrs Bates.

I love Emma and it is one of my favourite books.

Saturday 6 April 2013

Daffodils

I've been memorising William Wordsworth's poem "Daffodils" recently. We've been looking for a location where I could record it. We couldn't find ten thousand daffodils or a lake, but here are a few very nice ones up at our local park (Lammas Land).

Family history

We've been learning a bit about our family history this week. One day Elsie, Jacob and I sat down with mum and put a list together of all the convicts in our family tree.

Here is a link to our list of convicts.

And another day we worked out where our ancestors on mum's side came from. Each of us used a map to show what we found. They all came from England, Ireland and Scotland. Here is my map:


Tuesday 2 April 2013

Easter Weekend

On Good Friday after church we went on a walking tour around Cambridge. I saw the windows of the room in which William Wordsworth lived. I am learning his poem 'The Daffodils'.


We also saw a big metal map of Cambridge and lots other interesting things. I liked the ghost story that the tour guide told us when we were at the hotel called 'The Eagle'.


Then on Sunday we went to Wimpole Hall for an Easter egg trail. It was very fun. Here are some pictures.

In front of the formal gardens that are at the back of the house.

Doing the egg and spoon race.


In the giant nest
Grooming the donkey

With our Easter Eggs at the end...


...Lydia has already started hers!
On Monday we went to Long Melford and saw the village church and a house from the 1500s called Melford Hall.

We are looking at a times table on the wall of the Lady Chapel in the village church, which was used as a school for about 150 years.


Outside the village church

Outside Melford Hall

Mum and me at the back of Melford Hall
On the way home we went to Bury St Edmunds and saw some ruins of an abbey. Here are some pictures:

Elsie and me on the Abbey ruins

Me looking through a window in the Abbey ruins

In the Abbey ruins
Near the Abbey ruins there was a memorial to seventeen martyrs who Queen Mary had killed. There were lots more but these were the ones that had died here in Bury St Edmunds. They were just ordinary people who were killed for being Protestants.

At the martyrs' memorial