Year 2 - Spices, samosas and units

What a term it has been! We have spent the past 3 weeks trying to bring India to life for the children and this week we concluded our topic by delving into Indian cuisine.

On Monday afternoon the classrooms were filled with the aroma of the many varied spices used in Indian cooking. The children were given a range of spices and, after looking at them carefully, tried to decide which part of the plant they thought the spice came from. The cumin seeds and coriander leaf were obvious, but cloves were more challenging, though once told it was the bud before it had started to unfurl, the children reexamined them and felt it was obvious. They found the bark of the cinnamon stick interesting as the children could see how it curled. They also enjoyed smelling the ground versions of the different spices, working out if they might go in sweet or savoury dishes and if they thought they were cool or fiery. The children were delighted to have the opportunity to make their very own samosas, getting the folding right was a challenge but judging by the speed the children devoured them they were a big hit.

In Maths we have been working on measure, measuring in cm and meters and comparing and ordering lengths. We learnt to look very carefully at the units when comparing lengths, just because the number 20 is bigger than 2 does not mean that 20cm is larger than 2meters. It would be great for the children to do some measuring at home.