We have had fun this week learning more about minibeasts. We have done minibeast hunts inside and outside. We lifted logs and tubs and watched as hundreds of minibeasts jumped and scuttled away. Some children also made some careful observation of minibeasts to draw and paint their own pictures. We have also created some caterpillars from egg boxes and planted cress seeds on the top to grow hairy caterpillars. The children learnt about and identified different minibeasts and found out about the features of insects and other invertebrates.
Our drawing club text this week has been the story of the little red hen. The children enjoyed joining in with the telling of the tale and jumping around to our “get up, stand up vocabulary”. This week our words included: ingredients, concocting, collaborating and just deserts – which is what the unhelpful animals got! We drew the hen, the farm and an unusual animal on the farm, a disgusting topping for a piece of bread and invented a new character to the story. On Monday and Tuesday, Year 5 children came down to help us with our drawings and sentences – a lovely collaboration. In maths this week, we used activities that helped the children to develop an understanding of the magnitude of numbers. Previously, the children have reasoned about the size of numbers through comparing sets of objects and identifying which set has more or fewer. This week, they focused on ordinality: considering where numbers to 10 are in relation to each other. Through practical activities and games, the children reasoned about numbers and thought carefully about which is more or less. They used linear number tracks to play games that encouraged them to compare numbers that are far apart, near and next to each other. (For example, 10 is a lot more than 2 but 5 is only 1 more than 4.) The children continue to make great progress with their phonics. It makes me very proud to listen to them reading fluently in their partner practice and to see them using their phonic skills to write independently and read things independently in their environment. Next week, we will be assessing the children as we do at the end of each half term to check on progress. PE, RE and music In PE this week, the children practised their ball skills with Mrs Jordan. In R.E. we learnt about another special place – a place of worship for Jewish people – a synagogue. We tried to remember some of the items that are special in this place such a the Torah(The Jewish holy text) and The Ark which is the holy place where the Torah is kept in a synagogue. In music, we listened to sounds from nature – some which were recorded and some in real life. We went outside and listened really carefully to which sounds we could hear which were from nature and identified others which came from a human-made source. We’re looking forward to our trip next week to Rosemoor where we are going to learn about bees and how important they are. We will also have a chance to explore the gardens and have a play in the play area. We will foloow this trip up with lots of bee - themed activities next week too. Have a great weekend!
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Life-cycles have been our focus in the wider curriculum this week. We have learnt about the life-cycle of frogs and other animals which go through metamorphosis like butterflies. As part of this learning, the children had a great time pond dipping and studying the creatures that were found. They saw pond-skaters, a dragonfly nymph, a water flea and a newt amongst other creatures that Katie and the children tried to identify. The children used their new knowledge to order the stages of the life-cycles as well as drawing and labelling those stages. We used playdough to make eggs on a leaf and caterpillars and we used paint and printing by folding to make symmetrical butterfly wings. We loved sharing Felicity’s book ‘We are the Wibbly’ which was a very amusing take on the life-cycle of the frog. In drawing club this week, we read Oi Frog and you will see in the gallery some of the wonderful drawings the children did which were also accompanied by some really good writing, some of which was totally independent! Very impressive – this creative way of bringing in the literacy curriculum does seem to inspire and excite the children and we have seen such a dramatic improvement in their drawing and mark making skills. Maths This week, the children reviewed the composition of the numbers 6 to 9 using the ‘5 and a bit’ structure, and begun to explore how 10 can be composed. They also developed a sense of the ‘ten-ness of 10’ by making their own collections of 10 objects. The focus was on developing the children’s ability to subitise the parts in structured arrangements. A key representation to support this was the double dice frame, which allowed them to build on their experiences. The children were encouraged to recognise a larger part of 10 when it is presented in the ‘5 and a bit’ structure, and then subitise the smaller part. They were also encouraged to see how finger patterns can be used to represent 2 parts of 10, using the ‘fingers up and fingers down’ approach. The children were also given opportunities to see the composition of 10 represented on a 10-frame. We used the stem sentences: “9 is made of 5 and 4; 5 and 4 make9.” And: “6 needs 4 to make 10; 10 is made of 6 and 4.” Music, PE, RE In PE with Mrs Jordan this week, the children practised their ‘circus skills’. They balanced on a tightrope, tried juggling balls and hopped skipped and jumped ocer stepping stones. We have also been able to use the outside area this week and have been active – running, jumping, climbing and rolling. I was impressed with the children’s musical skills this week in which they showed the ability to recognise and also use their own visual representations of sounds. We listended to sounds from the environment and thought about the pitch and tempo of the music as well as how to move to the sounds and draw the sounds. We continue to think about ‘special places’ as part of our RE learning by thinking about where is a special place for believers to go and what makes this place special? This week we have focussed on moving and growing in our wider curriculum work. We learnt about how the skeleton grows with us and supports our bodies and helps us to move. The children looked at x-rays of the human skeleton and we enjoyed watching the Funny Bones as well as singing ‘dem bones. Using great fine motor-skills as well as a lot of patience and perseverance, some children cut out and connected the bones of a skeleton using split pins so that the limbs could move.
We also thought about animals and their young and played games where we matched baby animals to their mother. The children drew, coloured and cut out and matched animals, while outside in the orchard, we used clay and natural objects to make a variety of minibeasts and other animals. As usual, the children enjoyed using various construction to imagine and create and used modelling dough to create a revolting breakfast inspired by our drawing club visual text this week – Trapdoor – I’m sure you remember this old animation. They are enjoying drawing club more and more and the detail in their drawings and the ideas they have are amazing. Some children are really challenging themselves and writing sentences about their pictures with and sometimes without adult support. We are continuing to think about special places in our Religious Education focus and this week we began learning about different places of worship including, churches, mosques, synagogues and gurdwaras. The children enjoyed using musical instruments this week in music using call and response type activities as well as copying rhythms. We had our weekly dedicated weekly PE session with Mrs Jordan this week and the children showed imagination and control in their movement skills. Thankfully, we did get an opportunity to use the outdoor area where plenty of physical exercise takes place including rolling, climbing, swinging and lots of running around. Maths Our focus this week was consolidating the understanding of the composition of 5. This was practised through the rhyme 5 kittens jumping on the bed; the children were able to identify how many kittens were on the bed and how many were not, therefore learning number bonds to five using sentences such as 5 is made of 3 and 2, 3 and 2 make 5. Later in the week we went on to think about the composition of 6, 7, 8 and 9 as ‘5 and a bit’. In maths, we use rhymes, visuals (including Numberblocks clips) as well as games and opportunities for the children to hone their maths skills in the continuous provision. Reading and phonics The children are making great progress in our daily phonics lessons and it is a pleasure to hear children reading fluently and to see them trying so hard with their writing. We also enjoy daily stories, chosen by the teachers or sometimes brought in by a child. This week we read The invisible string brought in by one of the children from home. I thought this was a beautiful book and one I would recommend others to read with their children especially if they find separation difficult. |
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