week ending 17th May

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!