Author: Mrs Wood

This week, we celebrated Nursery Rhyme Week. In Literacy, we read Each Peach, Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg. When reading the story, we played ‘I Spy’. The children were encouraged to describe where the characters are using prepositional language, for example, Cinderella is hiding behind the cupboard.
After reading the book, they had to find a nursery rhyme character hiding in the classroom. The children had a go at writing the character’s name or a sentence describing where the character is hiding.

This week’s chilli challenges were all linked to nursery rhymes. Take a look at some in action…

Building a wall for Humpty Dumpty.
Playing Busy Bus with our friends in the maths area.
Baking a cake as fast as we can in the playdough area.

Catching fish in the water area.

Naming Old Macdonald’s farm animals and drawing our favourite.

Drawing number stories using 5 Little Speckled Frogs.
How many frogs are sat on the logs?
How many are in the pond?
Painting ‘Starry Night’ pictures.
On Wednesday, we looked at some past and present household artefacts and compared them. Some children had a go at drawing them using charcoal.
Living & Learning
This week is also Anti-Bullying week and yesterday we talked about the definition of bullying and what we can do to stop it. Which led onto us talking about kindness.
We made a kindness heart and talked about how we can be kind.

Florence – Including someone.
Avraj – By loving someone.
Lily – By looking after them.
Ryan – You can give them a hi-five.
Awais – Give to charity.
Seerat – Help someone who’s hurt.

Poetry Picnic
This week, we decided to learn a nursery rhyme. Check out our amazing actions!

Marvellous Maths
Thank you to all of the parents and carers who came to the maths stay & learn sessions this week. It was lovely to see so many of you! We hope you all thoroughly enjoyed it. The next stay & learn is a Funky Phonics Phase 3 session in January.

Reminders
– Library books must be returned every Friday.
– Learning Journey Drop In’s
Monday 12, Tuesday 13 & Thursday 15 December 8.50 – 9.30am or 3.15 – 3.45pm
A sign-up letter will be sent out shortly.
–  PE is on Monday and Wednesday next week.

Home-Link Challenge

 

 

Literacy
This week, we’ve been reading Night Monkey, Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson. This led us onto talking about nocturnal and diurnal animals. Ask your child if they can remember what they mean and if they can give you an example of a nocturnal and diurnal animal. 
For our writing activity, we drew a picture of the monkeys and things they saw when they were awake. Some children came up with our own ideas!
Phonics
This week, we learnt four more graphemes: v, w, x, y. The children are really enjoying their daily phonics sessions and are becoming super readers! This week, we’ve noticed lots of children using their phonics skills when labelling their Day Monkey and Night Monkey pictures.

Writing process
In phonics, we’ve started to write captions, e.g. a red sock.
To help us with the process, we follow six simple steps.
1. Think about what we want to write.

2. Say it out loud.
3. Count the words.

4. Segment each word on our phoneme fingers.

5. Write each word.

6. Check our writing makes sense.

Maths
This week, we’ve been comparing the number of objects in two sets by matching them 1:1. When comparing, we noticed that some sets had more than, fewer than and an equal number. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Three Bears needed our help to make sure they had packed an equal number of things for their picnic.

They have one plate each.
They have an equal number for forks.
It’s not equal because Daddy Bear has two bananas, Baby Bear has one and Mummy Bear has none.
We need to take one banana from Daddy Bear and give it to Mummy bear.
They all have one sun hat.

We continued our comparison learning in the maths area. We explored comparing two Numicon pieces and tried to make the scales equal.

Here are some more highlights from this week…

Click here to watch this week’s poem.

Reminders

• Please make sure your child returns their reading record book every Thursday.
• Next week is Anti-Bullying week. To kick off the week, we’re taking part in Odd Socks Day.  Children can come to school on Monday wearing odd socks!
• It’s also Nursery Rhyme week. All week we’ll be learning about different nursery rhymes.
• Thank you to everyone who has signed up to one of the Marvellous Maths stay & learn sessions next Wednesday & Thursday. We look forward to welcoming you back into the classroom.
• Next Friday is Children in Need. Your child can come to school in non-uniform.

Home-Link Challenge

This week, we’ve been busy learning about autumn festivals: Halloween, Bonfire Night and Diwali.
Here are some snapshots of what activities we did to support our learning…

We designed and created rockets.
We explored moving in different ways like fireworks.
We made Diya lamps at the playdough table.
We made Rangoli patterns with rice.

We created our own potions and had a go at writing a list of ingredients.

My potion will turn you into…

AT – a runaway pumpkin with two legs and three arms.
FM – a rocket.
MB – a witch.
LN – a rat.
LC – jelly.
FM – a rainbow.

We created some amazing Mehendi patterns!

On Tuesday, two police officers came to visit us and shared some important information about how we can stay safe on Bonfire Night.

Later in the week, we made safety posters and reflected on the things we know.

HB – Stand back from the fireworks.
AT – Barney could wear a safety jacket.
FM – Always stay away from fireworks.
LN – When holding a sparkler, keep it away from you.
SS – Wear gloves when holding a sparkler.
AP – Keep pets indoors.

This week, we continued to practise our counting skills. We reinforced our understanding of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us ‘how many’ things there are altogether in a set of objects. We looked at 5 as a quantity by linking the number itself to the 5 fingers on one hand. We  explored representing numbers to 5 using both our fingers and the Hungarian number pattern (die pattern).

We collected 5 objects with a partner.
Can you collect 5 objects that are all the same?
…5 that are the same but different colours?
… 5 that are different sizes? 

By using these key representations it has helped us understand the ‘fiveness’ of 5.

On Thursday, we enjoyed our first gymnastics session with two gymnastic coaches.  We showed great resilience and determination.

Click here to watch this week’s poem.

Reminders!

• Early Maths Zoom – Monday 14 November at 6pm
  We will talk about how you can support your child to become a confident mathematician. A Zoom invite will be emailed to you next week.
• If your child has their ears pierced, please make sure their earrings are removed on PE days.
• PE is on a Monday and Thursday this half-term.
• Marvellous Maths stay and learn sessions – Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 November. Please return your slip by Friday 11 November.

Home-Link Challenge

If you’re going to a bonfire this weekend, have a safe and happy time!
See you on Monday.

I can’t believe we’re at the end of our first half-term in Reception!  Over the past seven weeks we’ve laughed, explored, created and achieved so many amazing things. Have fun reflecting with your child whilst watching this video.

Reminders 

• Monday 31 October – Training day – school closed
• PE will be on a Monday and Thursday next half-term.
• Now the weather is getting colder, please ensure your child comes to school wearing warm coat.
• Don’t forget to write a comment in your child’s reading records.

Finally…
Thank you to all who attended the parent-teacher meetings this week. If you have any other questions or concerns, please email or chat to me at the end of the day.

I hope you all have a happy and healthy half-term break. Make sure you recharge your batteries ready for another busy half-term. As always, don’t forget to send me lots of photos of what you get up to.
See you on Tuesday 01 November.

 

I don’t know about you at home but we love autumn! From hibernation to deciduous trees, we’ve had lots of interesting chats during our literacy carpet sessions. Ask your child if they can remember some of the facts we’ve learnt this week. You could ask:

• What’s the weather like in autumn?
• Why happens to deciduous trees?
• Where do queen bees hibernate?
• Where do bats hibernate?
• What might you wear in autumn?
• What do some birds do in autumn?
• Can your remember any of celebrations that happen in autumn?

We looked at the story Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. We looked closely at the illustrations, drew story maps and used our leaves from our brown bags to make our very own leaf men pictures.

We also went on a walk to see if we could find Leaf Man hiding in a pile of leaves. On our walk we found lots of wonderful coloured leaves but no Leaf Man!

Poetry picnic
On Monday, we started learning our new poem: Leaves are Falling. We had lots of fun practising the actions! Click here to watch us in action.

Library
This afternoon, we visited our school library. We had a wonderful time looking at lots of books with our friends and choosing one to take home. Please make sure your child returns their library book every books be returned o so we can return them and choose another exciting story.

PE
We love PE days! This half-term due to limited space we’ve had to do our PE sessions outside. We’ve enjoyed playing warm up games and practising our ball skills.

Next half-term PE will on a Monday and Thursday. Two gymnastic coaches will be coming to teach us some new skills!

Maths
In maths, we continued to use our ‘perceptual’ subitising  skills (instant recognition) when listening to musical sounds.  We also investigated making different shapes with four cubes just like the Numberblock Four. When doing this, we started to notice the sub-groups. For example, Numberblock Four can be arranged with 2 blocks on top of another 2 blocks or as a line of 3 with 1 on top.

Check out our other learning…

JLT Elections
Next week, we’re holding elections for the Junior Leadership Team. Two representatives from each class are chosen democratically by their peers.

Elections will take place on Thursday 20 October. If your child would like to be a junior leader, please help them to prepare a short speech about why they would be a good junior leader. These will be shared on the morning of the elections.

Reminders

• From Monday, your child will come into the classroom independently.
• Parent-Teacher Zoom meetings – Monday 17 & Tuesday 18 October

Finally…
Thank you to all the parents/carers who attended the Phase 2 stay and learn session this week. It was great to see so many of you and the children thoroughly enjoyed showing off their amazing phonics learning with you. We hope you found it useful!

As always, if you have any questions or would like to share any home learning please use our reception email [email protected].

Home-Link Challenge

Click here to watch last week’s poem.

On Tuesday morning, we went on our local walk around Moortown to look at landmarks. Before going on our walk, we looked at Google Maps to check the route. The children were so sensible and showed fantastic manners to members on the public. One person even commented on their amazing manners. Well done, Reception!

After our walk, we had a go at drawing our own maps of where we went. The were fantastic at using symbols on their maps!

Maths
This week, we’ve explored the composition of 3 and 4. We’ve investigated part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. Through practical experiences we know that a ‘whole’ is made up of smaller parts and is, therefore, bigger than its parts.
Throughout the week, we’ve been collecting groups of 2, 3 and 4 objects. Here’s some children collecting 2 objects (one and another one)

We also explored making repeating patterns.
This week, the construction area has been very busy! Many children have been making models with the Mobilo. Check out their amazing models!
This week, one of the chilli challenges was to do an observational drawing of an autumn leaf.  We talked about the colours we could see. Next week, we’ll be talking about autumn and doing lots of autumn challenges.

Mornings
From Monday 17 October, your child will line up in the playground and come into classroom independently. This will allow us to start our learning straight away. Please wait with your child in the playground until the bell goes.

Reminders

• Phonics Stay & Learn – 11 & 12 October
  Thank you to everyone who has signed up!
• Please email any ‘WOW’ moments or new interests at home. We love receiving and sharing photos in school.
  [email protected]
• You child will have been assigned their new e-book. Please make sure your child reads this daily alongside love of reading books.
• Reception coffee morning – Monday 10 October at 9am
  Come and enjoy a coffee and chat.

Home-Link Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

Literacy
This week, our focus story has been The Everywhere Bear by Julia Donaldson. After reading the book, we drew story maps of the Bear’s adventure. They were fantastic at remembering all the places the Bear visited.
On Wednesday, Barney (our class bear) and Mrs Wood went on a journey around Moortown. We looked at the photos together to see if we could recognise any of the landmarks. Talk to your child about where Barney went.
After this, we watched a video about maps. We talked about the symbols used on maps and took our own soft toys on a journey around school. On our return, we drew maps of our journey.

Maths
This week, we focussed on the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. We developed our counting skills to enable us to identify how many there are in a set that cannot be subitised. We explored how all sorts of things can be counted, including sounds. We practised our 1:1 correspondence, by moving, tagging and using counting sticks when counting larger objects .

Counting how many skittles we knocked over.

Counting our votes next to each piece of fruit after carrying out a  survey.

Counting sets of objects.

Using our counting wands to count larger objects.

Poetry Picnic
Every week, when we’re having our milk and snack, we’ll learn a poem.  Throughout the week, we’ll rehearse it, practise the actions and talk about the poem. On Fridays, we’ll perform our poem for you to watch at home. Click here to watch this week’s poem: Chop Chop.
Every Friday, your child will bring a paper copy of the poem we’ve been learning in school.

Barney
We’ve an extra member of our class! Barney likes going home with children on Friday evenings. He sits in his basket and watches all week before choosing who he’d like to go home with. Barney loves playing in the garden, going on adventures and listening to lots of stories. He has a special diary for you to write a brief description of what he’s been up to so we can share his adventures with the class. You could even add some photos and drawings!

Reading meeting
Thank you to those of you who attended the reading Zoom meeting on Tuesday. We hope you found the information useful and are looking forward to supporting your child on their exciting reading journey.

Reading daily at home plays an important role in your child’s reading development. Support at home will help foster your child’s love of reading and your child’s reading development.

If you didn’t attend, the recording will be sent by email.

E-books
Today, your child has come home with their e-book login and reading record. Please expect e-books to be read daily. If you have any problems logging in, please speak to a member of the Reception team.

Home-Link Challenge

As always, please ask if you have any questions!

From pirates in the small world area to fire officers putting out fires in our outdoor area, we’ve had another fantastic week. The children are really starting to show us their interests when exploring in the areas.

We also had a go at drawing our faces. We used mirrors to look closely at the details on our faces. When you come into the classroom, see if you can spot your child’s self-portrait.
Chilli challenges
This week, we’ve introduced the chilli challenges. Each week, there will be six green chilli challenges in different areas. The children will be encouraged to complete the challenges and tick them off on their chilli challenge card (see below). There will also be some red chilli challenges. These challenges are to extend their learning further. When your child completes a challenge, they will explain or show what they’ve done to an adult and the adult will tick the challenge off on their card.

Here’s some of the chilli challenges in action…

Literacy
This week, our focus story has been The Great Big Book of Families by Hoffman Mary. After reading the book, we talked about our families and why they are important. We even had a go at drawing our families!

Maths
This week, we’ve focussed on perceptual subitising (recognising the number of objects without counting) up to 3. We’ve been learning how to use our fast eyes when looking at small sets of objects.

Phonics
This week, we’ve learnt more phase 2 phonemes: i, n, m and d. We’ve been trying really hard to pronounce the phonemes correctly.

Has your child come home saying some ‘fancy’ phonics words?
If so, please don’t be alarmed! We use these words every day in phonics and we want the children to use them too.
Here are the words we’ve been using so far…
Phoneme: the smallest unit of sound you can hear in a word. For example, ‘sat’ has three phonemes: ‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’.
Grapheme: a ‘symbol’ of a phoneme –it’s a letter or group of letters representing a sound and we use the letter names for this.
Blending: merging the separate sounds (phonemes) in a word – this is a vital skill for reading. For example, the three phonemes m-a-t are blended to make mat.

Learn at home phonics sheet
Today, your child has come home with a ‘learn at home’ phonics sheets. The sheets link to our current phonics learning and will be sent home each Friday. 

Home-Link Challenge

Reminders

• The cold weather is creeping in! Please make sure your child comes to school wearing a suitable coat.
• Join us on Tuesday 27 September at 6 pm for our Early reading Zoom. This session will provide you with some information regarding the teaching of reading in Reception and how you can support their reading journey at home. You should have received the Zoom link in an email. If you’ve not received this, please contact the school office.