This week in the classroom...

 

27th March

We have had a very ‘Creepy Crawly’ week. We wanted the children to explore the outside using their senses to discover different places where they thought mini-beasts might make their homes. This encouraged the children to use lots of language e.g. ‘It might be under the log,’ ‘ feel it tickle,’ ‘Wiggly, wiggly’ and ‘all sticky.’

The children used a mini-beast check-list to learn the names of the little animals they had found and we noticed that some had lots of legs like the millipede but that the worm had none and had to wiggle. It was important that the children learnt that the animals needed to be returned to their own habitat and always to wash their hands after exploring in the leaves, wood and mud.

Whilst searching for the mini-beasts, the children also collected lots of sticks, grasses, pieces of wood, moss and leaves to make our own ‘bug hotels’ If you would like to make your own at home, there are lots of ideas on Pinterest and You Tube. We watched this video together and used plastic bottles to create the hotels.

The children have also been making streamers and using them to create their own butterfly dances, thinking about moving quickly or slowly, high and low and how to make floating movements. We used the music ‘The Flower Duet’ by Delibes to accompany their movements. You can listen to the music here.

To finish the week, we went on an Easter egg trail. The adult modelled how we read the clues, following the words from left to right and from the top of the page to the bottom. The children needed to think about where the next clue could be found and lastly where the prize golden egg was hidden. Maybe you will have some time over the holiday to make your own trail using clues e.g. Find the prize somewhere you wear your pyjamas at night.

We hope you have time to enjoy some fun activities over the holiday even if the weather turns out to be a bit changeable. Keep looking out for the signs of spring and what you can see growing and changing. We look forward to seeing you all after the holiday and do bring in any photos you’d like to share with us of your discoveries.                                                     

 

21st March

It has been a week of sunshine, warmth and rain. Ideal weather for seeds to grow, and they have! The children have noticed tiny green shoots in the flower pots and are still waiting for them to show some leaves.

This week the children were helping us prepare for our ‘Stay and Play’ session. Unfortunately, the cress has been a little slow to grow so we needed to think of some other fillings for our sandwiches. To support the older children’s understanding of how writing is used to give meaning, we showed them how to write a shopping list. We modelled how we wrote the words from left to right, how each new item was written below the others and how we could listen for the initial phonemes in the words, ‘h-a-m, ham, j-a-m, jam, cheese, bread and butter.’ The children then had the opportunity to work with an adult to ‘write’ their own lists. This is an activity you might enjoy doing together at home. It could be a list of real things you need to buy, a list of what to take to school or a list of favourite toys. As your child watches you write, they are learning how writing and reading work. They might want to make their own list using drawings or making marks/letters to represent an item. Some children will use letters that they have in their names, some may want to link the correct letter to the initial sound. This is all excellent writing practice and will help prepare them for the learning they will be doing in their Reception class.

It was so lovely to see how many parents joined us for the Stay and Play this week and we hope you enjoyed sharing different activities with your child and finding out about the variety of ways we help them to learn. They have been practicing the song ‘You are my sunshine’ for a few weeks, as a surprise. Your child may enjoy singing this to you at home, please click here. We will be holding another Stay and Play next term, with learning based around a book.

The nursery children have shared the story of ‘What The Ladybird Heard’, by Julia Donaldson. It tells the story of two men who want to steal the ‘Prize Cow’. To help them, they make a map. Several of the children wanted to make their maps, using drawing, marks and cut out pieces of paper to represent the farm and the animals. The children then had the opportunity to explain to others, what their map showed. Click here to watch the story.

We have continued to sing our rhymes together. The older children have been singing ‘Insy Winsy Spider’ and copying sound patterns e.g.’ tip, tap, tip tap. Drip drop, drip drop. Whheee.’ The 2yr olds have been having great fun singing ‘Round and Round the Garden’, anticipating ‘tickle you under there’ and learning Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary’. These rhymes and many more can be found on the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ web site by clicking on the ‘For Parents’ tab at the top of the page.

During their phonics time, the older children have been listening for the initial sound ‘w’. We practiced making the phoneme; ‘Pucker your lips and keep them small as you say ‘w’.  As we played ‘What’s in the box?’ we found; a wig, web and a wave. Some of the children were unfamiliar with ‘waves’ so we watched a video of a boy surfing on really big waves.                                                       

 

14th March

This week we have continued to observe our seeds outside to see if we there are any changes, but not yet! To help the children experience some seeds that germinate quickly, we have sprinkled some cress seeds on kitchen roll and have been observing them for changes daily. Even after a couple of days, we have noticed some tiny white bits, sticking out. We hope that we will be able to use the cress next Wednesday in one of our Stay and Play activities.

The older children have shared the story of ‘The Very Lazy Ladybird’, by Isobel Finn and Jack Tickle. It’s all about a Ladybird who liked to sleep all day and all night and so had never learnt to fly. She wanted to sleep in another place, but didn’t know how to get there. Her great idea to catch a ride on some other animals, didn’t quite work out. You can watch it here. We used the story to give the children practice at answering questions such as, ‘How did the Ladybird travel about? How did the Kangaroo move? Who kept scratching?’ These help the children learn what we mean by the words ‘How’ and ‘Who’ as well as asking them to recall the story and listen to the answers of others.

We have been so amazed and impressed this week by the observation and painting skills of your children, as they have been supported in creating a portrait of someone special to them. They have needed to think about how to make the shapes they wanted, where the different features needed to be placed and which colours they needed. There was lots of discussion about how we might look the same or different from our special person and our friends.

We have continued to sing our rhymes together. The older children have been learning ‘Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake’ and listening for rhyming words. The 2yr olds have been having great fun singing ‘Round and Round the Garden’, anticipating ‘tickle you under there’ and learning Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary’. These rhymes and many more can be found on the ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ web site by clicking on the ‘For Parents’ tab at the top of the page.

During their phonics time, the older children have been listening for the initial sound ‘v’. We practiced making the phoneme; ‘Put your teeth against your bottom lip and make a buzzing sound vvvv’. We giggled as we practiced because it made our lips tickIe. As we played ‘What’s in the box?’ we found; a van, vegetable and volcano. We also practiced ‘blending’ the phonemes to make the words; ‘v-e-t, vet and v-a-n, van.’     

 

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01270 918922