Walking through the jungle
This week we’ve gone WILD exploring animals! We’ve been constructing animal habitats, making animal artwork and sorting images of deserts and rainforests.
Walking through the jungle
We’ve been reading Walking Through the Jungle by Julie Lacome.
This repeating story was great for retelling from start to finish, as we recalled the ‘action words’ used throughout the story: walking, running, leaping, swinging, creeping and wading.
In our writing, we’ve been re-writing parts of the story in our own words.
Design and Technology; using a tool
Last week, we shared pictures of our ‘bug hotel’ project. This week, we’ve been adding to our construction by filling the structure with lots of hiding places for our minibeast friends. We looked closely at designs of existing minibeast homes and noticed that we needed to add holes to our pieces of wood. We’ve been carefully using the hand drills to create holes, holding the tool firmly in place and using our strength to wind the handle.
Maths; composing 5
In Maths, we’ve been composing 5 and using the song ‘5 little monkeys’ to explore the parts that make the whole number.
We’ve been using full sentences to explain what we can see on our fingers, as we move through the song:
“There are three monkeys on the bed, there are two monkeys that have bumped their head, there are five monkeys altogether”
We’ve represented our parts on a Hungarian frame (or ‘die frame’):
Help at home- Use 5 toys or teddies at home, to sing and act out your own version of ‘5 little monkeys’ (ie. ‘5 little teddies jumping on the bed…’) Pause after each object is removed (fallen off the bed) and encourage your child to describe the parts of 5 they see, using the full sentences described above.
Market stall maths!
Over the past two weeks, Rainbow and Sunshine class have enjoyed ‘paying’ for snack at the ‘market’ The children had to choose the correct coin (1p or 2p) depending on whether they wanted snack or snack and milk. The shop keeper had to collect the coins and give change if needed and then we counted the coins together- we even did a fantastic job of counting in 2’s, adding the 2p coins first! We recorded how much the market stall had taken each day.
Phonics
Summer 1 week 3 has focused on phase 4 words with short vowels and longer words. We’ve learnt the tricky words; were, here, little, says
In provision, we’ve been playing the game ‘Please Mr. Crocodile’ to revisit the phase 4 tricky words that we’ve learnt so far.
Help at home- Please continue to work through the weekly learn at home phonics sheets. We’ll continue to send these home each Friday.
Poetry Picnic
One week in every half term, we focus on a traditional nursery rhyme. This week we’ve been reciting Sing a song of sixpence
More pictures of our learning this week…
Reminders and Dates
Monday 8 May- Bank Holiday for The Coronation of King Charles III
Monday 15 May- School Closed: Training Day
Friday 19 May – Mini Bug Ball: Please don’t go to the expense of buying anything new – creative adaptations of something you’ve already got will be fantastic. Outfits need to be suitable for school, safe and warm enough to be worn all day.
SWIMMING DATES- Summer 1
Rainbow Class- 17 May
Sunshine Class- 10 May, 24 May
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
This week, we have been reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Using story props and sequencing cards, we have been able to retell the story.![The Very Hungry Caterpillar [Board Book]: Eric Carle : Carle, Eric, Carle, Eric: Amazon.co.uk: Books](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81seu48cujS.jpg)
In our writing, we have been composing sentences to retell main events of the story.
Maths
This week, we have continued to develop our subitising skills (see the quantity without counting) in complex arrangements.
We have explored creating arrangements of 6.
Phonics
This week, we have continued to learn phase 4 words such as frog, shift, chimp and drum.
We’ve also learnt more phase 4 tricky words; some, come, love and do
Help at home- Please continue to work through the weekly learn at home phonics sheets, throughout the Summer term. We’ll continue to send these home each Friday.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Under a Stone.
Other learning areas
The children have loved creating their own bug houses in the model area as well as building a bug hotel outside for real minibeasts.
The children have been amazed at the rapid growth of the caterpillars. Each day, we have observed how they have changed and recorded what we noticed.
They have got bigger!
One has a white stripe now.
They look spiky.
Reminders and Dates
Friday 5 May – Non-uniform day with everyone invited to dress in red, white and blue to mark the coronation of King Charles.
Friday 19 May – Mini Bug Ball
Please don’t go to the expense of buying anything new – creative adaptations of something you’ve already got will be fantastic. Outfits need to be suitable for school, safe and warm enough to be worn all day.
SWIMMING DATES- Summer 1
Rainbow Class- 19 Apr, 3 May, 17 May
Sunshine Class- 26 Apr, 10 May, 24 May
We know that Rainbow class missed a swimming session in Spring 2 due to the pool closure. This should be made up in Summer 2, which is a 7 week term.
Summer 1- The fun has begun!
The sun is shining and so are we! We’re excited to be back together for a happy and healthy Summer term.
This half term is called Life on Earth. We’ll be exploring minibeasts, wild animals, farm animals and the human body.
The Bad-Tempered Ladybird
This week, we’ve been reading The Bad-Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle.
There was lots to explore in this story; feelings and appropriate behaviours, clocks/time and the comparative sizes of animals.
Frustrated is our ‘word of the week’. In our writing, we’ve been wondering what went wrong in the ladybird’s week, to make it behave so badly!
Art; clay modelling
We’ve been using clay to make minibeasts. We looked at pictures and photos of minibeasts, before making our models. We had spiky caterpillars, wiggly worms and crawly spiders to name just a few. Clay is great for our fine motor skills. We have to work hard to mold, pull, press and shape. We’ve also been making ladybirds out of dough.
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been counting beyond ten, to twenty. We’ve been suggesting ways to make counting easier, when we are faced with a lot of objects to count.
You can put them in another pile after you’ve counted them- Grace
You can line them up so it’s easier to count- Alfie
We’ve also been counting things that cannot be moved, or things that cannot be seen (such as sounds/actions)
In provision, we re-visited the doubling ladybirds and recorded our doubles.
Help at home- Challenge your child to count more than ten objects. Can they count the pegs on the washing line? Can they count toys in their toy box? Can they count books on a book shelf? Don’t forget to send in photos of counting at home!
Phonics
Summer 1 week 1 has been an introduction to reading phase 4 words. We’ve also learnt our first phase 4 tricky words; said, so, have, like
Help at home- Please continue to work through the weekly learn at home phonics sheets, throughout the Summer term. We’ll continue to send these home each Friday.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Pitter Patter
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
click below to watch us recite this week’s poem!
More pictures of our learning this week…
Reminders and Dates
SWIMMING DATES- Summer 1
Rainbow Class- 19 Apr, 3 May, 17 May
Sunshine Class- 26 Apr, 10 May, 24 May
We know that Rainbow class missed a swimming session in Spring 2 due to the pool closure. This should be made up in Summer 2, which is a 7 week term.
FOSP Easter competition
Miss Hague came to our assembly and awarded the prizes to the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 winners of the Easter competition. Well done to everyone who entered.
Rabbits Don’t Lay Eggs
Rabbits Don’t Lay Eggs
This week, we’ve been reading Rabbits Don’t Lay Eggs by Paula Metcalf.
The story begins on a farm, with a rabbit named Rupert. All he wants is to be useful but unfortunately, he struggles to find anything he’s good at. Luckily, he soon finds an unexpected job on the farm.
Creation is our ‘word of the week’. We’ve been learning the definition – something that is made or created.
Come look at my creation!
The creation of new life, like lambs.
Maths
In Maths, we have been sorting objects by attributes.
They are sorted by colour.
They’re big and they’re small.
Those bears have scarves and they don’t.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called A Tiny Seed.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
National Railway Museum
We had a wonderful time on our first school trip. The day began with toast and milk to set us up for an action packed train adventure.
In the museum…
It looks really posh in here!
I liked going under the train.
Look at those wheels! They’re gigantic.
The wheels are enormous.
Check out our amazing observational drawings.
We finished the week with lots of Easter themed activities. The egg rolling competition was a real highlight of the day!
Reminders and Dates
SWIMMING DATES- Summer 1
Rainbow Class- 19 Apr, 3 May, 17 May
Sunshine Class- 26 Apr, 10 May, 24 May
We know that Rainbow class missed a swimming session in Spring 2 due to the pool closure. This should be made up in Summer 2, which is a 7 week term.
The Tiny Seed
The Tiny Seed
This week, we’ve been reading The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.
Some of the children recognised the illustrations, knowing that the author also wrote The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The story follows the journey of a tiny seed, tracking its journey through the four seasons. It details the life cycle of a flowering plant. In our writing, we wrote what happened to the seed in each Season.
Our story linked to our discovery area and other non-fiction texts about planting and growing.
Miniscule is our ‘word of the week’. We’ve been learning that miniscule is even smaller than tiny!
Art; Printing
We’ve been using natural objects to print impressions into clay. Next week we’ll be using our clay stamps to print repeating patterns.
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been doubling! Ask your child explain how we find doubles.
When talking about doubles, we use the following sentence structure:
“4 is made of 2 and 2; Double 2 is 4”
***Home Challenge*** Ask your child to draw out and complete these doubling ladybirds. Can they use the above sentence structure to describe what they have shown?
Phonics
Spring 2 week 5 has been a review of phase 3 sounds. We’ve been reading longer words, words with s in the middle /z/ (like ‘visit’), words ending –s and words with –es at end /z/ (like ‘foxes’)
In the reading areas, we’ve challenged ourselves to be ‘tricky word detectives’ finding tricky words of the day in books and taking a photo of them on the iPad.
Challenge your child to be a tricky word detective at home too! How many different tricky words can they find in one book? Perhaps they could write them in a list.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Hungry Birdies.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
click here to watch us recite this week’s poem!
More pictures of our learning this week…
Class Assembly
Thank you to everyone who came to watch our Reception assembly. The children have been working hard to learn their lines, song and poem. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up in front of so many grown-ups and we are very proud of them all. We hope you enjoyed learning about our school day!
Reminders and Dates
Reception trip to The Railway Museum, York- 30.03.23 Please drop-off and collect your child at the usual times. You should now have replied to say whether your child needs a school packed lunch. Please remember that every child will need a suitable backpack that they are able to carry themselves throughout the day. Thank you.
Egg rolling competition- 31.03.23 We are going to do an egg rolling competition as part of our Easter celebrations next week. Please could your child bring a decorated, hard boiled egg on Friday 31st March. Thank you.
SWIMMING DATES- Summer 1
Rainbow Class- 19 Apr, 3 May, 17 May
Sunshine Class- 26 Apr, 10 May, 24 May
We know that Rainbow class missed a swimming session in Spring 2 due to the pool closure. This should be made up in Summer 2, which is a 7 week term.
Red Nose Day
A huge thank you to everyone that donated money last Friday for Comic Relief. The Junior Leadership Team stood at the gate and shook their buckets and collected any donations. You are such a generous bunch of people and we managed to raise £337.97. Thank you again for your support.
Jack and the Beanstalk
It has been another fun-filled week in reception!
Jack and the Beanstalk
This week, we’ve been reading the traditional story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.
We discussed how this story has been retold many times and some versions of the story are different. Just by looking at two front covers, we could spot similarities and differences.
The story I heard had a musical instrument.
They both have Jack on the front.
He has the chicken in that one.
Word of the week
Every week, we look at a new adventurous word. We call this our ‘word of the week’. This week, our word of the week was ‘gigantic’ – linked to the story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The children have enjoyed using the word during role plays and in their writing.
Can you spot our word in any of the writing below?
Observational drawing
This week, we have focused on drawing daffodils using oil pastels.
Planting a (magic) bean
After listening to the story, the children all agreed that we should plant our own bean.
We then wrote instructions to explain to others how they could plant a bean too!
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been exploring the composition of numbers by investigating the numbers within 7 e.g. seeing that 7 can be made of 5 and 2.
We have also used our magic bean machine to combine two numbers.
Phonics
This week, we have continued to read longer words with the chunking method.
We have also begun to read root words that make up compound words and discussing how the two root words create a new word with a new meaning.
Can your child show you the chunking method to read these words?
fantastic helmet zooming winking
Read these root words, then combine to make a compound word.
roof top farm yard car park
Poetry Picnic
Each week, we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is Spring Wind.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Reminders and Dates
Reception’s Class Assembly- 24.03.23 3pm
You are invited to our class assembly, where we’d love to share our learning with you.
Easter Disco – 3.30 -4.30 24.03.23
The Friends of Scholes have arranged the Easter Disco after school. Parents are not required to attend. The price (£3.50) includes a drink and a bag of sweets. If you would like your child to attend the disco, payment must be made on the Gateway app.
Reception trip to The Railway Museum, York- 30.03.23
Please drop-off and collect your child at the usual times. School can provide a packed lunch but if you’d prefer your child to bring their own, this is also fine. Every child will need a suitable backpack that they are able to carry themselves throughout the day.
Spring 2 Week 3!
Can you believe we’re half way through Spring 2 already?! We’ve got even more great things planned for the rest of the term, so watch this space! Here’s what we’ve been learning this week.
The Hundred Decker Bus
This week, we’ve been reading another ‘Hundred Decker’ story by Mike Smith. The Hundred Decker Bus
In this story, a driver who is bored of his daily routine decides to take himself and his passengers on a long ‘adventure’. As more people get on the bus, more decks need to be built!
Linked to the story, we’ve been comparing cities/towns to the countryside, discussing similarities and differences. Countryside is our ‘word of the week’.
We’ve also been playing ‘eye spy’ in our writing task, looking closely at just one of the decks.
Did you know?…
Each morning before phonics, the children take part in an independent writing challenge. They look at an interesting ‘image of the day’ and simply write anything that they notice. This has really boosted the children’s confidence to ‘have a go’ at writing on their own. Take a look at some of this fantastic independent writing.
Computing
This week, we’ve been using Bee-bots. Bee-bots are an early coding resource. Children have to program the bee using directional and ‘GO’ buttons. They have to pre-plan the algorithm they need to enter, to successfully get the bee to its intended location.
RE/ Living and Learning
We’ve been thinking about how special times are celebrated. Wednesday 8 March was the Hindu festival Holi. Here’s what the children remembered about the festival.
For the celebration, they celebrate colours, Spring, love and new life!- Ted
They got messy with paint!- Mollie B
The temple was very special- Tilly
They eat lunch (at the temple)… it’s really nice and special- Esther
We decorated outlines of people with colourful Holi paint.
As a time to celebrate with friends and family, we linked Holi to our living and learning statement: I recognise that friends and family are important. We spoke about our loved ones in our families and some children chose to draw their family too.
Snow much fun!
Snow always brings much excitement. We’ve enjoyed short bursts of time exploring the snow. On Thursday, we had a snowman building competition to see who could build the tallest snowman in ten minutes. Each team decided on a name for their snowman. We had Timmy, Daisy, Mr. Grinch, Chocolate, Slippery, Stanley and Cupcake ⛄ Well done to team Chocolate, who built the tallest snowman at 73cm!
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been comparing numbers and noticing whether change creates a number that is more or less than another.
In provision, we used the ‘bus stop’ number story to explore subtraction (creating less) and recorded our number stories.
Phonics
Spring 2 week 3 has been a review of phase 3 sounds, reading words with two or more digraphs. We review tricky words daily.
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! We’ve previously introduced a few fun games you can play at home to practice tricky words. Here’s another you could try…
Tricky word stick person (a modified version of the ‘hangman’ game)
We often play this game in class. Write the correct number of dashes for your chosen tricky word and let your child make guesses. Encourage your child to use letter names rather than sounds for spelling tricky words. Draw a part of the stick man for each incorrect guess- you can give extra chances by adding a hat, shoes, gloves etc. to the stick person!
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is the traditional nursery rhyme Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
As a traditional nursery rhyme, we spoke to the children about how words might change in different versions of the song- you will see this in our video.
Reminders and Dates
Comic Relief: Red Nose Day- 17.03.23 We will be marking the occasion in school with a non-uniform day and invite you to make a donation. Find out more about Comic Relief:
https://www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday/
Reception’s Class Assembly- 24.03.23 3pm You are invited to our class assembly, where we’d love to share our learning with you.
Reception trip to The Railway Museum, York- 30.03.23 Please drop-off and collect your child at the usual times. School can provide a packed lunch but if you’d prefer your child to bring their own, this is also fine. Every child will need a suitable backpack that they are able to carry themselves throughout the day. More details and a letter will be sent home.
The Hundred Decker Rocket
This week, we have continued to explore our topic ‘Let go’.
We have been reading the book The Hundred Decker Rocket.
This story is about a girl called Ivy who sets off on a mission to space. On the way, she meets some very messy aliens. When her rocket breaks down, all the aliens help to fix it and make their own deck.
We decided to create our own class rocket. Everyone enjoyed designing their own deck.
Mine is going to have a swimming pool.
Look! It’s got a ball pit.
I’m going to have a slide on my deck.
Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog (it’s along the play bar) and turn off auto play – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.
Word of the week
Every week, we look at a new adventurous word. We call this our ‘word of the week’. This week our word of the week was ‘expedition’ – linked to the story ‘The Hundred Decker Rocket’. We looked at the definition ‘ A journey with a plan’.
It was like an expedition when I went to London.
I went on an expedition to Lego Land in Denmark.
You might follow signs on an expedition.
Maths
This week, we have focused on consolidating our number sense by rehearsing the order of the first 10 numbers and understanding that the position that each number holds in our number sequence does not change.
By doing this, we were able to explore ‘one more’ and ‘one less’.
I know 3 is one more than 2 because 3 comes after 2.
It goes 4, 5 so 4 is one less than 5.
Phonics
This week, the children have reviewed er, air and longer words that contain double letters.
Write these words on paper and ask your child to underline the double letters before reading.
hammer shimmer cannot chatter muffin
Poetry Picnic
Each week, we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is Popcorn.
When reading, we focused on the rhythm of the poem and using short, sharp voices.
Science
We had lots of fun exploring magnetic and non-magnetic objects.
We tried scissors and it worked!
Look it’s picking the metal up!
World Book Day
We had such a fabulous day! We started the morning with lots of wonderful stories with our grown-ups. Then, we were visited by children from Year 3,4 and 6. It was lovely to see everyone sharing their favourite books. In our classroom, we engaged in lots of traditional tale themed activities.
