Let’s GO!
We’ve sprung into Spring 2 with great excitement for the term ahead! We are very impressed with how both Sunshine and Rainbow class have shown a readiness to learn. The children have been really excited to share with their friends all the adventures they have been up to during half term. Outside, it’s been pretty rainy and drizzly but we’re looking forward to spotting signs of the new Season.
The Train Ride
This half term is called Let’s Go! We’re starting with a focus on transport. This week, we’ve been reading The Train Ride by June Crebbin.
This story is about things that are seen out of the window, on a train journey. We noticed that the rhythm of the book’s repeated/rhyming lines start fast and repetitive (much like the sound of a train chugging along a track) and then as the train approaches the station, the lines become longer and the pace slows down until the train reaches is destination. Destination is our ‘word of the week’.
We’ve been discussing journeys that we have been on, either on trains or other modes of transport and what destinations we were going to. We’ve been writing about what we might see out of the train window.
The children wrote some fantastic sentences about what they can see out of their window. Lots of children remembered to add in finger spaces too – well done!
Historical links
We looked at pictures of the early steam locomotive- Robert Stephenson’s Rocket. We compared it to the trains we use today.
In the discovery area, we’ve been ordering images of trains from oldest to newest.
Maths: Comparison
We’ve been comparing groups of objects and toys, saying which has more and which has fewer. We’ve been using our mathematical reasoning to explain why size, colour and other factors do not matter when comparing ‘how many’.
No, Mrs Flynn, Sam still has more aeroplanes than Pat. It doesn’t matter about the size or colour. What matters is the amount you count!
In the classroom, children have been making 6 using Numicon frames.
ICT- Programming a BeeBot
We’ve been learning how to programme a BeeBot. This week we’ve been ‘having a go’ at pressing the buttons and making them move. We’ll be continuing our learning over the next few weeks, learning about algorithms and programming. We will learn to use sequences of instructions, to programme the BeeBot to reach a destination.
Phonics
Spring 2 week 1 has been a review of phase 3 sounds: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, oo, ow, oi, ear, in words and sentences. 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.
Roll and Read
You will need a die for this game. You may wish to print the boards or display them on a screen.
- Roll the die
- Count the spots, match to the correct row
- Choose a word to read on the row
- Cover the word when read correctly
- Repeat
Who will be the first to complete a row?
PE
We are excited to continue having both swimming and Foot-Tech this half term.
Here is another reminder of the swimming dates:
These dates are also stuck to your child’s classroom door or window to view whenever needed.
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 Pancakes by Christina Rossetti
Click below to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
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. Can your child re-tell this week’s poem to you?
Reminders and Messages
Monday 04 March- Class Trip to The National Railway Museum.
World Book Day 2024- Thursday 07 March Please join us in the classroom (9.00-10.00) where you can relax and read books with your child. We’d also like your child to share their favourite book with their friends. Please send your child into school with their favourite book and please ensure the book is named. As stated on the school calendar, this is a dressing up year. Dressing up is optional. Thank you.
Sponsored maths challenge: Please see the Sponsored Tens Frame Challenge letter, which has come home with your child this week.
Swimming Spring 2
The Magic Paintbrush
This week, our focus book was The Magic Paintbrush.
We began by listening to the story for enjoyment. After becoming familiar with the story, we were then able to discuss the main events and characters.
The children then explored what they would do if they had a magic paintbrush.
After reading, we also learnt about the Lunar New year and how it is celebrated.
They put up lanterns. Libby
They have fireworks. Violet
They have a new animal every year. Austin
Special dinner. Melissa
They clean the house. Sienna
Stay and Learn
On Tuesday, it was great to welcome adults into the classroom to share different ways to develop our fine motor skills.
Lots of activities can be done with items you already have a home!
Maths
During our lessons, we have explored weight using lots objects made from different materials and of various sizes.
We have focused on using mathematical vocabulary to compare different items.
heavy heavier heaviest
light lighter lightest
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. This week’s poem is Mrs Bluebird.
Phonics
We use the chunking method to read words with more that one syllable. We have also spotted words containing double letters (e.g. rabbit) – these are diagraphs too!
Ask your child to chunk and read these words.
sunset chicken carpet carrot
Your child will have come home with a grapheme mat and a tricky word mat. If any sounds are highlighted on the grapheme mat, these are those that your child is not yet secure on. Please keep practising these at home.
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! In Little Wandle phase 3, we learnt lots of new words. The children will continue to learn new tricky words fairly rapidly over the Spring 2 and Summer terms. We’ve previously introduced a few fun games you can play at home to practice tricky words. Here’s another you could try!
Musical tricky words
- Write the tricky words on individual pieces of paper, lay them out on the floor
- Play your child’s favourite song for them to dance around to
- When the music stops, your child should pick a word to quickly run to and stand on
- Your child reads the word they have landed on
- Remove that word and repeat until there are no words left!
Internet Safety
On internet safety day and throughout the week, the children have discussed ways they use the internet and how to stay safe online.
Here is a link you may find useful to help and support staying safe online.
More learning
Supertato continued…
Spring 1 week 4 saw another week of Supertato studies, as we tried to capture the Evil Pea!…
Literacy
We’ve been making Wanted posters to warn everyone who to look out for and describing his features. Lots of children used last week’s word of the week- mischievous, to describe The Evil Pea.
Our new word of the week is: villain. We know that a villain is the bad character, important to a story or plot.
In the reading area, we’ve been digraph/trigraph detectives.
Design and technology
We’ve been designing and then making our own traps to capture that pesky Evil Pea! Take a look…
Art; Observational drawing
We’ve been using charcoal to draw real fruit and vegetables, looking carefully at the details we need to add.
Later in the week, we did some observational drawings of our faces! It’s fantastic to see how our self-portrait art has developed since September.
Shop- using our imaginations and exploring money
Supertato takes place, ‘at night-time, in the supermarket’
We added our own supermarket to the role-play area and is has been a huge hit. Children have loved role playing their own experiences of visiting shops and having a go at paying for items with 1p/2p coins.
Maths; 5 ‘and a bit’
In Maths, we’ve been using the song ‘five little aliens’ to explore one less within 5. We’ve been using Hungarian 5 frames (or ‘die’ frames) to represent and subitise numbers.
Later in the week, we used the aliens and frames to explore ‘5 and a bit’ We started with 6, then 7 aliens and noticed what each are ‘made of’ by subitising what we could see across the frames, for example:
7 is made of 3 and 4
Did you know?…
We’ve recently had some new flooring added to our outdoor area, giving us even more space to use our gross motor skills and play safely together. Check out how much fun we’ve been having…
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on our final sounds of phase 3: air, er
We’ve learnt the tricky words; are, sure, pure
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
In provision, we’ve been playing tricky word BOO- an updated version of a game we played earlier in the year, to include our newest words.
Each week, we’d like to give you an idea of a game you could play at home to make reading even more exciting.
This week’s games are from the website: Phonics Bloom
You can play many of the games for free. Try out Tricky Trucks to practise tricky words and Alien Escape to make words. Stick to your child’s current level. If they are confident with all of their sounds, you should use Phase 3.
Please note these are games to be played alongside an adult, who can support and correct any misconceptions where needed.
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 Little House
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Click below to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
Diary Dates
Mon 5 Feb/Wed 7 Feb 2024- Parent Teacher Conferences (pre-booked appointments)
Tues 6 Feb 2024- Fine Motor Control, Stay and Learn Coffee Morning This session is all about Fine Motor Control and Writing. It’s followed by a chance to meet up with other parents/carers and your child’s class teacher.
Supertato!
This week began with a vegetable based mystery!
Who had captured the vegetables and why were they trapped?
It could only be one thing… EVIL PEA.
After reading the story Supertato, we read true and false statements to show our knowledge and understanding of the story.
The children enjoyed creating their own.
Can they tell you which ones are true or false?
Evil Pea drew on broccoli’s face. Libby
Supertato trapped Evil Pea in ice. Austin
Evil Pea wrapped cucumber in toilet paper. Isobel
Supertato nearly got squashed by Evil Pea. Florence
Maths
This week, we explored the composition of five in different ways. Using the song Five Little Speckled Frogs, we were able to develop our understanding of one less as well as explore the number bonds of five.
We played a game by throwing beanbags in a hoop and creating number statements to say how many were in or out of the hoop.
Four in the hoop and one out of the hoop.
4 and 1 make 5
Poetry Picnic
Our sessions this week have been a little different as we learnt and recited a traditional nursery rhyme.
The children used gestures and expression to recite Jack and Jill.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on the digraphs ur, ow, oi, ear.
We’ve learnt the tricky words; my, by, all.
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
Each week, we’d like to give you an idea of a game you could play at home to make reading even more exciting.
This week’s game is: Tricky Word Splat
- Write a selection of tricky words on paper/sticky notes.
- Place around the room/floor.
- Say a tricky word for your child to splat. You might jump on the words, splat with a masher or create your own ideas.
Focus Artist: Yayoi Kusama
Over the next two weeks, we will be exploring the art of Yayoi Kusama. This week, we have been colour mixing and drawing different sized dots onto pumpkin pictures.
We visited a special one day only Scholes Art Galley and used sentence stems to talk about our opinions.
I like it because..
I don’t like it because…
I like it because it’s colourful. Kitson
I don’t like it because of the spikes. Sofia
I like it because of the flowers. F
I like the explosion of poppies everywhere. Myla
The children had an opportunity to observe before drawing their favourite piece of art.
Provision
Cancelled swim session
There will be no swimming (for Rainbow Class) on Wednesday 31.01.24.
Ice!
Spring 1 is our Fire and Ice theme, we’ve been using nature to explore freezing and melting- what a perfectly cold week it has been to do so!
Lost and Found
We’ve continued to focus on the book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
We’ve been linking the story to topic work. We looked at a world map to see how the boy and penguin would travel from where we live (The United Kingdom), to The South Pole in Antarctica. We recalled what we know about the world map from our previous learning:
“The blue bit is the sea”- Isobel
“The coloured bits is land”- Finlay
“I see The South Pole at the bottom”- Norah
We’ve also been comparing our weather to that in the continent of Antarctica. Our word of the week is: climate.
We’ve been writing ‘Missing’ posters, describing the penguin from our story. In provision, we’ve been writing a list of things we might pack to take on an Antarctic adventure.
Penguin observations
We’ve been zoologists this week- observing the livestream ‘penguin-cam’, from San Diego Zoo
We’ve been making notes on how the penguins move and interact with each other. We were even lucky enough to catch feeding time during one livestream!
The children have loved this activity and it has inspired some wonderful child-led learning…
An amazing small world model was carefully created whilst watching the livestream and reading non-fiction books on penguins- “They need rocks here because that’s what they have in there”
The children were keen to find out about different types of penguins and their different sizes. The tallest penguin (Emperor) and shortest penguin (Little Blue) were marked on the height chart in Sunshine room and children compared them with their own height!
Ice painting
We made ice paintings by freezing paint mixed with water and creating art tools with them.
First, we collected them from the freezer
“it’s so cold in the freezer…it has to be in there a long time”- Charlotte
Then, we needed to get them out of the ice cube tray
“Our hands are warm, so we can get the ice out if we hold the ice”- Jake
We noticed the difference in how well the tools painted, as the ice began to melt.
“you have to wait for it to melt a bit, then it paints… it works!”- Heidi
We looked at the weather outside throughout the week and had a discussion about whether we needed to use the freezer. We experimented to see if we could make ice by leaving water trays outside, as the weather has been below freezing. The children were amazed to discover ice canvases we could paint on!
d:side
This week’s Living and Learning statement is: I know that some drugs can be harmful
d:side visited Reception and discussed different ways to keep our minds and bodies healthy:
- identifying and managing emotions- using a puppet with different facial expressions and some ‘real-life’ scenarios to identify feelings. We also played ‘Feelings bingo’
- making healthy food choices- filling a packed lunch box
- the importance of sleep
- keeping our bodies clean- identifying hygiene items such as toothbrushes and saying how and when we use them
- being safe around medicine- looking at a medicine bottle, discussing child caps, where medicine should be stored and who is allowed to give us medicine.
The children shared some great ideas and existing knowledge during the activities.
Phonics Phase 3 Stay and Learn
Thank you to the parents and carers who were able to join us for another Stay and Learn session this week.
We hope you enjoyed watching a lesson, getting to spend time in the classroom and hopefully getting some more ideas and information for the next steps in our phonics journey.
Maths; the staircase pattern
In Maths, we’ve been looking at counting and ordinality- specifically, the ‘one more’ relationship that creates ‘the staircase pattern’.
We were introduced to the concept by the Numberblocks, before moving on to create our own staircase patterns in small groups.
In provision, we’ve been using Frayer models to explore numbers- counting the corresponding amount of cubes/teddies, finding the Numicon and representing it on a tens frame.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on the digraphs oo, oo, ar, or
We’ve learnt the tricky words; was, you, they
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
In provision, we’ve been playing roll and read.
Each week, we’d like to give you an idea of a game you could play at home to make reading even more exciting.
This week’s game is: Tricky Word Bingo
- Enter the list of tricky words you want to focus on into an online ‘picker’ (pickerwheel.com is an easy to use option) or write them down onto strips of paper, to be picked at random.
- Ask your child to choose 4-6 tricky words and write them down (they can copy these from a list), you should do the same and you could even ask a sibling to play along too!
- Pick the tricky words at random or by clicking the wheel- who will be the first to cross off all of their words and shout BINGO?!!
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 I can build a snowman
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Click below to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
Help at home; Superheroes
Next week, our focus story is about a very special veggie superhero (can you guess what it is?)
We would love for your child to draw and write about their favourite superhero. It could be their favourite character or a real-life person who is a superhero to them- perhaps they know someone who helps others in their job, raises money for charity or is generally just super!
Please send them into class to be shown or email photos over to the usual email address:
scholesreception@spherefederation.org
Cancelled swim session
There will be no swimming (for Rainbow Class) on Wednesday 31.01.24.
Lost and Found
We began our learning this week by looking at the story Lost and Found. This will be our focus story for the next two weeks.
In the story, a boy finds a penguin at his door and goes on an adventure to try to find his home, as he thought he was lost.
Just like the boy, we explored and learnt about where penguins live and extended our vocabulary by learning a new word: iceberg.
It’s ice in the water. Violet
A big chunk of ice. Frankie
It’s a big thing of ice that goes under the sea. It can ruin a ship. Kitson
It was wonderful to hear children using this new vocabulary in our small world area.
Let’s make the penguins dive off the iceberg!
This penguin is swimming around the gigantic iceberg.
Using props, we were able to retell the story.
Phonics
We have begun learning our Phase 3 sounds. This week, we have learnt four new digraphs/trigraphs ai,ee,igh,oa.
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 Let’s Put on Our Mittens.
Click here to listen to Reception recite the poem.
Music
Our song this week was We are Family by Sister Sledge.
This was very popular as lots of children had heard the song before when watching the film Trolls.
The nursery rhyme was Wind the Bobbin Up. As the children knew this one very well, they were able to perform confidently!
Check out our other learning
Dates
Tuesday 16 January 9- 10 Stay and learn
Our Stay and Learn sessions are a chance to find out more about your child’s journey through Reception. You can observe some teaching and learning, and pick up some tips to support your child at home.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
This week, we’ve been learning about the story of the first Christmas- The Nativity. We know that this story is why Christians celebrate Christmas.
We re-told the story with actions. This helped us to remember key people and events.
Christmas around the world
We’ve been exploring the different ways that people celebrate Christmas around the world. We looked at the difference between Santa in the UK and Santa in Australia.
Did you know that when Santa gets to Australia, the reindeer are given a rest whilst the six white boomers (kangaroos) take over pulling Santa’s sleigh?!
We made Chinese paper lanterns for decorations.
We read about the good witch, La Befana, who brings presents to children in Italy.
Ask your child if they remember the story of La Befana and who she helped that were on their way to see the baby Jesus.
We made observational drawings of Poinsettia- a popular Christmas plant here, in Mexico and in India.
We went hunting for the lucky almond (in picture form). In Denmark, it’s a Christmas tradition to hide an almond in rice pudding. The finder has good luck for the year!
On Friday, we drew presents and sweets onto a picture of shoes. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas leaves gifts in children’s shoes, that the children fill with straw and sugar for his horse.
Our shoes were magic and turned into real treats at party time!
Christmas performance
Wow! How amazing were our performers this week?! Well done to all of the children who have been working so hard and who were so brave up on that big stage. Thank you to the parents and carers who joined us and provided such fabulous costumes. We hope you enjoyed our Christmas production!
A very special visitor
On Wednesday, we received a very special video… Santa had been to visit our school. We were AMAZED that he had managed to hide our presents in the classroom. What a special treat!
Professor Myers and The Candy Cane Experiment
On Thursday, we were visited for the first time by Mrs Myers twin, Professor Myers! Professor Myers is a science expert and often shares amazing experiments with us in Reception. We tested the strength of a candy cane, experimenting with objects of different weights to see how much the candy cane could hold before snapping (the box of rocks was the heaviest!)
A Christmas inflatable wonderland and Christmas dinner
Thank you to Mrs Pennock, who treated us to her inflatable Christmas Wonderland on Thursday!
Afterwards, we enjoyed our yummy Christmas dinner. Thank you to all of the dinner staff (and Miss Hague and Mr Catherall) for cooking and serving our special lunch.
We had so much fun at our Christmas party…
Take a look at our classroom activities this week
A Christmas message from Reception
Reception learning updates and home-learning resources
Today (Wednesday 20 December), your child will be coming home with their second learning update of the school year.
Alongside this, we are sending a phase 2 GPC (grapheme-phoneme correspondence) mat. On this mat, sounds that your child was not secure on in their most recent phonics assessment will be highlighted. If no sounds are highlighted, your child was secure in recognising all of them.
We have also included a phase 2 tricky word mat, to re-read and re-visit at home.
Some children will have additional resources in their pack. This may include flashcards of words to blend, and/or some pattern flashcards for mathematical subitising. This will link to How can you support your child at home? targets on their learning update sheet.
Please let your class teacher know if you have any questions regarding the learning update or resources sent home.
Finally, your child’s pack will include some very special Christmas crafts that they have been working on over the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!
The Jolly Christmas Postman
Literacy
This week we enjoyed the story, The Jolly Christmas Postman.
The children loved seeing the different letters, gifts and cards inside each envelope.
Inspired by the book, we wrote our own postcards with special messages. We learned about the journey of a letter from the post box to our front door and can’t wait for our own letters to be delivered!
Maths
We have looked at 2D and 3D shapes. We made shapes with lolly sticks, found shapes in our classroom, and discussed their properties.
In provision, we used shapes to create pictures. The children were able to talk about the different shapes they had used.
Music
Feeling the Christmas spirit, we listen to Michael Bublé – White Christmas.
We moved in time to the music, listened carefully to the lyrics, and the different sounds and instruments.
I can hear a trumpet. Rupert
I heard high voices. Charlotte
I heard some Christmas song. Heidi
I hear people singing. Asha
I can hear a drum and a tambourine. Sofia
It was really interesting. Finlay
Check out our other learning…
