Blog 17 - 10th Feb

Well... what a very busy and fun week in Apple Class! 
 
Our children have been looking closely at gritters and snow ploughs and talking about the different parts and key features. We watched a fantastic video on Tuesday which explained this very clearly to the children - and then on Wednesday - A GRITTER CAME TO VISIT US IN APPLE CLASS! (Well in the carpark - it was too big to fit through the doors.) Ove the weekend be sure to ask your child some of our key questions... 
 
Why is it yellow?
Where does the salt come out?
What does the plough do at the front?
Where does the driver sit? 
Why do we need grit on the road?
 
From this, the children made their own junk model gritter and were able to tell a grown up how the model worked. 
 
Our imaginations ran free this week, with our core text Stanley's Stick. The story is about imaginative play and children using their imagination to create new worlds. Stanley's stick is not just a stick. With a stick in hand, Stanley's options are endless - he flies to the moon, writes in the sand, goes fishing, plays a whistle and rides a dinosaur - and his imagination takes over and the magic begins. You may have seen your child come out holding a stick and explaining to you what it is. Take a look at the link below to watch it being read together at home. I wonder what you can make using just a  stick!
https://www.youtube.com/=HfIuIQaOLlY&t=332s  
 
Our children really love to share their learning with you and get extremely excited to take home whatever they've made.
 

To embed this week's wintery vocabulary, we decided to make up our own stories using different animals and took them on magical snowy adventures! On Thursday, we linked this imaginative play to one of our stories of the week, Lost and Found. This is a great story about a penguin who knocks at a little boy's door. We asked the children, "How do you think the penguin got to the little boy's house?" The children were fabulous at coming up with great ideas and we worked together as a team to turn our ideas into stories. Then we made our stories come to life with our snow mountain, drapes and other small world props. For some, the little penguin travelled on a magical skateboard across the sea, for others, a beautiful purple boat appeared from nowhere and the penguin hopped aboard.  Maybe over the weekend you can create your own magical winter stories at home! Where will the magic take you? Will you be yourself or another animal / creature? 

In our outdoor environment we've been making obstacle courses and practising the skill of hopping. The children really had so much fun 'hopping' around the yard and making sure they didn't fall onto the equipment. They negotiated with space well. The children also have had great fun on our climbing frame and sand pit. 
 
When we return our focus and theme for learning will be 'people who help us' (Police, Fire, Doctors, vets, etc). If you have any contacts who could support this learning and would maybe like to come into school please let us know - we'd love to hear from you! 
 
Have a great weekend everyone - be sure to warm up warm! I think it's going to be a cold and chilly one. 
 
Mrs F and Mrs G