Blog 31st January

It’s the end of another fun week in Plum Class.

Now that we’ve become experts at recognising many types of bird (thanks for all the great home learning), we set out onto our school field to conduct a bird spot.  We tallied up the number of each type that we spotted.  The children were great at doing this and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Back in the classroom, the children talked about the data that they had gathered and made bar charts to show their findings.  The children then began to answer questions about which type of bird they had seen the most and least of.  Maybe you could have a go at tallying or making bar charts at home this weekend.

On Thursday, we began to think about giving instructions in preparation for some work on programmable devices.  SandwichBot helped us to discover what can happen if you don’t give a clear and precise instruction (ask us, it was quite funny!).  We all had a go at making a sandwich by following precise instructions.  We didn’t need any instructions when it came to the eating!  You could have a go at following or writing instructions this weekend for simple jobs.  Some of us began to play with BeeBot – a little programmable toy that moves according to our instructions.  We learnt that it does exactly what we tell it to do, nothing more and nothing less! As we played, we learnt to tell our left from our right.  It would be great if you could check your children know this over the weekend as we’ll be doing more directional work next week.  Our work with SandwichBot led to further discussion about toys and equipment in our homes that we have to programme in order for them to work.  I wonder if you can find any such items over the weekend. 

In our mathematical work, we’ve had two main jobs this week.  We’ve been counting in 2s and learning ways to make 20.  For Reception children, counting in 2s was a new skill but for our Year 1 friends, this was revisiting a skill that was learnt last year.  The children put socks in pairs to count, made aliens with many eyes that could be counted in 2s and made amounts with 2p coins.  We’re all becoming experts!  Finding ways to make 20 was a slightly trickier job but I’m delighted with the progress we have made.  We revisited our number bonds of 10 and then looked at how we could add 10 to the first number to make it a bond of 20.  So, 7 + 3 = 10 but 17 + 3 = 20.  Year 1 friends can keep practising these bonds at home!

In our musical work this week, we visited Latin American music – it got our feet tapping and hips moving!  Maybe you could listen to some over the weekend.  We got the instruments out too and played along.  Some of us even took a turn at being the conductor and telling the class when to play and when to stop.  Great fun!

Don’t forget that it’s Plum Class family lunch next week.  Book in by Tuesday lunchtime to be sure that you get a place!

 

I've added in a few photos from last week as I didn't get these put up for you to see!

Have a great weekend!