Summer 1- 13.5.22
What a lovely week in plum class! This week has been all about animals and mini beasts.
We started the week with a mini beast hunt around school and as we explored we thought carefully about the various habitats we might spot them. We wondered why some prefer cold dark places whilst others like warm sunny spots. We shared our findings and began learning some interesting facts as well as learning some new vocabulary. Did you know that minibeasts are invertebrates- meaning they have no backbone. Some minibeasts also have exo skeletons to protect their bodies from predators.
Reception friends spent some time sorting and classifying various mini beasts which not only supported their understanding of various vocabulary (wings, legs, antennae etc) but it allowed them to ask questions about the mini beasts and learn some interesting facts about the creatures in their world.
Later in the week reception were brave writers and had a go at drawing and then labelling their own mini beasts. Great work everyone!
Last week year one spent some time sorting various animals into groups (mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds). This week we thought more about what various animals eat and how these animals can be sorted into the groups carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. The children have loved sorting the animal toys into the groups! Do you know what these words mean? Ask your child and see if they can remember.
As we have spent lots of time outdoors this week, towards the end of the week we read a story all about a tree house in someone's garden. This story is called "secret tree fort". The story is about a girl who wants her sisters attention but unfortunately her sister is so engrossed in a book she doesn't notice her. In order to get her attention she tries to reel her in by describing the most exciting and magical tree fort there ever was.
We noticed that this story had some amazing adjectives! We talked about the importance of adjectives in our writing and how it can make something sound much more interesting. So, together with year 1, we decided to design our own tree fort and label it using as many adjectives as we could. The creations the children came up with were fantastic! Next week we can't wait to write an explanation to tell people how our tree forts work.
In our maths work, reception children have continued to build their confidence with building numbers to 20. We enjoyed playing games with friends whereby we had competitions to see who could build/represent numbers the quickest. If you won you had to explain to your friend how you made your number. The competition was enjoyed by everyone and we had lots of fun together.
Year 1 have been busy developing their number knowledge beyond 20 and up to 50. We have practiced counting forwards and backwards within 50, ordering numbers within 50 and completing missing number lines. Lots of us are confident counting forward but most of us need support counting backwards within 50. Please practice this at home. Why not make it fun and jump whilst you count back! Have a go at writing your own number lines, number formation is still very tricky for lots of us.
As always, in Read Write Inc the children are doing a fantastic job at developing their confidence with sentence writing. We always spend time recapping and reviewing learnt sounds, we practice blending to read and then spend lots of time writing too. Keep up the good work!
In music we have been continuously learning the words to our friendship song. This is a lovely song about what good friends are for. This ties in nicely with our PSHE topic- healthy relationships. Every Thursday we do music in the morning and PSHE in the afternoon. The two subjects work well together and allow for lots of discussion, reflection and thinking time. All of our children are still learning how to navigate friendships and work well with each other.
Next week we will learn about growing- including fruit and vegetables. We can't wait to plant potatoes, onions and so much more in our plum class garden!
Have a lovely weekend- Miss F