week 2-8.11.21
Here we are again, another week that has flown by! Before we know it, Christmas will be here.... anyway on with the week.
In RWI our reception friends have learnt the sounds r, j and the special friend (two letters one sound) sh. We have continued to spend lots of time focusing on letter formation during these sessions. As well as this we are having a big push on reading green words fluently. We have now learnt 3 red words (words that can't be sounded out). Our 3 new red words are: the, I and we. When we see red words we simply have to remember them and read them. Please keep practicing to read simple cvc (consonant vowel consonant) words at home. Examples include: cat, dog, mat, mud, pan, pin, fan, pig, sad, tip, gap.
In maths, reception have been busy consolidating their knowledge on the number 3. We have been focusing on number formation and how to make 3 in various ways (1+1+1=3 and 2+1=3). It's important that children don't just learn to count to three. They should have a deeper understanding of numbers and this is our mastery approach at Swansfield Park.
On Thursday and Friday morning we have enjoyed learning about some 3D shapes (cone, cylinder, cube and cuboid). We have looked closely at their properties and then enjoyed building our own hibernation houses using the shapes. Why not go on a 3D shape hunt around your house? Let me know via your 360 journal what you find!
In year 1, we have been learning about ordinal numbers. This means knowing that numbers have a position (1st,2nd,3rd,4th etc). The children have been labelling pictures with the correct ordinal number. However, all of us have been getting a bit mixed up. We understand 1st and 2nd position, but we couldn't point to the picture in 3rd,4th,5th,6th,7th,8th,9th and 10th. Next week we will play some games to further develop our knowledge of ordinal numbers. To support this at home, why not line up some toys and ask your child to point to the toy in 6th place. Or whilst you're shopping ask your child to find the item that is 8th on the list.
In our topic work we began the week by learning more about hibernating animals. We read the story Winters Sleep and then had fun designing our own hibernation stations. We then went outside and used natural materials to build them.
Year 1 have been busy taking part in a science experiment all about plants. We wanted to learn more about the role of the stem. We decided to see what would happen if we put celery into food colouring. We predicted several different things. Some of us were convinced the celery would dissolve and some of us thought the food colouring would "get sucked up". We can't wait to see what happens over the weekend.
Later in the week we enjoyed learning about Remembrance Day. We watched this lovely video...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/poppies
It was a lovely introduction to help us understand more about the war and why we wear poppies. The children in year 1 wrote some fantastic sentences to show their understanding of remembrance which is now proudly on display. Our reception friends made some beautiful transient poppy art. We all enjoyed contributing to a poppy display by using our handprints to make a giant poppy.
On Tuesday afternoon we enjoyed watching the video sent from Ross Collins, a fantastic author and illustrator. The children loved hearing the story "There's a bear on my chair" and they enjoyed having a go at drawing their own bear.
In other news, we have been learning about our similarities and differences in PSHE, practicing our handwriting, perfecting our throwing and catching in PE and so much more.
Next week we will be learning all about the festival Diwali. We can't wait!
Please bare with us while we wait for reading records to arrive in school before we send our new reading books home. Please continue to use bug club to read as often as you can.
Happy weekend, take care.
Miss F