Week 3- 21.1.22

Welcome back plums.... 
 
This week we have been super busy once again. RWI has continued to be full steam ahead with reception friends practicing reading and writing simple sentences. Yr one have been consolidating their set 2 sounds (Mrs Hammonds group) and split sounds (Mrs Snowdons group).
 
In maths, reception friends have continued to practice their number bonds to 5 (with extension to 10 where appropriate) and have developed their knowledge of finding the difference between Numbers 1-4 and 5. For example the difference between 2 and 5 is 3. 
 
Reception have also been busy developing their understanding of capacity. We had lots of fun filling up different size cylinders and tubs. We had to make sure some were half full, nearly full and some were full. We first had to estimate how many scoops of water we would need, this was tricky for some of us. We had so much fun!
 
In year 1 we have continued to work on subtraction with focus on counting back using a number line. Lots of us managed with this but I often needed to remind children to carefully count back and not rush. This often led to simple mistakes. Have a go at home by creating your own number line to count back.
 
In our topic work we have enjoyed exploring materials and their everyday uses. We looked at a variety of materials and thought about what they would be useful for. Afterwards we learnt a bit about the inventors John Dunlop and Charles Macintosh. John invented the rubber tyre and Charles invented waterproof clothing. We had a long discussion about why these things would be useful. This led to our activities....
 
Year 1 had fun exploring the classroom and going on a material hunt. We noticed that most things were made from plastic or wood. We couldn't find anything made from rock or brick. I wonder why that is.... why not explore the various materials of every day objects around your house. I'd love to know which material was most and least common!
 
Reception looked at various materials and thought carefully about there properties and which would make a good Winter Hat. At first, lots of children though felt would be good as it felt soft. But lots of children wanted to find out which materials would be waterproof and later found that felt went very soggy when it got wet. They decided this wouldn't be very good as there is lots of wet weather in Winter. 
 
On Thursday and Friday we celebrated World Religion Day. We chose to focus on the religion Christianity and the story Noah's Arc. Some of us already recognised the story and made reference to the song "the animals went in 2 by 2". We had fun singing this song together! Year 1 friends, drew their own arc and wrote a short sentence about the story. Recption drew their own arc and labelled the animals they had drawn. We had a lovely afternoon on Friday making our own arc and animals for a display in our classroom. The children really enjoyed getting creative and crafty and worked as a team to make our display fantastic!
 
There is so much learning crammed into one week and we have worked so hard. Well done all.
 
Don't forget to complete this week's numicon challenge and send your pictures in/put them on your child's journal. You can find this on plum class page under "numicon challenges". 
 
Please remember to read your new reading book and have go at reading and writing down some green/red words.
 
If you're in year 1 don't forget to bring in a shoe box next week for our Design Technology project. 
 
Take care,
Miss F