week 4- 26.11.21

Another busy week in plum class....
 
Our reception friends have been busy this week learning the letter sounds th, z and ch. (th and ch are special friends- 2 letters that make one sound). We found the sound th very tricky to make with our mouth and we spent lots of time practicing that this week. We also found it difficult to differentiate words that start with th and f. Maybe you could practice this at home? Don't forget to continue to practice letter formation, reading green and red words fluently and please read your new books as much as possible. 
 
Year 1 are continuously working really hard to write simple sentences (with a  focus on finger spaces and full stops) and read cvc,ccvc,cvcc words with fluency.
 
In our mathematical work, reception friends have been focusing on the number 5 and we have been working on making 5 in various ways. Some of us are still finding number bonds to 5 tricky. Although we can show 5 on our fingers, we need to practice starting with a number and counting on to work out how many more we need to make 5. For example, the starting number is 2 and we need to count on 3 to get to 5. 
 
In year 1 we have been learning about part whole models. Our focus this week has been on learning that whole numbers can be split into different parts. For example, 10 can be split into 3 and 7 or 4 and 6 or 5 and 5 etc. The children have grasped this concept really well. We will continue to develop our learning about part whole models next week. 
 
In our topic work we've enjoyed learning about Hanukah, another festival of light. We spent lots of time learning about what happened many years ago in Jerusalem. The children loved learning about the menorah candles and why they burnt for 8 days.  If you want to find out more about Hanukah or see what we learnt, enjoy this video we have been watching this week- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsXQfCeMHs8 
 
To consolidate our learning, we enjoyed making our own menorahs and writing about what we have learnt.
 
Later in the week we learnt about Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist. He loved to paint using colours and shapes. He loved how colours made him feel different emotions and he really enjoyed painting to music. The children really enjoyed creating their own Kandinsky pictures this week which are now on display. 
 
With links to our seasonal learning and following on from learning about hibernation last week, the children have been learning about nocturnal and diurnal animals. We have talked lots about the difference and why animals come out at night or only during the day. We spent time sorting animals to help our understanding. We enjoyed listening to the story Owl Babies and learning more about why Owls are nocturnal.
 
Its been a busy week all round! A big thank you to everyone for returning their reading books and reading records so promptly so the new books could be sent home. Please remember, reading isn't just about reading the words. It is important to ask your child questions about the book- who are the characters, how are they feeling and why? what might happen next?  Can you spot soe red words in the story, or some capital letters and full stops.
 
Next week we will be kicking off our Christmas celebrations! Have a great weekend everyone
Miss F