Reception Class News

To get us in the mood for autumn, we’ve been reading Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. We looked closely at the illustrations, drew a picture of our favourite part and created a word tree full of adjectives to describe what autumn leaves look and feel like.

Next week, we will use our word tree to help us make missing posters for Leaf Man.

We also went on a leaf hunt to see if we could find Leaf Man on our field.
The creative chilli challenge was to turn a bare tree into an autumn tree.
Next week, we will continue learning about the autumn changes.

Number 3!
In early years, we like to be really practical to help us with our learning. This week, we’ve played lots of fun and active games to help us learn all about the number 3.

We did some racing games and handed out medals to our friends to help us learn about ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd & 3rd)

We played the Three Billy Goats game.
The children used the cubes to build 3 towers to represent the 3 goats.
1 cube – littlest Billy goat
2 cubes – middle-sized Billy goat
3 cubes – biggest Billy goat
They then rolled a 1-3 die and moved the corresponding tower over the bridge. 
Played a track game.
We used hoops and beanbags to help us understand the parts that make 3. We threw 3 beanbags into a hoop and talked about how many landed inside and how many landed outside. The children were encouraged to record their learning in anyway they liked. Many of them chose to draw a picture of their hoop and where their beanbags landed.
Next week, we will recap numbers 1, 2 and 3 to finalise our learning.

Writing process
In phonics, we’ve started to write captions, e.g. a pin on a map or pat a pig.
To help us with the process, we follow six simple steps.
1. Think about what we want to write.

2. Say the caption aloud.
3. Count the words.

4. Segment each word on our phoneme fingers.
5. Write the words.
6. Check our writing makes sense.

When the children are confident at writing caption, they will begin to write sentences using capital letters and full stops.

Here are some more highlights from this week…

Finally…
I look forward to chatting to you about how well your child has settled at school at the parent-teacher meetings on Tuesday and Thursday next week.

 Home-Link Challenge
Their bag will be in their bookbag!
Thank you to all the parents who to do the home-link challenges. It is always lovely to receive emails of their amazing home learning moments!

Feelings

Last week, our living and learning statement was I can talk about my feelings. During circle time, we talked about a range of feelings and when they might change. We also had fun making lots of faces!
Can you guess how we are feeling?

Last Friday

Last Friday, a lot of children went home very muddy and this is why!

It was lovely to see the children sharing ideas, thinking critically, and most importantly having fun! One child set a trend by making bear prints. More children joined in and together they created their own bear hunt.

This week’s bible story

Our friendship with Jesus: John 15:12-15 

Jesus calls us his friend and He wants to be in a relationship with us. In the Bible, we see the friendship of Jesus and his disciples develop. Although their intent was to serve and follow Jesus as Master, He calls them friends. Jesus’ love and sacrifice for those He walked with is the ultimate example of a relationship. Though we may show it differently, we show our friends how much we love them by the actions that we take.
Jesus calls us friend and He wants to live in a relationship with us. This means that He wants us to get to know Him and He wants us to share our lives with Him – every joy, every care, every hurt, every triumph.

Reflection:
We show our friends we care by the actions we do and how we behave towards our friends. Think about how you can show your friends you care this week and how you can share your week with them.

Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that we will always have a friend in Jesus. Help us to be good friends to our friends and show them that we care about them.
Amen

Reception just love to learn!

This week, our classroom has been bursting with positivity! I’m super proud of all the children.  At home time, the children are trying really hard to be independent and organise their own belongings. Independence is something we really encourage in Reception. When exploring the areas, new friendships are developing. Many children are wanting to challenge themselves and think of their own learning.  Take a look at the learning that has been taking place in our classroom this week:

In literacy, the children changed the main character and some of the obstacles the family went through on their bear hunt. Before drawing our versions of the story, we worked together to come up with lots of different ideas. The children came up with some fabulous suggestions. Below are some examples:

We’re Going on a Spider Hunt by CW
We’re Going on a Unicorn Hunt by PB
We’re Going on a Butterfly Hunt by DA

In maths, we moved on to learning the number 2. The children have been great at pairing the socks on the washing line in the home corner. We’ve explored 2 in lots of different ways…
We drew around our friends to spot pairs of body parts.

Counting pairs of animals into the Ark.

Using the part-whole model to support addition. See if your child can remember the parts to make 2.

We played a game where we had to get into groups of 1 or 2. An adult called out 1 or 2 and the children had to either stand in a hoop alone or in a pair.

Number 2 number stories

“First there was one wet me. Then Mummy came along. Now there is me and Mummy.”

“First there was one bird. Then it had a baby. Now there are two birds.”

“First there was one tree. Then another tree started to grow. Now there are two trees.”

Phonics
We’ve finished learning the first set of phase 2 sounds: s,a,t,p,i,n.
The children are brilliant at saying the pure sounds. It’s great to see lots of children beginning to blend. This week, the children were really excited when they received their first reading book. Please make sure you read with your child as much as possible.

Word passports
Today, your child will have brought home their word passport. This book is to stay at home. Every two weeks, your child will bring home a new set of words to stick in their passport. The new set of words will be in their book bag.

Important dates
Home-Link Challenge

This week’s bible story

Four friends help a paralysed man: Luke 5: 17-25 

If I asked you to tell you one of the things they liked doing best of all, I imagine it would be playing with their friends. Have a think about your friends and think about what you feel is special about them. In our story, we hear about how four friends help a paralysed man.

Reflection:
Think about the story.
Were there good friends in it?
Think about your friends.
What makes a good friend?
Think about yourself.
Are you a good friend?

Prayer:
Dear God
We thank you for our friends and for the happy times we share with them. Help us to be a good friend to them. Teach us how to play fairly and to share. Help us to recognize loneliness in others and show friendliness towards them. We know that you are our friend and will be with us always.
Amen.

Another busy week!

Reading Zoom meeting
Thank you to all the parents that attended the Zoom reading meeting. I hope you found it useful. For those parents that were unable to attend, click here to watch the recording.
Below are the links some of you requested during the meeting.
– Unfortunately, the pure sounds video created by two of our federation teachers is not working. However, click here to watch this video.
–  Jolly Phonics rhymes

Literacy
Our focus story is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
On Tuesday, we went on our very own bear hunt around school and found a bear hiding in the pond area!
They had fun doing actions, using instruments, and drawing their own story maps. They were fantastic at remembering the order of the obstacles!
Click here to watch us retell the story.

One of the chilli challenges this week was to retell the story using the stick puppets. We witnessed some amazing retelling!
Next week, the children will be making up their own versions of the story by changing the main character and some of the obstacles.

Maths
Every week, the children will be introduced to a new focus number. This week, it was number one. We’ve explored what one is, watched the Numberblock 1 video, drew pictures of our own One Wonderful Worlds, and introduced the part-whole model.
One is a part. Zero is a part. One is the whole 
Zero is a part. One is a part. One is the whole.

Some examples of the children’s One Wonderful World pictures:
Library Time
Every Thursday, we visit our school library. The children really enjoy visiting the library, sharing books with their friends, and listening to a whole class story at the end.
Reminders!
– A sound book has been put in your child’s bookbag. Have fun practising the first three phonemes (s, a, t) at home.
– The cold weather is creeping in! Please make sure your child comes to school wearing a suitable coat.
– Next Wednesday, your child will need to come to school wearing their school uniform.

Home-Link Challenge

This week’s bible story

David and Jonathan: 1 Samuel 18-19

Friendship is a precious gift. Everyone wants to have friends. If we are fortunate, we will have a group of close friends, people with whom we can share our lives. However, sometimes, things go wrong. There can be disagreements that lead to friends falling out and maybe not talking to each other altogether. When David was a young boy, he had been told that one day, he would be the future King of Israel. As he grew up, David became famous for defeating the giant, Goliath, and for being a skilled soldier. He also wrote many songs that are recorded in the Book of Psalms in the Bible.

When David was a boy, a man called Saul was the King of Israel. Saul had a son who was called Jonathan. David and Jonathan became great friends. One reason was that Saul (Jonathan’s dad) was the present king and David was going to be the future king. David was also a great soldier and King Saul became very jealous of him! Another reason is that, if the usual practices were followed, Jonathan would have followed in his father’s footsteps as the future king – not David! Jonathan had a good reason to be jealous of David!

Reflection:
It would have been very easy for Jonathan to be jealous of David. Instead, he always protected him – sometimes, even saving David’s life!
How do we treat our friends?
Do we get jealous when they are successful or if they are better than us at something?
Or do we encourage them? Do we stand up for them? Do we feel happy when something good happens in their lives?
In David’s case, he really did get by ‘with a little help from his friend’.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for friends whom we can trust.
Thank you for friends who stick with us when we need them.
Please help us to be a friend to anyone in need.
Amen.

What have we been up to this week?

Maths
This week, we’ve been learning all about repeating patterns. We’ve been noticing patterns everywhere. The children even pointed out my patterned dress on Tuesday! Each day, the children were asked to make a repeating pattern using different objects/resources. They were fantastic at talking about their patterns and spotting mistakes – oops!

Phonics
This week, our daily phonics sessions have been a mixture of phase 1 activities. Phase 1 focuses on listening to different sounds and oral segmenting* and blending* skills. We went on a listening walk, made rhyming silly soups, and played I spy. Next week, we will begin phase 2. By the end of next week, the children will know the first three sounds: s, a, t.
PE
The children loved their first PE session! Mrs. Palmer will be teaching PE  every Wednesday morning. The children had lots of fun travelling around the hall like animals. Mrs Palmer was very impressed with their amazing listening skills – well done Reception! Even though we only do one PE session a week, in early years we make sure we stay active throughout the week.
Snacks and Water…
Please make sure your child’s water bottle only contains plain water.

Every day, we provide a healthy fruit or vegetable at snacktime. If your child would prefer to bring their own snack, please ensure this contains only fruit and/or vegetables. Snacks from home will stay in the children’s bookbags until snack time at 10 am.

If your child is having grapes for their snack, please ensure that the grapes are cut lengthways.

Chilli challenges
The children have been introduced to the chilli challenges. Each week, there will be six green chilli challenges in different areas. The children will be encouraged to complete the challenges and tick them off on their chilli challenge card (see below). There will also be some red chilli challenges. These challenges are to extend their learning further.

Home-Link Challenge

*Segmenting – breaking down a word into individual sounds. 
   Blending – combining all the sounds to read a word. 

Early Reading