A sunny week in Foundation
What a glorious week we’ve had in Foundation. The sunny weather has allowed us to be outside every day and the children have loved it! We’ve been using our imaginations to make up role-play situations in the pirate tuff tray. A group of children helped Miss Marsden plant some bulbs and vegetable seeds. On Tuesday, the children loved getting wet. They used different containers, tubes and pipes to make the water travel down the pipes and into other containers. They were pouring squeezing, filling and splashing all morning. The children were that engaged, we nearly ended being late for lunch – oops!
In PE, the children continued to develop their throwing and catching skills. However, this time they used balloons! Look how excited and eager they were to catch the balloons. Next term, we will continue to learn key skills and start playing small team games.
At the end of the week, it’s our maths focus days. This week, we consolidated our learning on numbers 6, 7 and 8. The children chose a number and drew a picture to represent that number using two groups.
For example, “There are 4 red flowers and 3 yellow flowers. There are 7 flowers altogether.”
The children outside made a number track using hoops and chalk. They rolled two dice, counted the total number of spots, and jumped that many spaces on the number track. It was great to see the children praising their peers when they won.
F1 Group Times
On Monday and Tuesday, the F1 children focused on alliteration in phase one phonics sessions. The children listened carefully to Mrs Rippon saying initial sounds. For example, “Can you find something that begins with sssss?” On Wednesday, the F1 children discussed the different seasons and what changes we might see. After the discussion, they sorted some picture cards into each of the seasons.
Here are some more highlights from this week…
In the construction area, the children explored how to make the remote control cars work and drew roads for them to drive on.
Phonics Learning
Home-Link Challenges
I hope the sun keeps shining and you all have a lovely weekend!
See you on Monday for another fun-filled week.
Our first week back
Foundation are back and what a fantastic first week we’ve had! The classroom is back to being a busy learning environment – just how we like it. I am so proud of all the children. On Monday, they all came straight into school eager to explore the classroom and see their friends. I was so impressed that they all remembered the morning routines and our regular handwashing.
This week, we’ve spent a long time settling in, remembering our school rules and finding out feet again. The children have loved exploring all the areas of the classroom. We’ve seen some amazing learning this week!
In Literacy, we’ve been reading The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright. The book is about an anxious dinosaur who overthinks and ends up having lots of worries. He uses his happy tin to help his worries fly away. Talk to your child about the story and see if they can remember what happened in the story. The anxious dinosaur used a happy tin to help his worries disappear. Therefore, after reading the story, we discussed what things we would put in a happy tin.
We will be continuing to look at The Worrysaurus book next week.
Spring is almost here!
On the creative table, the children did some observational paintings of daffodils. Some of the F2 children wrote a sentence about daffodils.
As always in Foundation, we try and plan according to the children’s interests. This week, lots of children have been playing schools – they were even sitting on my chair and shouting, “3, 2, 1 stop!” So, on Thursday, the children were so excited when they saw that they had their very own ‘mini’ St James’ Primary School.
The children love PE Wednesdays! This week, the children practised their throwing and catching skills.
F2 Parents
Your child will have brought home a new reading book. Please make sure you read with your child on a regular basis. Daily reading supports writing skills, creativity and communication skills.
Home-Link Challenge
Finally, I would like to thank all of our Foundation parents for your support through Lockdown and for doing the home learning with your child.
Have a lovely weekend and I will see you all next week.
Welcome back!
We’re so excited for Monday! We can’t wait to open the classroom door and welcome you all back into Foundation.
We know that most of you will be feeling very happy about returning to school. However, some of you may be feeling a little nervous and this is fine. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be spending lots of time settling in, getting used to our daily routines and getting to know each other again.
Reminders!
- Your child needs to bring a NAMED water bottle. Please ensure the bottle only contains water – no juice please!
- PE is every Wednesday – your child needs to come in their PE.
- At the end of the day (3.00pm), please remember to stand opposite the Foundation classroom.
- Please make sure your child’s school jumper/cardigan is clearly NAMED.
- Please return all reading books on Monday. Your child will be given a new reading book on Friday.
- Don’t forget to encourage independence when your child is getting ready for school!
Click here for a sneak peek of the Foundation classroom. Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing lots of smiling faces on Monday!
F1 Home Learning: Week 8
This week is one of our favourite times in Nursery as we get to read so many of our favourite stories! Don’t worry though, we’ll continue with our World Book Day celebrations in Nursery next week when we all return. There’ll be lots of fun activities to look forward to, all linked to some of the most popular stories in Nursery. There are often lots of live story telling sessions during the week, so have a look at the World Book Day website for more details and ideas.
Look out for a video tour of the Foundation classroom on the Class News Page next week. Next week, I’ll be busy preparing the Foundation classroom for everyone to return and I’ll post the video as soon as I can. We hope that you enjoy watching the virtual tour to familiarise yourself with the classroom again, before we welcome you back next week. We can’t wait!
In Nursery, we usually choose lots of stories to read, however for our home learning this week, we’ve probably chosen one of the MOST popular children’s books of all time… The Gruffalo. If you don’t have a copy of the story at home, click on the link to watch and listen to the story.
Don’t forget to join the World Book Day Zoom session on Wednesday! For this week’s session, you can come dressed up as your favourite character.
Reading · Before you read the book, talk about what the children can remember if they’ve heard the story before. Who does the mouse meet? Where does the story take place? Can you remember what happens when the mouse meets the Gruffalo? · If you have a copy of the book, look at the illustrations on each page and talk about what is happening in the story. Some children may be able to re-tell the story in their own words if they are familiar with it. · As you read the story together, pause at some parts and see if your child can finish the sentence, especially when there’s a word that rhymes with the previous one. E.g. Where are you meeting him? Here by this lake and his favourite food is scrambled _____? |
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Phonics Aspect 4 of our Phase One phonics learning is all about ‘Rhythm and Rhyme’. This week, you’ll need a drum or a pan and spoon to join in with Mrs Gosper as she plays some rhythm patterns on her drum. Use your listening ears to listen carefully to Mrs Gosper and then wait for your turn to copy her patterns. Rhythm patterns with drums video When you’ve finished, have a go at tapping some of your own patterns and take turns to copy each other. Remember to LISTEN first, and then LISTEN again, and then have a try to copy it yourself. |
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Mark-Making · What’s your favourite book? Draw a picture and talk about your favourite story. We’d love to hear about it – send us an email of your picture and write down a few of the comments that your child made. · Can you remember how Mouse describes the Gruffalo? What does he have on his nose? What about his back? In our group times in Nursery, we always enjoy drawing on an outline of a Gruffalo and then using different colours and lines to add in his features. Have a go at home – you might need to help your child by drawing a rough Gruffalo outline first but without any details. Here’s one to copy or print at home. Can you add the following things to your Gruffalo outline?
· For those of you with a printer, here’s a Gruffalo colouring sheet available to download. |
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Mathematics Playing ‘track games’ is a great way for children to practise lots of different maths skills such as recognising dice patterns and counting with one to one correspondence (as they move spaces). This week, have a go at creating your own game together. Your child will need help with the general outline of the track, but they can then add in their own drawings for the houses and trees etc. 1) Draw some circle stepping stones across the paper to create a ‘track’ through the woods. 2) Next, draw on the animal homes that the mouse found including an underground house, a log pile and a tree top house. You could add a river and some of your own ideas too. 3) Make or find 2 counters and borrow a dice from another game. 4) Roll the dice and move your counter forward the correct number of spaces. 5) The first mouse to make it through the forest to the end of the path wins! |
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Extension ideas · Make up some of your own rules. Perhaps you could draw some purple prickles in a few spaces and if you land on a prickle, you have to go back one space. You could also draw a nut in some other spaces and if you land on a nut, move forward a space. · If you don’t fancy making your own game, find a board game that involves a similar concept, such as snakes and ladders. They’re a really great way for children to practise counting skills whilst having fun. |
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Creative · Make some puppets or find some props to help you re-tell your favourite story. We’d love to see a video of your show! · Can you make a cave/den home for the Gruffalo? He might enjoy having a tea party in his cave… · We’ve explored printing with lots of items during lockdown such as cans, boxes and forks. This week, if you have some plastic animal/dinosaur toys, have a go at printing with them and talk about the prints that they make. Once you’ve finished dipping their feet in water, make sure you help to wash it off before the paint dries. · If your child loves to role play in their kitchen, play ‘cafes’ and order some special items from the menu including roasted fox, scrambled snake, owl ice-cream and Gruffalo crumble. · In Nursery, we sometimes enjoy trying ‘scrambled snake’ egg on toast. Ask your child to help you break the eggs and mix in some milk to make a ‘scrambled snake egg’ snack. Make sure they help you to spread butter on the toast too. · Are you ready for a snack and some quiet time on the sofa? We love this animated version of the Gruffalo on the BBC iPlayer. · You’ll be singing this song about the Gruffalo all week once you hear it! Listen at home and join in. · Julia Donaldson’s website has lots of Gruffalo themed games to join in, as well activities for her other books too. |
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Understanding the World · Mouse met a few different creatures in the woods. Talk about other animals that you might find in the woods near your home. Where do they live? If you enjoy spotting things whilst out and about in your local area, have a look at this ‘Twig Spotter’ activity from the Woodland Trust’s website. How many can you find? · Can you spot any animal tracks? Look carefully to see if you can see any footprints in the mud. Here’s a few ideas of footprints to look out for on this ‘Animal footprint hunt’ – it might be very tricky to find some of them! |
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Physical Development Funky Fingers To get your fingers moving this week, you’re going to need a pile of very small items such as 1p/5p coins, buttons, beads, Cheerios… Draw some wavy lines, zig-zags and spiral patterns on pieces of paper and then ask your child to pick up the small objects and place them along the lines. This is a good way to develop their pincer grip and control. Movement We’re going to have a go at balancing, jumping and crawling in this activity. Clear a space on the floor and ask your child to gather some cushions and pillows from around the house. Place them on the floor like stepping stones and ask your child to step from one to the other. This is good way for them to practise balancing, especially as the cushions will be soft and move under their feet a little. Repeat the activity, adapting the challenge by putting the cushions further away or not in a straight line. If you have space and your floor isn’t too slippy, ask them to have a go at jumping from one to the other. Make sure you supervise your child and hold on to any cushions that may move as they jump! Finally, create a space for your child to crawl under. You could use a blanket/sheet over two chairs, or line some dining chairs up. Ask your child to slither like a snake on their tummies under the blanket or between the chair legs. Crawling is a very important aspect of early years play, helping to provide sensory feedback and developing many different things including the vestibular system (balance). |
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Independence skills As we begin to prepare to return to Nursery, we’d like you to focus on ‘toileting’ again with your child. – Do they go to the toilet without reminders? Try and encourage them to recognise the signs that they need to go! – When they get to the toilet, are they able to undress themselves? Practise pulling trousers/leggings/tights up and down and remember your child needs to wear clothes that allow children to do this independently. – When they’ve finished, do they attempt to clean themselves and have a go at wiping? – Practise handwashing skills again – this is going to be very important on our return to Nursery. As always, we are there to help children if they need assistance, so please remind them to speak to their teachers if they need help next week. |
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Key Worker activity and videos This week, we thought you’d like to be detectives! Listen carefully to each of your teacher’s clues about their favourite stories. Can you guess which book they love to read? Have a go at making some clues for one of your favourite stories and send us an email to see if we can guess! Key Worker video – World Book Day We’re so happy that we’re all going to be together again soon. It made us want to sing a song! Key worker song – If you’re happy and you know it |
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Story time I don’t want to wash my hands! Read by Miss Marsden Click here to watch today’s story. Soap Experiment – watch and see how soap can stop germs! You will need: – a plate – ground pepper – washing up liquid – water Instructions: 1. Pour the water onto the plate. 2. Sprinkle the ground pepper onto the water. 3. Rub some soap onto your hand. 4. Put your hand in the water and see what happens. |
Week Commencing 01.03.21: F2 Home Learning
Monday
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Book of the week- Click here to watch the story Jasper’s Beanstalk or read the book if you have it at home. Questions to discuss- 1. What do you think will be at the top of the beanstalk? 2. What different tools did Jasper use? 3. What plant have you got growing in your garden? 4. Do plants change during different seasons? 5. Do you know any other stories about beanstalks? |
Phonics- ur Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Parents: For the final activity on the video, there are two possible sentences ‘See the cat lick his black fur.’ or ‘See the black cat lick his fur.’ Activity 1: Look at the picture. What can you see? Write a word or sentence about the picture. (Sentence – He hurt his leg. Word – hurt.) Remember to use a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop. Below are the steps we use to help us with our writing. 1. Say the sentence aloud. 2. Count the words. 3. Segment each word apart from the tricky words. 4. Read your sentence to check it makes sense! Activity 2: Play on Phonicsplay. Click this link. Choose phase 3, + ur |
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Handwriting Practise- l, t, i Click here to watch today’s video. Click here to view the rhymes we use in school. |
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Maths- Building with 3D shapes Click here to watch session 1. Click here for today’s activity. |
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Tuesday | Phonics- ow Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Click here to hear the jolly phonics song for ow (at 10:38 in the video) Activity 1: Write words containing the ow sound (examples – cow, brown, now, owl and howl) Place them on the floor or around the room. Say a word for your child to find. Activity 2: Click here for a Read and Roll – ow |
Handwriting Practise- u, y, j Click here to watch today’s video. Click here to view the rhymes we use in school. |
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Maths- Matching 3D Shapes Click here to watch session 2. Click here for today’s activity. |
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Wednesday | Phonics- oi Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Click here to hear the jolly phonics song for oi (at 10:52 in the video) Activity 1: Write the words; coin, foil, oil, boing Parents: read aloud for your child to write. ***challenge*** write your own sentence, using one of the words you have written. Activity 2: Click here to have a go at this oi word search. Either search on screen, or print it off (we recommend using page 1) |
Handwriting Practise- e, f, z Click here to watch today’s video. Click here to view the rhymes we use in school. |
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Maths- Print with 3D Shapes Click here to watch session 3. Click here for today’s activity. |
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Thursday | Phonics- Tricky word – her Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Activity 1: Tricky Word Lucky Dip 1. Write each tricky word on a piece of paper. 2. Fold the pieces of paper up so you can’t see the words. 3. Dip your hand in and read the tricky word. Can you say the letter names? 4. Repeat until you have used all of the tricky words. Activity 2: Practise spelling the tricky words in flour or salt. Click here to watch Miss Marsden. Activity 3: Play a game of phase 3 tricky word snakes and ladders. Click here to download and play. If you do not have a printer, write down on a piece of paper each number you land on and follow on screen with your finger. You will need dice to play. Parents: If your child lands on a word we have not yet covered in class, you can support them by reading the word. |
Handwriting Practise- v, w, x Click here to watch today’s video. Click here to view the rhymes we use in school. |
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Word Passport Click here for this week’s word list. Remember to use your phoneme fingers when blending! |
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Maths- Capacity Click here to be taken to today’s video. Today’s video is all about Capacity (the amount something can hold) and the language we use to describe capacity. Activity: Take pictures of the different measurements, when exploring the capacity of a container. It could be the stages of running a bath, filling a bucket or drinking a drink for example. Which words did you use to describe each measurement? |
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Friday | Understanding the World with Professor Myers; British Science Week 2021- Structures Click here to watch this week’s video with Professor Myers. -Can you make a structure strong enough to support a toy? -Have a go at one of the experiments in the activity pack. -Send photos to show what you did. Activity Pack 1 Activity Pack 2 Activity Pack 3 Activity Pack 4 |
Story time- I don’t want to wash my hands! Read by Miss Marsden Click here to watch today’s story. Soap Experiment – watch and see how soap can stop germs! You will need: – a plate – ground pepper – washing up liquid – water Instructions: 1. Pour the water onto the plate. 2. Sprinkle the ground pepper onto the water. 3. Rub some soap onto your hand. 4. Put your hand in the water and see what happens. |
Don’t forget to join the World Book Day Zoom session on Wednesday! For this week’s session, you can come dressed up as your favourite character.
Story Link activities to select throughout the week
Literacy
Keep a diary for the week just like Jasper. This could be about anything. What did you eat for breakfast? What did you see out in the garden? What toys have you played with? You could use this diary format click here, or create your own!
Understanding the World
Take a walk outside or in your garden. What can you find growing? You could take a pen and paper to draw what you find.
Maths
1. How tall are the people or toys in your house?
Use boxes, bottles, tins or anything else around your house to measure them. Talk about size difference – who is the tallest? How tall are they?
2. Write numerals on pots or paper. Count the correct number of beans to match the numerals.
Expressive Arts and Design
1. Paint, draw or build your beanstalk. How tall can you make it? How many leaves did you add?
2. Draw a picture to show what you think might be at the top of Jasper’s Beanstalk.
3. Use beans, pulses or any dried food you may have at home to create a mosaic style picture.
Physical Development
1. Sort beans, pulses or other small dry foods you have at home.
2. Collects some leaves and cut using scissors or other tools. You can also create you own leaves. Cut out of paper or card and fold to make the veins.
F2 Parents
Oooops!
Yesterday’s tricky word video link was the wrong link.
This has now been changed.
Click here to view the video.
I apologise for any inconvenience.
F1 Home Learning: Week 7
These activities are for the week commencing Monday 22 February, which is when we return to Nursery/Remote Learning, following the half term break. We hope that you have a good break over half term and find a new place to visit on one of your local walks!
We hope that you enjoyed a rest over the half term holidays. A few weeks ago, we read ‘Dear Zoo’ and had to match some animals to the noises that they make in a listening game. This week, we’re going to think about some more sounds, but not just animal noises. In our story this week, poor Mr Bear just can’t get to sleep because there are so many noises keeping him awake! You may have a copy of this classic children’s book at home, but don’t worry if not, you can enjoy listening to it using this link. ‘Peace at Last’
Reading · What happened at the beginning of the story? Why couldn’t Mr Bear get to sleep next to Mrs Bear? Do you snore like Mrs Bear? Have a try! · What was Baby Bear pretending to be? See if you can make the same noise. · When Mr Bear went downstairs, what noise could he hear in the living room? · Can you remember which room Mr Bear was in when he heard ‘DRIP DRIP’ and ‘HMMMMMMMMMM’? · Outside, Mr Bear heard 3 different animal noises. Can you name them? They made these noises…TOO-WHIT-TOO-WHOO, SNUFFLE SNUFFLE and MIAAAAOW! · Talk about what happened at the end of the story. Did Mr Bear get to sleep? Did the ending make you laugh? Why? |
Phonics This week, Mrs Gosper is going to teach you about a selection of percussion instruments. Listen carefully to the sounds that they make and then see if you can work out which instrument it is. Metal and Wood instruments video There’s a phonics activity included in our Key Worker video this week. It’s linked to our story of the week and is all about listening for sounds around your home. You could join in too; use a tablet/phone to record some sounds around the house and then play them back. Can you guess which sound it is? |
Mark-Making · We all love to snuggle up under our favourite blanket or duvet at bedtime – we saw some really cosy blankets on our Zoom scavenger hunts. Grab a piece of paper and have a go at designing a new blanket. What colours, patterns, shapes or pictures would you use? · Mr Bear hears lots of animals outside in the garden at night. Can you draw a hedgehog with lots of prickles on its back? Join in with Squiglet and watch how she draws grass using zig-zags. |
Maths This week in maths, we’re going to think about some important mathematical language involving words associated with time. During everyday conversations, try to use words like ‘today’, ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’ and help your child to understand what they mean and use them in conversation. It’s also important to begin to understand about our daily routines. ‘Peace at Last’ takes place at night time, just as Mr Bear is trying to get to sleep. It’s good to establish a good bedtime routine, but everybody might do things slightly differently! Talk to your child about their evening routine. What do they do first? What happens next? What things do you do together before they go to sleep? Here’s Mr Tumble’s bedtime routine; is it similar to yours? Have a look at these pictures and choose ones that are appropriate for your family. Try to put them in the order that you do them. You might need to add in some different ones, such as taking off your glasses. |
Extension ideas – Can you sequence your morning routine? What do you do first? What next? When do you have breakfast and brush your teeth? – Don’t forget to keep practising your counting skills! You could count the number of spikes on your playdough hedgehog or roll a dice and draw that many spikes onto a hedgehog outline. |
Creative · Paint/draw/collage a night time picture. What colours will you use for the sky? Would you see a sunshine at night? What animals might you include that are awake at night? · A few weeks ago, we experimented with printing using different objects to see what shape print they made. This week, try printing using a fork. What pattern does it make? Use the fork to add some spikes onto a hedgehog outline. · Use playdough to make a hedgehog. What could you use to make spikes? In Nursery, we sometimes use wooden craft sticks, pipe cleaners or dry penne pasta/spaghetti. There are lots of ideas if you do a Google search! If you have some children’s plastic scissors, you could try rolling a ball and then snipping the top to make spikes. · We love being all snuggly in our favourite pyjamas and reading a book before bedtime. Why not start your bedtime routine a little bit earlier one night; enjoy a bubbly bath and then make some hot chocolate or warm milk to drink whilst reading your bedtime story. What happens when you add the chocolate powder to the milk? · In this episode of ‘Melody’, Melody can’t get to sleep so her mum tries a few things to help her feel sleepy. She listens to some music about the moon at night time. What does the music make you think of? |
Understanding the World Talk about animals that are awake at night and sleep during the day. These animals are called ‘nocturnal’ animals; follow the links below to watch some short clips all about animals that come out at night. Nocturnal animals Andy’s Secret Hideout – Hedgehogs Andy’s Secret Hideout – Owls Need a longer break? We love watching Aunty Mable and her adventures with Pippin, regardless of how old they are! Grab your fruit snack and learn about hedgehogs with Pippin. |
Physical Development Funky Fingers We’re going to revisit our cutting skills this week and practise using scissors again. Make sure a grown up is around to supervise. Fold a piece of paper in half and cut out a semi-circle shape (or use a paper plate folded in half if you have one). Cut the corner off to make a nose (as in picture) and draw on a face. Next, ask your child to make snips along the edge to create spikes. Movement We’ve had some very cold weather over the last few weeks, but it’s still really important that we get outside to enjoy running around. Whatever the weather, try to wrap up warm and enjoy some fresh air and exercise. If it’s not too icy, have you got a bike, trike or scooter that you could have a ride on? Make sure you wear your helmet. Here are a few ideas, there’s a different one for each day. |
Independence skills We’ve been talking about some of the things that we do as part of our daily routines. What do we do twice a day that is really important? That’s right! We brush our teeth. Whilst we don’t expect children to do this by themselves just yet, they still need adults to ensure it is done well, children could begin to have a go at brushing their teeth before and after their adult has helped. Watch this video and then encourage your child to look in the mirror as they brush their teeth. Teaching children about basic personal hygiene is a really important; it’s included in the ‘health and self-care’ part of the Early Years Foundation Stage. |
Key Worker activity and videos For this week’s Key Worker activity, you’ll need to have listened to this week’s story, ‘Peace at Last’. Mrs Gosper is going to play some sounds from the story and you need to use your listening ears to work out what you heard. Key Worker video – Peace at last After you’ve watched the video, you could play a game of ‘I can hear with my little ear’. Take it in turns to imitate something and guess what makes that sound. You could imitate the sound of things from around your house like a clock or telephone, or of recognisable animals like a cat, dog or owl. During group time, we often sing songs linked to our learning. This one is all about the things we might do at bedtime. Key Worker song – The way we wash our hands |
Don’t Call Me Sweet read by Mrs Rippon Click here to watch this story. Questions to discuss: 1. What didn’t Monster want to be called? 2. What did Monster chase? 3. Why did Monster say ‘EKK!’ ? 4. Can you draw your own Monster? The World Made A Rainbow read by Miss Marsden Click here to watch this story. Now have a go at making your rainbow. Click here to watch Miss Marsden make a rainbow with Skittles. You will need: – Skittles – hot water – a plate (preferably white) |
Don’t forget to join this Wednesday’s Zoom session at 11am!
Please keep sending pictures of your home learning to stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org.
Week Commencing 22.02.21: F2 Home Learning
These activities are for the week commencing Monday 22 February, which is when we return to school/home learning, following the half term break. We hope that you have a good break over half term and find a new place to visit on one of your local walks!
Monday
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Book of the week- Click here to watch the story What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson, or read the book if you have it at home. To discuss- · Look at the adjectives that are used to describe each animal. How many other adjectives can you think of to describe them? Remember, adjectives are words we use to describe. For example, in ‘hairy hog’, hairy is the adjective. · Which pairs of rhyming words could you hear? · Which characters were the heroes in this story? Who were the villains? |
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Phonics- oo Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Click here to hear the jolly phonics song for oo. Activity 1: Sorting oo- Oo is super tricky. Not only do we have to identify the sound but we also have to decide whether the short or long version fits the word. Have a go at sorting these pictures onto the ‘short sound’ or ‘long sound’ grids. Click here for the card sorting activity. Parents: If unsure of the words the picture cards represent, click here for the answers. If you do not have a printer at home, you could draw a simple table like this:
and draw in pictures of objects that have the long/short oo in the correct column of the table. Activity 2: In our phonics lessons, we like to play a game called Please Mr. Crocodile. Have a go at this at home using our new phase 3 sounds qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo Handwriting Practise- c, o, a, d |
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Maths- White Rose Maths: Growing 6, 7, 8!- Week 3. Click here to be taken to the correct web page. Choose Session 1- Comparing Height Activity: Click here for today’s activity. If you do not have building blocks or cubes, you can use other objects of the same shape and size. Perhaps you could use tins from the food cupboard, for example. |
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Tuesday | Phonics- ar Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Click here to hear the jolly phonics song for ar. Activity 1: Caption writing- Describe the object in the picture. Write a word or sentence about the picture. (Sentence – The rock is hard and smooth. Words – hard, smooth.) Remember to use a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop. Below are the steps we use to help us with our writing. 1. Say the sentence aloud. 2. Count the words. 3. Segment each word apart from the tricky words. 4. Read your sentence to check it makes sense! Activity 2: Challenge yourself with the phonics bloom flashcard time trial- how many can -you get correct in one minute? You will need an adult to click the tick or the cross. Click here Please select phase 3 and deselect set 11 (the children have not covered some of these sounds yet) There is an option to play again using incorrect or missing sounds- great for recapping those sounds to work on!Handwriting Practise- g, q, s Click here to watch today’s video. Click here to view the rhymes we use in school. |
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Maths- White Rose Maths: Growing 6, 7, 8!- Week 3. Click here to be taken to the correct web page. Choose Session 2- Comparing Length Activity: Click here for today’s activity. If you do not have playdough, you could measure string, toys or any other household objects. |
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Wednesday | Phonics- or Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Click here to hear the jolly phonics song for (ee)or. Activity 1: Complete the video activity- writing a sentence/ silly sentence using the pictures. Activity 2: Read and match the captions to the correct picture. You can print these or read them on screen. Click here |
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Maths- White Rose Maths: Growing 6, 7, 8!- Week 3. Click here to be taken to the correct web page. Choose Session 4- Measuring Height Activity: Click here for the activity. You will notice that this is a bit of a long term activity, involving planting a seed. If you are able to do this, please do, otherwise keep practising measuring the height of household items, using smaller items you have (remember, the measuring unit objects need to be the same shape and size)Handwriting Practise- r, n, m, h Click here to watch today’s video. Click here to view the rhymes we use in school. Zoom |
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Thursday | Phonics- Tricky word – they Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Activity 1: Tricky word colouring sheets!- Click here Click here for more colouring sheets. Activity 2: Tricky word spotter story- click here Click here to find a link to a website blog post, that has some fantastic tricky word activity ideas. Pick your favourite ideas and have a go! We particularly like the look of ‘Tricky word hang-man’ and sticking tricky words to pots and pans that you can hit when you hear the word! Musical words! Handwriting Practise- b, p, k Word Passport |
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Maths- White Rose Maths: Growing 6, 7, 8!- Week 3. Click here to be taken to the correct web page. Choose Session 5- Measuring Time Activity: Click here for today’s activity. |
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Friday | Understanding the World with Professor Myers; The importance of snot! Click here to watch this week’s video with Professor Myers. -Can you make your own snot experiment at home using the ingredients? Send us a photo! -Make a snot superhero poster to tell everyone how snot helps to protect us from getting poorly. |
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Story time – Don’t Call Me Sweet read by Mrs Rippon Click here to watch this story. Questions to discuss: 1. What didn’t Monster want to be called? 2. What adjectives (describing words) were used to describe Monster? 3. What did Monster chase? 4. Why did Monster say ‘EKK!’ ? 5. Can you draw your own Monster? The World Made A Rainbow read by Miss Marsden Click here to watch this story. Now have a go at making your rainbow. Click here to watch Miss Marsden make a rainbow with Skittles. You will need: – Skittles – hot water – a plate (preferably white) |
Story Link activities to select throughout the week
Literacy
1. What the Ladybird Heard features a map of the farm. Can you create your own map of a farm and use your phonic skills to add words naming the different features and animals?
2. The Ladybird was very brave and smart to come up with a plan and use her voice to warn the other animals. Can you design a certificate of bravery to award to ladybird?
A writing reminder…
How did your child find the writing activity? Remember, it’s okay for things to be spelt phonetically. It is important that your child grows into an independent learner. Encouraging your child to write the words as they sound rather than always spelling them correctly. We encourage the children to use their own skills, rather than copying an adult.
Understanding the World
Spring Time; Animals and their babies-
Happy Days! Winter is over and it is now the season of SPRING. Do you know what happens in the season of Spring? Have a chat with your grown up…
In Spring, many baby animals are born. Do you know the name of baby animals? Let’s have a think about the animals in our story What the Ladybird Heard.
Cow, pig, horse, duck, dog, cat
1. First, you could have a go at this ‘What can you see’ video. Click here Which baby animals can you name?
2. Be super researchers- if you don’t know them already, find the names of the remaining baby animals from our story; pig, horse, dog, cat. We speak lots in class about where we can find information, so be sure to tell us where you found your animal facts!
Expressive Arts and Design
1. This week’s story takes place on a farm. What animal noises would you hear on a farm? Listen to this song by this week’s author Julia Donaldson click here See if you can sing along. You might even want to add your own animal movements and dance along too!
2.We’d love to see farmyard animal or ladybird pictures and crafts- use any resources you have! Don’t forget to send us a photo. Here are some ideas:
Physical Development
1. One of our favourite activities! This week, have a go at ‘On the Farm’ Cosmic Yoga.
Yoga Time! | On The Farm | Cosmic Kids – YouTube
2. Draw some lines of different patterns on pieces of paper and follow the lines using small objects such as cereal hoops, paperclips or buttons.
I hope you all have a great week!
Please keep sending photos of your home learning.
Week Commencing 08.02.21: F2 Home Learning
Monday
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Book of the week- Watch the story Mr Wolf’s Pancakes or read the book if you have it at home. Questions to discuss- 1. What three ingredients do you need to make pancakes 2. Mr Wolf made a shopping list. Have you ever made a list? What did you make a list for? 3. Why do you think the neighbours didn’t help Mr Wolf? 4. How did you feel when no-one would help Mr Wolf? 5. What did you think about the ending of the book? |
Phonics- ee Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Activity 1: Take turns with an adult to play ‘Roll and Read’ (ee focus) click here to either print the word mat, or view it on screen. You will need a die or to draw 1-6 dots on 6 pieces of paper and draw at random from a bag. 1. Roll the dice. 2. Match to the correct row. 3. Choose a word on the row and read it aloud. Activity 2: Think of two different sentences for each word: queen, bee, teeth and sleep. |
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Maths- Number 8. Click here to watch lesson 1. Activity: Click here for today’s activities. Zoom session Don’t forget to bring some playdough to our Dough Disco at 11am. |
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Tuesday | Phonics- igh This is a trigraph. Three letters that make one sound. All three letters go in one box on a phoneme frame. Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Activity 1: Be an ‘igh’ detective! Can you find any words in your storybooks with the ‘igh’ trigraph? Activity 2: Click here to play Buried Treasure. It’s on Phonicsplay-Buried Treasure – Phase3 -Set 1-7 – +igh. |
Maths- Number 8. Click here to watch lesson 2. Activity: Click here for today’s activities. |
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Wednesday | Phonics- oa Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Click here to read the rest of the story, Toads in the Road. You can sign up on the website free and access the reading books from here. Activity 1: Write a sentence using one of the ‘oa’ words. You might use: croak, roast, toast or toad. Steps to writing a successful sentence… 1.Think of a sentence. 2. Say the sentence out loud. 3. Count the words in your sentence. 4. Use your phoneme fingers to segment every word apart from the tricky words. 5. Check your sentence makes sense. 6. Have you remembered a capital letter at the start, finger spaces throughout and a full stop at the end? |
Maths- Number 8. Click here to watch lesson 3. Activity: Click here for today’s activities. |
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Thursday | Phonics- Tricky word-you Click here to watch today’s phonics video. Activity 1: Be a Tricky Word Detective. Can you find any tricky words in the books you have at home? Activity 2: Have a go at reading the Phase 2 ‘A Bug’ comic or the Phase 3 ‘Let’s Go’ comic. You can find lots more of these on Phonics Play Parents: Please click the links below. Click here to read the ‘Let’s Go’ comic. Click here to read the ‘A Bug’ comic. Activity 3: Play the Pick a Picture game on Phonics Play. Parents: Login details are… Username: Sphere Password: Spher3 Search Phonics Play > Resources > Phase 3 > Pick a Picture > Start > Phase 2 (sets 1-5) or Phase 3 (sets 6&7) Word Passport Click here for this week’s word list. Remember to use your phoneme fingers when blending! |
Maths- Play number stacking pancakes. For this activity you will need a spatula (or something similar) and a plate. Make some pancakes: Draw around a circle template on a piece of paper or card. Cut the circles out and write the digits 0-10 on the pancakes. Mix up the pancakes and spread them out on the carpet. Your child can scoop up the correct pancake with the spatula and put it on the plate. There are a few things that you can do with this game. 1. Order the pancakes from 0-10 in ascending order. Stacking them one at a time on the plate/in a pile. 2. Order the pancakes in descending order from 10-0. 3. Ask your child different numbers at random to select and put on the plate. 4. Play ‘run and splat’ the number when it is said. 5. Time yourself. How long does it take you to stack your pancakes in order? Can you beat your time? Can you beat your adult? 6. Put the pancakes in a random pile, face down. Decide on a fun action e.g. star jumps, jumping on the spot, running to the kitchen, turning around, hopping etc. Take it in turns to take the top pancake, whatever number you get that’s how many of the chosen action you must do.**Challenge** This activity can be extended by using numbers 11-20. You could also have a go at adding two numbers (1-10) together. |
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Friday | Understanding the World with Professor Myers; Making a volcano If you would like to join in this week’s video then you will need: washing up liquid, food colouring, bicarbonate of soda and some vinegar. Click here to watch this week’s video with Professor Myers. Click here to watch some children carrying out the investigation, as Professor Myers mentioned. It also might inspire you to make a more elaborate volcano, if you have the time and resources. -Can you carry out the experiment in the video like Professor Myers? -Can you draw and label a picture to show what happened? |
Story time- Below are two story videos for you to watch. I hope you enjoy them. My Pet Star read by Miss Marsden Click here to watch the story. Activities 1. Have a go at making your own pet star. You could use this template or, make your own! 2. Follow these instructions and bake some Cosmic Star Cookies. 3. Click here to see how you to make your very own star sun catcher and help brighten up your windows. 4. Don’t forget to go outside on a clear night and look at the stars in the sky. See if you can spot Pet Star. If you do, give him a wave! Six Little Chicks read by Mrs Rippon Click here to watch today’s story. After you have listened to the story, have a go at Miss Marsden’s quiz to check your understanding. Friday 12th February 2021 is the celebration of Chinese New Year! |
Story Link activities to select throughout the week:
Literacy
1. Be a friend to Mr Wolf and make a shopping list for him. You could make a list of ingredients for him to make his pancakes. Or you might make a list for him to make something else delicious. (Pizza, fruit salad etc.)
2. Draw and label two characters from the book.
Understanding the World
Click here to watch a video about wolves.
1. What do you notice about the wolves?
2. How many babies does a mother wolf usually have?
3. What do wolves eat?
4. What helps wolves to keep warm?
5. How many teeth do wolves have?
Expressive Arts and Design
1. Make a stack of pancakes out of playdough. Can you serve them at you own café with different toppings? How much will each pancake cost? Can people buy drinks at your café too?
Click here for the no cook play dough recipe.
2. Make a wolf mask or picture!
3. Using construction toys, can you build Mr Wolf’s Village and the houses for all of the different characters?
4. Maybe an adult in your house will help you to make your own delicious pancakes. What topping might you choose?
Physical Development
Get Moving Outside!
Why not take your numbered pancakes, from the maths activity, outside. Hide them in the garden then find them. Take a number and match it with objects e.g. 3 leaves. Do laps of your garden to match a number.
Joe Wicks is hosting his live PE sessions, 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 9am) You can subscribe to his channel here for alerts. A great way to keep fit at home!
Don’t forget to send pictures of your home learning to stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org.
I hope you all have a happy and healthy half-term!
F1 Home Learning: Week 6
This week, we’re going to find out what happens when Mr Wolf decides to cook some delicious pancakes. Listen to the story ‘Mr Wolf’s Pancakes’ and look at the illustrations in the video carefully as you watch. You might spot some familiar characters!
Reading · Can you spot any other story characters that you recognise? Which story are they from? Have you read it?· Why does Mr Wolf need some help at the beginning of the story? · Were Mr Wolf’s friends helpful and kind? Why do you think they didn’t want to help? · What happened when Mr Wolf started to cook his pancakes? · Can you remember what happened at the end of the story? Do you think Mr Wolf should have shared his pancakes? |
Phonics Being able to copy a rhythm is part of our Phase One phonics learning; we often play simple ‘copy me’ type games as we’re waiting to wash our hands. Today, you’ll need two sticks or wooden utensils, or anything else that is similar! Listen to Mrs Gosper and then have a go at tapping the rhythms too. Phonics – Rhythm pattern sticks |
Mark-Making · Mr Wolf said he wasn’t very good at writing. Can you help him write out a shopping list for going to the shops? What does he need to make his pancakes? · If Mr Wolf wanted to have a pancake party and invite some friends to his house, what would he need to send them? That’s right, an invitation. Perhaps you could plan a Pancake Day party for next week and make some invitations to send to people in your house. · Have a go at drawing or painting your favourite type of pancake. What toppings would you put on it? · Open up your own ‘Pancake parlour’ and take orders. You’ll need to write down and tick off what your customers would like on their pancakes. · Have you remembered it’s Valentine’s Day on Sunday 14 February? Why not make a card for someone in your family or see if you can post one to someone special that you might not be able to see at the moment? |
Maths This week, we’re going to practise our counting skills. In the story, Mr Wolf made lots of pancakes and we thought it’d be fun to make our own playdough pancakes. If you don’t have any dough, you could follow this simple recipe and have a go at making your own. Whilst making pancakes and playing, you could introduce ‘counting’ in different ways.· How many pancakes have you made? Count each pancake, touching them as you say each number. Sometimes it helps to line objects up to ensure that you count each one only once and try to remember to stop at the last pancake. How many were there? Count again to make sure. · Have you got more pancakes than me? How do you know? · Who has the fewest pancakes? Children often understand the word ‘more’ or ‘most’ but struggle to understand the word ‘fewer’ or ‘fewest’. · The Little Pigs are going to Mr Wolf’s house for a pancake party, how many pancakes do we need to make? Think about your child’s ability and keep the numbers below 5 or 10 as appropriate. |
Extension ideas · Introduce some real coins into your game. Children don’t need to be able to tell you what the denominations are in Nursery, they may just give you a handful of coins or some may count out 3 coins (of different values) and say “Here’s £3”. It’s all a great way to introduce and familiarise them with money. You could look at the different coins and try to sort them. How could you sort them? Big/little? Circle/not circles? Copper/silver? · Do you remember playing ‘What time is it Mr Wolf’ at school? Children love to play this at Nursery still and it’s a good way of practising counting out the correct number of steps. |
Creative · We couldn’t read Mr Wolf’s pancakes and then not suggest that you make some pancakes! It’s a great, simple recipe for children to join in with and whisking is great for building upper arm strength too. · What’s your favourite topping? Do you always have the same one? Use this as a time to try something new and talk about different flavours. Do you have sugar and lemon or golden syrup? Is it bitter/sweet/sour? · With supervision, ask children to help you cut some soft fruit to put on their pancakes such as bananas or strawberries. Talk to them about using knives safely. · If you don’t mind a bit (or lot!) of mess, allow your child to enjoy ‘play baking’ pancakes with some flour, water and mixing bowls. · Join in a role play game and make your own ‘Pancake Parlour’, using some of the mark making and maths activities at the same time. If you have a play kitchen, you could cut out some cardboard pancake shapes or you might want to use playdough instead. Take turns to order, cook and pay for your pancakes. If you don’t have a play kitchen, have a go at making one. It doesn’t have to be fancy or take a long time; at Nursery, we sometimes make ovens/hobs using a cardboard box with some circles drawn on top. Children always love to use ‘real’ objects so grab a frying pan and spatula and let them pretend! · There are lots of songs about cooking pancakes! Here’s a Pancake rap from CBeebies. |
Understanding the World · Part of the Early Years Foundation Stage is to begin to recognise some of our family traditions and celebrations and to begin to recognise how we are similar and different to others. In Nursery, teaching children in detail about Shrove Tuesday is too complicated, but we do talk to them about how Christian’s might celebrate this day and that it’s sometimes referred to as ‘Pancake Day’. We discuss that some families will celebrate by making pancakes and that others might not. We talk about it being a time where Christians begin to prepare for another special day, known as Easter. · If you have a laptop or a device that supports the game, let your child practise some simple computer skills by playing this game. You need to help Curious George make some pancakes and add his toppings. How many eggs will you need and how many strawberries does George put on? · Talk to your child about the ingredients in pancakes and ask them to think about where they come from. One of the most common answers is usually “the supermarket”! Try to find out more and talk about the origins of milk and eggs by watching these videos. One is all about milk and the other is an episode of ‘Do You Know’ where Maddie finds out about eggs and bread. How does milk get to the farm shop? Do you know? Eggs and bread |
Physical Development Funky Fingers In Nursery, we always get lemons to squeeze when joining in with pancake day celebrations. If you have a lemon squeezer and can add an extra lemon or two to your basket, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy squeezing lemons and talking about what’s inside the lemon. This is also a great activity for strengthening little fingers! Another good activity for helping to build strength in children’s upper arms, is ‘whisking’. You can do this whilst making pancakes but you could also let your child play with some soap and water and enjoy whisking it to see what happens. If you don’t want lots of mess around the sink, try it at bath time instead. Also, remember that playing with playdough is a great way to develop finger and arm strength. So, using a rolling pin to flatten playdough to make pancakes is another good activity to do. Tip: If your child is struggling to put enough pressure onto the rolling pin to flatten the dough, try asking them to stand up and do it on a surface/table at their height. |
Movement The weather is very unpredictable at the moment, so taking part in a pancake race may or may not be possible! If you have space inside/outside and a frying pan/tennis racket, make a play pancake or use a bean bag to see if you can move around an obstacle course without dropping it!Click here for another Cosmic Yoga session. This one is all about something you might enjoy eating on top of your pancakes – bananas! |
Independence skills During lunchtime at Nursery, children are encouraged to be as independent as possible. This might involve knowing how to feed themselves when they’re given a meal or snack, learning how to put a straw into a carton or being able to open a sandwich box. Children that have a hot meal at Nursery are also encouraged to be able to use a knife, fork and spoon to feed themselves. Whilst many family meal times may involve finger foods, being able to use a knife and fork is an important skill to learn for when your child starts in Reception.This week, depending on your child’s abilities, have a go at encouraging them to do the ‘next step’ themselves. This might mean taking the top off a yogurt pot by themselves or for other children; it could be learning to use a knife to cut something soft, like a fish finger, into smaller pieces. If you wanted to practise using a knife and fork outside of meal times, have a go at chopping up your playdough pancakes! |
Key Worker activity and videos This week, we’re going to help Mr Wolf with his counting. He has lots of friends that would like to eat his pancakes but he needs some help to count how many he needs. To join in with the second part of the Key Worker session, you’ll need to sit at a table and have some playdough. (If you don’t have any playdough, cut out some paper pancakes and use those instead.) Key Worker session part I – Mr Wolf’s Pancakes Key Worker session part II – Mr Wolf’s Pancakes with playdough Key Worker song –Pancake song |
Friday Story time- Below are two story videos for you to watch. I hope you enjoy them. My Pet Star read by Miss Marsden Click here to watch the story. Activities 1. Have a go at making your own pet star. You could use this template or, make your own! 2. Follow these instructions and bake some Cosmic Star Cookies. 3. Click here to see how you to make your very own star sun catcher and help brighten up your windows. 4. Don’t forget to go outside on a clear night and look at the stars in the sky. See if you can spot Pet Star. If you do, give him a wave! Six Little Chicks read by Mrs Rippon Click here to watch today’s story. After you have listened to the story, have a go at Miss Marsden’s quiz to check your understanding. |
Zoom session This week, don’t forget to bring some playdough for our Dough Disco on Wednesday at 11am. |
Don’t forget to send pictures of your home learning to stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org. |