Whitby trip
This half term, our class novel is Room 13, set in Whitby. We went on a trip to Whitby where we ate ice-cream, visited the abbey and got very very wet!
Science
Year 1 and 2 carried out an experiment this week to find out which sock was the stretchiest. We measured three socks before stretching and at full stretch. The children compared both measurements to find out which sock stretched the most.
Living and Learning: I use the 8 Rs to help me learn
We have had a very exciting time making our own tree houses, inspired by our class novel, The 13 Storey Tree House. For the first part of the design process, we followed design criteria and made annotated sketches to design our tree houses.
Once that was completed we had to cut up pieces of wood to the lengths in our specification. We had to do this carefully so as not to chop our fingers off! Thankfully, Mr Atkins was on hand to help.
This week we will begin making our product. We will need to use all our 8 Rs with this activity: being resilient if we find gluing the tree houses tricky; being responsive; taking safe risks when we used saws to cut the pieces of wood; and being responsible when we were using the tools to make our product.
Have you seen?…
Have you seen our new feelings station?
On Tuesday during circle time with Miss Marsden, Foundation read the story Feelings by Libby Walden and Richard Jones.
It was a great opening to discuss our feelings and think about ways to describe different emotions. The children used a sensory bottle to visualise how it might feel when our feelings get muddled or confusing inside and then watched the glitter float down, to show what it is like when we calm down and feel settled. Our new feelings station gives our children space to reflect on and share their feelings.
Ask your child what they’ve learnt about different feelings this week.
For more pictures of the activity, visit our Learning Journey board in the classroom.
We’ve had a busy week focusing on The Little Red Hen as our traditional tale, learning about repeating patterns, part-whole models in maths, new sounds in phonics and much more. We haven’t let the bad weather spoil our mood either- we’ve had the perfect opportunity to splash about. We explored who could make the biggest splash and what was the best technique. Check out our new puddle suits!
Home-Link Challenge
F2 Children:
- Next week our focus number is 3. Show us three objects you have found at home. Send your pictures to the Early Years email address.
- Get to know your first reading book.
F1 Children:
Go on a ‘sound walk’ tell your grown up all the different sounds you can hear outside- can you hear cars? Children playing? Birds? The wind?
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday 16th October 8.30-9.15am and 6.00-6.45pm- Reading and Phonics Meeting (F2 parents only)
Tuesday 22nd October and Thursday 24th October- F2 Parents Evening Appointments.
Wednesday 23rd October 8.30-9.15am- F1 Parent Learning Journey Drop-in session.
National Poetry Day 2019
To celebrate National Poetry Day 2019, this week Foundation 2 children have been discussing what a poem is;
A collection of words chosen carefully by the poet, to help us use our imagination and make us feel a certain way. The words are also chosen for the way that they sound and the rhythm that they create when read aloud.
We chose to read a rhyming poem called Autumn Days by Brenda Williams.
The children predicted some missing words from the poem by selecting a word that could rhyme- they did a fantastic job at guessing the correct words. Well done especially to Teddy, Leo, Chloe and Lily who were superstars at identifying rhyming words today!
Afterwards, we used our special Talk 4 Writing skills to come up with some actions to help us retell parts of the poem. Take a look at our great first attempt*:
*All videos set to UNLISTED on the video sharing website. They do not appear in searches.
This week in Foundation…
This week, we have been reading ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’. The children have enjoyed acting out the story. They were able to use different vocal expressions especially when being the bad, ugly Troll. In the construction area, the children have been architects and designed their own bridges. We watched a video on how bridges are made. They then independently chose the resources to build their bridges. Finally, the children used the goats to test their bridges.
“Trip, trap, trip, trap.”
“Mine must be strong because it didn’t fall down.”
“Mine stayed up!”
“My bridge is made out of bricks.”
“Oh no! My bridge has fallen down and now the troll is awake!”
In maths, our focus number is 2. The children have helped Little Red Riding Hood pair up her socks on the washing line. They have been on a number 2 hunt around the classroom and recorded their findings.
We had a good discussion about number 2.
“What does 2 make you think of?” Miss Marsden asked.
“2 footballs”
“2 spiders”
“2 snakes”
This lead onto talking about pairs.
“a pair of eyes”
“a pair of legs”
“a pair of feet”
It was great to see the children thinking carefully, speaking clearly and listening attentively.
In phonics, F2 children have completed the first set of phase 2 phonemes.
s– Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss.
a – Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you, saying a, a, a.
t – Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t, t.
i – Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers at end of noise and squeak i, i, i.
p – Pretend to puff out candles and say p, p, p.
n – Hold arms out at side, as if a plane, and say nnnnnnnnnn.
We have started the second set!
F1 children using the large paint brushes to make marks.
Some of the F1 children were determined to pick up the pom poms!
Challenges have been introduced this week. The children are eager to complete a challenge and get a coloured lollipop stick to make their rainbow.
Home- Link Challenge
The children will be able to share what they found during carpet time.
It’s been another fab week in Foundation!
To introduce traditional tales, our focus story is The Three Little Pigs. We have worked hard to become story-tellers, with everyone in F2 showing they can re-tell the story.
In maths, we completed our work on the focus number 1. We have been on number hunts and explored different representations of the number. Next week we will be moving on to number 2.
F1 have enjoyed their key worker time. They have been listening to stories, counting, constructing and sharing their thoughts, feelings and ideas.
Home-Link Challenge
Next week our focus story is The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Find a picture of a bridge. It could be a photograph or a picture from the internet.
stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
We will use your pictures in the construction area next week!
The Everywhere Bear
Monday 16 September
This week, our focus story is The Everywhere Bear. The children have enjoyed talking about journeys. “I went on a plane and it went really high.” “I went on a bus to Wetherby.”
The children created their own story maps – we have some super writers!
At home, talk to your child about the story.
Tuesday 17 September
The children took Sammy St James on a journey around school.
Come and have a look at our book in the reading corner.
Wednesday 19 September
The children used their imaginations to plan their own stories.
They came up with some great ideas!
We had stories about aliens, butterflies and even snowmen!
Home-Link Challenge
Can you spot a shape together in the environment?- it could be a circle shaped clock or a rectangle shaped TV for example. Send us a photo to:
stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
We will use your pictures in next week’s learning!
Build a Lego house
As part of our DT focused topic on the Thirteen Storey Treehouse, we are investigating products and how they are designed and made. This week, we were looking at criteria and specifications.
We discussed what the basic specifications for a house would be before simply just building it. We decided our Lego houses needed to have: at least 4 walls; be 7 bricks high; have one door and two window frames; and at least two internal rooms.
Parent Partnership
Thank you to the parents who were able to attend the Parent Partnership session yesterday. We really appreciate your time and support.
To those who were unable to attend, we will be sending home the slides so that you can have the same information.
Please remember our door is always open for questions or a quick chat and you are welcome into the classroom each morning until 9am. Please come and complete the ‘Learn with me’ challenge with your child each week and keep sending in all those wonderful learning experiences from home.
Thank you.