Our smells poems
Here are is a selection of some of the wonderful poetry work we have composed this week based on the poem ‘Smells’.
We all started the poem in exactly the same way as the poet and then added our own ideas from then onwards.
Why is it that the poet tells
So little of the sense of smell?
These are the odours I love so well
The smell of oranges freshly ripe – Erin
Apples sunset red and juicy – Oliver
The fragrance or a rich chocolate cake – Hannah
Melon mouthwatering and sweet – Jessica
Let’s investigate!
This week, we’ve been investigating air resistance in our Forces topic.
‘The bigger the parachute, the slower it will fall.’
In groups, we investigated if this was true or not.
We discovered that the bigger parachute fell to the ground slower than the smaller parachute. We concluded that the bigger parachute had a larger surface area, therefore there’s more air resistance. The more air resistance there is, the slower an object will move.
Funky Phonics!
Thank you to the parents who came to our ‘Funky Phonics’ Stay and Play. We’re so proud of how far the children have come already in their phonics and pleased that they had the opportunity to share their learning with you.
Our next Stay and Play is our Christmas Stay and Decorate! A chance to look at your child’s learning journey and make some lovely Christmas crafts to take home with you. It is taking place on Thursday 20 December, 8.30-9.45 am.
As always, you’re welcome to stay for the whole session or a little while.
We hope you will join us for some festive fun 🙂
Smells and tastes
After finishing our work on diaries based on our class novel ‘Friend or Foe’, we’ve been enjoying a poem called ‘Smells’ by Christopher Morley. In it, he talks about all of the smells which he loves, freshly ground coffee and campfire embers to name just two.
So we could write our own version, we sampled lots of different fruits with distinctive smells: apples, oranges and melons. We recorded a huge amount of vocabulary that could be made into expanded noun phrases and then played around with the words to fit into the style of poem we were writing.
And of course we got to eat the fruit afterwards!
Living and Learning: I respect myself and others
Cricketing superstars!
Year 1 and 2 have had an experience of cricket: they enjoyed a cricket workshop from Chance to Shine.
The children learnt new skills from their coach including how to catch and how to hit a ball using a cricket bat.
Here are some pictures of our workshop in action.
Christmas ADVENT-ures!
As the countdown begins, the next few weeks in Foundation will be Winter and Christmas topic-tastic!
The children have already been excitedly talking about the festive season and this has steered our learning toward some spontaneous discussion and activities. We have a new seasonal window filled with beautiful snowflakes. After exploring lots of vocabulary and sharing ideas, the children have written their ‘Winter’ words on them.
See if you can spot our ‘Kindness Advent Calendar’ in the classroom which the children have also collaboratively worked on this week. Each day, we’ll reveal a picture or kind message to our friends.
F2 have been learning about 3D shape names and their properties. The children have been using the 3D shapes in their construction to extend their learning.
We’ve been looking at small value coins and using our knowledge of combining numbers to create total amounts. This activity will be continued into next week, when the ‘Focus table’ has its very own Post Office Shop.
Next week, our focus book will be The Jolly Christmas Postman. This amazing adventure takes the children on a journey to visit familiar nursery rhyme and traditional tale characters.
Home-Link Challenge:
On Friday, we sent home our Monday News ‘Talk Time’ sheets. Please complete these with your child and bring to school on Monday morning. This includes both F1 and F2 children. Thank you.
Phonics:
Next week, we’re having our Funky Phonics Stay and Play after school on Wednesday 05 December. Phonics is so important: it’s the basis of skills our children need for reading and writing. We can help with important questions you may have.
Frequently asked questions include:
- How is each phoneme sounded aloud?
- Where is my child at in their reading/ writing and how can I best support this at home?
- What activities can we do at home to make phonics fun?
- What will my child be expected to be able to do at the end of Foundation Stage?
Although we are able to answer your questions at any time, the Stay and Play will be a good opportunity to see a variety of activities we use in action, as well as covering the above questions.
We hope to see many of you there.
Living and Learning: I know who I am.
Our Living and Learning theme this week is ‘I know who I am’.
To begin, we spent time thinking about all the things that make us who we are. We discussed how we are all special and unique. By using talk partners, we found out the similarities we have with our classmates and the things that make us different, be it our beliefs, skills or preferences.
Leading on from our previous sessions, lots of us were quick to point out how important it is to respect other people’s views and opinions. We designed our own ‘I am special stars’, with designs and words to reflect our personalities. We were surprised by how challenging it can sometimes be to say positive things about ourselves and the things we are proud of!
30 November 2018
This week’s homework is practice makes perfect and is due on Thursday 06 December. You will find an activity for the children to complete in their homework book.
Year 1:
We’ve been working on our subtraction skills (using a number line) and finding the difference between two numbers. Here are two clips to help explain finding the difference: Video 1 Video 2
Year 2:
We’ve been learning different methods to work out addition and subtraction calculations. We’ve learnt to use tens and ones (a rod of ten for each ten and cubes for the ones), drawing it pictorially (draw a stick for ten and a dot for one) or by using the column method. Have a look at our calculation videos which show some of the methods we use.
Living and Learning: I know who I am
This week our Living and Learning statement is ‘I know who I am’.
We talked about everyone being part of St James’ school and Year 1/2 class. We also talked about the other groups we belong to – for example, we live in Leeds which is in England.
We talked about some of us being born in different places and having links to other places. We also talked about clubs outside of school and teams that we support. The children made posters to show who they are.