Hello from Lilac and Willow! We have certainly been very busy even with a 4 day week.
This week:
We started the week by reading the story Katie Morag and the Two Grandmothers. We discovered that the main character Katie Morag lives in a small village on a remote island in Scotland; the Isle of Struay. The children talked about what life might be like for Katie Morag and what was similar and different to where she lives and where we live.
The children were able to create their own maps of the Isle of Struay, make junk models of some of the different buildings on the island and created some lovely tartan weaving. The children then heard the Charlie and Lola story ‘We Completely must go to London’. Throughout the story, the children learnt about the physical and human features of London. The children then had the opportunity to share about their experiences of visiting London and some of the attractions visited by Charlie and Lola.
Some of the activities that developed from the story included construction of the different landmarks in London on large scale maps on the carpet, children drawing their own maps of London trying to remember some of the places Charlie and Lola visited and making a collage of either the Scottish national flower; a thistle, or the English national flower; a rose. On Wednesday, the children then discussed the similarities and differences between life in a rural village and a busy city. The children were encouraged to extend their communication and language skills by telling us about which place they would like to visit and why. There were opportunities to develop that further during CIL with children writing postcards of their favourite places as well as designing and making 3D maps of either the Isle of Struay or London. To end our week, the children learnt about the festival of St. Andrew’s Day. We discovered that St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and then we saw a short film about 2 boys who celebrate St. Andrew’s Day.
We also looked back at some of the other festivals and celebrations that we have learnt about during this term, to see if there are any links between them. The children then got to taste some porridge; food that is traditionally eaten on St. Andrew’s Day. We also made Scottish flags, built castles and landmarks from Scotland in construction and wrote St. Andrew’s Day cards.
In Phonics, we learned the new graphemes c, k and e as well as the digraph ck. A digraph is where 2 letters combine to make 1 sound. In each session, the children revisit and review the previous graphemes they learnt. They are then shown real life objects or photos of objects that contain the daily sound. They are then shown the grapheme (letter), taught how to pronounce the sound, learn an action to associate with the sound and then sing a song or say a sentence containing the daily sound. The children then practised making words using the sounds learnt this week, as well as those previously learned.
In Maths this week, we have been continuing or learning about the composition of numbers, focussing on the number 4. The children are really beginning to understand that big numbers are made up of smaller numbers. We also spent to reinforcing the 1:1 principle for counting by assigning a number name to each object. We continued our work on counting by reiterating the following STEM sentence – “The final number you say when counting is the number you have in total.” The children have really enjoyed using the numicon, double sided counters and 5s frames to support their learning.
Next week:
- We will be starting our week exploring our well-being and thinking about ways to stay happy, healthy and safe.
- We will also be finding out about the festival of Advent.
- We will be learning about seasonal changes.
- In Maths, we will be learning about the relationship between one more and one less.
- In Phonics, we will be learning the new graphemes u, r, h and b as well as recapping graphemes previously learned.
Supporting your child at home:
- Lots of animals have 4 legs. Find some animal photos in books or on the Internet. Which is animal is your favourite. Encourage your child to answer with this speaking frame
“….. is my favourite animal. I like it because…..” - Draw or paint a picture of a ladybird with different combinations of 4 spots. Encourage your child to say
“…… and …… make 4” - Ask your child to tell you what they know about any of the festivals or celebrations we have been learning about this term: Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day, Children in Need, Diwali, St Andrew’s Day.
Any other information:
- COSTUMES – Thank you to those of you who have sent in your child’s costume for our Nativity; The Sleepy Shepherd. If you haven’t already done so, please provide your child’s costume in a named carrier bag to school by Wednesday 4th The children will perform in bare foot so please do not provide tights or shoes. If you have any problems regarding your child’s costume, please do not hesitate to let us know.
We hope you had a good weekend, see you next week!
Mrs Fisher and Mr French
Willow and Lilac Class Teachers.
