During the day, we joined in enthusiastically with a reading of ‘The Gruffalo’. We listened out for owl in the woods, we collected food for mouse and we examined the minibeasts hiding under the logs – millipedes, centipedes, worms, slugs, woodlice.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch indoors before heading back out into the woods to explore the mud kitchen, challenge ourselves on the ropes, build cosy dens, cook up treats in the mud kitchen and swing bravely on the rope.
You were wonderful ambassadors for ACE, Reception – thank you to you and to the family members, who were able to enjoy the experiences with us.
On our Talk for Writing journey so far, we have shared the story, talked about the nouns and adjectives used to describe the Gruffalo, drawn crayon portraits of the Gruffalo, created mice with curly tails, developed our hole punching and pin splitting skills making snakes and retold the story using story maps.
We then considered how we might describe a different monster before creating and describing our own. The children are – quite rightly – feeling very proud that they can identify some of the sounds in the words that they want to use in their writing.
Our innovation of The Gruffalo story involved a monster called Yellowno.
What’s a Yellowno? A Yellowno? Why, didn’t you know? He has stripy horns and scratchy claws and sharp wet teeth in his smooth jaws. He has bendy knees and messy toes and poor Yellowno has no nose. His eyes shine blue, his tongue is red and he has purple spots all over his head. Oh help! Oh no! It’s a Yellowno!
Great ideas, RS – well done!
We are very excited about our trip next Tuesday to Skelton Grange, where we will consolidate our learning before turning our attention to Christmas.
Reading Eggs and Mathseeds
Well done to earners of certificates and stickers this week.
And, well done, Ariella, for being our home reading champion this week.
Thank you for sending the children in odd socks today.
It helped to start the conversation around celebrating our differences and reminded us about the importance of being kind. We appreciate that, sometimes, we may feel that someone has been unkind to us and we can respond by saying, “Please don’t say/do that; I don’t like it”. We also discussed who we can turn to for help. Here is a lovely story that celebrates difference if you want to share it at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw73910uecU
Children in Need Disco
Thank you for supporting the Children in Need disco. We had so much fun and enjoyed raising money for such a worthy cause.
Reading Eggs and Mathseeds
Thank you for learning on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds this week. It’s really making a difference with progress.
Our focus, this week, has been learning about Diwali – the Hindu and Sikh festival of light – where goodness triumphs over evil. Mrs Ajith and Ruby very kindly talked to us about how their families celebrate at home. Thank you for sharing your Diwali treasures, Ruby.
The children listened to, watched and then acted out the story of Warrior Prince Rama and Princess Sita.
Princess Sita and Warrior Prince Rama loved each other very much.
However, Demon King Ravana wanted Princess Sita for himself and took her away. (Samson is trying very hard to look mean!)
Prince Rama asked his good friend, Hanuman – the Monkey King – for help. So Hanuman rounded up all of the monkeys to help find Princess Sita.
Prince Rama shot an arrow at Demon King Ravana….
…..and he died.
Princess Sita and Prince Rama were reunited. Diya lamps helped them to find their way home.
Super drama, RS! It was brilliant that you all wanted to join in with the performance.
I wonder if the children can use the pictures to retell the story at home?
The children rose to the challenge of manipulating clay and then creating patterns with tools to make beautiful diya lamps. We hope they burn brightly at home and bring you good fortune.
Happy Diwali if you are celebrating over the next few days.
Well done to the children, who have earned Reading Eggs/Mathseeds certificates and stickers over the last couple of weeks.
As we come to end of our first half term, we reflect on our Reception journeys so far. Rio has loved spending time with his buddy. Sophia is proud that she can now “climb on the climbing frame upside down with no hands”. Eva enjoyed “making puppets”. Peter is proud “of all the words I read now”. Rory likes “playing with Aulani all day”. Paige’s highlight was “having a worm in [her] hair”! We are all different but, collectively, RS, you make a wonderful group of children to be around and it is a privilege to watch you grow. Thank you.
Talk for writing innovation
This week, RS took Little Rabbit Foo Foo on a new adventure. He hopped into the farmyard and scooped up the oinking pigs, fluffy sheep, mooing cows and flapping chickens. Despite warnings from the angry farmer, Little Rabbit Foo Foo continued to bop heads until the farmer had no choice other than to turn him into a spider. Super ideas, RS!
Certificates and stickers for learning on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds
Thank you for joining us this morning for our box exhibition. The children loved having you in school and were proud to share their boxes with the Year 6 buddies. We are so lucky that they have developed such warm relationships.
Reading Eggs
Well done to the children earning stickers and certificates this week. Thank you for encouraging them at home.
What would you think if you opened a bag of clues containing a mallet, some bunny ears, a pot of fairy dust, a magic wand, a bunny tail and some torn denim? Well, Christina wondered if “the fairy might whack the rabbit to bits”!
The clues hooked us into Michael Rosen’s story, ‘Little Rabbit Foo Foo’.
We discussed the role of the author, illustrator and the blurb on the back cover, moving at a gentle pace through the story, considering new vocabulary and discussing the characters. A story map was drawn so we could sequence events, which helped us when we started our imitation of the text.
We have been making Foo Foo puppets and wriggly worms in our workshop and drawing pictures of goonies.
Once we are confident with imitating the story, we will start to innovate and create our own versions of the tale.
Over this year, the Talk for Writing process will help the children to build up a bank of story ideas from which they can draw as they become creative and independent writers.
Please ask the children if they can tell you some of the story. We hope you will be impressed by what they can recall!
Pumpkin patch
Thank you so much to Mrs Whittaker for creating a beautiful autumnal scene in our small world area, provoking awe and wonder in the children (and adults!).
We examined her beautiful gourds and discussed what we noticed before using oil pastels to draw them.
Please watch the children recite Joseph Coelho’s, ‘Take a Deep Breath’: the poem we have shared this week in celebration of National Poetry Day.
We really enjoy taking deep breaths and the sense of calm that this brings after a morning fizzing around Reception. The children considered which places make them feel safe, relaxed and happy.
Sophia is happiest at home: “I love all my family”. Maya enjoys her bed, which she describes as “nice and cosy”. Ruby relaxes with at her “Grandma’s”. Eliza’s happy place is “at the top of the climbing frame”. Rory feels most relaxed having “lunch with the buddies”. Poppy’s “playroom” is her sanctuary; she likes to “lie down and then jump up”.
Our Reception maths journey started with matching and sorting games. We talked about why objects are the same or different and then went on a hunt to ‘Find a match’.
We challenged ourselves to build matching towers.
We played SNAP! Lids were matched. Sets were created and incorrect sets were fixed.
Some of the children were so keen to demonstrate their sorting skills that, one afternoon, they tipped out all the resources on every shelf in the maths area! They discovered that, despite being skilled sorters and matchers, they had set themselves a time consuming challenge!
We have also been comparing quantities. Are there more boys or more girls in our class? Which colour lunch band is most popular today? Who has fewer banana slices? How many more bears does Cheeky Monkey have? We discovered that it’s easier to compare quantities when we line them up carefully or use a ten-frame.
Next week, we will be comparing size and mass. Please chat over the weekend about who is taller and shorter at home. How do the children know? Can they have a go at being human scales? Take a walk indoors or out and pick up an object in each hand. Does one object feel heavier than the other? The children might discover that size is not always an indicator of mass.
