Owls Class Blog
Owls' PE day is now on a Wednesday.
Book & Biscuit every other Tuesday at 3.10pm
Week Beginning 15th May
We are at the end of another busy week. The children have been learning about sheep this week, looking at how wool is made from the shearing stage to what then happens at the mill. They have been using their 'funky fingers' to weave with wool which has been a little tricky but they all persevered. Please find a link below to a film clip we watched.
In Art we have continued our printing journey by using natural materials to print with. The children collected some leaves & then used these to create some interesting patterns.
Literacy
The children are really applying their phonics knowledge now when it comes to writing. This week they have been choosing farm animals to innovate the story of Dear Zoo - we are going to change it to Dear Farm.
Please find links below to recap the children's phonics.
Maths
The children have been revisiting their comparison knowledge this week using more than, fewer than & less than. They used Rekenreks to show numbers 1 more than and 1 less than.
Week Beginning 1st May
The children have had a busy Coronation themed week. They have enjoyed making crowns and finger print Union Jack flags. The weather was perfect for our Coronation picnic on Wednesday and the children loved eating outside with the rest of the school.
Maths
The children have continued their work on numbers to 10 this week. They have used the staircase pattern & pictures representing the numbers to help them put the numerals in the correct order. We talked about the staircase pattern and played a 'mystery number' game to focus on 1 more than and 1 less than.
Phonics and Literacy
The children are continuing to learn more Set 2 Special Friends; oo, ou. They are learning to read an increasing number of Red Words - I have attached a simple handwriting sheet below containing some of the Red Words they should know.
This week we had a special 'email' from the zoo offering us a chance to go into a prize draw to win an animal for the day! The children came up with lots of zoo animal choices and then they wrote a draft letter requesting their own animal choice.
Week Beginning 24th April
The children have had another busy week. They took part in their first PE lesson with Mr Roberts from Wollaston School. They worked on their circus skills, pretending to be clowns and also walk the tightrope! Then they worked on their ball skills and partner work. In Art, they continued their work on printing by using different junk materials to create their pictures.
Phonics & Literacy
The children continue to do themselves proud in lessons. They are reading with increasing fluency & accuracy and their phonetic knowledge is having a positive impact on their writing. This week the children have been writing their innovation using the choices they made in last week's lessons for what they will find at the top of the beanstalk.
Maths
This week the children have been using die frames and 10 frames to represent quantities to 10, paying particular attention to arrangements showing 9 and 10. They have been using stem sentences to say the different ways they can make 10.
Below is a link to the Numberblocks episode we have used in Maths this week.
Week Beginning 17th April
It has been great to see everybody back in school after the Easter break. We have had some new additions added to our outdoor area including some gravel pits. The children have enjoyed getting in the gravel, using their imagination and role play skills to create building themed games and dinosaur games.
They have also been learning about the life cycle of a hen and watched a film clip of a chick hatching.
Literacy
This week the children have been innovating our Jack and the Beanstalk story and thinking about what they could find at the top of the beanstalk instead of a golden egg. They came up with lots of ideas including; gold coins, jelly beans, a unicorn, dinosaur egg and they added these to the story map.
Below are some phonics sheets to reinforce some of the sounds covered this week.
Maths
This week the children have been looking the number 5, using the rhyme '5 Little Monkeys'. They have been looking at the different ways of making 5, using dice frames and 10 frames to show this.
Week Beginning 6th March
What an interesting week of weather we have had, despite the snow towards the end of the week, we did manage to go on a Signs of Spring walk! The children spotted blossom, daffodils, a birds nest, buds and the lambs in the field.
Phonics
The children are beginning to learn some set 2 sounds now; ay, ee, igh, ow, oo, oo. Please see the link below to review some at home.
Maths
This week the children have been deciding different criteria for sorting groups of objects. They have also been investigating odd and even numbers using the Odd Tops and Even Tops from Numberblocks. We looked at odd and even numbers up to 10 but in their play the children have explored higher numbers, building models with cubes to check if they are even or odd.
Art
This week the children worked collaboratively, on a larger scale to create artwork in the style of Miro.
Week Beginning 27th February
The children have had a busy week with lots of opportunities to engage with books and stories to celebrate World Book day. On Monday they watched a workshop run by the author Julia Donaldson and the illustrator Axel Scheffler who read some stories and also demonstrated how he draws some of the pictures. On Tuesday we had our weekly Book & Biscuit session with parents. We looked at the story How to Catch a Star on Wednesday and the children took part in a dance workshop to bring this story to life. On Thursday we had Buddy Reading with Lions class which the children always look forward to.
Literacy
A beanstalk has been mysteriously growing in our classroom and the children were shocked to hear a loud voice saying 'fee fi fo fum'! This introduced our next class story of Jack & the Beanstalk which the children will start to learn next week.
All the children have started in their new phonics groups and will have different reading books being sent home to read. The reading books are beginning to get longer with an increasing number of words to read. The children read each book three times in school as part of their phonics lesson & then they are sent home for them to read - just a little reminder that children should be reading every day at home to reinforce the learning taking place in school. Below is a picture of the red words that some children are learning to read.
Maths
This week the children have been learning all about the number doubles up to 5 and 5. They have been doing a range of practical activities to help them learn the number doubles & have been using stem sentences such as, '4 is made of 2 and 2, double 2 is 4.'
In Art the children have been using their line drawing skills to create a picture in the style of Miro. They took their pen for a walk across the paper and then used watercolour paints to fill the spaces.
Week Beginning 6th February
This week was Mental Health Awareness Week. We looked at The Dot story by Peter H Reynolds to think about being resilient and not giving up. We talked about the power of yet to help us when we are doing something to promote a culture of not giving up. They also wore their scarves to school on Friday for Wear Your Scarf to School Day to end the week.
They have also been using their line drawing skills to create collaborative circle line pictures.
Literacy
This week the children were writing the boat scene from Mr Gumpy's Outing using the innovations they planned last week. They are also beginning to understand that sentences need a full stop at the end.
Below are some phonics links to access at home.
This week the children have been identifying when they see 6 or not 6 and also 8 or not 8. They have built their understanding of 'more than' and 'fewer than' when comparing numerals and groups of objects.
Hope you have a lovely half term break and we look forward to seeing you on 20th February.
Week Beginning 30th January
The children have been exploring floating and sinking this week. They predicted which objects would float and which would sink before testing them out. After discussing the size of the apple, the children were surprised to see it float.
Maths
This week the children have been learning about the staircase pattern to help them explore the composition of numbers 6 to 10. They have been ordering the numbers and investigating the 1more/1less pattern.
Literacy
This week the children have started to plan their story innovation for Mr Gumpy's Outing. The children brainstormed different animals and thought of the verbs to go with them. Next week they will use this to write a small section of the story.
Week Beginning 23rd January
This week the children have learnt about Chinese New Year. On Monday they cleaned the playground to sweep away the old & bring in the new. They enjoyed learning about how each year is named after a different animal & were keen to find out what year they were born in. They also made lanterns & attempted to write numbers.
The children have also been learning about trains this week. We looked at different types of trains; steam, electric, diesel & sorted them into 'now' and 'then'. The children also noticed that most freight trains are pulled by diesel engines. We also did a little friction investigation to see how far & fast a train travelled down a ramp on different materials.
Maths
This week the children have been comparing groups of toys to identify who has more and who has fewer. They have used the stem sentences, 'Pat has more than Sam. Sam has fewer than Pat.' They then looked at groups containing the same amount of toys and have begun to use the word 'equal'.
Phonics
Please find some links below to reinforce the learning in school.
Week Beginning 16th January
We are at the end of another busy week. The children have enjoyed making bird feeders to hang in our outdoor area. In PSHE we have been talking about things that are safe to put on our bodies & this week we focused on brushing teeth - how, when & why.
Reading
The children have all got their reading books in their book bags. Sound blending books are changed on a Monday & the Red phonics books are changed every three days. It is really helpful if you write a comment in the reading record books when you hear them read at home so I can see how they did and to keep that communication between home and school.
Maths
The children have continued to partition the number 5. They have been finding the 5 in numbers 6 and 7, recognising that 6 is 1 more and 7 is 2 more. The children have been using die frames to represent these numbers also.
Week Beginning 9th January
Welcome back to the first full week of the Spring Term. Last week we went for a short walk around the village, looking at the different houses and talking about the shapes and numbers we could see. This week the children have been thinking about where they live, we looked at Bozeat and other villages on a map. The children have looked at photographs of their house and have begun to make a model of their house using boxes.
Phonics
I am really pleased with the progress the children are making. Some children are reading books in their lessons and are beginning to learn Red Words. This week the children have been reading the words; I, the, no, of. Please find some useful links below.
Maths
This week in Maths the children have been learning to partition the number 5. They have learnt to use stem sentences to show their understanding, "5 is made of 4 and 1, 4 and 1 is 5."
The children have enjoyed another busy week in school and the excitement for Christmas is beginning to build! We have been working hard on our Christmas production of Whoopsy Daisy Angel and the children are looking forward to performing this on Tuesday. They also enjoyed our school Christmas dinner on Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the children took part in a clay workshop with a potter. They listened really carefully to all the instructions and tried new skills to create a Christmas angel and a decoration. Next week, when the clay has dried, the children will paint them ready to take home.
To finish our work on The Enormous Turnip, the children worked together to make turnip soup. They peeled, chopped and mixed the ingredients together - we added turnip, carrots, parsnip and onion to the stock.
In Maths this week the children have continued their work with 1 more than, using the staircase pattern and Numberblocks to reinforce the learning. They enjoyed playing a number hiding game with a partner.
Week Beginning 28th November
The children have enjoyed another busy week in school. As a school we are taking part in the church Christmas tree festival and each class has a story focus. Our story is Stick Man, so the children have been busy making stick men decorations & you can visit the church this weekend to see all the different trees.
On Tuesday the children visited the pop- up Life Space classroom in the mobile where they took part in some interactive discussions & activities all about how to keep themselves fit and healthy, linking with our PSHE lessons.
Phonics and Literacy
The children are continuing to work hard in phonics and are using Fred fingers to help them spell words like, fan, fun, bed, cup, get, kit. Some letters are still a little tricky to form so I have added some links below.
In Literacy the children have innovated the story of The Enormous Turnip and included a different root vegetable. The children then wrote the beginning of the story using a word bank for key words such as 'once upon a time.'
Maths
This week the children have been investigating the Numberblocks staircase pattern to look at ordering numbers from 1 to 5. They then used this to learn about 1 more than.
Week Beginning 14th November
This week we have been taking part in World Nursery Rhyme week. Each day we have focussed on a different nursery rhyme, singing the song & joining in linked craft & Maths activities. On Monday it was The Big Ship Sails; Tuesday was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Wednesday we looked at 5 Little Speckled Frogs; Thursday was B-I-N-G-O and Friday was Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Below are some links to the music we used.
This week it has also been Anti-Bullying Week. The children wore odd socks to school on Monday to recognise this and we have been having lots of discussions about what bullying is and how we can show kindness.
Phonics and Literacy
The children are continuing to use Fred talk to read words and Fred fingers to help them spell. In Literacy the children created zig zag books for the story of The Enormous Turnip, and it is great to see them using their phonics skills to help them write and spell words.
Maths
This week the children have been using songs and rhymes that include the counting sequence. They have been representing quantities to 10 and matching different representations. The children have been recognising numerals to 5 and developing their understanding of equal amounts.
Week Beginning 7th November
This week the children have been learning about Remembrance Day and why we wear poppies. They listened to Stuart from The Salvation Army tell a story about a war hero and made their own poppies, which they carried into the hall for our two-minute silence today. The children also made tissue paper poppies which you can see on our windows. Below is a link to a short film clip we watched to aid their understanding.
Phonics
This week the children have been learning the Special Friends sounds ch and qu, we also looked at x. They have continued to use Fred talk to help them read green words. Below are some links to reinforce the learning in school.
Literacy
The children have continued to look at the story of The Enormous Turnip. They identified the characters in the story and the order that they appear as well as picking out the key words and phrases such as 'once upon a time.' They can talk the story very confidently and have enjoyed using finger puppets to retell it with their friends.
Maths
This week the children have continued their work with whole and parts. They recapped the parts that make 3 and then went on to decompose and compose 4 and 5. The children have used squares of paper and cubes to make stampoline patterns showing the parts of 4 and 5. Below is a link to the Numberblocks episode we have used in our lessons this week.
Week Beginning 31st October
It was great to see everybody back in school after the half term holiday. This week we have been looking at fireworks and how to stay safe around them as well as how to stay safe around sparklers and bonfires. The children created some firework pictures, and some labelled them.
As the children have been discussing the colours and lights of the fireworks, we did a little investigation with torches to see which materials are transparent.
Phonics
The children are now in two smaller groups for Phonics. This week they have been learning the Special Friends sounds: sh, th.
Literacy
This week we began our new story, The Enormous Turnip. We did some listening activities and joined in with some music. The children have started to learn to talk the story and include key actions.
Maths
This week the children have been learning about 'part' and 'whole.' We have looked at toys with different parts and even different body parts, but the children learnt that all the parts together make a whole. The children then moved onto making sets of 2 and 3. They learnt that 1 and 2 are parts of 3. Below is a link to the Numberblocks episode that explores 'part' and 'whole'.
Week Beginning 17th October
The children enjoyed making their own porridge this week. They followed the instructions and observed the changes as the porridge cooked. The porridge was a resounding success and all the children enjoyed eating it with honey!
Literacy
The children used their practical experience of making porridge to support the work this week. They used a map of the instructions to talk through and add actions. The children then wrote the instructions or ordered the pictures and added key words using their phonics knowledge to help spell words.
Phonics
This new sounds for this week are; v, y, w. They have been reading the green words; fan, fun, fat, lip, log, let.
Please find some links below to reinforce this week's learning.
Maths
This week the children have been revisiting subitising numbers to 5 and have also been reinforcing their learning with more than and fewer than. They have also been sharing items so that each person has an equal amount as well as making towers with an equal number of cubes.
Week Beginning 10th October
The children have continued to take an interest in Autumn this week and the changes they can see happening around them. We have had lots of discussions about the weather changes and the clothes we are now wearing and what happens to insects during Autumn and Winter. The children went on a leaf hunt and chose a leaf they found interesting to look at.
Phonics
This week the children have focussed on the sounds b, f and e. They have been word building and spelling the words; bin, cat, cot, can, kit, mud. Some children have progressed on from using magnetic letters and began to write the words, spelling them with Fred fingers. Please find some links below to reinforce their learning at home.
Literacy
The story this week has been The Magic Porridge Pot. The children have learnt to say the story using a story map and key actions. They also looked at speech bubbles and what they are for. Some of the children used their phonics knowledge to write the key phrases 'cook little pot cook' and 'stop little pot stop' into a speech bubble. Next week we are going to make our own porridge!
Maths
This week the children have been using the song 'Five Little Peas' when looking at the number 5. They have been making collections of 5 using a hand template and then a die frame. The children soon realised that if you put two die frames together there are 10 in total - '5 and another 5 make 10 altogether.'
Week Beginning 3rd October
We have had a very busy week! On Tuesday we all walked down to the church with the rest of the school for our Harvest Festival, where the children sang the song 'Tractor Tractor.'
Our story this week has been the Little Red Hen which has tied in quite nicely with Harvest. I have been quite impressed with the children's story telling skills and I have added some videos onto Tapestry so have a look! The children enjoyed making their own bread just like the Little Red Hen and they discussed all the different changes they could see during this process, from sticky to stretchy to soft & have learnt why yeast is needed when making bread. Afterwards they enjoyed eating their bread with some butter and the verdict was good!
Literacy
As well as learning the story of The Little Red Hen, the children have been learning the new sounds l, h, r, j, as well as word building and word reading. Below you will find some links to access at home for the children to reinforce their learning.
Maths
This week the children have been comparing groups of objects, finding the group that has more or fewer. They have been using the stem sentences '.... has more than ...' '... has fewer than ...' The children have found the word 'fewer' a little tricky but have become more confident as the week has progressed.
Week beginning 26th September
This week the children have begun to think about Harvest. We visited the church on Tuesday and took part in the Experience Harvest activities and have been practising our song ready for the Harvest festival next week.
Literacy
Our story this week has been The Gingerbread Man. The children have been retelling the story with actions and have been using a story map to help them remember it. They then ordered the main parts of the story using pictures.
In Phonics the children have continued to read words using Fred talk and have been introduced to 'Fred in your head.' Below is a link to reinforce this learning at home.
Maths
This week the children have been subitising the numbers 1, 2, 3, & 4. They have looked at Numberblock 4 and used his blocks to create and describe different patterns. We talked about the word diagonal and what that would look like in a pattern.
Science
This week we used gingerbread men for an experiment. We wanted to see what happened when we poured different liquids onto the gingerbread - we used water, oil, vinegar and lemon juice. The children helped to pour the liquids on and left them a while to see what happened. The children noticed that the water, vinegar and lemon juice had 'disappeared' or 'sucked up' and they started to remember the paper towel experiment a couple of weeks ago and make comparisons. After some discussion, the children realised that the liquids had been absorbed into the gingerbread. They also noticed that the oil did not get absorbed.
PSHE
This week we started to talk about and recognise our feelings. We looked at the story of The Colour Monster and used the same colours to show how we are feeling. The children now have feelings jars in the classroom and they can add their lolly stick to a jar each morning to show how they are feeling.
Week beginning 19th September
Tuesday saw our first Book and Biscuit session of the new school year, thank you to those parents who attended. This will continue every Tuesday unless otherwise stated.
Phonics
We focussed on the Set 1 sounds; k, u, c this week. The children were also introduced to word building using the magnetic letters and became very excited when they realised they were reading words for the first time! Below you will find some links to reinforce the learning.
Maths
This week the children have been looking at the composition of the numbers 2, 3 & 4. They have made their own collections of the numbers and are beginning to realise that the size, shape & colour of the objects does not change how many there are. The children have been introduced to the stem sentences; 1 and another 1 and another 1 is 3, 4 is made of 3 and 1 more.
Literacy
We began our 'four stories in four weeks' focus by learning the story of Mr Wiggle and Mr Waggle. The children have learnt to tell the story using key actions and have been introduced to a story map to help them remember it. Ask your children to tell you the story of Mr Wiggle and Mr Waggle!
PSHE
This week the children were thinking about their support system at home and in school - who can they go to if they need something or need help? They then completed their Network or Helping Hands by drawing a picture of the people they can turn to in school, this produced some interesting discussions about hair styles and hair colour of the adults in school!
Week beginning 12th September
This week began with a really interactive assembly all about being active and it was great to see the children joining in.
Phonics
This week we have focussed on the Set 1 sounds; i, n, p, g, o whilst reviewing the sounds from last week. We have continued to play some Fred talk games and the children are becoming quite confident in identifying Fred's words. Below you will find some links to virtual lessons on the portal to reinforce this week's sounds.
Maths
This week the children have been counting groups of objects. They have been using these rules to help them:
* always start at number 1
* count 1 by 1
* put them in a line
* the last number you say tells you how many there are
Understanding of the World
To continue our work on colour mixing, the children looked at a mini science investigation using kitchen roll and food colouring.
The children saw the liquid move up the paper towel because it is absorbent. The colours then mixed once they joined in the middle.
Welcome back to the new school year! It has been lovely to see everybody back in school at the start of their Reception year. The children have settled quickly into the daily routine and are ready to learn - although I am sure they will sleep well over the weekend!
Phonics
It was great to see some parents attend the information evening on Tuesday. I hope this proved informative and helpful and I plan to include more dates over the year as the children progress through their Phonics learning.
This week we have focussed on the Set 1 sounds; m, a, s, d, t. They have worked on recognising them and saying the pure sounds and have been writing them in sand trays. The children have also been doing some Fred games to help them hear the sounds in words and blend them together orally. Below are some links to some Fred games you can access on the portal at home to reinforce the learning.
Maths
This week the children began their Maths Mastery learning. This aims to develop good number sense for all children from Reception through to Years 1 & 2. The programme uses the Numberblocks characters to engage the children. This week we have been subitising numbers 1, 2 and 3 - being able to recognise a group of dots without counting them. The children have been great at spotting different groups of dots and have been able to quickly subitise the numbers.
Art
The children have been learning about Primary Colours; red, blue, yellow. They went on a Primary Colour hunt and then learnt how to mix these colours to create green, purple and orange.
