This Green Moon
The Train Ride
We’re starting the half term with a focus on transport. This week, we’ve been reading The Train Ride by June Crebbin.
This story is about things that are seen out of the window, on a train journey. We noticed that the rhythm of the book’s repeated/rhyming lines start fast and repetitive (much like the sound of a train chugging along a track) and then as the train approaches the station, the lines become longer and the pace slows down until the train reaches is destination. Destination is our ‘word of the week’.
Historical links
We looked at pictures of the early steam locomotive- Robert Stephenson’s Rocket. We compared it to the trains we use today.
Phonics
Spring 2 week 1 has been a review of phase 3 sounds: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, oo, ow, oi, ear, in words and sentences. We review tricky words daily.
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! Here’s a game we play at school that you could try at home.
Roll and Read
You will need a die for this game. You may wish to print the boards or display them on a screen.
- Roll the die
- Count the spots, match to the correct row
- Choose a word to read on the row
- Cover the word when read correctly
- Repeat
Who will be the first to complete a row?
Maths: Comparison
We’ve been comparing groups of objects and toys, saying which has more and which has fewer. We’ve been noticing and explaining why size, colour and other factors do not matter when comparing ‘how many’.
In the classroom, children have been making 6 using Numicon frames.
This Green Moon
This week was a very special week for our Reception class as we went on our very first class trip to This Green Moon! As soon as we opened the doors in the morning the children were buzzing with excitement.
When we arrived at Green Moon, we were warmly greeted by the two leaders, Paul and Matt. They led the activities and supported us throughout the day – they were fantastically engaging and fun.
We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day outdoors, exploring the natural world around us. The children took part in so many exciting activities: making a fire, creating sculptures using potatoes, designing bracelets with pieces of coloured wool we found in the forest, and even working together to create a giant piece of artwork. It was fantastic to see their creativity and curiosity shining through.
What a fantastic day full of learning, laughter and adventure. Well done, Reception – we’re so proud of you all!
Year 3,4 Maths – subtraction
This week, the children have been learning how to use the column method for subtraction.
We have talked through the method and practised a lot. The children are starting to feel really confident.
Help at home by practising this method. Keep using NumBots to secure the number facts as this will help when working with larger numbers.
Computing
In Topic this half term, children will be learning about Computing.
Here is the vocabulary we will learn!
In our first lesson, we learnt about algorithms.
An algorithm is a set of instructions.
We created our own algorithms to get from the start to the finish of a simple offline game.
DT food
What a brilliant morning we have had in 1A! Today we did a DT food lesson, where we made fruit salad.
We used lots of different methods like peeling, chopping and mixing to create our juicy fruit salads. Lots of us enjoyed the fruit salad and even added yoghurt at the end.
Help at home by discussing healthy foods and encouraging children to help prepare food.
Living and Learning – drugs, alcohol & tobacco
‘I know what a drug is.’
This fortnight, we are learning that a drug is a substance that changes the way the body or mind works. This week we’ve been discussing things that are helpful and harmful for our bodies, and learning about different warning symbols to keep us safe.
Help at home by asking your child if they know about some things that can be harmful for our bodies.
Outdoor learning for Science
On Tuesday, 1A had a fantastic afternoon learning about the environment. This half term, we are learning about the environment and how to look after the Earth. We know some things are harmful to the environment like pollution and throwing litter on the ground. Some things are helpful for the environment like planting trees and flowers. We can also help by recycling any litter and waste.
In the afternoon, 1A had a look in the wildlife garden. We spotted lots of insects and homes that they might live in. We saw lots of beautiful flowers emerging and spotted lots of ‘bug hotels.’
Topic – computing
We have started our new topic this week – computing. We began by looking at our new vocabulary and talking about how confident we felt about each word. We then began to learn about search engines and how they work. The children were introduced to the idea that search engines use web crawlers to locate webpages with relevant information on. They then store these in an index, which is a huge database. When you search something online, it searches the index for relevant webpages and an algorithm ranks them in order of relevance. Who knew all this went on in the background when you quickly search on the internet for something?!
Here is the vocabulary we are using this term.
Help at home: Can you help your child learn the vocabulary? Maybe play a game of Pictionary.
Design Technology (Food) – Fruit Salad (2C)
In 2C, we also enjoyed our spring term DT food session!
Beforehand, we read the recipe for fruit salad and discussed how we would stay safe by washing our hands, being careful with the equipment and following instructions.
We worked together to prepare the fruit and enjoyed a lovely bowlful with some yoghurt!
Help at home by reading and following recipes together – feel free to share photos for show and tell!
Next week in nursery
Nursery coffee morning – Wednesday 04 March
As you will have seen advertised in the school calendar, we have a Nursery coffee morning on Wednesday 4th March from 9am until 9:30am.
Come along and share your child’s learning journey and get to know other Nursery parents/carers. Some of the Scholes (Elmet) Primary School staff will also be there to chat to
We look forward to seeing you – come along to the Hub (the door just to the side of Nursery) after you have dropped your child off at Nursery.
World Book Day – Thursday 05 March
Thursday 5th March is World Book Day. We’ll be celebrating with lots of book-based activities in Nursery.
If your child wants to, they can come dressed as a book character or anything else book-related (but please don’t feel the need to go out and spend money on a costume).
Please remember that it will be a normal Nursery day, involving indoor and outdoor activities, so outfits need to be weather/ play appropriate.
Design Technology (Food) – Fruit Salad
Today, we did our spring term DT food session. We made a fruit salad and we had a brilliant time. We had to use lots of different skills including washing, cutting, claw grip, bridge hold, mixing and peeling. The children listened really carefully and made sure they kept safe during the cooking.
We washed our hands to make sure we didn’t spread germs.
We used the claw grip when we were cutting.
We made sure the knife was pointing away from us.
We listened to the adults carefully and followed their instructions.
We used lots of different types of fruit. When it came to eating, everybody (well most) loved it and there was lots of clean bowls!
