World Book Day
In 5/6, children have been designing a new edition of their favourite book. We have also read some extracts of our favourite books, thought about what makes a good character and even had a zoom talk with one of our most popular authors: Pamela Butchart.
Reading – Ollie’s magic bunny
We are using Ollie’s Magic Bunny by Nicola Killen as a focus for our reading and writing this half term. It’s helped us use our retrieval skills (answering questions about what happens in the book) and inference skills (thinking about character’s thoughts and feelings).
You can listen to the story here.
(This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.)
Y2 Maths – divide
Our focus in Maths at the moment is divide. Divide means to share equally. Equal means the same.
This week we are dividing by 5. We have been looking at lots of number stories and discussing exactly what each number in our equations represent.
‘The 15 represents all of the eggs.”
”The 5 represents the eggs in each nest.”
”The three represents the number of nests.”
We drew part-whole models to show how many fives make up a number. When we are thinking about multiples of 5, we know that the ones column must have either a 0 or a 5 in it.
”54 is not a multiple of 5 because even though it has a 5 in it, it is in the tens column. It needs to be in the ones column to be a multiple of 5.” (BC, 2C)
Help at home: by writing out dividing equations and really discussing what each number represents!
Remember – We always put the ‘big’ number at the start of a divide equations. This is the number we are dividing/ sharing.
Living and learning : strong emotions
We watched this story called Beegu. It is all about an alien who
(This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.)
KS1 – A little early World Book Day treat
Today, all three KS1 classes had the amazing opportunity to experience a zoom call with the renowned author Julia Donaldson and the talented illustrator Axel Scheffler.
The session started with Axel Scheffler reading us the story ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’. He then drew Bill and Janet from the story. We had a go at drawing along… but it was very fast!
Julia Donaldson then read us her story ‘Tiddler’. It was really lovely to hear for ourselves how she had imagined the voices would sound in the story. We listened attentively before Axel Scheffler then showed us how to draw Tiddler and Little Johnny Dory.
What a great start to the week!
Help at home: There are so many Julia Donladson stories, perhaps you could share some of them together at home. You can also find animated versions of the stories that we heard today a on BBC iplayer.
The Smeds and The Smoos
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001gncf/the-smeds-and-the-smoos
Tiddler
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0026dm6/tiddler
PE – rugby
We have moved on to a different sport this half term – rugby!
In this first lesson, the children were introduced to the idea of passing the rugby ball accurately. They used a point and pass technique and if they wanted to challenge themselves, they could try and put a spin on the ball. They applied this skill in a ‘piggy in the middle’ type game in which the children had to accurately pass the ball and also intercept. The children’s confidence definitely improved during the session and they were also able to develop their team building and communication skills.
Science: circulatory system
For the next few weeks, our science topic is the circulatory system. In this biology topic we’ll look at how the heart pumps blood around the body, what blood is made up of and the effects of exercise on our body.
Here is our science vocabulary:
Help at home: Discuss the science vocabulary. Before and after exercise, see what happens to your heart heart. How could you improve your resting heart rate?
Jack and the Beanstalk
We loved reading Jack and the Beanstalk this week and re-telling the story using the props in the book corner.
Fee- Fi-Foo-Fum! Watch out everyone here I come!
We listened to an audio book of the story, too. We have been working very hard at listening carefully. Being a “ good listener” will help the children when they move to Reception and begin listening for the sounds in words.
We painted beanstalks and explored different types of beans in the sensory area. The baked beans were “ cold” “ yuck” “ squishy”
We even rolled long ‘sausages’ using dough to make beanstalks and added our own leaves. How many can you see? Which beanstalk is the tallest?
Your child might have also told you all about planting their own magic bean; we’ve planted some bean seeds and are hoping that our bean stalks will soon start to grow.
Next week
Nursery rhyme of the week –Round and Round the Garden
Sound of the week “Rr” for rainbow.
Reminder
World Book Day – Thursday 06 March
This year, we will celebrate in Nursery by bringing in our favourite books from home to to share with our friends. Please make sure that your child’s name is in their book.
Why not spend an extra few minutes at drop off time and share a favourite story with your child. We will have lots to choose from and some story props to help to bring the stories to life.
The Train Ride
We’ve sprung into Spring 2 with great excitement for the term ahead! We are very impressed with how both Sunshine and Rainbow class have shown a readiness to learn. The children have been really excited to share with their friends all the adventures they have been up to during half term.
The Train Ride
This half term is called Let’s Go! We’re starting 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.
We are excited to see the replica train at the museum!
Maths: Comparison
We’ve been comparing groups of objects and toys, saying which has more and which has fewer. We’ve been using our mathematical reasoning to explain why size, colour and other factors do not matter when comparing ‘how many’.
In the classroom, children have been making 6 using Numicon frames.
ICT- Programming a BeeBot
We’ve been learning how to programme a BeeBot. This week we’ve been ‘having a go’ at pressing the buttons and making them move. We’ll be continuing our learning over the next few weeks, learning about algorithms and programming. We will learn to use sequences of instructions, to programme the BeeBot to reach a destination.
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! We’ve previously introduced a few fun games you can play at home to practice tricky words. Here’s another you could try.
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?
Reminders and Messages
Monday 03 March- Class Trip to The National Railway Museum.
World Book Day 2024- Thursday 06 March Please join us in the classroom (8.35-9.15) where you can relax and read books with your child. We’d also like your child to share their favourite book with their friends. Please send your child into school with their favourite book and please ensure the book is named. As stated on the school calendar, this not a dressing up year.
Welcome back!
2C have had a fantastic first week back in school. On Monday we started our DT food and we made overnight oats. Most of the children enjoyed the food and took a recipe home to try it out (maybe with a few tweaks)!
We’ve started to divide by 10 in Maths and we’ve looked at the relationship between multiply and divide.
‘If I know 10 x 2 = 20 then I know that 20 / 10 = 2’.
The children have continued to learn to join up their hand writing and have been writing some sentences about our new class novel ‘Ollie’s Magic Bunny by Nicola Killen.’
Well done for a great first week back at school 2C!