Chips, cheesy pizzas and caterpillars
We’ve followed a number of different interests in Nursery so far this week, from chips to caterpillars!
On Monday morning, whilst having ‘tea’ in the home corner, we were eating chips and talking about where they came from. Many children suggested the supermarket and Chinese take-away, but nobody knew which vegetable they were made from. We read a story called ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’. In the story, Oliver loves chips and they’re all he wants to eat. When he visits his Grandad, Oliver is only allowed to have chips for his tea when he can find the correct plant growing in his Grandad’s allotment. After a quick trip to the shops for some potatoes, children enjoyed making chips in the afternoon. They cleaned the potatoes and were very careful when cutting them into chip shapes. Their favourite part had to be eating them!
We also found a very unusual caterpillar in Nursery on Monday. It had green and black stripes and was very hairy. It even had a big, red spike on its back. Children were really excited about it and enjoyed using the magnifying glasses to look at it closely. They drew some great observational drawings and tried hard to copy the stripes and prickles. We tried to find out more about what type of caterpillar it was; we used a nature book and searched on Google until we found an answer. It was a Pale Tussock caterpillar which will eventually become a moth.
Look what I’ve found. It’s very prickly!
After lots of pizza shop role play, children became real pizza chefs on Tuesday and made their own pizzas. They spread the tomato paste onto the pitta breads, sprinkled the cheese on top and added a few basil leaves. This provided lots of opportunities for discussion, as we watched what happened to the cheese as it melted.
Class novel – Stone Age Boy
All the year 1 and 2 classes are reading and using Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura as a stimulus for learning over the next couple of weeks. Although it is more of a picture book than a novel, it contains so much information that we will be using it as a focus for several lessons.
We will be re-telling the story, learning about life in the Stone Age and creating cave paintings using sticks and stones.
Help at home by talking about the past, present and future. Talk about major events in history including that of our own lifetimes and the more distant past. How was life different when you or your older relatives were young compared to that of your child?
Roman chariots
This week in Year 5 and 6, we’ve been learning all about the Romans. This is part of our big topic: Time Travel. We’ve been busy learning lots but we’ve particularly enjoyed making our own miniature chariots. Now we’ve made them, we’re going to write a set of instructions in our writing lessons to help other people make them, too.
First, we did some research about what Roman chariots are.
Then, we sketched some ideas.
When we felt confident, we designed our miniature versions.
Then came the most exciting part – building!
Later in the week, we’ll add our axles and wheels and then review them against the design criteria we decided on.
Cross Country competition – resilience, determination and grit!
Some year 6 children took part in the area heat of the Leeds Cross Country competition today. They ran 1,800m and had to draw on their Living and Learning skills; being ready, determination and resilience. They all enjoyed the experience and finished the race. Well done!
Living and Learning – remember and reflect
This week’s Living and Learning focus was based on 2 of the Rs for Learning – remember and reflect.
We talked about how our routine helps us remember what we are learning and how an organised classroom (or bedroom) helps us remember where things are.
We reflect on our learning in many ways. These are mostly verbal in key stage 1 – by showing thumbs up/down for example. We also talked about what the highlighting of LOs (learning objectives) mean.
Living and Learning – I can remember what I learned
Our Living and Learning this week has been to remember and reflect on what we learn. As learners, we store information through our sensory system which sends information to our brains. In class, we have looked at ways in which we remember best and not forget.
Visual Memory Games:
Look at a try of objects …
Count, visualise, remember …
Then write down what you saw…
Then check your memory… and try again to improve.
Auditory Memory:
We also tested our memory skills by learning a poem off by heart.
First, we read it together, read it to our partner and read it to ourselves. Then we added a steady beat by clicking or clapping. This musical element really helped us remember the lines.
Why not try it together at home?
https://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/walking-my-iguana
For homework this week, we are asking the children to remember a poem off by heart. Ask your child about the best ways to remember their learning and have fun!
Playing Games:
Play matching games online or with cards for learning times tables facts and spellings. Engage the learner through fun tasks so that it is more memorable.
We love reading!
All year 1 and 2 classes visited the library this week. It was great being able to choose a book each to add to our book corners in our classrooms. I chose one about hedgehogs because 1,2V’s class mascot is Spike the hedgehog!
Help at home by being a great role model and reading regularly to, and with, your child. Show them that you love reading!
Letter formation guide
When teaching the children a new sound, we sing a ditty to support their letter formation. You can use the Letter Formation guide for support when writing with your child at home. This guide is also useful for supporting your child to write their name.
For example:
- s – slither down the snake.
- a – around the apple and down the leaf.
- t – down the tower, across the tower.
Scholes Library Visit
Yesterday, we visited Scholes library. The children chose a book each which is due back after half term. Look out for a message from us to remind you.
We would like to say a tremendous (our word of the week) thank you to the parents and grandparents that helped us walk to the library.
Living & Learning – Remembering
As part of our weekly Living & Learning session, we focused on our final R of the 8Rs for learning: remembering.
To help us improve our memory skills, we were shown 12 items. After we had been shown all 12, we had to write down as many as we could. It was really tricky but some of us managed to remember all 12.
Once we’d revealed the answers, we discussed our methods for remembering the items. Some of us turned them into a song, others turned them into a silly story, a few of us just tried saying them over and over again (though we agreed this was probably the least effective method). Then, we discussed the Loci system for remembering information.
We spent time creating our route (that was familiar to us) and had another go at a similar memory test. It was interesting that most of improved our scores by 2 or 3 items.
Short-term memory is super important for us as learners and, luckily, it is something we can improve. Help at home by completing similar activities with your child – maybe on a rainy day!