Living and learning: solving problems
This week in our Living and Learning lessons, we have been talking about solving problems (like when we fall out with friends) and also about being resilient (not giving up and keeping on trying).
We watched this song about not quitting.
PE and outdoor maths in 1,2B
We have enjoyed a bit of nice weather this week and taken some of our maths learning outside – counting in 5s.
Our PE lessons this half term are also going well. We have been playing ‘lions and hyenas’, first a whole class game and now mini-games. We can really feel the difference in our bodies when we exercise – increased heart rate, breathing harder and feeling warm!
Help at home by ensuring your child gets at least 60 minutes exercise per day (we do at least 30 mins in school each day).
We are writers!
In writing, we are going to be poets! We are linking our love of writing with our love of sport. We have used some videos of children who have been inspired by their love and passion for a sport. They talked about their determination and resilience when playing a sport, how it has made them grow as a person and how it has improved their lives. The children will create their own poems based on a sport or another interest that they are passionate about. They will also include some figurative language. This is something we’ve been working on recently. Ask your child about their poem at home.
Here are a couple of the videos that have inspired us:
Performing Poetry
This week, we’ve been exploring a poem titled Girl Footballer by Jackie Kay.
Jackie Kay is a remarkable poet, known for writing both playful poems and serious ones that address issues like discrimination and equality.
Today, we performed the poem in pairs! We received some helpful advice from Michael Rosen and came up with a few R2s to enhance our performances:
- Varying tone
- Varying pace
- Varying volume
- Incorporating engaging actions
Help at Home: by reading some poems together!
2C Living and Learning fun!
This week in our living and learning lesson we were talking about resilience, which is one of our ‘Eight R’s’ in school. We know that resilience means not giving up, and trying even if at first we don’t succeed. We always try our best in our learning!
During circle time we each discussed something we are not good at, or have struggled with in the past.
One child said ‘I wasn’t very good at riding a bike when I was younger. But I kept on practising and now I can ride a bike without stabilisers.
The children know it isn’t possible to be good at every skill straight away, but with resilience we can overcome challenges.
During the second part of the session, we worked as a team to build a tower. The children had 8 minutes to work in a team and build the tallest tower. They were not allowed to use sellotape or glue but could use materials in the classroom to build.
See how they got on below!
The team that won took their time to find strong materials.
SK: ‘I realised the heavy things couldn’t go on top so I moved them to the bottom and then the tower was strong.’
Help at home: by discussing resilience regularly and that as long as we try our best, that’s the most important thing!
Computing Creations
Our topic for this half term is Computing. We’ve been using Scratch to help with our learning.
So far, we’ve learnt…
- what a computer is
- what inputs and outputs are
- what a sprite is
- what a program is
- what logical reasoning is
…and we’ll continue our learning by using sequencing, decomposition and logical reasoning to create programs on Scratch.
Help at home: See which of our vocabulary (below) for this topic your child can remember.
Growing and changing
Our beanstalks are growing! The children have been fascinated over the last few weeks as they have watched and waited for their seeds to grow. We’ve talked about the shoot and roots as they have appeared.
This week we have explored vegetables and herbs. In the creative area, we did some observational drawing of different vegetables and looked at the shape and colours as we drew. The sensory area had lots of herbs to explore, we smelt, looked closely and touched thyme, basil, mint, rosemary and coriander.
We got busy in the Nursery garden too, tidying the planters ready for planting some of our own seeds in the coming weeks.
We have been completing our Spring checklists too, so far we have spotted daffodils, birds, blossom, green leaves, buds and snow drops.
What signs of Spring can you spot when you are out and about?
The children have been practising their counting skills and have been trying to make sure that they count carefully, saying one number for each item as they touch it or point.
Help at home: Practise counting different objects during play and in everyday life. Make sure children say one number for each item; it often helps to move each item as you count or line them up so that children only count each object once. Can they remember how many they had in total without counting again?
1,2,3 there are 3
Next week
Nursery rhyme of the week – Hickory Dickory Dock
Sound of the week Bb for bear.
We hope that you have a happy and healthy weekend and thankyou for your continued support.
Living and Learning – Friends and Family
Celebrating friendships and family in Year 3/4
This week, we’ve been focusing on the Living and Learning statement: “I recognise that friends and family are important.” We’ve had thoughtful discussions about what makes friendships special and why family support is so valuable.
Through discussion, we have shared examples of times when our friends and family have helped us and talked about ways we can do the same for others.
It has been wonderful to see the children reflect on the positive relationships in their lives and think about how they can continue to build strong friendships.
Help at home: Ask your child what is a happy and healthy relationship.
The 100 Decker Bus
The Hundred Decker Bus
This week, we’ve been reading another ‘Hundred Decker’ story by Mike Smith. The Hundred Decker Bus.
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.
In this story, a driver who is bored of his daily routine decides to take himself and his passengers on a long ‘adventure’. As more people get on the bus, more decks need to be built!
Linked to the story, we’ve been comparing cities/towns to the countryside and discussing the similarities and differences. Countryside is our ‘word of the week’.
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been comparing numbers and noticing whether change creates a number that is more or less than another. In provision, we used the ‘bus stop’ number story to explore subtraction (creating less) and recorded our number stories.
Phonics
Spring 2 week 3 has been a review of phase 3 sounds, reading words with two or more digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound). We review tricky words (a word you can’t sound out – you just have to know it) 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…
Tricky word stick person (a modified version of the ‘hangman’ game)
We often play this game in class. Write the correct number of dashes for your chosen tricky word and let your child make guesses. Encourage your child to use letter names rather than sounds for spelling tricky words. Draw a part of the stick man for each incorrect guess- you can give extra chances by adding a hat, shoes, gloves etc. to the stick person!
Poetry Picnic
Each week we learn a new poem and recite this poem every day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is the traditional nursery rhyme Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Reading reminder
Children should be reading fluently by the time their book is issued on-line at the end of the week. Your child will have read their book at least 4 times at school – this is where the teaching of reading happens. The aim of reading sessions at home is to celebrate their reading and to showcase what they have learnt during the week. It’s a great way for your child to recognise themselves as a ‘reader’.
If you believe your child is reading from memory you can ‘spot check’ particular words in a sentence or play games with the e-book (such as spotting tricky words).
Remember to encourage reading for pleasure through sharing library books, magazines and other texts at home.
Reminders and Dates
‘Number’ Stay and learn – Tuesday 18 March 9:00am
Our Stay and Learn sessions are a chance to find out more about your child’s journey through Reception. You can observe some teaching and learning, and pick up some tips to support your child at home. This session is all about Number.
Computing
We have had another week where we have been able to enjoy using the laptops and the micro:bits. Micro:bits are like small computers that can be programmed to create different outputs. They contain an LED screen and can also make sounds. We love them!
This week, the children built algorithms that made the micro:bit act like a Magic 8 ball. It would randomly, when shaken, display yes or no on the screen. In the next lesson, the children were able to turn the micro:bit into a counter. When one button is pressed, it adds 1 to the total. When a different button is pressed, it subtracts 1. The children built their algorithms well and are showing more confidence at debugging when something isn’t working. They were also fantastic at supporting each other.
