Welcome to Autumn 2! This half term, our theme is light and dark.
We’ve covered lots of important events and topics this week…
Bonfire Night
We’ve been learning about why we celebrate Bonfire Night, with an introduction to The Gunpowder Plot. The children enjoyed sharing their experiences of Bonfire Night and how they celebrated at home or out and about.
In the construction area, we’ve been building replicas of The Houses of Parliament. We explored casting shadows of our models with torches and used colour paddles to make the shadows look like fire!
Diwali
We found out about the Hindu festival of lights, that will be celebrated this weekend- Diwali.
Our focus book was Binny’s Diwali by Thrity Umrigar
We also found out about the festival through sharing non-fiction texts and watching cbeebies- My first festivals
Take a look at some of the activities we explored, when learning about Diwali.
Our word of the week is: festival
Remembrance Day
We discussed when and why we have Remembrance Day. We learnt about the meaning behind different coloured poppies. Lots of children wore a poppy to school and could speak about its meaning. We made poppies in class and poppy art using small parts outside.
Me and my money week
For Me and my money week, Reception were introduced to coins by paying for snack at the market stall! Each item cost 1p and the children had to decide whether they needed 1p or 2p. They could also decide to pay for 2 items using a 2p coin or 2x 1p coins. We counted the amount each day to say how many ‘pence’ the market stall had made.
On Friday, we used all of your kind donations (thank you!) to create our charity penny trail. Can you see what we made using the coins?
During philosphy Friday, we asked the children What would you do with your last £1?
Keep it, otherwise I’d have no money!- Reggie
Take it to charity- Liezah
Get it on an amazing toy- Finlay
Keep my money because I want £20. Then I can buy things for Mummy, Ellie and me!- Albie T
Get a real duck!- Ryan
Maths; identifying and composing 5
In Maths, we’ve been using our fingers to identify 5. We ‘grew our fingers’ using the peas in a pod song-
Five little peas in a pea pod pressed,
One grew, two grew, so did all the rest,
They grew and they grew and they did not stop,
Until one day the pod went pop!
Later in the week, we used 5 frames and 5-die frames to explore the different ways to compose 5.
Phonics
Autumn 2 week 1 has focused on the new digraphs ff, ll, ss and the single letter phoneme j
We’ve also learnt the tricky word; as
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We start by identifying which part of the word is ‘tricky’. In as, the ‘s’ is tricky because it makes the /z/ sound.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called A Cup of Tea
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Click below to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
Help at home; World Nursery Rhyme Week
Next week, we’ll be celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week
If your child would like to, we’d love to share a recording of them telling their favourite nursery rhyme in class. Please send your videos to the email address below.
Dates for your diary
Odd Socks Day- 13.11.23 To support anti-bullying week, please send your child to school wearing a pair of odd socks (Monday only)
Maths Stay and Learn – 15.11.23 – 09.00 – 10.00 Please join us in the classroom to watch a short maths session and enjoy some maths activities with your child.
Swimming
