Don't eat me!!!

Hi there!

Lots of fun things to learn this week. We begin with…

Phonics
The children are doing tremendously well with their phonics. This week we will be consolidating their understanding of the sound patterns taught last week which include ‘or’, ‘oa’, ‘ar’ and ‘igh’. By the end of the week, the children;
MUST be able to identify the patterns ‘or’, ‘oa’, ‘ar’ and ‘igh’ on sight;
SHOULD be able to use them to make new words;
COULD be able to read and write words containing the patterns.

Here are the websites to support this area of learning:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/poems/flash/fpoem4.shtml - this looks at the spelling pattern ‘oa’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/poems/flash/fpoem9.shtml - this looks at ‘igh’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/snap/snap.shtml - a snap game to help the children quickly identify the letter patterns in words.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/whirl/game.shtml - I would recommend this website to support the blending of sounds together when reading.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/literacy/phonics/index.shtml - a great website with different levels. Start at the medium level and then work on from there at your own pace.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/16022007/wordmaker_vowels1/lesson.html - I really like this one. You could easily have a go at sections 1 and 2.
http://www.starfall.com/n/skills/the-lonely-vowel/load.htm?f - a great little video!
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f - select the games to play with our spelling patterns in them.

Communication, Language and Literacy
This week the focus will be on developing the children story sequencing and story langauge. Plenty of reading of traditional tales at home will support this. Linked to our Here I Am theme the children will receive a postcard from Jim the giant as he has gone on holiday after putting his house up for sale. The new occupant of his house is no other than the gingerbread man!

Problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy
We will continue to develop the children’s understanding and use of comparative language, with a specific focus on tall and short. By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to identify objects that are tall and short.
SHOULD be able to order up to three objects in order of height saying which is the tallest, which is taller and which is shorter/shortest.
COULD be able to compare the heights of a range of objects and use other language to compare and describe the size.

Here are some websites to support you:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/numbers/index.shtml - This is a good website for reviewing addition and subtraction even though we are not working on it directly at the moment.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/big_small/eng/Introduction/default.htm - looks at big and small.
http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/apple.html - a lovely website introducing small, medium and large’
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/docs/shortesttotallest.doc - print out and order at home.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/sizeordering.swf
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=compare-order7 - fab!

http://www.kidport.com/GradeK/Math/MeasureGeo/MathK_tall.htm - a simple website for identifying the tallest and shorted but remember to encourage your child to say the language associated with the height.
http://www.kidport.com/Grade1/Math/MeasureGeo/G1-M-MG1-1-2.htm
http://www.rainforestmaths.com/ - this is definitely one to go on. Click on the measurement one and then on length. You will see some towers in the left hand corner. If you click on them they change the focus of the comparative language.


What else will we be doing? Well if I was to say ‘Run, Run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me I’m the …..’ you would know. Yes! We are doing The Gingerbread Man. Here are some websites to support this fantastic traditional tale.

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/stories/gingerbread.htm - this is a great electronic version of the story for the children to read alongside you. This version shall be the one used this week in class.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/stories/colour/gingerbreadman.shtml - this version can be printed off to colour in and then perhaps your child could develop their writing skills to add captions to the pictures.
http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/gingerbread/gingerbread_man_poem.htm - this is a fantastic poem based on the story of the gingerbread man.
http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/gingerbread/load.htm?f&n=main -the children can design their on-screen gingerbread man.

These are some of the activities your child may choose to do throughout the course of the week:
Sequencing the pictures from the story and retelling it in a written or oral form.
Rhyming bingo to focus on the rhyming aspect of the refrain.
Writing speech bubbles for what the characters may be saying in the story.
Adding percussion to the refrain of the story.
Role-play of the story with the props and masks.
Creating maps showing the route the gingerbread man took.
Sewing gingerbread family glove puppets.
Using the story board characters to retell the story in sequence.
Making gingerbread men biscuits.
Designing and making bridges using construction and junk materials for the gingerbread man to use instead of jumping on the fox’s back.
Designing their own gingerbread man.

Here I Am
We will be continuing to look at Holidays this week in Here I Am. As a response to last week’s work, the children will be creating a collage or painting of a holiday have taken. In addition to this they will be learning about Pentecost – a special holiday- when Jesus kept his promise.

Reading questionnaire
This week the rest of the school have their parents’ evening. We are currently looking at reading throughout the school and fostering a reading culture in our community. A questionnaire will be sent out to you this week. Please could you take the time to complete it and return it to me by the end of the week. Your opinions are really valued.

I think that is all for now except to say have a great week. I know we will.

Take care

Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxxxx