Sunday, May 11, 2008

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!!!

Hi there!

What a lovely weekend we have had and, with the promise of yet more lovely weather your child’s protection is paramount. Some of you have already sent in sun cream and sun hats. We will ensure that your child wears both if they are provided. It is vital that they have these as our curriculum is outdoors throughout the day as well as indoors. Please could you apply the sun cream before you bring your child to school and then we will just ‘top it up’ at lunchtime. Many thanks.

Well, on Friday we have our visit to the Blue Planet to look forward to, and last week we made a cracking start on developing the children’s knowledge of the sea creatures they will encounter through our electronic big book. The children are firmly aware of the features of a page in a non-fiction book, and even went on to independently create their own information books in the writing area. Absolutely amazing! On Friday last week, all the children completed some writing about their favourite sea creature and I was so spoilt for choice which to show Mr Barker, that I took the whole lot to him. He was amazed at the level of writing of our children.


http://nyaquarium.com/nyaanimals/465146?o=2&preview=&psid=&ph=class%25252525252 - Have a closer look at some other sea creatures.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/ - get some information about sea life animals as well as playing a few games too.

All our activities in Creative Development and Knowledge and Understanding of the World will be linked to the theme of sea creatures.

Problem-solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
By the end of the week, the children:

MUST be able to recognise all the coins to £2
SHOULD be able to pay for items in a shop with 1p or 2p coins
COULD be able to give change from 10p when purchasing items in the class shop.


Here are some good websites but nothing beats playing shop at home and using really coins.
http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/games/recognisematch2.html - an evaluation copy but okay to use
http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/games/recogniseCHALLENGE.html - as above but with a one minute timer
http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/games/10pMatch.html
http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/games/10pCHALLENGE.html - as above but with a one minute timer
http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/games/20pencematch.html
http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/games/20pencematchCHALLENGE.html - as above but with a one minute timer
http://www.ictgames.com/moneysplat.html - a great game for developing those addition skills. Remember to count on from the largest number.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/working_with_coins/eng/Introduction/default.htm - this can be a bit of a challenge but some children will be able to do it with a bit of help.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/den/snap/index.htm

Phonics
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to identify and differentiate between the sounds ‘or’ and ‘ar’, being able to read and spell words containing them
SHOULD know the spelling patterns ‘ur’, ‘ow’, ‘oi’ and ‘ear’.
COULD be able to read and spell words containing the above spelling patterns.

http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/index2.php?action=underestand
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html - you will need to type in some words for the children to blend to read. This is a friendly way of helping your child to read the words containing the spelling patterns we have used so far as well as ones we will be focusing on this week.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html - a great game to help speed up reading simple three letter words. Have a go also on some of the others.
www.starfall.com - the old chestnut!


Physical Development
The children will continue to focus on their throwing and catching skills and we will begin to practise some skills for sport’s day.


Here I Am
We begin our next topic on BUILDING BRIDGES. The children will learn to:
RECOGNISE what a friend is.
REFLECT on people they have met in school.
RESPECT and appreciate that they have friends.
The children will record their understanding of this by creating an information book for our new intake.


I think that is all for this week.

Have a good week!

Best wishes

Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxx

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