Let's ROAR into the last half term!!!

Hi there!

I hope you have all had a lovely and relaxing holiday as this half term is absolutely filled with fantastic things to do! Can you believe that we are now in the final half term of your child being in their first year of schooling? Yes, this is the half term that we really step up a gear and prepare your child for Year 1.

So what will we be doing this week?

DINOSAURS, DINOSAURS and DINOSAURS!

The boys have driven us mad over their love of dinosaurs and so we are going to use this half term to encourage them to write with more independence. We hate to say this but they probably know so much more about dinosaurs than we do and so we have decided to use the content they have to develop their writing skills.

In order to achieve all the Early Learning Goals by the end of the Foundation Stage Year, the children need to be able to write a sentence INDEPENDENTLY. Updating my assessments over the holidays has shown that there is lots of evidence of the girls CHOOSING to write of their own initiation, with the boys preferring to build and construct. Therefore, the use of this topic on dinosaurs is aimed at giving the boys something to write about which will enable them to achieve the goal by the end of June when the results have to be submitted.

So what about the girls?
They will be given a choice as to whether they would like to do the work on dinosaurs or if they would like to develop their story writing on the theme of traditional tales.

Communication, Language and Literacy
The focus on writing will last for three weeks, and by the end of those three week, the children:
MUST be able to write a sentence independently with a full stop.
SHOULD be able to write a sentence independently with a capital letter and a full stop.
COULD write a series of sentences with developing consistency in the use of punctuation.

Here are some websites that you could use but nothing beats pencil and paper.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/penguinsonice.shtml - this is a lovely website. The children must type in their sentence and then watch the penguin write it in the ice.
CHALLENGE! You can also use the same website to develop their understanding of other punctuation such as exclamation and question marks. Yes, we do those in Foundation Stage so why not have a go!

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/cap_letters_stops/eng/Introduction/default.htm - another good site to focus on development of the capital letters and full stops. It should now be clear why we have focused on the letter names as well as the letter sounds. This way the children know what the upper case letter represents.
CHALLENGE! Have a go at the main teaching session one where you need to identify the faults in the punctuation and correct them.
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=16 - Click and drag the prepared tabs to create a sentence.
CHALLENGE! Why not get some pictures from a magazine and write your own sentences to match what you can see happening.

Phonics
This week will be used to ensure that the children have retained their ability to read and spell words containing the spelling patterns taught last half term. For your information here is a list of the ones we have covered.
Ai, ee, oo, or, ar, oa, igh, ur, ow, oi and ear.

Please refer back to previous blog entries for websites to support these. Alternatively you may wish to be word detectives and locate words in books and magazines which contain the spelling patterns.

Problem-solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
This week we return to developing the children’s understanding of SHAPE. By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to name, describe and identify a 2D shape from its description;
SHOULD be able to name all the 2D and 3D shapes;
COULD be able to name, describe and identify any 2D or 3D shape from its description.

Here are some great websites fro you to have a go at.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/Phase2delivery/Wales/Artanddesign/Keystage1/Making/Shapepictures/Introduction/ - the children review their recognition of 2d shapes and then look for them in pictures. The children also get the opportunity to create their own shape picture on the computer.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/build_it/eng/Introduction/default.htm - a good website for seeing how models are make up of 3D shapes.
http://www.learningplanet.com/act/rats/rats1.htm?rats_shapes - a great website. The children must catch the given shape but no others.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/simpleshapesort.swf - shape sorting activity according to properties.
http://www.priorywoods.middlesbrough.sch.uk/kidsonly/findout/shape/shapes.htm - a good website to help the children match, find, build and discover the properties of the 2D shapes.
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=2 - the children can copy shape pictures by clicking and dragging them. They can then go on to create their own.
http://www.ictgames.com/Y1shape.html - parts of a shape are shown and the children have to guess the shape.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/memory.html - this is a fantastic game to help the children develop their visual memory techniques.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/shapereveal.swf the children have to guess the shape as it is revealed. They can chose to use 2d or 3d shapes.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/MatchingPairs3Dshape.swf - 3D shape matching game.
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/longshape3d.html - a good website. The children have to identify the shape that is partially hidden in sand and then click on the correct labelled picture.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/castle_shapes/eng/Introduction/default.htm - identifying 2D and 3D shapes.
http://www.ictgames.com/Y2shape.html - guess the 3D shape.
http://www.rainforestmaths.com/ -by clicking on the shapes label you will be able to make patterns with 2D shapes. If you also click on the space row under 3D and 2D shapes you will have to sort different shapes according to the given criteria.

Alternatively, you could go on a shape walk around the house or local area and see what shapes you can find.

CHALLENGE! Why not write some clues about a shape and see if the class can guess what shape it is?

Knowledge and Understanding of the World
This week we focus on model making. Please can you collect any junk materials that we could use. Thanks. Each child is to make their own junk model of whatever they want to use. They will be asked to make a design first and decide what materials they are going to use. You may wish to talk to your child about what they would like to make as this will give them more time to make their model.

Physical Development
This week we will be practicing for sports day which has been planned for July 8th with July 10th as the reserve if the weather is bad. In addition to this, the children will be developing their use of positional language and movement skills through the use of an obstacle course in our outdoor play area.

Creative Development
This half term we will be really developing the children’s musical skills. They will be working on using the instruments to add to accompaniment to stories and poems. They will learn about maintaining a steady beat.

Other bits and bobs…
Please could we ask that you do not let the children play on the outdoor equipment prior to the start of the school day? This does include the sand pit and the house. Thanks in anticipation of your support.

I think that is all for this week.

Take care
Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxx