The children had a fantastic Spanish week last week. They really responded to the Mantle of the Expert activity based on the work of Antoni Gaudi. EVERY child was inspired and eager to create an observational drawing based on their chosen piece of fruit or vegetable. Their collaborative piece of art work has already been hung in the entrance hall of the school for all to enjoy. It’s well worth a trip down to the office for a quick look with your child some time this week if you can. I hope to photograph them and place them on the school website soon.
I am pleased to say that my pronunciation problems were ironed out over the week as Senora Higgins gave me a few tips (whilst laughing her head off at my attempts!) I cam so proud of the children. Nearly all of them know the colours in Spanish!
This week we bring together the importance of healthy eating and healthy life styles. ‘Go,go, go, go to Lazy Town…’ if you are subjected to repeated episodes of this children’s programme then at least now we can actually use a children’s programme as a real educational resource.
Courtesy of Father Christmas I do have a copy of the soundtrack which the children will use in their very own aerobics lesson. The Green Goddess (aka Mrs Latham) will be helping the children to understand the effects of exercise on their bodies. Judging by the amount of energy this class has got Mrs Latham may have her work cut out!! In addition to this, the children will be asked to complete a ‘5-a-day’ record sheet where they can colour in the smiley face when they have had a portion of fruit or vegetable each day. Let’s see who can get a full sheet.
Communication, Language and Literacy
Following on from the previous few weeks where we have been looking at fruit and vegetables, the children will learn about how they are grown within the context of their Literacy input. The children will receive a letter from an old friend of theirs, The Jigaree, (you remember…the monster from space). He has found an unidentified object on the moon and asks if we know what it is. It’s actually a potato! The children will be involved in the creation of an information book for The Jigaree to explain the other foods he finds later on in the week.
Therefore, the children will be reviewing their understanding of labels, captions and the different features of a non-fiction text. For example:
A heading
Captions
Photographs
Contents page
About real things
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to identify the differences between a fiction and non-fiction text;
SHOULD be able to identify the features of non-fiction texts;
COULD be able to write a caption to match a photograph complete with a connective.
The children will be able to demonstrate their understanding of healthy eating on the writing table where they can have a go at making a poster for our new grocery store to be set up next week.
The following websites should prove useful this week:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/ourselves.shtml - this website supports the children’s understanding of labelling whilst helping them in their reading. The children can label a horse, fish, ant and a human body.
As always the children will be developing their phonic skills.
If your child is still working on their letter recognition then please try out these websites also:
http://www.ictgames.com/phonic_fighter4.html
http://www.ictgames.com/letterlifter.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/words/dgi.shtml - this is a great website for identifying the sounds at the beginning, middle and end of words.
www.starfall.com - the old favourite.
In addition to this we will also be continuing to concentrate on the children’s spelling of simple three letter words such as big, man, cat, top etc as well as focusing in on the high frequency words more. The children are doing great as this is the end of year target for Foundation Stage and we are already working on it!! The following websites should prove very useful.
http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%20Studio/cfslit/CVC%20Maker/cvcmaker.html - this website asks you to see how many words you can make
http://www.ictgames.com/cvc_machine.html
http://www.ictgames.com/plankgameR.html - this focuses on high frequency words
http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html - this concentrates on the spelling of the high frequency words. You can simply type in the high frequency words that your child needs to work on for them to play the game with.
http://www.ictgames.com/machine.html - great for blending sounds together.
For those children who are already able to spell and read simple three letter words then try out these websites as they will focus on the spelling of consonant clusters in words e.g bl, cl, st, sm etc.
http://www.ictgames.com/blending_dragon.html
http://www.ictgames.com/cluster.html
Mathematical Development
This week we will return to our work on addition. Remember the phrase COUNT-COUNT-TOGETHER-COUNT with the children as a review to the method they need to use when adding two numbers together. As the week progresses we hope that the children will begin to develop their mental recall of some smaller number facts.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to practically combine two sets of objects in order to find the total;
SHOULD be able to start for the larger number and count on to find the total of two numbers;
COULD be able to understand that there are many ways of making one total e.g 4+3 is 7 as is 5+2 and 6+1, etc.
Here are some useful websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/numbers/ch1.shtml - this is a lovely website for developing those skills of addition. Remember the phrase: COUNT, COUNT, TOGETHER, COUNT.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/count_on_me/eng/Introduction/default.htm - although this is aimed at Year1/2 I still think some of the children will be able to access it. Why not give it a try?
http://www.ictgames.com/10pipe.html
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/toftwood/beaver.html
www.rainforestmaths.com - by far my most favourite website for developing mathematical development.
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
In the computer suite this week, the children will be consolidating their understanding of the art package Dazzle. They will be asked to choose a fruit or vegetable to create on screen using the different tools on the desktop. The children have amazed us once again this year with their ICT skills. In addition to this, the children will be continuing to practice their programming of the two robots we have in school.
Physical Development
The children’s physical development has a high profile this week as we take a look at exercise. The children will learn to recognise the importance of keeping healthy and those things which contribute to this. They will become more aware of the changes that occur when their bodies are active.
The week will kick off with the children differentiating between food items that are healthy and unhealthy for them. We will ensure that some things are less healthy than others but eaten in moderation are okay.
Hallelujah!!! All our children can now get dressed and undressed independently, including buttons. Just in time for them to use polo shirts!! Aghh!! Perhaps we can now turn our attention to something else. I’ll have to ponder on this one!!
Here I Am
We will be developing the Easter story in preparation for a whole week on it next week. I hope you have all been gluing frantically over the weekend. Remember the prize goes to the one that demonstrates creativity and is the child’s own work. If it is any consolation I too have to make one with Faith and find it really hard to keep my hands off the glitter and feathers! I actually made one alongside her purely for ideas of course!
I think that’s all for this week.
Best wishes
Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage xxx
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