Christmas Countdown begins...

Hola!

Well…this is the week before our Christmas Production and believe me you are in for a real treat. Much of this week will be used to refine our performance with the children to ensure they are as confident as possible for their moment in the limelight. Costumes will need to be in on Monday so we can try them on the children and make sure they are in school for the dress rehearsal on Friday morning. Please remember to write your child’s name on them and also hanging them on a hanger is really helpful to us. Thanks.

So what will we be learning this week?

Problem-solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
As time is limited this week we will be focusing on number recognition with the children. Therefore, by the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to recognise numerals to 5 and match sets of objects to the numerals;
SHOULD be able to recognise numerals to 10, match sets of objects to the numerals and order numerals from 0 to 10;
COULD be able to recognise numerals to 20, match sets of objects to the numerals and write the numerals to 10 correctly and independently.

Here are some great websites you could use. However, car registration plates, house numbers etc are good ways of helping the children learn their numbers.
http://www.ictgames.com/caterpillar_slider.html - ordering random numbers
http://www.ictgames.com/mucky.html - to revise more and less;
http://www.ictgames.com/nutty_v3.html - ordering numbers
http://www.ictgames.com/postletter.html - number recognition
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/online_downloads.htm - click on the ordering numbers game

Communication, Language and Literacy
Again, as time is limited we will use the opportunity to review and assess the children’s recognition of:
Letter sounds and names
High frequency words
Spelling and reading words containing the focus letters taught so far.

Here are some websites which will support these areas.
http://www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/activities.htm - The children are to try to hear the initial sounds in words.http://www.ictgames.com/phonic_fighter4.html - Look at the letter shown and then select the picture that begins with that letter.http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/H/hoobs/activities/interactiveActivities.jsp?id=letters - This is an amazing website focusing on the initial sounds. Hours of fun why you do your ironing I think!http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/beginning.html - the children are to focus on the initial sounds of the picture shown and then identify a picture with the same initial sound.http://www.ictgames.com/phonemeFlop_v4.html - a good website for getting the children to identify the letters of the alphabet.www.starfall.com - this is a great all-rounder. Remember to encourage your child to use the letters they are unsure of. I will stick this information in your child’s diary this week.http://www.ictgames.com/phonic_fighter4.html - I love this game!http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/H/hoobs/activities/interactiveActivities.jsp?id=letters - activities 12 and 13 are good for helping with identifying the initial letters.http://www.ictgames.com/soundBingo.htmlhttp://www.ictgames.com/letterlifter.html

Here I Am
We begin our new topic this week for RE titled BIRTHDAYS. The children will begin this week by RECOGNISING what a birthday is, REFLECTING on birthday celebrations they have taken part in and will take part in, and RESPECT that a birthday is celebrated to remember the day someone is born. In class we will be reading the story of Kipper’s birthday and preparing the home corner for a birthday celebration. Our imaginary giant friend Jim will also celebrate his birthday. This will be a way of encouraging the children to write birthday cards for him in the writing area.

Maternity Leave
You may have read in the school newsletter that I shall be going on maternity leave in two weeks time. Therefore, we welcome Mrs Gillian Sammon to our team this week. This week she will be getting to know the children and the systems and style of teaching we use. This will then enable a smooth transition for the children as I will still be teaching them also.

Non-uniform Day
On Friday the children can come in their own clothes in return for a tombola prize for the Christmas Fair on Saturday.

That’s all for this week!

xxxxx