Happy Birthday!

Hello and welcome to this week’s blog.

There’s loads to do this week so without further a do here goes with this week’s agenda!

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.

Problem-solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
The children have done really well developing their understanding of more and less and nearly all of them can find one more than a given number. However, finding one less is proving to be difficult for some of them. Therefore, this week we will be focusing more on this. In order for the children to be successful they need to have an understanding of the number system. The children understand the number system when they count from 0 to 10 and finding one more is supported by this. Therefore, to facilitate their ability to find one less they need to be able to count backwards from 10 to 0. For those who can find one more and one less we will work on problem-solving activities in different contexts. Here are some websites for your child to have a go at.

http://www.ictgames.com/rabbit2.html - for those children who can identify one more and one less this is a great website which challenges them to identify numbers more or less than a given number. You may need to sit with your child for this.
http://www.ictgames.com/nileNumbers_v2.html - see if your child can find one more than the given number before the ball reaches the bottom.
http://www.ictgames.com/saucerSorter.html - why not ask your child to arrange the numbers in reverse order
http://www.ictgames.com/caterpillar_slider.html - further develop your child’s understanding of the order of numbers through this game.
http://www.ictgames.com/nutty_v3.html - catch the acorns in number order
http://www.ictgames.com/newduckshoot.html - a good game for number recognition

Communication, Language and Literacy
By the end of this week, the children:
MUST be able to provide the sound for the letters m, i, d and n in response to seeing the letter symbol;
SHOULD be able to orally segment (sound out) the words containing the letters;
COULD be able to segment, blend and write the words containing the letters.
The children are coming along nicely with their letter recognition and this week we will continue to teach the letters Gg, Oo, Cc and Kk. Again please make use of the websites below to support letter recognition. I would highly recommend the phonic fighter one for the boys!
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

What else?
We will be continuing with our work on animals with the children this week following our fantastic visit to Chester Zoo last week. Here are some websites about animals to support the children’s learning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/ - help your child research more information about their favourite animal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/wild/index.shtml - a lovely website to explore and find out about different animals
http://www.kidsbiology.com/animals-for-children.php
http://www.abcteach.com/abclists/animalbabies.htm - find out the names of baby animals

Sorting animals into sets
The children will look at the differences between animals e.g the number of legs, if they lay eggs, if they have fur , scales or feathers etc.

Model making – thanks for all the junk materials you have sent in for us. The children have had a wealth of materials to select from. They will continue to work in teams to make an animal of their choice whilst learning about the different ways in which they can join materials.

Let’s make a zoo – the children will be encouraged to help make a play zoo for the different animals we have. They will be making fences, ponds etc as enclosures and then create maps.

Christmas Production
You should have already received your ticket allocation. If you have not please call in and see me. Just a reminder that costumes need to be in next Monday. If possible could you pop them on a hanger so they don’t get creased? Thanks. The children have already been on the stage and believe me when I say you are in for a real treat! In the diary this week there will be a sticker asking for permission to apply a little face paint to your child for the production. Please just sign below the sticker if you give consent. Thanks. We will need parents to help us dress the children before the performances so if you are available please call in.

Phonics and Reading workshop
The workshop will be held at 6pm in our classroom on Thursday 20th November. Unfortunately children are not invited to the workshop, hence the 6pm start instead of the 3pm after school time. Thank you in anticipation of your valued support.

I think that’s all for this week.

Have a good one!

Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxx