This week we started our theme of animals. We read the book ‘Animalia’ by Graeme Base. An alphabet book all about alliteration, when words start with the same sound such as “An Armoured Armadillo Avoiding An Angry Alligator”. The children shared ideas about the pictures and then talked about their weekend and with adult help put in their own alliteration “I went for a windy walk in my wellies” and “I did brilliant building with my Lego”. The children then used their name and thought of an animal that started with the same sound as their name to create.
In Maths the children have been finding patterns in the environment. They went on a pattern safari in the outdoor area and recording using the camera what they found. You can help at home by looking at the pictures of the patterns and talking about the patterns. The children can then have a go at making their own. What starts their pattern? What ends the pattern? How many times does the pattern repeat? Can they see the pattern anywhere else? Remember patterns are not just created from colour! If the children find any patterns at home encourage them to photograph them or record them in some way, bring them into school and share with the rest of the class.
To begin our theme of animals we talked about different groups of animals Mammals, Amphibians, reptiles, fish and invertebrate. We talk about different animals and what group they belong to. We played this game http://sendchris2space.com/animal_splicer.html and talked about different animals we had created. What would they do? Where would they live? What would they need to survive? Why?
In phonics the children have been introduced to the graphemes ai, ee, igh, oa, oo and the tricky words ‘we, ‘me’, ‘be’. We have been playing games to practise blending and segmenting. You could help at home by recapping all their sounds and creating real and pretend words with the flashcards you have.
At home over the next few weeks it is really important for the children that they get back into a routine of sharing books daily at home. It only needs to be for 5-10 minutes. They can read a couple of pages. Talk about the story/retell the story in their own words. I cannot emphasise enough how important this opportunity is for your child.
Have a fantastic weekend,
Miss Zimmerman
