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Stringman’s adventures continued this week with different areas being tied up with string.

On Monday the children talked about their weekend with a partner. Following this the children drew a picture and wrote about their weekend as part of the days learning mission. Before lunch the children made a friendship web, where they chose a friend to roll the ball of string to and then they said something they liked about that them. After lunch the children listened to the Supertato story and they learnt about the Evil Pea!

On Tuesday  the children received a note from Stringman saying how the children will not be able to stop him. The children’s learning mission was to write a letter to Stringman and some children used their creativity to think of different superheroes who they could ask to help them, one of which was Scissorman so that he could cut through Stringman’s traps. After lunch the children practised their handwriting for the letters d, a, b, p, g and wrote the tricky words ‘go’ ‘are’ ‘they’. To end the day the children looked at their knock, knock book and the child who’s picture was revealed came up to the front of the class and shared something they had been doing at home. It was wonderful to see the children’s confidence to speak in front of a familiar group. The children are developing their ability to ask questions using who, what, where, why and how question words.

On Wednesday the children explored subtraction using Evil Peas. The children counted how many Evil Peas were on a plate and then a child was chosen to take away some Evil Peas, the children counted how many had been taken away and lastly they used a numberline to count back to find out how many Evil Peas were left on the plate. After lunch the children talked about why Evil Pea was unkind and talked about what they can do if they see someone being unkind. The children talked about kind words and kind hands and the importance of being kind to their friends. The children enjoyed going to watch 1J’s class assembly at the end of the day on Wednesday and they are excited about doing their class assemblies after half term (FSF -13.6.18 and FSR – 27.6.18 ).

On Thursday the children learnt how to write an invitation and their learning mission was to write an invitation for a superhero party. Before lunch the children recapped which learning superheroes they have been during the week. After lunch the children practised their handwriting and tricky words. It was lovely to see the parents coming into the Foundation Stage to look at their child’s Learning Journey at the end of the day. The children showed great pride in showing their parents what they have been doing at school.

On Friday the children received a coded message from Stringman, they explored the outdoor area to hunt for letter clues and then they tried to crack the code. Before lunch the children had a class discussion about what Stringman’s message said. The children ended the week with celebration assembly. During this week’s PE the children warmed up doing various superhero actions and then they explored the trim trail equipment on the field and had superhero races. To cool down before returning to the classroom the children played sleeping superheroes. When the children went to the ICT suite this week they played a game where they had to make a healthy lunchbox http://www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/Activity.aspx?siteId=1&sectionId=61&contentId=56.

The children have engaged in a variety of superhero themed activities throughout the week during their independent learning, some of which included: Superhero word mats and writing templates; vegetable weighing; vegetable measuring using unifix cubes and rulers; making supertatoes; make lolly stick superheroes;  Supertato vegetables speech bubble writing; making superhero hide outs; getting Evil Peas out of the sand using tweezers; making water slides using guttering and metal stands; superhero threading; vegetable printing; painting superheroes; and looking at superhero stories in the book areas.

We hope the children have an enjoyable and restful half term and come back to school ready to learn on 4^th June.

When the children arrived at school on Monday they found that some of their toys had been tied up with string! When the children came into the classroom they found a letter from the person who had trapped the toys but the children were still not sure who had done it. The children were challenged to crack the code by finding letters hidden in the outdoor area to reveal who the baddie was. There were gasps of excitement as the children realised it was Stringman! The children explained Stringman’s super power is that he can tie things up and trap things with string. During the week Stringman has returned with more messages and has trapped toys in different places in the outdoor area. The children have engaged themselves in the superhero theme and have written messages back to Stringman.

On Monday the children developed their understanding of subtraction as counting back using a number line. The children read a subtraction and then they circled the first number and jumped back the second number in the subtraction. Lastly they circled the number they landed on and recorded the answer to the subtraction. It would be lovely to see the children practising this at home to consolidate their learning.

During story time on Monday the children listened to the story Superworm by Julia Donaldson and then they talked about Superworm’s adventures and how he saves people.

On Tuesday the children looked at different superheroes and thought about who could help protect their outdoor area from Stringman. The children’s learning mission was to create a superhero passport.

On Wednesday the children learnt how to write a letter to a superhero asking for their help. The children were shown how to write super sentences which included using phonics to spell words, finger spaces, full stops and capital letters. Following this the children’s learning mission was to independently write a letter to a superhero asking for their help.

On Thursday the children were introduced to learning superheroes which linked to the Characteristics of Effective Learning. The children’s mission was to be a learning superhero and plan which superheroes they will be during the morning, afternoon and evening. Before lunch the children played tricky word splat. The children listened to an adult saying a tricky word and then they had to splat the word on their bingo mat. During this activity the children read and identified the following words: no, go, I, into, the, to, back, but, mum, big, dad.

On Friday the children learnt how to draw a story map for the Superworm story and then watched an adult modelling how to write sentences about the Superworm story, remembering to use their phonics to spell words, leave finger spaces between words, include full stops at the end of a sentence and using capital letters at the start of the sentence and for people’s names. The children’s learning mission was to order superhero pictures according to their size.

This week’s handwriting has focused on the letters v, w, m, k, and p. The children have been learning about tricky words and have been reading the words the, to, no, go, he, she, we, my, me, was, they, are. It has been great to see the children recognising common irregular words (tricky words) in their reading this week. Parents can help their child to learn common irregular words by watching the following videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMyssfAUx0 (phase 2) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R087lYrRpgY (phase 3).

During this week’s PE the children warmed up by taking big superhero steps around the field. Then they developed their ball skills by throwing, rolling and kicking a ball to a partner. The children enjoyed participating in team races where they ran, jumped and weaved in and out of cones. To cool down the children laid in a superhero pose on the ground and listened to their heartbeat as it slowed down after exercise.

This week’s PSHE focused on how words and actions can hurt others and how to deal with conflict when interacting with their peers. In addition to our busy week the children have been engaging in a variety of activities during their independent learning. Some of which include: designing a superhero costume; superhero writing frames with superhero word mats; writing secret messages using the wax resist effect; using numicon to make a superhero skyline both indoors and outside; making superhero masks, walkie talkies and bracelets in the creative area; making stick superheroes; playing in the superhero cave and hideout; magnetic and non-magnetic sorting; building a superhero den or bat cat using construction materials; making a superhero obstacle course; making mini sand castles in wet sand; action men in slime; superhero threading; and looking at superhero themed books.

This week the Foundation Stage children have been learning about the months and seasons. On Tuesday the children talked to a partner about what they had been doing during the hot and sunny bank holiday weekend and then the children wrote their weekend news during an adult-led activity. During their independent learning the children were supported to make their own Stick Man using sticks, googly eyes and pipe cleaners. At the end of the day the children listened to the Stick Man story and talked about the different adventures Stick Man went on during the book.

On Wednesday the children ordered the months of the year,  learnt a months of the year song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5enDRrWyXaw and engaged in a whole-class discussion about how many months there are in a year; which month we are in now; which month we will be in next; which month their birthday is in; and we talked about what the weather is like during the different months of the year. The children were challenged to use their Stick Man to find classroom objects which were longer than, shorter than or the same length as their Stick Man. It would be wonderful to see the children demonstrating this at home and for parents to upload these observations onto Tapestry. This week’s PSHE discussion focused on feeling lonely and what the children could do if they saw someone looking lonely, which led on to a discussion about how to be a kind friend. The children have enjoyed watching the Stick Man animationhttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ki25z during this week’s story times. Wednesday’s adult-led activity focused on sequencing the Stick Man story, in addition to this some children wrote which season linked to each picture and some children wrote about what Stick Man did for the different seasons, e.g. In Winter Stick Man was used as a snowman’s arm.

On Thursday morning the children recapped their previous learning about the four seasons and looked at which months were matched to which season. Following this the children had to guess which season was being revealed by looking at parts of a picture and then the children matched picture clues with their corresponding season. Thursday’s learning challenge was to write a letter to the stick family from Stick Man asking for their help to save him from his adventures. Before lunch the children acted out the rhyme ‘15 Little Stick Men’ and discussed there being one less each time and counting back. During Thursday’s adult-led activity the children were asked to write about an adventure Stick Man could go on next. It was great to see the children using their imaginations to think of new adventures. We have been supporting the children to use their phonic knowledge to spell words, use finger spaces between their words, using full stops at the end of their sentences, starting sentences with a capital letter, reading what they have written to check it makes sense and trying to sit their letters on the line. Throughout the week it has been excellent to see the children’s writing abilities progressing.

On Friday morning the children explored the concept of addition using Stickmen. The children used their fingers to count on and find out how many Stick Men there were altogether. Friday’s learning challenge was to draw a map of Stickman’s adventures and to write annotations on their map to explain what is happening in their pictures. Before lunch the children explored the concept of addition and counting on using number lines.

This week’s handwriting has focused on the letters b, n, h, r and j. The children have been learning about tricky words and have been reading the words the, to, no, go, he, she, we, my, me, was. It has been fantastic to see the children starting to use common irregular words (tricky words) in their writing this week. During this week’s PE the children acted out Stick Man’s adventures using apparatus e.g. balance along a bench; climbing table with a mat to jump onto; log rolls on a mat; weaving in and out of cones with a bat and a ball; climbing on apparatus. The children ended their PE lesson by playing sleeping sticks.

In ICT this week the children have been using 2Simple 2Paint a Picture to draw a picture of Stick Man and his family. In addition to our busy week the children have been engaging in a variety of activities during their independent learning. Some of which include: Writing about their favourite season; making mini-books; writing tricky words on the chalk board outside; adding with sticks; counting natural objects outside; dress Lecky game on Interactive Whiteboards http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html; cut and stick dress a child for the right season; creating suns and clouds to hang in the outdoor area; exploring the giants castle role play area; investigation table – looking at tadpoles, chrysalis, sunflowers and cress; Stick Man story tray; building a house for Stick Man and his family using sticks; ordering sand castles by height; bottles and funnels in the water tray; painting a seasonal picture; painting with sticks outside; and looking at different Julia Donaldson stories in the reading area.

The Year 5 Residential to Pendine was a magnificent success. The children had a wonderful time having many new and wonderful experiences. The all behaved impeccably and represented the school with great distinction.

If you haven’t already seen the photos on our Facebook page then here are just a few, there was even a special appearance from Mr Davies.

The children have a made bright and sunny start to the Summer term. During the hot weather please ensure that you apply sun cream before your child comes to school. We also advise that your child brings in a named sun hat and water bottle.

This week the children started their new topic of life cycles and planting.

On Wednesday morning we talked about the Characteristics of Effective Learning (see further information about these below) and the importance of the children showing what they have learnt, explored or created during their independent learning times. This term the children are encouraged to take control of their learning, show increasing self-confidence and independence. Each day the children will be given a learning to challenge to complete to extend their learning opportunities.

This term’s PSHE topic is about relationships and this week the children created a recipe for friendship and thought about what they need to do to be a good friend. The children were asked to think about how they could be a better friend to their peers.

On Thursday the children were asked to share what they knew about butterflies and caterpillars, it was fantastic to hear the children sharing so much prior knowledge. Following this the children looked at the butterfly life cycle and watched a video to show the life cycle in action. During the afternoon the children received a parcel of caterpillars which they will observe over the coming weeks as they turn into butterflies. During our group time the children talked about their current interests, what they want to learn about and what they can’t do at the moment but they would like to be able to do. The children’s ideas will be used to inform future planning and support children with their learning throughout the term.

During this week’s handwriting the children practised the formation of the letters o, a, c, d and g using the RWI letter formation rhymes (these can be found on the back of the children’s flashcards). On Friday the children used The Hungry Caterpillar story to learn about the days of the week and sequencing familiar events. We have also used the story during our adult-led activities this week. For their Literacy activity some children wrote a simple sentence about what the Hungry Caterpillar ate on Monday and others read simple sentences about the Hungry Caterpillar and were challenged to complete the missing words. This week’s adult-led Maths activity focused on addition using dice. We will be continuing to learn about different life cycles next week.

What are the Characteristics of Effective Learning?

The Characteristics of Effective Learning describe learning as a process and not as an event.

The three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• Playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and have a go
• Active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements; and
• Creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

Below is an example of what the Characteristics of Effective Learning look like in children’s terms:

This week the children sprung into their new topic of Easter and Spring. They started with the question “What is Easter?” and then they watched a video of the Easter story. Following this the children talked about what happened in the story. On Tuesday the children followed on their discussion about Easter and were asked to think about why they celebrate Easter. The children watched short video clips about how children prepare for and celebrate Easter. This encouraged the children to share what they do to celebrate Easter and then this led onto a discussion about Easter symbols and signs of Spring. On Wednesday the children learnt about what happens in Spring and were encouraged to think about how the world around them changes during Spring (e.g. what happens to nature during Spring? How do the trees change in Spring?) On Thursday the children developed their fine motor skills and pencil control by doing an observation drawing of some Spring flowers. It was fantastic to see the children taking care with their drawing and colouring within the lines. Whilst they were doing their observation drawing the children talked about the parts of a plant, the colour of the petals and why the flowers are growing now. On Friday the children developed their self-confidence by talking about themselves and what they like to do in-front of the class. Then their peers were encouraged to ask the child how, what, where, why and when questions. During this week’s handwriting the children have been practising forming the letters r, h, m, n and p correctly using the Read Write Inc. rhymes they have previously been taught. You could practise forming these letters at home using the letter formation rhymes on the back of your child’s Read Write Inc. flashcards.

During PE this week the children participated in a class yoga session about Peter Cottontail the Easter bunny. The children joined Peter Cottontail on an Easter egg hunt and discovered that the Tickly Monkeys had taken all the eggs. The children learnt about Easter through vocabulary such as bunnies, daffodils, Spring sunshine, Easter eggs, etc. During this week’s PSHE discussion the children talked about the importance of sleep and their bedtime routines. It was lovely to hear that lots of children listen to their parents read them a story before they go to bed. The children were asked to talk about if they had something special to cuddle up to when they go to sleep and whether they had ever had a dream. The children were asked questions such as: what time do you go to bed? What do you do before you go sleep?

During this week’s Maths inputs the children have learnt about number bonds and money. They started the week learning about number bonds and the children were challenged to make up the eggs to make a given number (e.g. 2+3=5) and then they worked with a partner to use cubes to find different ways to make the same number. On Tuesday the children started by talking about money and whether they have used coins to pay for something in a shop. The children learnt about the coins 1p-£2 and began to talk about the value of each coin. They talked about being able to buy more with the silver coins that the copper coins because they are worth more. At the end of the input the children talked about which coin was worth the most and which coin was worth the least. You could help your child to develop their coin recognition and the understanding of the value of coins by playing with coins at home and allowing your child to pay for items when you go to a shop. On Wednesday the children developed their understanding of coin value by using 1p coin to make the amount of other coins (e.g. How many 1p coins are worth the same as a 2p coin?). Then the children were challenged to add different groups of coins (e.g. 2p, 2p, 1p). On Thursday the children continued to explore different ways to make amounts using coins. They were faced with the challenge that a rabbit costs 6p but there isn’t a 6p coin so how can they make 6p to pay for the rabbit. The children explored how many different ways they could make 6p using a combination of 1p, 2p and 5p coins. On Friday the children explored ways of sharing money fairly between different teddies (e.g. children were given 3x1p coins, 3x2p coins, 3x5p coins and then asked to share the money fairly so that they each had the same amount).

The children have been learning a song about a Spring chicken in preparation for the schools’ Easter church service next Monday (26^th March). Alongside all of this learning the children have engaged in a variety of activities linked to the topic of Spring and Easter such as: designing an Easter egg; making Easter cards; painting letter shapes on the playground using large paintbrushes using water; playing shops using money and price tags; egg box adding; feeding the chicks pasta using tweezers; making Easter egg mosaics; making spring paper flowers; using their imagination in the garden centre shop; exploring Spring themed objects in an exploration tray; making Easter cakes and hot cross buns using playdough; Easter egg potato stamping; and painting Easter pictures.

This week’s home learning challenge is for the children to design their own Easter bonnet to wear on the last day of term (Thursday 29^th March).