Over the weekend the pirates visited Beechwood and Captain Jack left the children a message explaining that some of his treasure was missing! The children used the pirates map to search the outdoor area and find lots of treasure. Then the children created their own treasure maps. Before lunch the children talked about and counted the treasure they had found throughout the morning. After lunch the children listened to a pirate story and sang the song A pirate went to sea, sea, sea. On Tuesday morning the children were shown how to write a letter back to Captain Jack and his pirates explaining that they had found their treasure. Following this the children engaged in a variety of pirate themed Literacy activities:
Activity 1 – writing a letter to the pirates;
Activity 2 – writing about what they would do if they were a pirate, e.g. If I was a pirate I would sail the seven seas;
Activity 3 – making a pirate hat;
Activity 4 – labelling a picture of a pirate;
Activity 5 – designing their own pirate flag.
After lunch the children practised their letter formation for the letters p, q, r, s, t and wrote the tricky words ‘come’ ‘they’ and ‘like’. At the end of the day the children looked at their Knock, Knock Book and individual children were chosen to speak in front of the class about their family and things they like to do at home. On Wednesday morning the children learnt about famous pirates. After lunch the children listened to the story Pirates Love Underpants. At the end of the day FSR performed their ‘Under the sea’ themed assembly. The Foundation Stage staff would like to say well done to the children for using clear loud voices when saying their part and for their fantastic singing. On Thursday the children received another letter from the pirates and Captain Jack explaining how many pirates were on their ship and that they needed the children’s help. The pirates asked the children to share the treasure that they had found fairly between the six pirates. The children answered questions such as “What does sharing mean? How do we share a number? How do we make sure we share fairly?”
During their independent learning the children explored some pirate themed Maths activities:
Activity 1–Share gold coins between a group of pirates;
Activity 2 –halving pirate coins;
Activity 3 – sharing shells between different pots;
Activity 4 – which fish is the heaviest? Weighing fish using cubes and recording their results;
Activity 5– Sharing feathers between parrots.
After lunch the children talked about their outdoor areas and what they like to do during their independent learning time outside. The children were asked to think about what other resources they would like to have outside and they made suggestions such as tennis balls, bats and balls, horses, a fairy house and a trampoline. At the end of the day the children sang some pirate themed songs.
On Friday the children went outside to complete a maths activity. There were 5 large hoops laid out on the floor and the children had to share themselves fairly between the hoops. After this the teachers challenged the children to share different amounts of children between different amounts of hoops.
This week the children have shown a developing understanding of the difference between doubling, halving and sharing. Before lunch the children showcased their treasure chests they had been making throughout the week. The teachers explained that the children will take their treasure chest home this weekend and that they need to find one special treasure to put in their chest and bring it back to school on Monday. The children were asked to think about which special item they would keep in their treasure chest and shared their ideas with a talk partner.
During PE this week the children warmed up by playing ‘stuck, stuck, shark’ (adapted version of stuck in the mud) and then they engaged in team games which included: throwing a bean bag into a hoop; running races; and an obstacle course.
During ICT this week the children used the software 2Simple 2Paint a Picture to create a pirate scene, desert island or a treasure map using the pen tools.
To end the week the children attended the whole-school celebration assembly.
In addition to this the children have been engaging in a variety of pirate themed activities during their independent learning, some of which include: writing about pirates using pirate themed word mats; making scrolls; making maps; sharing sea shells; under the sea role play area; investigating sea shells, starfish and coral at the investigation table; pirates and pirate ship small world exploration outside; making a submarine using crates; boats and playmobil people in the water tray; guttering and metal stands to make a water stream; making a desert island using playdough; and looking at sea themed stories (e.g. The rainbow fish, Sharing a Shell).