Week 4 has been another great week in Reception. The children are feeling more settled and more confident and are beginning to show us their personalities. This week we continued thinking about the Owl Babies story and learning how our Elli Owl helps us to make good plans and decide what we are going to do . We now have some great collage owls on our walls and many more will be flying home with your children this week.
We also all had great fun in our first PE lessons where we played games to practise listening and following instructions in the big hall.
Coats
Although the weather has changed we will still be spending a lot of time outside throughout the day. Please make sure your child has a warm waterproof coat in school every day, even if the start of the day is sunny. Also, please help us by teaching your child to put their coat on independently and do up the fastenings.
Class 3 entrance
Due to the change in weather the class 3 entrance and hand washing station will now move to the covered patio area outside the classroom, the same area that you pick up from at the end of the day. While you are walking across the patios and waiting please do not let your children play with any of the resources that have been set up for the day or allow them to climb on the climbing mountain.
Curriculum information
You should have received and email with a link to a powerpoint presentation about our Foundation Stage Curriculum. Please make time to have a look and find out about your child’s learning in Reception. There will be a zoom meeting with all the Reception teachers on Thursday 8th October when we will try to answer any questions that you may have.
All About Me
Please see the Understanding the World plans below to find out how you can help us with this this year.
This weeks learning
This is a summary of this weeks learning.
The full plans are available here just for anyone who is quarantining at home.
PSHE
This week we will thinking about our new friends and all the new routines and rules that we have learnt about since starting school.
Communication & Language
We will continue to develop our listening skills by using our bodies to make sounds. Eg stamping, clapping, clicking our fingers. We will use the sounds to make rhythms and match them to mark making.
We will be reading the story the mixed up chameleon to learn about the Elli chameleon who helps us to adapt and change our plans to make them even better. Click on this link to watch the story.
Physical
In our PE lessons we will continue to play games which involve listening to and following instructions. We will practise moving safely in a large group and in a variety of different ways. In Write dance we will continue matching music to mark making activities.
We will continue to practise our fine motor skills in many ways and will learn how to form the letters s, a, t, as part of our phonics lessons.
We will continue to reinforce and practise good self-care and hygiene skills. Now we are in the season of colds and runny noses we are especially focusing on the Catch it , Bin it, Kill it message, followed of course by good hand washing. Please help us by practising this at home and maybe donating a box of tissues to the class.
Literacy
Reading: This week we will begin our phonics teaching learning the phonemes s, a t, and blending them to read the words as, at, sat. We use the Jolly Phonics songs and actions to support our learning. Click here to watch them.
We will be reading the story The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle, see the link above.
Writing
We will continue to practise our mark making skills by making patterns on chameleons.
Alongside our phonics teaching we will be learning how to form each letter correctly and practising this in our handwriting books and also in many different ways inside and outside.
Mathematics.
This continues to be our assessment focus this week. We will be using games and activities to find out each child’s starting point.
Understanding the World
RE: From this week, we will be sharing all About Me pictures. Usually, we do this by sending a special box home with a different child each day, for them to choose 4 or 5 items from home to show the class. This is an opportunity for children to gain confidence in talking about themselves, as well as listening and asking questions respectfully.
As we are limiting objects going back and forth due to Covid 19 safety, this year we are asking if you could please send us 4 pictures attached to an email to your class email address. Here are some suggestions of things you could include:
– baby photo
– photo of a pet
– photo of a favourite toy
– a photo of special clothes maybe for a celebration or festival, or just dressing up
– holiday photo
– photo of someone special to you
We can then share the pictures on the screen in class. We will gradually work through these, so it may be a week or two before your child has their turn!
The World: This week we will be learning about Chameleons.
Expressive Arts:
Art: This week we will be decorating our own chameleons using mark making patterns and brusho (ink) to get a wax resist effect.
Music: We will use our bodies to make body percussion rhythms.
Dance: In our Writedance lesson we will move to the music and match the gross motor movements to mark making skills.