We have had another fun-packed week in Reception! On Wednesday we joined our whole school assembly where we did such good sitting and listening. Padre Nicoll told us about Remembrance Day and why it is important to remember. We also listened to a poem recited by Forces Club called ‘Poppy, Poppy’. We used the same poem and created some watercolour paintings of poppies.
We also had a go at making poppies out of natural materials in our forest sessions this week – look at our amazing work!
In Literacy we have started learning a new story called “Whatever Next”. We are learning to “listen to and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding.” (Development Matters 2021)
At the beginning of the week, we were very surprised to find a rocket in our garden and wondered how it got there! It was a great start to learning about ‘Whatever Next’. We have been exploring the story in different ways – we used a tuff tray and some story stones to help us re-enact the key parts of the story. We also learnt about how to write a list and thought about what we would pack to take with us to the moon.
This week has been very busy in explore time as we have also been looking at Rangoli patterns whilst we learn about Diwali. We talked about the shapes, colours and patterns we noticed and then tried to create our own patterns using tweezers and coloured lentils and rice!
We were also lucky enough to have Mrs Khanderia come in to teach us a Diwali dance as part of our PE lesson this week.
E-Safety
Reception have been very excited this week to learn about space and have loved looking at Google Earth! We know how to use the internet safely and what to do if we are unsure about anything we see or hear when we are online. We have learned that we must only use the internet when an adult is with us and that we can only use websites and apps that our grown ups know are safe for us. Elephants and Zebras were so excited to see where we live and Merry Hill School on Google Earth!
Phonics
We have been busy in Phonics learning even more phonemes! Our focus has been ‘y’ ‘z/zz’ ‘qu’ & ‘ch’.
Please practise recognising and writing these sounds with your child at home. We try to encourage the children to say the mnemonic as they are writing each sound.
Our nursery rhyme for this week has been Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-little-men-in-a-flying-saucer/z6qgscw
How you can help at home:
- Explore Google Earth – can you locate places you have visited on holiday? Where you live? Where our school is?
- Talk about Remembrance at home and think about people who are special to you and why
- Rehearse the story of Whatever Next – can you think of different ways to retell it in your own words?
- Notice changes in the environment and talk about autumn
Well done on another fabulous week of learning Reception!