This week we have been gently assessing the children’s knowledge in various subjects.  This has included writing, handwriting, spelling and reading and maths.  You might find the children are very tired after a week of excellent focus and thinking. 

Words/phrases from our reading

We share stories with the children each day and are always on the lookout for words and phrases that impress and inspire us. 

 …swam as fast as a mackerel…

…the house was enormously big…

If your child hears words or phrases they would like to ‘magpie’ in their reading at home, we’d love to hear about them and share them with the class.

Reading

Please note that a table group of children are encouraged to change their reading books a day per week.  Thank you for your patience as this system is imbedded.

We regularly review the coloured band the children are reading and would like to stress how important it is for the children to be able to read at least 80% of a text independently.  Re-reading familiar texts enables children to develop their fluency and expression. Please model these skills with your child.

Can they ‘hear’ the question mark or words that are written in italic?

English 

The children planned and wrote a recount on their first week back at school.  We practised using the days of the week and sequencing words such as then and next.  In EMA the children also wrote a paragraph about a creature hidden in the grass - we loved the reading these pieces of writing. 

Art 

This week we explored tone using shading, cross-hatching and stippling.  The children enjoyed seeing how the different techniques and changes of pressure they put on the pencil affect the marks on the paper.

As our topic is ‘mini beasts’, the children experimented with their skills and shaded in some minibeasts. 

 

Can they find a mini-beast in the garden and use their skills to draw and shade it?  Alternatively, they could draw from a photograph or model of one.

 

Science 

We have started our new science topic on living things and habitats.  This week we focused on what makes something living, dead or having never lived.  

We encouraged the children to think about life processes in explaining their choices.  For example a tree is a living thing because it grows.  A basketball has never lived because it has never been able to breathe or excrete.