The children were absolutely amazing during our trip to Knebworth. They should be very proud of themselves, we had a lovely day!

 

Phonics -

Graphemes - recap of oa, ar, ur, er.

Tricky words - recap of all tricky words.

Some words we have written - oa, park, turn, letter.

 

Maths -

This week, the children have continued to develop their subitising skills (seeing the quantity without counting) in increasingly complex arrangements. Some arrangements are easier to subitise than others – e.g. a set of 6 dots arranged in a structured die pattern that exposes the double-3 pattern is easier to recognise than a random arrangement of 6 dots. A key focus this week has been to use the children’s developing understanding of doubles to support their subitising skills. By moving away from counting for sets that can be subitised, the children are developing their abstract understanding of number, which will help to support future calculation strategies. 

Activities for home:

Provide ‘collection sheets’ (plain pieces of paper) for your child to use to make collections of 6 small objects. Then check that the children can subitise the objects shown. Do you have 6 things? Model structured ways to show 6, e.g. a die pattern arrangement. You could also ask your child to close their eyes while you or a puppet add or remove an object. Which sheets still contain 6 objects? Which do not? How do you know? Do you need to count?

Play barrier games with your child by hiding arrangements of up to 6 objects behind a screen or under a piece of fabric. (Include some doubles patterns in your arrangements). Briefly reveal the arrangements, then hide them again and ask your child to say what they saw. Shut your eyes! Can you ‘see’ the objects? Can you draw the arrangement in the air with your finger? How many was it?

 

Topic -

PE - we have loved our fundamentals topic this term, where we have used the topics under the sea, safari, the circus and space explorers to practice different movements, both with and without using apparatus. It's wonderful watching the children become more fluent and confident in their movement skills.

Music - this term's nursery rhyme is Old MacDonald. We are enjoying singing along with the song, using Makaton to sign each animal then using our glocks in the final verse to tap along.