Apples

We had an amazing morning discussing our new topic ‘ Awesome Animals’. Before Christmas the children thought of lots of questions about what they would like to know about different animals. Today we found out that ‘Lion manes serve a similar function as this typical cat behavior; the size and density of the mane can help a lion appear larger, and therefore more threatening, warning away possible opponents. That intimidating appearance ties into the second function of the mane: a symbol of health and potency’.

We then looked at another interesting question, ‘ How long is a lion’. We used google on the computer and found out that a male lion can be as long as 2.5m and a female can be as long as 1.8m. Miss Sidney asked the class how long they thought 2.5m was. They all opened their arms and guessed, “ this long”. Miss Sidney said, “ let’s find out”. We got a metre long tape measure and put it out on the floor, we measured out 2.5m and 1.8m and lined up the children so we could see how long a lion is. The male lion was 17 children long and the female was 11 children long. Great non standard unit measuring Apples. The children then roared like a lion and I think the whole school heard us!

We had fun on Children in need day. We talked about how lucky we are and that all children have different lives and experiences. The children were very understanding about Children In need, and were happy that their donations would be used to help others.

We went out in to the woods, and explored the different objects we could find and decided that we would use them to make pictures of animals. Look at what we created!

We have had a wonderful Remembrance Day in the Apples class. We started the day with a beautifully illustrated book ‘ Where the poppies now grow’. We talked to the children about why we wear a poppy on this special day, they were all very thoughtful, respectful and caring with their questions. Louie told all the children about his Daddy in the Army. “He has medals on his uniform”, he said proudly.

Alana said, “I have a poppy to remember the soldiers and mummy told me all about it”.
Brody told us all about his Great Grandad, “ he was in the war” he told us.

We have looked at books together about the First and Second World War, the animals in the war and the lovely story ‘ The Christmas truce’.

The children have spent the day making wonderful poppies using lots of different materials. They have used rice and salt mixed in paint to make different textures and have enjoyed using there fingers to paint. What a lovely day, we were very proud of all the Apples Class.

Well, what a great week back we have had so far - the children have been settling back in their dailly routines and we have all loved hearing about the diferent things they have been getting up to over the half term.

A big thank you again, to all the parents for your continued support with the home learning. The children's videos and pictures that we have been seeing on tapestry have been absolutely incredible, and in all honesty, we have been absolutely overwhelmed by how many things all the children completed. Fantastic!

This week, in phonics, we have been introduced to the sounds 'e, c, k and r, and what has been absolutely wonderful is seeing how many children are already applying these sounds in to their writing both in teacher led and child initiated activities One of the main things we are focussing on with the children at the moment is segmenting (breaking down) a CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) word, in to individual sounds, to help them read and write. For example d/o/g for dog.All of the children have been very resilient and havent given up at all. AMAZING!

We have been exploring making our secial number 5 in lots of different ways, and with the help of Marc the Maths Monkey, we found the following ways:

5+0, 4+1, 3+2, 2+3, 1+4, 0+5. What amazing math-magicians we have!

Also, this week, we have all made a trip to the ibrary to choose a book to borow for the week. Mrs Needham, our school librarian came to the class and colletced the children so that they could enjoy some library time together. They were all so excited to show me their range of books when they got back - we hope you enjoying sharing them too.

The final thing we have introduced this week is singing assembly - the children all joined in with 'A million Dreams', which was led by Mr Bowie and Miss Wilson - the singing was great and matched their wonderful smiles. I was so very proud of how beautifully all the children sat and listened...what stars!!

This week we have been spending time in our family groups (Zogs and Gruffalos) looking at the emotions of happy and sad. The children were able to look at pictures and decide which emotion a child was showing on their face, think about reasons they might be feeling that way, and very bravely, they all shared some experiences when they have felt sad and happy. All the children sat beautifully, having their milk or water, listening carefully to each of their friends - what absolute stars they were!

We have also had lots of fun this week using the computers and exploring hot use a mouse! The children have been able to use a painting programme and enjoyed playing number games with their friends.  

We have been focusing on some new sounds this week ‘m,n,g and o’ - the sound hunting has also continued this week. We have been making letters out of playdough, we have been forming letters in glitter and sand, as well as finding sounds around the classroom and learning garden. Let’s look forward to learning some new sounds next week!

This has been a week of starting new things. We have introduced the children to daily phonics, where they have been learning some new sounds: ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’ and ‘i’. We have been finding lots of different objects around the classroom and learning garden which start with these letters and on top of this, we have been learning to form the letters correctly.

In addition to the phonics, we have also started guided reading. We send time in small groups looking at a book, thinking about the following things:

• What can you see on the front cover?
• Who is the author?
• What are the pictures telling us?
• Can we spot any familiar sounds from phonics?

The children then spend time with the adult answering some fun questions about what they have been reading.

I am extremely happy to see that the apples children have been taking their learning in to their Busy Bee time, as we have spotted some lovely reading going on with their friends!

In maths, we are focussing on counting to carefully, recognising numerals to 5, and understanding the wholeness of the number, and the children have enjoyed helping Mark the monkey to count properly!

What a busy week the children have been having!