It has been a lovely week being back with the children again and catching up with all their news and hearing about what they learned with the supply teacher whilst I was off poorly.
In Phonics they have learnt the next set of sounds in Level 3 – y, z, zz, qu and ch. The new sound cards for this week and last week’s sounds have been added to their sound bags, as well as the tricky words ‘he’ and ‘she’. Although it is important that children practice recognising the sounds and tricky words it is equally important to also practice blending by putting the sounds together to read simple words. The more they practice this, the easier they will find it to read the words in their reading books.
Just a reminder (as we have had a few queries lately) that children can change their ‘free-reader’/’free-choice’ book from the book corner whenever they like but their phonics book (with the Phonics Bug logo) is changed by or with an adult, after the second recorded read in their yellow reading record. We ask for each book to be read at least twice to help the children build their fluency and begin to recognise high frequency words.
We read a great story for Drawing Club this week called ‘Poles Apart’ by Jeanne Willis & Jarvis. The children loved telling me why the Pilchard-Brown penguin family and Mr White (a polar bear) did not know who the other was. They also had great fun drawing a new friend for Mr White (which in some cases included sending ME to the North Pole to keep him company!) and they also designed some super-fast transport so the Pilchard-Brown family and Mr White could travel the 12,430 miles more quickly so they could see each other again. It’s been great to see that, with a little encouragement, more of the children are starting to write their own passwords and phrases using the sounds they know, rather than using my model. In phonics and Drawing Club we are encouraging them to listen carefully for the sounds in words when they write so that they become more confident, independent writers.
In Maths this week we have been exploring measures and using the correct vocabulary for weighing using balancing scales, filling and emptying containers and measuring how many spoons/cups of water a container will hold or how many items we could fit in different sized boxes.
The children really enjoyed their PE session with Mr Green on Monday. We will continue to have PE on Mondays for the next four weeks until half term. Next week we have an EXTRA session with Mr Green on Tuesday so children need to come to school in PE kits on Monday AND Tuesday just for next week. Please remember that all earrings should be removed on PE days as per school policy. Thank you.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Miss Jones & Mrs Kenny