Spring 2024
As mark-makers, we created our own Little Red Riding Hood story maps. After our shared read of the story, we focused on which characters were in each part of the story and where it happened. Our teachers were particularly impressed with the language we used when retelling the story using our maps! We have continued to enjoy guided drawing time and are making great progress in creating simple representations. Look at our amazing police officers!
As readers, we have been retelling familiar stories through our small world play. When learning about everyday heroes, we enjoyed role playing different scenarios through our hospital role play and making our own stations in the outdoor area. This shows how much we have been listening during shared reading. In phonics, we have been focusing on different letters from Phase 2 phonics – we have learnt the letter name and sound, and using our listening ears to decide if we can hear those initial sounds in the objects from our box.
As mathematicians, we have explored the concept of whole-part-part. We have related this to our favourite number rhymes, such as ‘5 Currant Buns’ and mathematical play such as bowling. We are now beginning to understand that a whole number can be split into parts and put back together to create the whole again. We have also been consolidating our subitising skills and getting better at matching the number to the amount that we can see.
As artists, we used a range of techniques to create a multimedia collage. We tore up different shades of brown paper to create the woods. We then drew and coloured our own Red Riding Hood character and added it to our setting. Our artwork is beautiful and shows how hard we have been working on our fine motor skills. We have also explored shape within our creative work when making emergency vehicles.
As explorers, we have been thinking about ways in which we keep our bodies healthy. Initially, we were very focused on eating fruit and vegetables. But we have learnt about the importance of exercise and personal hygiene, too. We now know that there are lots of ways to keep our body healthy.
We were fortunate to receive a visit from Ali at the Dogs Trust, who taught us about the importance of being safe around dogs, even dogs that we know. We learnt about the rules we need to follow when interacting, as well as how to safely approach dogs we might see in our community – we used the phrase “Please may I stroke your dog” and the safe way to do so if permission is given.
We loved our visit from one of our very own everyday heroes, who kindly took the time to tell us all about her role as an A&E doctor. We had the opportunity to explore equipment and learn all about how doctors help people.
As mark-makers, we have enjoyed taking on Squiglet’s challenges – we have been drawing animals such as a monkeys, elephants and sheep! This involved using lots of different types of lines and shapes which we began developing last half term. This half term we have also been practising our name writing, our grip and control has improved lots and now we are thinking carefully about how to form letters.
As readers, we are tuning into the sounds we can hear in words. We have focused on identifying rhymes, clapping syllables and listening for initial sounds. We loved playing ‘Bertha Bus’ and identifying the letter of the week by listening carefully to the sound we can hear at the start of the objects she passes. We have thoroughly enjoyed our shared reads, particularly ‘Dear Zoo’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs’ which we are now confidently retelling without an adult.
As artists, we have explored various creative techniques such as collaging, drawing and modelling. We loved using different materials/textures to create the settings from one of our focus stories, ‘The Three Little Pigs’. We also created 3D models of animals such as a snake using playdough and a frog using toilet tubes. We were very proud of the focus and determination shown to create a realistic representation.
For Children’s Mental Health Week, we focused on the importance of grounding ourselves and finding ways to relax. We enjoyed visiting ‘Rise Park Nursery Spa’ where we listened to calm music, enjoyed some mindful colouring, reading magazines, using massage tools (with consent from each other) and laying down with cucumber on our eyes. It was a lovely sensory experience!
As explorers, we have thoroughly enjoyed learning about animals. We learnt some interesting facts from our virtual tour of Chester Zoo – did you know giraffe poo is the same size as a Malteser?! We loved learning interesting facts about how the animals are cared for and why zoos are important. We also learnt the difference between pets, zoo animals and farm animals. It was insightful learning knowing that we get so much of our produce from farm animals.
Autumn 2023
As mark-makers, we have practised drawing simple shapes to create pictures. First, we practised drawing in the air and painting over simple shape pictures and this helped us to develop our own drawing skills. We began our drawing club and have worked hard to listen to the instructions when following a guided draw.
In PE we focused on movement skills. We have been developing our gross motor skills when imitating different animal movements in our warm-ups. We are developing our agility and coordination in group games, which involved changing speed and direction. We particularly enjoyed the driving game!
As part of PSED, we explored the behaviour of different characters in our focus stories ‘The Rainbow Fish’ and ‘Our House’. We developed our understanding of kind and unkind behaviour and how this can impact our friendships. We reflected on the differences we noticed when the characters made kind choices, such as having lots of friends to play with. Outdoors, we have enjoyed developing our social skills and working collaboratively with our large scale construction.
As artists we have enjoyed exploring paint tools and the different effects we can create. We decorated fish using printing sponges and paint brushes and stuck them onto our sea background, which we made using textured printers and rollers. We are so proud of how they look!
As explorers, we enjoyed our autumn walk after we had learnt all about the season. It was particularly fun to experience crunching the leaves and searching for the colours of autumn. We will continue to observe how the world around us is changing with each season.
