The children have been developing a wide range of skills through independent learning opportunities in class and outdoors..
Literacy.
This week we have introduced the final consonant blends ft and nt, and learned the tricky words there and were .
Our writing prompt this week was “She left the shop and went … ” No photos of writing, but ask your child which character they created for the story and where she went.
We continue to use core reading book resources in school as we begin to develop developing the children’s reading comprehension skills, exploring the cognitive strategies of activating, inferring, monitoring/clarifying, questioning, searching/selecting, summarizing, and visualising.
Maths and numeracy
We have been using our numeracy skills to perform addition calculations.
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Looking ahead to next week
Happy Easter ! After the holidays, please remember to return indoor shoes and spare clothes. We plan to have outdoor loose parts on Thursday of the first week back, but will advise if this changes.
Other areas of the curriculum
The dentist came on Monday to check our teeth. We had to climb on a table!
We found out how tricky it is to look after a tiny baby. Thank you baby Maverick!
In PE we completed our block of gymnastics andalso worked on our fitness and core strength.
A reminder to please name all items of clothing and shoes, and to check names on items brought home in case your child accidentally acquires a jumper belonging to someone else.
This week, we continued with our focus on final consonant blends in words with ‘ft’ and ‘nt’.We practised writing words that end with those sounds and tried some of them for our dictation. Our reading is improving weekly, and I am so proud of everyone’s progress over this term! Reading books will continue to go home on Thursdays after the holidays.
This week, we also continued our Block 2 tricky words with ‘were and ‘there’. Most of us still need to do more practise of writing ‘said’ and ‘she’. We have been chanting ‘s-a-i-d said!’. When you have time at home, please practise reading and writing all the tricky words we have covered so far.
Maths and numeracy
This week, we continued with our position/movement topic. We went outside and hid treasure from our partners! We then had to give our partner directions to find the treasure, using language such as left turn, right turn, steps forwards and steps backwards. Some of us did very well with our lefts and rights, but please keep practising this at home!
Other Areas
This week, we had our final gymnastics lesson in PE with Mrs Conlin. We consolidated the skills we have been practising, such as balance, landing and jumping. We also finished our Creative Dance block with Mrs Conlin too. I was able to go and watch the final performance which was fantastic! We did really well at changing our movements when the music changed mood or tempo. For our pregnancy focus for RSHP, we had a very special visitor on Monday – a P1 Mummy came in with their 5 month old baby boy! We heard about what he eats, milestones and when he sleeps. We also had the chance to ask any questions we had. For RME, we learned about the Easter story and made Easter cards with a chick and an egg to show new life. We also managed to squeeze in another great Loose Parts session on Wednesday afternoon before the rain started! In the classroom this week, we had a Vets surgery! It was lovely to see the roleplay involved in this area.
To do at home
Numeracy: recognising the numbers 1-30, counting backwards from 20or 30, writing the ‘teen’ numbers with the 1 first and remember it’s ‘teen’ not ‘ty’, counting on with our fingers, number bonds to 10
Maths: naming 3D objects,recognising coins, adding 1-10p coins together, left and right
Literacy: being able to write our tricky words, recognising and writing the digraphssh, ch, th and wh.
General: being able to take off jumpers, open snacks and zip up coats.
General Information
Keep all the junk coming in – it’s amazing how quickly we run out!
We have Loose Parts on the Thursday after the Easter holidays (20thApril).
After Easter, hopefully the weather will allow us to be back outside on Monday mornings for PE.
Thank you for your continued support this term and I hope you have a lovely Easter holiday,
This week we have been learning to understand and correctly use the language of position and direction, including in front, behind, above, below, left, right, forwards and backwards. We used the Bee Bot app on the iPads to programme directions as well as taking turns to direct the Bee Bots.
LITERACY
We continued to learn about consonants that go together at the end of words to make a particular sound and this week our focus was on ft and nt. Our tricky words were were and there.
This week’s dictation practised the sounds we have been learning over the last few weeks.
We use Pink for Think and Green for Great to reflect on our learning.
Our writing prompt this week was – She left the shop and ………………………………………
THINGS TO DO AT HOME
Please cut out the flashcards your child has brought home today and use it to help your child to recognise the sounds and build words.
Please continue to practise the words on the reading vocabulary card, a few words at a time and share the reading book your child has brought home.
PE
We were completing circuits to practise the skills we have been learning in gymnastics. We also played lots of running games to make our lungs and our hearts work hard!
RSHP
We were talking about pregnancy and read the book ‘Before You Were Born’. We discussed what a baby needs to grow and develop and were very lucky to have a visit from Lindsay with baby Maverick. Maverick was a star for the whole visit and Lindsay was asked all sorts of questions!
FRENCH
We learnt to say joyeuses Paques, which means happy Easter.
RME
We watched a short film about the Easter story and talked about why Easter is a special time for Christians.
LOOSE PARTS
We enjoyed playing with our friends across the stage at Loose Parts on Thursday. Some of our activities were: making cakes, playing baby foxes, making a bed, making a waterfall, making a car, making potions, babies and daddies. Our next day for Loose Parts is Thursday 20 April.
Some examples of the children’s learning through play from the last two weeks.
We have started learning about consonants that go together at the end of words to make a particular sound such as rk (as in bark), nd (as in sand), st (as in mist), mp (as in lamp) and lt (as in tilt) . This week, our focus has been on rk and nd.
Our tricky words this week are ‘she’ and ‘go’ and we also looked at ‘do’.
‘I really enjoyed reading my book.’
‘I love learning new words.’
We have continued working on our reading books in class and everyone should be bringing home their book to share at some point during the week.
Things to try at home:
Continue sharing your reading book with someone at home. You might want to take turns to read the pages or you might want to read it all to someone. Talk about what is happening in the story and how characters are feeling at different points.
Use the ‘Letters and Sounds Home Learning’ sheet to help you practise our new sounds and tricky words.
Writing
This week, we were using our new sounds, along with the sounds and words we have previously learnt, to help us write about a trip to the park.
‘I like writing and learning new words.’
‘I really enjoyed drawing my picture and writing.’
Handwriting
We were practising writing the letter ‘a’ following the correct route this week and we were thinking about its height in relation to tall letters, such as ‘h’ or letters that go below the line, such as ‘g’.
Things to try at home:
Explain to / show someone at home how to write ‘a’ following the correct route. You could draw it in the air or actually write it down.
Numeracy and Maths
We have been working on various numeracy skills this week. Some of us have been counting short sequences forwards or backwards and some of us have been describing equal groups. We have also been looking at the different numbers we can see inside dot patterns (e.g. in four, we can see two plus another two).
‘I like counting.’
Things to try at home:
If you are playing a game involving dice, try and say what numbers you can see inside the pattern you roll. For example, if you roll a 5, then you might say,’ Four and one’.
Practising recognising numerals with this game from ‘Topmarks’. Select ‘Find a Number’.
Practise counting forwards and backwards within the 1-30 range from different starting points:
Here is a link to a song that might help:
PE
We have been playing games to help us exercise and have also been continuing to develop our skills in gymnastics.
‘I liked jumping and doing star jumps and it helped me do some exercise.’
Loose Parts
Our next Loose Parts Play session is scheduled for Wednesday 29 March.
Health and Wellbeing
We have been using the RSHP resource to learn about privacy and personal space. Next week, we will be learning about pregnancy and will be using the book, ‘Before You Were Born’, by Jennifer Davis as the starting point for our discussions.
Other areas:
There has been lots of creativity and use of imagination in our play this week. Some of us have enjoyed painting and creating chalk pictures on the easel in the classroom and others have enjoyed role play involving flying an aeroplane. Some of us enjoy drawing and writing in our play.
‘I liked doing my book but it’s not quite finished.’
Good afternoon. We have had another busy week at school!
Literacy
This week, we had a focus on final consonant blends in words, such as ‘nd’ and ‘rk’. We practised writing words that end in ‘nd’ and ‘rk’ and looked to see if any were in our reading books. In writing, we drew ourselves at the park (local, water or theme!) and wrote about what we like doing there.
We enjoyed another new reading book this week that we took home on Thursday. For a challenge, try reading the book backwards! Please remember to return this book on Monday! This week, we also continued our Block 2 tricky words with ‘do’ and ‘she’. Most of us still need to do more practise of writing ‘said’ from last week. We have been chanting ‘s-a-i-d said!’. Some of us find reading and writing ‘she’ very tricky too, and need to go over our ‘sh’ sound.
Maths and numeracy
This week, we started our position/movement topic. We started with language such as forwards, backwards, left turn and right turn. We used the Bee Bots to practise giving directions and programming! There is a Bee Bot app for the iPads that we tried, which was trickier than using the actual Bee Bots – we sometimes had to turn the iPad round and work out if Bee Bot wanted to turn left or right, or move forwards or backwards. Next week, we are going to try giving each other directions in the playground!
Other Areas
This week, we continued with our gymnastics block in PE. We had one big circuit in the hall to practise balancing, jumping, landing and rolling. Our favourite part was the jumping off the big box onto the crash mat! With Mrs Conlin, we started to talk about pregnancy and how a baby grows. We read the book Before You Were Born and found out how tiny we used to be! We had a great Loose Parts session on Thursday afternoon and today we had a trip up to the Upper Area to see the Anderson Shelters that the P7 had created. I think some of us were inspired to make shelters in the area next week! In Music, we also used our listening skills and singing skills to play Who’s That Tapping on the Window?
To do at home
Numeracy: recognising the numbers 1-30, counting backwards from 20 or 30, writing the ‘teen’ numbers with the 1 first and remember it’s ‘teen’ not ‘ty’, counting on with our fingers, number bonds to 10
Maths: naming 3D objects, recognising coins, adding 1-10p coins together, left and right
Literacy: being able to write our tricky words, recognising and writing the digraphs sh, ch, th and wh.
General: being able to take off jumpers, open snacks and zip up coats.
General Information
Keep all the junk coming in – it’s amazing how quickly we run out!
We have Loose Parts on Wednesday next week.
Have a great weekend and it was lovely to catch up with some of you this week,
Use real coins to count out an amount of money. ‘Please give me 7pence’ etc
practice giving and following directions (see maths and numeracy key vocabulary below)
using your collection of letter cards from the weekly homework sheet, please practice building/ reading the list of words on this week’s sheet.
Check your letter formation for the letter a – use the video linked below to ensure you are consistently using the correct letter starting point and route.
Snacks :- we would politely ask that, remaining mindful of those with allergies, you do not send your child with any snacks containing nuts. This includes Nutella products. Thanks for your support in this.
We are grateful for your continued donations of small, clean items of recycling for our STEM area.
Please also see a request in last week’s homelink for help sourcing some materials for our outdoor loose parts provision.
Many thanks
Independent learning
The children have been developing a wide range of skills through independent learning opportunities in class and outdoors..
Literacy.
This week we have introduced the final consonant blends rk and nd, and learned the tricky words she and go .
Our writing prompt this week was “When we went to the park …
We continue to use core reading book resources in school as we begin to develop developing the children’s reading comprehension skills, exploring the cognitive strategies of activating, inferring, monitoring/clarifying, questioning, searching/selecting, summarizing, and visualising.
Maths and numeracy
In movement, games, and using technology I can use simple directions and describe positions. MTH 0-17a
We have been learning to give and follow directions. key vocabulary included, left, right, forward, back, turn. We enjoyed using the Bee-Bot app and the programmable Bee-Bot.
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Looking ahead to next week
Please return reading books on Monday.
Monday’s PE session will be gymnastics, and Thursday’s is games/fitness so please remember to dress appropriately.
Loose parts learning on Wednesday 29th
Other areas of the curriculum
In PE we created a sequence of moves using all the equipment we have used so far. We also, with supervision, tried a forward roll down a small ramp focusing on correct technique and control.
We were invited to visit the P7 interactive exhibition about Anderson shelters. We really enjoyed that – particularly when we were allowed to try the Minecraft activities!
A reminder to please name all items of clothing and shoes, and to check names on items brought home in case your child accidentally acquires a jumper belonging to someone else.
Good afternoon. We have had another busy week at school!
Literacy
This week, we learned the ‘wh’ sound. This is a really tricky sound to say and hear differently from just ‘w’. I know that my own normal accent doesn’t differentiate between the 2! We put our hand in front of our face and when we say ‘wh’ we should feel our breath on our hand. In writing, we practised writing the word ‘when’ and we also found a whale, a whisk, a wheel and white paint around the room. For dictation this week, we wrote cards for a special day this weekend…
We enjoyed another new reading book this week that we took home on Thursday. Please remember to return this book on Monday! This week, we also continued our Block 2 tricky words with ‘be’ and ‘we’. Most of us still need to do more practise of writing ‘said’ from last week. We have been chanting ‘s-a-i-d said!’.
Maths and numeracy
This week, we continued with our money topic, and I have been seeing everyone individually at the teaching table to see how we are getting on with recognising coins, counting amounts and collecting amounts. We need to remember that we count a 2p twice because it has 2 1ps in it, and we always start counting from the coin that has the most value. We have now finished our money topic, and next week we will move on to position, movement and directions.
Other Areas
This week, we continued with our gymnastics block in PE. We had a station rotation in the hall with upside down benches for balancing, a springboard to practise jumping and landing, mats for rolling and a bench leading up to the big box that we jumped off (onto a crash mat!). We did different types of jumps this week including tuck jumps, star jumps and backwards jumps! We worked on landing safely on two feet with our knees bent. On Thursday, we continued with Creative Dance with Mrs Conlin, focusing on changing our move when we heard a change in the music. With Mrs Conlin, we also talked about similarities and differences as this week is Neurodiversity week.
We had lots of amazing KAPLA, brick and junk creations this week, including towers, crocodiles, train stations, a rainbow telescope and a camera!
A station with a liftA robotA camera!
Here are some photos from our reporter on Monday, and some photos of a warm-ish Loose Parts session on Friday!
A trap!
To do at home
Numeracy: recognising the numbers 1-30, counting backwards from 20 or 30, writing the ‘teen’ numbers with the 1 first and remember it’s ‘teen’ not ‘ty’, counting on with our fingers, number bonds to 10
Maths: naming 3D objects, recognising symmetrical shapes/structures, using tally marks to count items/collect data,recognising coins, which coin is worth more?, adding 1-10p coins together
Literacy: being able to write our tricky words, recognising and writing the digraphs sh, ch, th and wh.
General: being able to take off jumpers and zip up coats.
General Information
Keep all the junk coming in – it’s amazing how quickly we run out!
We have Loose Parts on Thursday next week.
Have a great weekend and I am looking forward to seeing some of you at the consultations next week,
been recognising British coins up to £2 and adding coins to give a total up to 10p. Some of us have managed to add bigger amounts of money. We have been drawing round coins and adding up the total. We have also completed individual assessments on money and counting.
THINGS TO DO AT HOME
Have a look at the coins you have around the house and help your child to identify them. Many children find 20p and 50p difficult to identify. It can also be confusing when older versions of coins have a different design. Practise making different amounts using a variety of coins. Challenge- Can you make the same total using different coins?
LITERACY
This week we introduced the sound wh. We thought of words starting with this sound and practised reading and writing these words. Our tricky words this week were we and be.
This week’s dictation practised the sounds we have been learning over the last few weeks.
We use Pink for Think and Green for Great to reflect on our learning.
Our writing prompt this week was – When I go I the car I………………………………………
We were learning to recognise and write the capital letters: P Q R S T U
We are learning about the author Julia Donaldson and reading some of her books in class. Thank you to everyone who has brought in Julie Donaldson books for us to share.
THINGS TO DO AT HOME
Please cut out the flashcard your child has brought home today and use it to help your child to recognise the sounds and build words.
Please continue to practise the words on the reading vocabulary card, a few words at a time and share the reading book your child has brought home.
PE
We have been using our bodies to make different shapes and rolls. We have been balancing, jumping, and landing using benches. We played fitness games to warm up and make our hearts beat faster.
FRENCH
We have been learning to say good morning, how are you? in French and we have started to learn the words for numbers to 10. We also revised the colour words we know.
Rouge – red
Blanc- white
Noir – black
Bleu- blue
Vert- green
Jaune- yellow
LOOSE PARTS
We enjoyed playing with our friends across the stage at Loose Parts on Friday. Our next day for Loose Parts is Thursday 23 March.
We were lucky enough to be the very first audience at the P2 show. We learned a lot about Scotland and enjoyed watching our friends acting, singing, and speaking.
Some examples of the children’s learning through play from this week.
Buckstone Primary School 