Summer
Week 1
Word of the Week: Dimensional
Welcome back Foundation Class! We hope you had a lovely Easter Break!
In maths, we have been recognising 3D shapes and finding them within the environment in our shape hunt! We have also been using 3D shapes to build towers for Rapunzel.
In phonics, we have been recapping all our phase 2 and 3 sounds. We have been reading longer words and applying our phonics knowledge in our sentences. Maybe you could write your own sentences!
We have also begun our new topic ‘Fairy Tales’. This term, we will be looking at different traditional fairy tales such as: 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', 'Little Red Riding Hood', 'The Three Little Pigs', and '3 Billy Goats Gruff'.
Week 2
Word of the Week: Predict
This week, we have been reading 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. We have been reenacting the story using puppets and created a story map which helped us to write our favourite of the story! We have been practising our sounds and included this in our writing.
In maths, we looked at copying and continuing patterns. We have enjoyed using different resources to continue patterns, such as multi-link and teddy bears. We even created our own! See if you can spot any patterns in the environment around you. We have been comparing length and height. There is a beanstalk growing in our classroom, we will be measuring how tall it grows! We have also been planting seeds and growing our own mini beanstalks. We are excited to see them grow!
Week 3
Word of the Week: Healthy
Someone has eaten the porridge! Someone has entered our classroom and left porridge oats everywhere - who could it be?!
We have enjoyed reading 'Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.' We helped Mummy Bear write a shopping list to create a healthy porridge for the family. We have had lots of fun re-enacting the story using puppets and Makaton - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWyygBI_s7U.
In maths, we have been doing lots of counting beyond 20 and building numbers 11, 12 and 13 using a range of resources.
We have been exploring the environment by using our senses. We have been describing and smelling things such as lavender, chives, leaves, pine cones etc.
To finish the week, we explored different materials by making the comfiest bed for Goldilocks. We discussed what would be important to create a comfy bed and why. We also created our own porridge - hope you enjoy!
Week 4
Word of the Week: Experiment
This week we have continued to read longer words in phonics and also we have learnt several new tricky words! These are all listed on our home learning sheet.
This week, our fairy tale has been Little Red Riding Hood. We have listened to forest sounds and written descriptions of the forest. We have also retold the story through a cut and stick activity.
In maths we have been focusing on adding within 10, through the use of ‘first, then, now’ stories. We have really enjoyed these activities.
Week 5
Word of the Week: Construction
This week’s story has been our favourite fairy tale by far! We have been reading ‘The Three Little Pigs’.
We have designed and built brick houses, after testing straw and sticks also. We chose bricks because after our ‘huff and puff’ test, we found that straw and sticks were not stable enough!
We have also retold the story through the use of shadow puppets, which we made ourselves. We found that when we blocked the light, we could see the shapes of our puppets on the wall.
In PE we practised relay racing using the batons, with Mr Guildford and Miss Roberts. We are definitely Sports Day ready!
In maths this week, we have been taking away within 10. We have used objects, stories, our fingers and 10 frames to do this.
In phonics, we have been learning to read words with -ed, -ing and -est. we are getting really good at reading longer words!
Mental Health Awareness Week
This year for Mental Health Awareness Week, the theme is ‘movement’. We have talked about the different feelings we have and enjoyed dancing and moving to different videos and songs, including the Mood Boosters.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/moodboosters/articles/zjf87v4
Week 6
Word of the Week: Exploration
This week, we have completed our Traditional Tales topic. We have loved making rafts for the Billy Goats to cross the river!
In phonics we have been completing our phonics assessments. A copy of your child’s assessment will be put in their book bags.
In maths we have been looking at 2D shapes and how we can arrange them in different ways. We have been using shapes to create our own pictures.
Unfortunately, we have had to rearrange our Little Woodpeckers trip due to the heavy rain! But we still enjoyed a cup of juice and a biscuit, as we would have done on our visit!
We hope you all have a lovely half term.
The Foundation Team ☺️
Week 7
Word of the Week: Minibeasts
No Outsiders
This week we have been reading ‘Mommy, Mama and Me’. After reading the book, we acted out some of the nice things that we can do at home with our families and then we spent time writing about them.
In phonics, we have been continuing to work through Phase 4. We have been reading and writing longer words and practising our tricky words.
In maths we have been learning how to share objects, ensuring that they are split fairly.
Our new topic for this half term is ‘Minibeasts’. We will be learning about lots of different minibeasts, reading minibeast stories, including: ‘The Bug Collector’ and ‘Superworm’ and learning the song ‘Herman the Worm’.
Week 8
Word of the Week: Forest School
This week we have continued to practise and apply our phonic knowledge to reading and writing longer words. We have been writing: descriptions about Superworm, predictions about our caterpillars and postcards from Teddy!
In maths we have been learning how to group objects. We have been practising with gingerbread men, zoo animals and towers. We have learnt that each group must have the same amount.
This week has been extremely exciting, as not only have 5 hairy caterpillars moved into our curiosity cube, but we also went on our visit to Little Woodpeckers Forest School! We had the most AMAZING time! Have a look at the photos below to see what we got up to!
Week 9
Word of the Week: Observational Drawing
This week, we have loved watching our caterpillars growing and beginning to form their cocoons! We have also been learning about different minibeasts and doing observational drawings of our favourite ones.
In phonics, we have been looking at the different sounds that plurals make - /z/, /s/ and /es/. We have been independently writing sentences and doing lots of reading!
In maths we have been looking at patterns and doubling. We will continue to practise our doubling next week.
In geography, we have been learning about Teddy’s travels. This week, he has visited a city and the countryside. We have looked at examples of both and compared them.
Week 10
Word of the Week: Chrysalis
This week, we have started our new topic 'Africa'. We began the week by reading the story 'Handa's Surprise'. We then rewrote part of the story to add more description. We have also been learning an African call and response song, which we absolutely love to perform! In art, we have been exploring print. We have begun our pieces by creating a sunset using sponge printing. Next week, we will be adding silhouettes of African animals to our work, using printing.
In maths, we have been recapping our number bonds to 5. Please keep on practising these at home. We have added the link to the Number Bonds song we like to sing.
Jack Hartman - Number Bonds to 5
This week has also been very exciting because we had our Transition day in Year 1. We had SO much fun and really impressed Mrs Carney with our writing. We can't believe that it is this time of year already, our time in Foundation Class really has flown by!
Next week, we are hoping that our butterflies may start to emerge from their chrysalises. We are really enjoying observation their life cycle in our curiosity cube!
