'Who would you invite to The Ugly Bug Ball?'

Summer Term 1

Week One                             19.4.22

Welcome back hope you all had a wonderful break. The children were very excited to see that our new sandpit has been made. Thank you to Mr Tilbury for working hard on this for us. We can’t wait for the sand to arrive. It was lovely to hear the children talk about their Easter holiday. Their confidence in talking to the whole class has really grown and we are thrilled with the progress the children have made in this area. The children were very excited to learn about our new enquiry question, ‘Who would you invite to the Ugly Bug Ball?’  We discussed what a bug is and talked about minibeasts also being used to refer to bugs.  Ladybirds, caterpillars and butterflies were very popular choices for who we would invite. The classroom has been a hive of activity as many wonderful bug creations have been busily created.

We completed our RE unit of work on Easter by talking about how the children celebrated Easter. They told us that many families spent time together with grandparents and some went to church. The children remembered the special days during the Easter period that we had spent time learning about before we finished the Spring term.

In our maths lessons we have been learning our number bonds to 10. We have enjoyed using the Numicon resources to see which pieces fit exactly on top of the 10 piece. We are now practising these every morning. Perhaps you could ask your child how many different ways they can make 10.

Our beans that we planted before the Easter holiday have really grown, just like Jack’s did in the Beanstalk story and we have now planted them outside. We have been really impressed with the children’s commitment and care of watering the plants.

                                                                                                                                                                                             We have been really focusing on correct letter formation this week. Please use the sheets we have sent home to help remind your child of the correct rhyme formation for each letter. It has been really lovely to read comments in your child’s reading diaries linked to our Read Write Inc phonics programme. It is great that the children are talking about their learning with you. Please look on the Home Learning part of this class page for more support with Fred talk and special friends.  

Week Two                     25.4.22

We had new visitors in Butterfly Class this week. Five tiny little caterpillars arrived in a special pot with food included for them. We looked through our magnifying glasses to study the caterpillars close up. We can’t wait to watch how they grow and change and learn all about the process of metamorphosis. Our observations will be recorded in a diary.

We also had a great time visiting our pond. This was our first visit and we were very excited to see what was living in it. We saw snails, pond skaters, a water boatman, lily pads and reeds. We were hoping to find some tadpoles so we will have another look another day. We now have a container in our outside area to investigate daily. We have lots of pictures and books to help us to identify the living things that we find.

We have some amazing photographers in the class. During our Spring walk we looked around the school grounds to see what had changed since our first Spring walk. Many trees had beautiful blossom on and the daffodils had started to die. The children chose what they wanted to photograph using the class IPad.

Another highlight for us this week is that the sand has arrived! The children have had great fun playing and exploring in the sandpit. Lots of digging, pouring, transporting and sculpting has been taking place.

In maths we have been counting forwards and backwards to 30 and thinking about which number comes before and after a number. We have been counting on from different numbers. We have looked at the composition of numbers from 11-20. Your child should be able to tell you that 11 is a ten and one, 12 is a ten and two etc. We have been using ten fames and Numicon to demonstrate and support this learning.

We have started a butterfly diary to record the progress of the caterpillars. They are already almost twice the size since they arrived. They certainly are very hungry caterpillars!

We have been finding out all about Ramadan this week as one of our staff members in Butterfly class is fasting for Ramadan. The children listened carefully and asked some very interesting questions, understanding the importance of this commitment for 30 days from sunrise to sunset. We look forward to hearing about Eid next week once the moon has been sighted.

Week Three                    2.5.22

Hope you all enjoyed the extra day at the weekend.

When we came into school on Tuesday morning we noticed four of our caterpillars had moved to the top of the pot. They were getting ready to make their silk thread to hang from the top. We were getting so excited.

It has been so lovely to hear that the children have been talking about their learning at home with you. Many children have been bringing in books related to our big question. We are learning so many facts about so many different minibeasts which we will be collating for our very own minibeast  non- fiction book. We have been learning lots of minibeast poems which we plan to record and upload on here.

We now have tadpoles!!!!!!

Mrs Ollington from Beauclerc kindly shared her tadpoles with us. The children have been fascinated watching how they move in the water. We are looking out for their back legs first and then we will notice the tail getting shorter. The children were surprised to hear that we don’t need to feed them as they receive nourishment from their tails!

They have also loved playing with the lifecycle frog models in some water and can explain the four stages of the lifecycle confidently. The children have produced some great lifecycle drawings and writing.

In maths we have moved onto shape and spatial reasoning. The children have enjoyed making pictures such as robots using the different shapes. Lots of discussion has taken place about how they have positioned each piece and if they have rotated the shape to make it look different. We have enjoyed playing with puzzles and learning to think and look carefully at the shape of the space and then consider which piece will fit. Perhaps you could make puzzles at home together discussing which pieces fit and why.

A few children asked to play with the bee bots early in the week. It was so lovely to see many children joining in with this. Within minutes our classroom floor was a maze of whiteboards for the bee bots to find their way out! Great team work took place.

Eid Mubarak to all those families and staff who have been celebrating Eid-ul- Fitr. We looked at some wonderful mehndi patterns on Zara’s hand and listened to how it was celebrated.

Week Four           9.5.22

Great excitement in Butterfly class on Monday as our caterpillars had very neatly formed into pupa. They were now hanging from the top of the pot from their own silk thread.

We have been learning a new song about our world to sing in assembly. If you would like to hear the first verse click on the link below and choose song number 5, ‘The world is a wonderful place.’

https://www.outoftheark.co.uk/colours-and-patterns.html

This week we have been finding out about snails and worms. Did you know that snails and worms don’t have ears? In fact worms don’t have eyes or a nose either.

We had great fun making our own wormery in an old fish tank. We researched what kind of habitat they need and collected all the materials. We added soil, sand, dry leaves, food peelings and wet leaves in layers then repeated it again. We added some water to keep it moist. A worm lasagne! Finally we covered the tank in black paper. Then when we want to see the worms we can take the paper off and hopefully find them down the side.

Next week we are going to start writing our minibeast factfiles. Perhaps the children can start thinking about things they would like to write about with you.

Also next week we are going to make our very own bug hotel!!!! Please could you save any clear water bottles and send them into school. Thank you.

There has been lots of lovely singing in Butterfly class this week as we have also been learning to sing a song called If I were a Minibeast. Click on the link below to practise. It is also accompanied by a lady from Singing Hands teaching children the Makaton signing. See how your children do with singing and signing.

https://youtu.be/uuxJLqIPvag

In maths we have continued with our learning on spatial reasoning.  We have had great fun making different shapes on our geoboards with elastic bands. The children loved investigating how many different triangles they could make. Perhaps you could look out for shapes at home and in your environment when you are out and about together.