A busy two weeks in P1B!🐝

In literacy, we have been learning the sounds and letters Tt, Pp and Nn. In our phonics lessons we are learning the name of the letter, the sound it makes and an action and song to help us remember it. We also learn the formation of the letter and practise this. In play, the children have been writing the letters independently. They are enjoying doing this and making marks on the big whiteboard as well as in the craft area and sand. The children enjoyed making nnn necklaces when learning about Nn. Please have a look at our phonics videos we have been posting if you would like to support your children with phonics at home. 😀

In writing, we have been learning about using description through the ‘Describing Bubble’. The children enjoyed the story ‘Hamilton’s Hats’ 👒 🧢 about a pig who has lots and lots of hats! We talked about our favourite hats and tried to describe them using the categories: shape, colour, size, position and texture. Miss Carson brought in some of her hats to try on and talk about – some of them were very silly! Then the children drew and designed their own wearable hats. The creativity and problem solving skills on display were fantastic!

We begin our journey with writing by developing the the children’s confidence in drawing and mark making. The children use black pen to draw and we have a focus on developing detail in their drawings. I absolutely love to see the children bring their ideas to life this way. Watching their own personal style and artistry come through the flow of their mark making. An important part of developing their confidence is by nurturing and valuing each mark they make on the page!

On Friday, we did some personal writing were the children talked about and drew themselves with their favourite toys. 🧸 I’m excited to share these drawings with you soon!

In maths, we’ve extended our awareness of numbers to five and this has included lots of exploration about the different ways you can show and make these numbers. Our wonderful pattern work has continued and although we’ve only explored repeating patterns in class, the children are naturally starting to explore other types of pattern types too including growing patterns and symmetrical patterns! I love talking to the children about their patterns during play.

This week we’ve also introduced “Dot Talks”, these give us a way to see different people’s perspectives on how they group a collection of dots and work out how many dots there are. The children only get to see the dot arrangement for a second before it’s hidden so they have to visualise the dot arrangment in their minds. The language that was used to describe how they saw the dots was super and we shared some different ways that we could work out how many there were altogether.

In play, the children have also been enjoying playing musical instruments. We learned about the two ways to hold a triangle to create open and closed sounds. Then the children had a go at making their own musical patterns and we even had someone sing a song for Oliver on his birthday! Children have also been making their own instruments such as drums and shakers!

After moving things around a bit in the classroom the children have started to show further interest in construction and have been developing their ability to build using Kapla. This week they built towers and enjoyed comparing height. It’s great to see our work on pattern coming up in their building in the way they decorate and in the way they talk about how they have created parts of their buildings. The Home Corner also moved into a bigger area and has allowed for more space to cook, have meals, dress the babies and make a couch and sometimes a bed. 🏠

Another interest that was sparked this week, was measuring! The children began using the tape measure to explore length and height. This allowed for good discussions using mathematical vocabulary such as, tall, taller, big, short and difference.

In Thursday the children enjoyed getting outside for P.E. and playing parachute games in the sunshine. What good listeners they were! They followed instructions and took turns well!