Supertato and the Evil Pea!

We have had a very interesting week as we have been studying the book Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. The children are learning to put actions to the story, to help them to retell the story in the correct sequence as well as remember key words which link the story together. They were interested in the villain of the story, the Evil Pea, and found his antics to be very amusing!

Evil Pea gave them a challenge to help his friends by counting them and picking them up using tweezers. This gave the children the opportunity to rehearse counting objects accurately and practice their fine motor skills at the same time. We ended up with chickpeas everywhere and a science investigation into what might happen if we added water to the test tube and left the chickpeas overnight? (All this because of a very rainy morning on Tuesday). The result was that the chickpeas soaked up all of the water and became bigger and more mushy.

Please take a look at some photographs of our learning time.

Celebrating families and understanding that we are all unique

This week we have started our RHSE lessons and the focus has been on what family means and understanding that other people’s families may look different from our own. The children have explored the word family in class discussion and shared what it means to them. They have also drawn pictures of their own families to create a class book. In addition we have been talking about where in the word family members come from. We are going to find these places on the world map.

Settling in and becoming focused learners

This week the children have been developing their imaginative play alongside adult led activities.

We have had fun in the water tray with pouring and measuring water beads, finding treasure in the sand tray and spending lots of time in the Architects Area.

I have seen a real change in how they are engaging with the learning environment and am delighted to witness some really deep engagement in their choice of activities. We have had magical mathematicians, creative builders, budding artists and lots of drawing and writing taking place.

The adults are gaining a clearer picture of what the children are both capable of and interested in. We are having lots of fun in the process!

Our first week in Squirrels Class and Year 1!

What a thoroughly enjoyable and fun week we have had, with lots of exploring, investigating and playing taking place. The children are beginning to understand the routines and are becoming increasingly eager to share all of their achievements in their play and learning. Their work goes up on the ‘Be Proud’ wall and I am becoming very used to hearing “Can you take a picture please Miss Gordon?”

Please enjoy looking at photographs of some of our activities.

Caving!

Today we had a visit from the Cave Bus. Inside the bus there were lots of tunnels which we had to crawl through. Sometimes we could see where we were going and in some tunnels we had to use our torches to see. We were all very brave and had great fun!

Street Dance

We had a fantastic time today street dancing. We learnt lots of moves and positions and even put them into a routine to music!

A Flying Start to Sports Week!

Today, as our first sports week activity, we had a go at frisbee. Mr Butler taught us how to hold, stand and throw a frisbee properly. We had great fun catching the frisbees with our crocodile arms.

The Great Fire of Plaistow!

As part of our London topic we have been looking at the Great Fire of London. To understand how and why the fire spread so quickly we built houses and then took them down to the environmental area and set fire to them. We learnt that the houses were made of wood which burns easily. They were also very close together so the fire spread from one to another easily. The wind also played a part in spreading the fire.

Nativity

Over the last couple of weeks we have been working super hard on our nativity. This week we all came in our costumes to perform it to the camera. We looked fabulous. The nativity will be ready to be viewed soon.

Little Red Riding Hood

In English this week we have written our own versions of the story Little Red Riding Hood. Miss Dore was really impressed with all the Squirrels. They all worked really hard to get their stories down on paper.

Well Being Week

This week we have been focusing on our well being. We have been looking at things that make us happy, what we are grateful for, what we are good at, how we can deal with worries and who we can go to when we are worried.

Gardening

Today we had a lovely afternoon in our outside area. As part of our science we planted lots of new bulbs ready for the spring. We talked about how the bulbs grow and looked at the roots.

Super Foods

Today we used our senses to explore super foods. We tried blueberries, cranberries, sweet potato, avocado, seaweed and green tea. We liked some of them but others we thought were disgusting!

My Hero

This afternoon we have been thinking about who our heroes are. Our heroes are our sisters and our brother, our Mums and Dads, our Grandparents and other people who help us like doctors.

Friday 22nd May

Hello Squirrels.

It’s Friday!

Next week is half term so I will not be posting any work. Well done for all you hard work over this half term. Make you sure have a good rest over half term and enjoy the sunshine.

After half term I will not be posting work on the blog. I will only be posting work on to google classrooms.

English

Today I would like you to hold a tea party. You are going to be the King/Queen. Your guests will need to follow the rules for meeting royalty. What do you think the King/Queen would chat about during a tea party?

Maths

When you go out shopping it is important to know how much money you have so that you don’t over spend.

Have a look at these shopping list.

Can you choose 2 items from a shopping list and add them together to find out how much money you would need?

For those of you who like a challenge - How much money would I need if I bought everything on one of the shopping lists?

Art

Quite often when we go somewhere new and exciting we buy a souvenir - something that is a reminder of the place.

In London there are lots of souvenir shops.

Here are some examples of things you may find in a souvenir shop in London.

Can you identify any famous landmarks on these souvenirs?

Can you design a souvenir? It could be a key ring, a fridge magnet, a snow globe etc. featuring somewhere in London or something from London.

Joke of the day

Why is Cinderella bad at football?

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Because she’s always running away from the ball!

Thursday 21st May

Good morning Squirrels.

English

Today I would like you to design invitations for your family and invite them to a tea party with a member of the Royal Family tomorrow.

You will need to include the time and date of the party. As the tea party will be with a member of the Royal Family you will need to tell them how they should dress. You may need to remind them of some of the rules.

Maths

Can you work out how much money I have in these pictures?

Comprehension.

Lots of you have told me that you have been out playing on your bikes or going on bike rides.

I have found some tips for you to help you look after your bikes.

Have a read and then answer the questions below.

1. Tick all the sentences that are true.

   If you dry your bike, it will stop it getting rusty.

   Brakes help you to keep your balance.

   You should always wear a helmet when you are on your bike.

   You don’t need to look after your bike.

2. Can you finish these sentences?

   Clean your bike …

   check brakes …

   Soft or flat tyres mean …

   Your seat needs …

Fact of the Day

Did you know that the Queen has lots of hobbies? Including horse riding, pigeon racing and football - she’s an Arsenal supporter!

Wednesday 20th May

Happy Wednesday.

English

Did you know that when you meet the Queen you must follow some strict rules?

You must curtsey or bow your head.

You cannot touch the Queen.

You must use the right greetings. On presentation to the Queen, the correct address is Your Majesty and then Ma’am, pronounced like Jam.

You should arrive early, before the Queen.

Don’t talk unless spoken to.

Don’t sit down or eat before before the Queen does.

You should always face the Queen - it is considered rude to have your back to her.

When the Queen enters a room you should stand up.

Today I would like you to imagine that you were King or Queen. Would you have any rules for when people met you?

If I was Queen I would ask people to bring their pets to meet me too!

Maths

Today I would like to look at notes.

Have a look at the notes below and put them order - the note that is worth the least at the top and the one worth the most at the bottom.

How many £1 coins are the same as a £5 note?

Sound of the Week.

Can you read this book and answer the questions? Look out for words containing our sound of the week.

1. How many people were in the race?

2. What do you think the go-kart driver is thinking as she waits to start?

3. How did the man start the race?

4. What are the names of the drivers?

5. What happened to Car 1?

6. What happened to Car 2?

7. What happened to Car 3?

8. Who won?

D&T

Please choose a famous London landmark and build it. You could build it out of anything e.g. recycling.

Tuesday 19th May

Hello Squirrels.

I hope you had a good Monday.

English

Today I would like you to imagine that you are the King or Queen of England. I would like you to design your own place and describe it. What would your place be like? Would it look like Buckingham Palace?

This is my palace.

My palace has two big bedrooms - one for me and a spare one for when my friends visit. Next to my purple bedroom there is a dressing room where I will keep all of my royal clothes and shoes. I would have a cinema room where I can relax and watch films. I would have a popcorn machine in this room too. Alfie would have his own bedroom full of tennis balls. In the throne room I would have a red throne for me and Alfie would have a throne too. Outside I would have lots of beautiful flowers and a swimming pool.

Maths

Today I would like you to set up a shop for your family. You could sell food or toys. You can use the price tags below. Try and use simple amounts e.g. £1, 10p. If you are finding this easy have a go at making amounts which involve adding two coins together e.g. £1.50.

Art

This is a picture of the Queen on her coronation.

This is the dress that she wore.

Can you draw a picture of you as a King or Queen on your coronation day. What would you wear?

Sound of the Week.

Can you think of more words with the ‘ar’ sound than your parents?

Joke of the Day

Why wouldn’t the shrimp share his treasure?

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Because he was a little shellfish!

Monday 18th May

Hello Squirrels.

I hope you all had a good weekend.

Well done to all of you who have made it on to google classrooms. I will be posting on the blog and google classrooms this week.

Sound of the Week.

The sound of the week is ar - start the car. Practice reading these words using the ar sound.

car, bar, park, smart, part, hard, start, star, sharp.

Word of the Week.

This weeks word is ‘was’. Can you practice writing ‘was’? How many times can you spell it without looking? You could use sand, chalk, mud, shaving foam, gel pens.

English

This week we are going to be looking at the Queen.

Did you know that the Queen has ruled for longer than any other Queen or King in British history?

She is now 94 years old. She was crowned on June 2nd, 1953, in Westminster Abbey.

I have a question which I wonder if you could help me answer - What does the Queen do? See if you can find out what the Queen does and write a few sentences. Would you like to be King or Queen?

Maths

This week we are going to be looking at money.

Today I would like to focus on coins and knowing how much they are worth. First we need to know what they look like. See if you can find any coins at home. What colour are they? Can you see any numbers on them? Which one is the biggest/smallest?

Then have a go at matching the coins to the amount.

Fact of the Day.

The Queen is the only person in the UK allowed to drive without a licence.

Google Classrooms !!!

Good morning Squirrels,

Next week Squirrel class are going to move over to Google Classroom to access learning activities. The intention is for everyone to have moved over to using it by the end of the week. With that in mind, I will post work on both this blog and on Google classroom for this week but will discontinue using the blog for posting learning after half term. The blog will revert to being used for short messages and photos etc, as it used to be.

Here is a youtube clip with everything you need to know about google classroom as a parent. Have a watch…

As our children are only 5/6 we won’t be using it in such a complex way but it gives you an idea.

So, now you have to create your own email in the format as set out in the guide (firstnamesurname). These have already been created by school but we are unable to add a list here for GDPR reasons. One or two of you have complicated surnames - if that is you, please contact the office to ask for the email details that have been created by school for you.

The classroom can be found at: https://classroom.google.com/c/ODM4MDE3NDczMTRa

Password to join is: pzaisae

P.S. Make sure you are logged out of all your google accounts.