Sounds

• Elephants: new sound – ph.  You can watch the next episode of alphablocks by clicking here.
• Tigers and Pandas: new sound – ng.  You can watch the ng episode by clicking here.

Maths

Using the numberlines that have previously been sent home please try taking away 1 or 2 .   Parents: please remind your child that taking away 1 simply means we take 1 step down the numberline.  To subtract 2 we take two steps.  For a greater challenge you could try using the SPLAT square and use it to subtract 1 or 2.  Click here for the SPLAT square.

You could also try singing our current favourite subtraction song to help your child learn more about subtracting 1.  You could use family members, cuddly toys or fingers to be the monkeys.  Try emphasising to your child the sum that is happening at the end of each verse e.g. ‘there were 5  monkeys, take away 1…that makes……4!’  This is a fun way to encourage subtraction in a very visual way.

5 little monkeys

Five little monkeys sitting in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Crocodile: “You can’t catch me!”
Along comes Mr. Crocodile
As quiet as can be and…SNAP! He ate the monkey for his tea.

Four little monkeys sitting in a tree…
Three little monkeys sitting in a tree…
Two little monkeys sitting in a tree…

One little monkey sitting in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Crocodile: “You can’t catch me!”
Along comes Mr. Crocodile
As quiet as can be and….SNAP! He ate the monkey for his tea.

Possible extra challenge: we have recently tried changing the words of some of our favourite subtraction songs.  For example,  ‘…as quiet as can be and SNAP! He ate 4 monkeys for his tea.’  This helps introduce more complex taking away sums in a way that does not present too much challenge.

Please write a note in the reading record to confirm the homework has been completed as this can impact upon the follow up that is required in class.  Many parents are forgetting to do this and I am often unaware of who has completed their homework.  Thank you. 🙂

Sounds

-Pandas and tigers: revision week for all sounds.    Please focus on th, sh and ch.  Many of us get muddled between the ‘th’ sound and the ‘f’ sound.  Please reinforce this at home by reminding your child that we stick our tongue out slightly when making the th sound.

Pandas and tigers: you could try watching this ‘th’ video to help you develop your skills in using this sound.

Elephants: click hear to watch a video about the ‘ay’ sound.  Try talking about the difference between ai words and ay words.  Remember that words with the ay sound usually have their ay sound at the end of the word.  Words with the ai spelling rule usually have their ai sound at the beginning or the middle of a word.

Topic

Food diary – please help your child keep a record of the number of pieces of fruit and vegetables they eat each day for a week.   You should try starting it today.  They should colour in one square on the graph that was sent home for each piece they eat.  We are all aiming to eat more than 5 pieces a day.  Please bring graphs/diaries back to school next Monday.

Food rubbish collecting – please bring in any clean packaging from food that have carbohydrates in them.  We will be starting to learn about this on Tuesday.  You could bring in pasta packets, cereal boxes, noodles, bread etc.  Use the food plate below to help you get ideas (yellow section).  We are trying to make our own healthy plate in school to help us learn more about being healthy.