Please see the link above to access the homework for this week.  Thank you.

This term we are learning to play fairly in team games.  This links to our circle time activities on children’s rights- being treated fairly.

We had a great time in the playground today playing kick rounders.  The children followed the rules and many of them are starting to work very well as a team.  We are gradually moving away from an entire team chasing after the ball (adorably typical at this age) and are beginning to pass! 🙂

Please remember that your child can wear/bring trainers to school every Friday if you wish.

Please see the forest information using the link above.  Thank you.

As the children have made such wonderful progress in reading recently I have decided to give you an updated list of reading tips. Please remember that reading should only ever be completed when your child is willing to do it.  Pictures should still never be covered- we want the children to learn to use the pictures to aid reading.  This is particularly relevant for when they become more confident reading non-fiction texts in the future.

Before Reading

• Continue to talk about the front cover.  What might it be about?  Is it fiction or non-fiction?  What does the title say?  If the title is a tricky title try getting your child to find some words or sounds that they know and encourage them to use the pictures as a clue.  You could tell them one word from the title and see if they can find that word – this can help to break down tricky titles into more manageable chunks. Relate the front cover to their own experience.
• On occasions you may wish to begin or end the reading session by reading the entire book to your child.  I often do this in class.  It allows children to hear an adult modelling expression, use of punctuation and reinforces key vocabulary.

During Reading

• Continue to try relating the pictures to the words.  For example, if the picture shows a wet dog ask your child to find the word ‘wet’ in the text.  This reinforces that the pictures can help us and develops important skills in scanning text and most importantly encourages confidence.
• Encourage your child to experiment more with expression.  We have been doing this in class and it always causes much hilarity! Talk about what the character might be feeling and how this could impact upon his voice.  We have been using speech marks to help us know which parts of a story should be said in a special voice and which should be said in a regular, talking voice.
• Try hunting for openers – these are words that are effective at the start of a sentence.  Openers we have been focussing on are: we, I, The, Once upon a time, first, then.
• Try hunting for connectives – these are words that are used to ‘connect’ sentences together.  We have been focussing on: and, then, next, so, because, when, but.
• If you are aware of a tricky word that your child regularly struggles with try guiding them to it before starting the reading on that page.  I often say, ‘I think the word ‘said’ is on this page, can you find it?’  This gives them ownership of their learning rather than simply pointing out the word.
• Encourage independence.  If your child is willing, he or she, could try reading the independent books without any adult help.

After Reading

• The most important thing to do after reading is to praise your child.  Even if they struggled, please try to find something that they did that was very positive.  Another very important question to ask is did they enjoy it?  Why/why not?
• You could chat about their favourite part or character or, if it is a non-fiction book, you could ask them what new facts they found out.
• Ask some questions about the book.  You could ask what happened first in the story, how it ended, what sad/happy/scary thing happened.  You could ask what the characters were like.
• Get your child to ask you questions.  They always enjoy doing this to check you have been listening.
• Word/punctuation hunt – we often finish with this at the end of a reading session because it reinforces key areas of learning and most importantly, is fun!  Ask your child to close his/her book.  Give him a word to find in his book as quickly as he can.  You could extend this by getting him/her to find a certain type of punctuation or a spelling rule e.g. magic ‘e’, ‘oo’ sound etc or an opener or a connective.

This term we will be chatting about children’s rights during circle time.

Today we spoke about fairness and found out that being treated fairly was one of our rights.  We all tried to share an example of when we were treated fairly or unfairly.  We are going to try and treat each other fairly in class – this could also be reinforced at home.  Look out for your child coming home with a special ‘I treated someone fairly’ sticker.

Here are a selection of our own experiences of being treated unfairly or fairly:

Immediately after circle time the children all strived towards being extremely fair friends.  Willow decided that since Keir shared his pine cones she should tidy his rubbish.  Many friends said that tomorrow they needed to try and be kind to Angus because he had helped them to get their packed lunches – they thought that by ‘paying back’ a favour they were being fair! 🙂  Oliver was fair to his friends by letting them in front of him when we lined up.  Aaryn and Erin were fair to everyone by holding the doors open for the entire class. We also played fairly during a running game after circle time.  Well done everyone! Keep it up!

This term:

• We will have PE on Thursdays and Fridays.  Please ensure your child has their PE kit in school everyday.  We will also have games outside every Friday afternoon – you may wish to send trainers to school on a Friday for this.  I hope to teach the children how to play rounders.  We will also have dance every Tuesday.
• We will continue to go to library every Friday.  Children will only be issued with a new book if they have returned their book from the previous week.
• Reading will be on Mondays and Thursdays.  Please check the reading diaries/record for more information.
• Homework will continue to be issued on a Monday via the school Blog.  Please check the Blog every Monday.
• We will be doing a mini forest topic.  This will involve 4-6 sessions in the forest.   More information to follow.
• We will be trialing a new online reading programme for extra literacy revision.  This will require the children to log in for approximately 20 minutes per week.  More information to follow.
• We will continue to be learning a new sound most weeks with revision weeks dispersed throughout the term.  The elephants and tigers will no longer be getting their sound books updated each week.  This is because they are progressing beyond the sounds provided on the sound sheets.   Instead their new sounds will be posted on the Blog with possible activities to try.  New words will continue to be sent home for the pandas and tigers.

Wishing you all a happy holiday!  Thanks to you all for another great term!

I hope you all enjoy the ‘brownies’ that many children are taking home today! 🙂