Tag Archives: play based learning

Beginning Phonics

The children have started learning the sounds and formations of some letters this term. As well as learning with songs, stories, speedy skills and actions there are many other ways they practice these in class.

For ‘s’ they also had a go at making ‘s’ shapes with spaghetti and cutting out snakes which they covered with lots of s’s.

There are always visuals available for them to use and a roll-and-write card with a little ball on it which shows them the correct formations. Ellis is practicing ‘a’ below.

T was for tea! and what fun they had making tea.

They use the interactive whiteboard to practise formations and play games. They also use sand, little whiteboards, chalk, shaving foam etc. Lots of different opportunities to keep them engaged and enthusiastic.

For ‘i’  we got out the ink and lots of different stamps. They really enjoyed turning their pictures into works of art.

They practise recognising the letters and matching them to the initial sounds of words.

The children practised ‘p’ in many different ways. It is a tricky one to master but they really enjoyed opportunities for using ‘p’ words while using petals to make perfume.

Go Furt Fridays

The children get a focused loose parts and outdoor play session on Friday mornings. The water trays with pipes, half pipes, containers and connecting parts are always popular. The skills the children demonstrate here are fantastic.

They also learn how to climb and play safely in the trees together.

Imaginative play outdoors creates so many opportunities for developing social skills. it is particularly important for developing and establishing new friendships amongst the children.

First Day

What a busy and fantastic first day you the children have had. Here are some activities captured on camera today for you to see.

……….building, problem solving, co-operation

…….fine motor skills, focus and concentration, patterns

Counting, number bonds , creating Penguin One for number formations,

outdoor fun, collaboration, mark making, following instructions

Imaginary play, dinosaurs, curiosity, interactions, communication

Routines, structure and lots of listening

The children also had a music lesson today and the activities in the photos just show some of what the children were doing during their first day of school this session. They are a busy bunch.

 

 

Measuring Capacity and Weight

The primary 1’s loved using non-standard units to measure the capacity of different containers. Unfortunately it was too windy to take this learning outdoors this year so the mop was used frequently.

The primary 2’s moved on to understand the need for standard units of measurement and learned about litres and half litres, measuring the capacity of some quite large containers.

The children have been using the language for comparing weights to compare objects using the scales, finding out which objects were heavier/lighter than and heaviest/lightest.

They then used non-standard units, such as cubes, beads or pegs to weigh a variety of classroom objects.

The primary 2’s moved onto learning about kilograms and half kilograms and really enjoyed estimating and weighing heavier objects, including each other.

 

Directions in Maths

The children have been learning about the information needed to give directions, including turning right and left as well as forwards and backwards.

In these photos the children worked in pairs where one of them was a robot and the other had the control panel to give instructions.

There were also sounds, actions and additional instructions to follow, which made this activity a lot of fun.

Back in class the  children used the Beebots, a programmable toy, to program short journeys on the mats.

There Was An Old Lady

The children loved the Song called ‘There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’. We read the story in class, then watched a video which allowed the children to compare and chat about the differences. They sang the song in Music with Mr Travins earlier in the week too.

The Children did Drawing Club about the story and enjoyed playing with the puppets afterwards.

They set up their own puppet Show in Class during Golden Time on Friday. It was amazing to see the organisation and cooperation amongst the children. They provided seats for the audience, as well as tickets and ‘snacks’.

The whole audience joined in with the singing. I shall try and share a little video on here for you to see.

 

Number Activities

The Primary 1’s have been learning about place value using different materials and continuing to practise sequencing and ordering numbers within 20.

They have also been learning to read the number words and have played lots of games and enjoyed matching activities.

The older children have been continuing to work with numbers up to100. They have been learning about rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and also sequencing and ordering numbers.

They have been doing a lot of skip counting games and activites. Counting in 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s using lots of different classroom materials.

They have been learning about odd and even numbers, and how counting in 2’s links to doubling and halving, factions, symmetry and the processes of multiplication and division.

 

The children enjoyed fingerpainting arrays, choosing  different multiplication cards and then writing the answers next to them

Measuring Length

With the lovely weather the children have been outside doing some measuring as part of their maths lessons. They have been comparing objects

There have also been lots of opportunities in the classroom for measuring using different non-standard units and activities on the Interactive Whiteboard.

The Primary 2’s have been learning about metres and have also enjoyed being outdoors to do their maths this week.

They have made their own metre strips to take home. These will be helpful for next weeks homework.

Easter Egg Fun

The Children enjoyed listening to the Easter Story today and watching a short animation about it.  After discussing the reason we roll eggs at Easter time they got to work painting and designing their own egg ready for rolling later in the day.

It was p1 versus p2 in the Egg Rolling competition. The egg that travelled furthest after two shots and had no cracks was Ollie’s.

After lunch the children enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt in the School grounds. It’s great to be back at school.

 

The Class Airport

The children have really enjoyed creating an aeroplane and airport to play in this week. They have been talking about all the different jobs and have been really good at taking turns and playing together in this area.

They love being the pilot and co-pilot and its good to have cabin crew ready to help passengers with safety and snacks. They have made tickets and passports to take on their flights with them.

Air traffic control have been guiding the plane safely and they are taking the security very seriously. They have been asking the passengers lots of great questions to see where they are going on holiday and what they have packed in their suitcases.

Chinese traditions

In class we have been learning a little bit about Chinese New Year. They have been talking about the festival and looking at photos of the celebrations.

The children loved the story of the the Zodiac for naming the Years. This is the Year of the Snake and we looked at calendars and dates in class. Most of the Children were born in the Year of the Dog or the Pig.

We set up a little Chinese Restaurant in class and the children have been trying out chopsticks.

We also had some chinese masks, costumes and other items to investigate and play with in class. Can you guess who are behind these masks?

The children loved the chinese lanterns which were hanging up and the dragon so they had a go at making their own lanterns.

Nesting and Girlsta Jarl Squad Visit

The children have been building up to this visit. They have made shields, axes and helmets for their own class squad and have been practicing marching and singing in class. Some of them made this amazing galley boat with the loose parts and have enjoyed Viking related play options in class.

They looked and sounded fantastic when they all grouped together for this photo.

They were really excited about doing their quiz which they had prepared for the Jarl. They drew big posters of things linked to the Jarls real life and then had fun choosing random things to draw for the answers to questions.

We managed a quick rehearsal before the Vikings arrived.

We didn’t manage to get many photos during the visit. I shall add more if I get any.

 

Hopscotch Words

It was great to take advantage of the beautiful morning and get outside for some literacy fun. The primary 1’s had great fun playing hopscotch with words and writing with chalk on the tarmac.

Promises

The children loved the story about Noah’s Ark. The story tells of God’s promise to never again flood the Earth and his creation of a rainbow. The children made their own promise, or New Years Resolutions, which they wrote on clouds at each side of their rainbow.

The primary 2’s sequenced pictures from the story and then re-wrote it in their own words. They have done amazing and they are all so proud of what they have achieved.

The children are enjoying playing with the animals and the ark in the classroom. They also have books and puzzles linked to this story and have had a go at Drawing Club too.

They have also enjoyed listening to another Bible story called Jonah and the Whale. They made these really cool expanding pictures and watched a little video of the story as well.

Back to School

The children were delighted to be back at school this week. They are always excited to see what is new in the classroom but mostly they are excited to see their friends.

The train set is always a huge hit in the classroom. The children work together to build some really good layouts and play together so well with the trains

As part of their numeracy work the primary 1’s have been learning about Ordinal Numbers. They did this with the primary 2’s lined up and then they had their own little tub of objects to set out in an order of their choice. They practiced using the words 1st, 2nd, 3rd …….10th to say the positions of the items in their lines.

This term the IDL topic is titled ‘Here, There and Everywhere’. The children  worked in groups to discuss and plan what they would like to learn about this term. Their drawing show lots of fantastic ideas and they are very excited about leading their learning through this topic.

 

Swimming Lessons

The classes have really enjoyed their lessons at Scalloway pool this term. Mr Kirkness was impressed with their listening and effort and both classes have made lots of progress with confidence and skills.

Each week the classes take turns at going in the pool so while the p2 group are in I teach the p1’s at the poolside and vice versa. It is quite a productive time and the children are kept very busy with maths and literacy activities.

A huge thankyou to all the parents who volunteered to come along each Tuesday.  I am very grateful for all your help.

Shapes

The children have had great fun using different materials and resources to create symmetrical designs. They have been using mirrors to check for symmetry indoors and outside and also painted wonderful symmetrical abstract designs.

They have also been learning about the 2D shapes and practised counting sides and corners. They designed their own pictures using different shapes.

We are very lucky at Whiteness to have so many fantastic resources for the children to use…..some modern technology mixed with some very old puzzles.

The Primary 2’s have been learning about which shapes can tile and which ones can’t. they found examples in and around the school and might find examples at home too. They investigated tiling using the different shapes they had been learning about.

The children have also been learning about 3D shapes and using their knowledge of 2D shapes they can describe the faces they can see. They have been learning about flat and curved faces as well as counting  the vertices on the different shapes. They loved using the ‘feely box’ to describe and guess the shapes.

Again we found lots of examples of 3D shapes in the school and outdoors.

They used shapes to build models and the p1’s practiced sorting shapes into ones that could roll or not roll and ones that could stack or not stack.

 

To Start the Term…..

The classroom has changed around a bit and they are very excited and enjoying the Halloween Shop and messy activities set up for them this week.

The children have been having fun playing literacy and numeracy games and going over some of the learning from last term.