Another busy week.  In literacy, we have been learning the sounds ar and oo.  We learned to read some very big words with as many as ten letters like toothbrush and shampoo.  We also did very well with our reading and Mrs Clyne was so impressed that she would like to increase the pace of our reading and try to give us two books a week.  For this reason, it would be really helpful if the children brought their book bag every single day.

This week we launched the First Minister’s Reading Challenge and we went to visit the newly revamped school library where we chose our own book to take back to class and some of the children enjoyed reading their books to Ted.  We have also begun to watch Katie Morag stories on BBc iplayer as part of our Scotland focus.

We heard some of the children reciting their Scots poems and are looking forward to hearing eveyone saying their poem next week.  Please ensure your child is ready to recite their poem on Monday 20th January.  Three children from the class will be chosen to go through to the final on Wednesday 22nd January and we will finish our Scottish focus with an assembly on Friday 24th January.

We have been learning about hand washing and hygiene and wrote some very impressive instructions for how to wash our hands properly.  We learned that it is important to use warm water and soap or we won’t kill the germs.

In numeracy this week we have been learning about doubles and in particular doubles within 20.  We made some great ladybird pictures and now have a beautiful display outside of our classroom.

Happy New Year!

It was lovely to welcome all the children back and hear their stories from the Christmas break.  Thanks to everyone for their lovely Christmas wishes, cards and gifts.  It is lovely of you to think of us and is much appreciated.  The children have returned refreshed and have been very enthusiastic about planning a new design layout for our classroom.  We have had great fun rearranging the different areas.

This week’s particular highlight was the new arrival of large blocks which have sparked some fantastic play.  The children worked well in pairs or small groups to build some amazing structures.  We also had to do some problem solving as we tried to work out how best to fit all the bricks into the new storage unit, this proved challenging!

We have revamped our house corner which has encouraged more engaging play and the children have been asking if we could get some dressing up clothes so if you have anything you’d like to clear out and think would be suitable for the children to role play in, please do sent it in.  Thanks.

We talked about New Year’s resolutions and how sometimes people make promises of things they can change or do better.  The children chatted about taking more exercise or eating more healthily.

In assembly Mrs Mill spoke to us about managing our worries and we learned that it is best to talk about things that are worrying us.  We also read a story in class today called Lion’s In A Flap which was all about Lion managing his worries.

Here’s some of the children’s comments about their week:-

Georgie – I liked learning our new sounds igh, ay, ee, ow.

Ruby – I liked learning the sounds too.

Sophie – I liked the assembly when Mrs Mill told us all about managing our worries.

Isla – I liked the assembly, learning new sounds and when we got the new blocks.

Nieve – I liked playing with the new bricks and building castles with Sahasra, Elise and Isla.

Penelope – I liked playing with the blocks.

Elise – I liked when me and Nieve were playing in the house corner together.  I liked that it has moved.

Emelia- I enjoyed playing with the bricks.

Piotr – I like the house corner.

Lucia – I liked playing with Isla and Eva in the new house corner.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thank you to all the parents who came to our music performance on Wednesday of this week.  It was so lovely for the children to share with you what they have been learning. The children had so much fun working with Dave Trouton on their listening and talking skills, and exploring instruments.

The children have been revising letter sounds this week as we have finished our first set of sounds, next week we begin the first set of complex sounds.

The children made some posters for our Nativity performance next week, here is a sample.

The children orally made up a story this week, which they will write and illustrate in their own books over a few weeks.

In maths they have been adding and subtracting within 10, using a variety of concrete materials, and some quiz questions about odd one out.

The children have been working on their sock snowmen over the last few weeks and this week checked that their eterprise gifts were ready, no snowman had lost an eye or nose before the Christmas fair!  They are excited to have them ready to sell.

Here are some of the children’s comments about their learning:

FW – I liked putting the pom-pom on my snowman.

IG – liked making the sock snowman although it was difficult to tie the scarf round his neck.

PP- the performance with Dave was fun.

SS – I liked playing my instrument.

IG– I was a bit nervous at the music with Dave,  but I’m ok now.  GG – me too.

And RC was so happy to receive her pupil of the week certificate