Hello Red Class,
The story of Diwali was at the heart of all our work this week. We watched two different versions of the story. One version used shadow puppets. This inspired some of the children to create their own shadow puppets and to perform a puppet show. Of course, this activity also produced a lot of discussion about shadows and, as we walked to Forest School today, there were lots of opportunities to spot shadows and to talk about why they happen.
During play and explore time, some of the children decided to use their writing skills to make posters for Sita and other children enjoyed exploring the artefacts on our topic table: a Diwali card, books, puppets and pictures from the Diwali story. We will be discovering more about Hinduism next week.
Phonics sessions focused on previously taught digraphs, such as ‘oo’, ‘oi’ and ‘ar’. We’re busily recapping tricky letter sounds and shapes before moving to the last phase of phonics in Reception. When reading at home, see if you can find digraphs within words before sounding them out. For example, before you read ‘moon’, look carefully at the word and find two letters that make one sound and then segment and blend the word. Next week, we will find out how to read and spell two syllable words and play games to read and spell tricky keywords.
Your little blue phonics books are now complete. Please keep them at home. On Monday, you will find a new book in your book bag to support your cursive letter writing. Each page will feature step-by-step instructions for letter formation and space to draw handwriting patterns and to trace and write cursive letters. Of course, all of this can also be achieved in a tray of shaving foam, on a floured surface or using a paintbrush and water outside! Your handwriting books will be collected each Thursday and returned the following day with new letters.
This week, we also found time to add two single digit numbers using a range of equipment and visual representations, including Numicon, egg boxes and the fabacus. During Art sessions, we explored wrapping, pegging and knotting fabric. We also used different media (oil pastels, felt tips, paint, wax crayons and pencil crayons) to decorate strips of fabric. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve enjoyed using iPads with Mrs Allen. From taking and editing photos to navigating interactive stories and learning how to keep safe when using technology. You deserve your weekend after so much learning!
Stay safe and keep smiling.
Mrs Webb, Miss Holmes, Miss Turner, Mrs Roberts and Miss Bailey