Let’s Investigate – Caterpillars

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been caring for and observing the caterpillars. The children have been recording any changes on the timeline and counting number of days. At the end of last week, the caterpillars started crawling up to the top of their pots and each began to build a chrysalis. Yesterday the first 3 butterflies emerged from their chrysalis’! We even managed to catch one of them on video!

We found out that butterflies like to eat sweet fruit to get some energy, so we gave them a delicious snack of banana and oranges.

We released the butterflies that were ready to find a new habitat and continue the life cycle. We will continue to look after the other chrysalises.

Learning Experience: Minibeasts

We introduced and have been exploring the book, ‘I Love Bugs!’ This is a fun poem about a little boy who loves all different types of bugs. We noticed that the author didn’t actually name each creature, instead she used some describing words to give us clues about the animals, so we had to use our detective skills to identify the bugs, for example, ‘I love springy, jumpy leapy bugs and I love slimy crawly creepy bugs’. We had so much fun predicting which bug the author was describing.

We then had a turn at writing our own sentences with clues in, for example, ‘It has six legs, and it has black spots’; ‘It has no legs, and it lives in the soil’. The children have been working so hard on making sure that all the elements of writing are included, such as finger spaces, full stops, and tall/short letters.  

During PE, we explored some of the vocabulary in the book about how the creatures move, such as ‘flutter’, ‘glide’ and ‘scuttle’. We tried moving in a variety of ways, e.g., ‘scuttle like a beetle’, ‘flutter like a butterfly’ and ‘leap like a grasshopper’. We worked in small groups to perform different part of the poem. The children really impressed us with their enthusiasm! Our aim is to put all of the different sections together to create a performance poem of the entire book.

Maths

In Maths this week, we explored the concept of ‘odd’ and ‘even’ numbers. We revisited the word ‘pair’ and discussed how that meant they were in groups of 2.  The children tried to find pairs within numbers to help them identify if a number is odd or even. The children noticed that the odd numbers have an ‘extra bit’ on the Numicon which means it does not make a pair. We then placed the Numicon into a number line, and we noticed that it made a pattern in the counting system (odd, even, odd, even, odd, even).

 ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’

Our new theme is called ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’. We will support the children in gaining an understanding of our local area, including the advantages of living by the sea. We also want them to have an understanding of the wider world and where Torbay is in England, and in the world. We will be using sources such as simple maps, globes, and aerial photographs to support our learning. We will be encouraging children to be curious learners and ask lots of questions. Adults will promote enquiry-based learning by modelling curiosity and being co-learners. Children will have opportunities to explore and be immersed in their interests. We will be exploring the following focus questions:

1.What are the features of our school, and where is it located? Understand the use of maps and notice key features.

2.How does Preston compare to a town/suburb in another country? Develop an understanding of similarities and differences.

3.What are the key features of our local area?

4.How can you be safe near the water?

Home Learning

To support this learning, we have a few home learning tasks.

1. We would love to hear about all your experiences of different countries, communities, and cultures. For example, you may have family that grew up in a different country, or that are living in another part of the world. You may have a family member who speaks another language, or you may have visited another country on holiday. Please could you either post photos and information on Seesaw or bring something in to share with the whole class.
2. Draw a simple map of your house. Some of you have already done this, and we will be sharing them over the next few weeks.
3. Take photos of the different features around your local area and post them on Seesaw. Some of you have done this already. We will be talking about these in the next few weeks.

Trips to the local area

To support our learning, we will be walking the children in small groups around the local area to observe the different features. You will receive a text message to inform you if your child is visiting the local area.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sun safety

In warmer weather, please help to ensure that your child is protected from the Sun.

Sun cream. Please make sure you apply sun cream at home in the morning.

Sunhat. Send in a labelled sun hat each day.

Water bottle. Please also remember to send in their water bottle each day. (You could put it in the fridge overnight or add ice cubes to it to make the water cooler.) In hot weather the children will be drinking more, so if their bottle is finished, we can also refill it from the water cooler in school.

Home Learning

• Enjoy the book on Seesaw read by Mrs Coombe.
• Check your child’s book bag and Seesaw for phonics activities and reading to complete at home.
• We would love to hear about all your experiences of different countries, communities, and cultures. For example, you may have family that grew up in a different country, or that are living in another part of the world. You may have a family member who speaks another language, or you may have visited another country on holiday. Please could you either post photos and information on Seesaw or bring something in to share with the whole class.
• Draw a simple map of your house. Some of you have already done this, and we will be sharing them over the next few weeks.
• Take photos of the different features around your local area and post them on Seesaw. Some of you have done this already. We will be talking about these in the next few weeks.

Have a great weekend!

From Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team