Ducklings Newsletter 24/4/15

Friday 24th April 2015 Our News!

Welcome back after the Easter holidays!

The children have been very excited to share their holiday news with us and have written all about it in their news books. Thank you to those children who managed to write their very own holiday diaries.

As part of their transition into Year 1, the Ducklings have begun to change their routines at the start and end of the school day. They have all coped brilliantly and have shown how organised and responsible they can be. They have all earned lots of credits on their Carleton passports.

This week they have all enjoyed finding out how and why we celebrate St. George’s day and taken part in ‘Pay it Forward’ day, whereby they do kind deeds for others. Hopefully they have been kind and helpful at home too!

A big thank you to the Workman family for bringing in some tadpoles for us to observe on our investigation table.

In Literacy we have enjoyed reading lots of different stories about the farm and have spent lots of time spotting and listening to rhyming words. The children are really good now at carrying on their own rhyming strings. They have written some lovely rhymes using the story Duck in a truck as a focus.

We have been exploring doubling and have made some lovely butterflies and ladybirds with double number of spots on them. Some of us are beginning to know our double facts to 10 by heart. Ask them to sing the double song for you!

Our sharing skills are also looking more confident as we have been practically sharing out pencils, fruit, cones, bean bags and toys fairly between different numbers of groups.

We have made some lovely chicks and lambs at the creative table and our display around school around the theme of colour and the artist Jennifer Sanchez’s art work is coming on nicely.

STARS OF THE WEEK Matthew Manning for always having a super attitude towards his work and Amy Atherton for great reading.

Our next news letter will be on Friday 8th May and will give details about all the fun activities we have planned for the next few weeks.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ring, email or come and see us.

Staff email: Mrs Claydon l.claydon@carletongreen.lancs.sch.uk Mrs Catterall m.catterall@carletongreen.lancs.sch.uk

OUR LEARNING Dinosaurs and other animals that come from eggs In Literacy we will be reading lots of different story books and non-fiction books about Dinosaurs. In particular we will read ‘Dinosaur Roar’ by Paul and Henrietta Strickland and ‘Dinosaur Rumpus’ by Tony Milton. We will concentrate on the rhyming words and repeating patterns in the stories and will practise reading them with expression so that we can ‘perform’ them to each other!

We will find out lots of different facts about dinosaurs and will use ‘wow’ or describing words when we write about our own favourite dinosaurs.

As part of our creative learning we will build nests outside with natural materials and decorate pebbles to create our own unusual dinosaur eggs.

We have some lovely dinosaur songs to learn to sing and dance to.

In our role play area we shall create a ‘Dinosaur Museum and gift shop.’

To develop our understanding of the world around us we will research to find out which other animals come from eggs and learn about some simple life cycles.

Outside we will develop our physical skills by digging for or burying dinosaur bones or eggs. We will see if we can move like different dinosaurs!

In Maths we will be looking at how halving is the opposite of doubling. We will continue our work on sharing and use this to solve problems practically.

We shall also be finding different ways to sort, group and order different dinosaurs and discuss how and why we have sorted them in these ways.

As part of our Personal, Social and Emotional Development topic on ‘Relationships’ we will look at how we can be fair and unfair, why and how we can share and make sure we listen and take account of what others have to say.

We will be doing lots of threading and weaving work to add more creations to our Jennifer Sanchez inspired artwork.

REMINDERS Warmer Weather Please can all children bring a water bottle, sun hat and sun cream (all named) to school each day.

Pebbles needed Pebbles needed for the children to paint and decorate, to make pretend dinosaur eggs.

Junk Materials Please could we have any polystyrene pizza bases for our latest art project. Also lots of egg boxes, as these make great jaws for dinosaurs!!

Dinosaur Topic If you have any dinosaur stories or non-fiction books please bring them in to share at story time.

Have you got any dinosaurs or other useful objects we could show or use in our role-play area?

Please name your items clearly. Thank you.

Head Lice Please check your child’s hair regularly as there have been a number of cases of head lice. Long hair also needs to be tied back for school. Contact the school nurse if you need any advice on treating head lice.

Dates School Closed All day on Monday 4th May - May Day Bank Holiday Dinosaur Workshop Thursday 30th April Cost £5.00 Please send in permission slips and all money by Wednesday 29th April at the latest Duckling Class Assemblies Parents, Grandparents and Carers are invited Yellow Ducklings – Tuesday 12th May 3pm Green Ducklings – Tuesday 19th May 3pm School Half-Term Closure School closes Friday 22nd May at 3.30pm Re-opens Tuesday 2nd June at 8.50am

TALK HOMEWORK Talk for Numbers Get your favourite toys e.g. cars, dinosaurs or dolls. Practise doubling them. Start with 1, double 1, then 2, double 2. What is the answer each time?

Get out your dominoes. Find the doubles and count the spots.

Roll two dice. Can you roll a double? What’s the answer?

Try sorting your toys into groups. Dinosaurs - Can you say why you have put them into those groups?

E.g. these have spikes, these have long necks.

Sing the doubling song Practise sharing – get different numbers of plates and share out fruit, biscuits, sandwiches, etc Share pencils or pens into different pots Share raisins out amongst different numbers of teddy bears www.ictgames.com/numeracy

Talk for Reading and Writing Practise the new (and old) sounds and tricky words sent home.

Read every night.

Share dinosaur stories together.

Play a rhyming pairs game.

Say a word e.g. hen – make a list of words that rhyme with it. www.phonicsplay.co.uk Phase 3, 4 and 5 www.ictgames.com/literacy TALK FOR TOPIC Find out which animals lay eggs.

See how many dinosaurs you can name and find out some facts about them.

Find a picture of a dinosaur and think of words to describe it.

Find out what a herbivore and a carnivore is.

Visit a Museum to find out more about dinosaurs.

Talk about everything!

Have fun!