Hello Reception 2 families! Welcome back to school! I hope that you have all had a lovely half term break. I hope that you have all had the chance to relax, be with your families and have loads and loads of fun! It is now the Spring 2 Term and we have a new topic to enjoy together…

I hope that in the half term break you managed to get out and about in your wellies exploring your local area?!

Did you discover any signs that spring in on the way?

What did you see?     What did you hear?   

What did you touch? What did you smell?   

Chat to your grown up about the things that you discovered!

Topic Activities

So, what is spring?

Spring is one of the 4 seasons. The seasons are all very different. Watch this video and see if you can spot and name the different seasons...

Monday's Literacy Activities

I would you to think of the 4 seasons spring, summer, autumn and winter. Do you like all 4 of the seasons or just certain ones? Why do you like them? What do you like to do in the different seasons?

In this activity you need to draw a picture to show each of the 4 seasons and then underneath each picture finish the sentence. For example, In spring I like to...

splash in the puddles in my wellies! 

Grownups, you can print this activity off through the link below. If you are unable to print then your child can use a plain piece of paper for this activity. It would be good to encourage them to write themselves about what they like to do, using their developing phonics skills. A phase 2 and 3 phoneme mat would help them to spell words. Alternatively, you may wish to record their thoughts. 

Monday's Phonics Activities

Practise the phonemes we have learnt so far (we are up to oo/oo) by joining in with our good old Jolly Phonics actions and songs...

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2wpdvv

We'll continue to secure the phonemes that we have learnt to date. This week we will focus on the digraphs...

ai and ee

You don't have to print this activity sheet out but there is a link below if you'd like to. Your child can look at the pictures and write their words on a piece of paper or maybe with a whiteboard and pen. 

It is time for some Tricky Word reading practise!

Grownups...It is important to practise these so that they securely in the children's memories and be read in texts with confidence. Remember that Tricky Words are sight words, they cannot be read phonetically and your child must practise memorising them as a whole word. You don't need to print these out, you can use them on screen, you just need a dice. The is is below though if you wish to.

Monday's Maths Activities

Let;s get our brains warmed up!

Practise counting back from 20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srPktd4k_O8

A guided maths warm up video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0IMbrDAWlI

Well Done!

What are we going to learn about in maths?! It is...

Grownups...This week will be returning to addition and subtraction. We have practised a few addition and subtraction strategies in class. It is good to return to mathematical concepts to secure them though. 

This is how I tackle introducing and securing the concept of calculation (addition and subtraction) with the children. I think it will give you some insight into how and why it is approached this way. It is called the CPA model: C is for concrete, P is for pictorial and A is for abstract. 

Concrete

This is when objects can be physically handled, enabling children to explore different mathematical concepts.

Pictorial

Once children are confident with a concept using concrete resources, they progress to drawing pictorial representations or quick sketches of the objects. By doing this, they are no longer manipulating the physical resources, but still benefit  from the visual support the resources provide.

Abstract

Once children have a secure understanding of the concept through the use of concrete resources and visual/pictorial images, they are then able to move on to the abstract stage. Here, children are using abstract symbols to model problems – usually numerals. To be able to access this stage effectively, children need access to the previous two stages alongside it. 

For the most effective learning to take place, children need to constantly go back and forth between each of the stages. This ensures concepts are reinforced and understood.

Here are some home learning challenges to get you using moveable objects add and subtract. Once you get a sense of it you can create problems for your child to solve using objects around the home and outdoors... 

Adding and subtracting is a great concept to explore outside. Collect natural objects, practise grouping and counting them accurately and finding totals of each object. Then ask them questions like:

• How many sticks and leaves are there in total?
• I've got 6 stones and I give you 3, how many have I got left?
• There are 2 big sticks and 4 little sticks, how many is that altogether?
• Here are 8 leaves, oh no, 2 have blown away! How many do I have now?

Monday's Physical Challenge​​​​​​​

Well done everyone! You did a really good job there!

Let's end the day with a lovely spring themed story...

What a super springy first day back to school and home learning!

Myself and Miss Hodgson continue to miss you all hugely and cannot wait until we are all back to school together as one big, happy class 

See you tomorrow!

Mrs Cook x