Reception's blog - w/b Monday 17th May
Date: 20th May 2021 @ 5:49pm
Good evening everyone!
There are times in a classroom that I look around at the children and the other adults in the room and think "Oh boy! Everyone really needs half term to come!", and there have definitely been one or two occasions like that in Reception this week! We are working the children pretty hard at the moment, whilst being mindful that they are at most only five years old, and for some, school days are still an experience that require a bit of getting used to. I hope that you feel that we have the balance right, and your child isn't totally exhausted by four o'clock, but please do let us know if you have any thoughts or concerns.
As far as this week goes, in literacy we have been developing the children's ability to write sentences, firstly by writing instructions about their bottle rockets, then by rearranging a group of words into a coherent sentence. This is certainly a focus we will be coming back to from time to time, but when I walk by our 'play classroom' area I am often thrilled by the ability which some of the children have to write their own sentences on the whiteboard without any instruction or direction. I have included some examples below to show you what I mean.
In maths, sequencing numbers up to 20, and finding numbers one more and one less from 0 to 20 and beyond have been our focus this week. Many of the children are able to do this correctly now without the use of a number line, but if your child is one who struggles a little with their numbers, just simple practise of counting up to 20 at home will help greatly with this.
One thing all the class were able to do with great enthusiasm this week was a countdown from five before we launched our bottle rockets on Tuesday. I love this activity, especially when I get someone else to use the footpump whilst I have the easier job of holding the bottle in place! The science theory of air pressure may be a little advanced for Reception, but no class in the school gets as excited about something flying high up into the sky!
Next week, we are going to have a dedicated RE day on Monday and later in the week we will also be writing some Kenning poetry (yes, I had to Google that too...) which I really hope to be able to share with you on our blog next week. I might even have a go at it myself!
As always, thank you for the cheerful greetings at the start and end of the day - we can't see each other smile behind our masks at the moment, but the words mean a great deal to us. Have a lovely weekend!
Mr. Cotton
