Week Ending 26 May
This week Pirate Pete told us about his friend Bob the fish who was very upset because of all the pollution in the sea. We learnt what pollution was and listened to the story “Someone swallowed Stanley” which was all about a plastic bag that had ended up in the ocean with lots of animals thinking he was food. FS2 then created posters to let people know about the different types of pollution. We then all worked together to look at how to make some recycled paper using old scraps of paper. We had to tear and rip, stir and swirl, squeeze and mush, spread and flatten.
FS2 also explored some different bits of rubbish that had been left on the beach and we predicted which pieces would float and which pieces would sink. We tried to think of reasons why and discussed shape, weight, size and the type of material. Everyone also enjoyed helping to clean the boats in outdoor learning to help get rid of all that oil.
Also, this week in FS2 we have been learning about taking away and how this means you take an amount away to make a new smaller amount. We looked at how to use the – and = sign and practised with drawings, our fingers and with pirate bears. Later we had a go at independently taking away some rubbish from the beach and recording this in our learning journals.
We also had a visitor to Alfa Romeo this week and he told us all about life in the Navy. It was great to learn about all the different jobs, ships and boats. We even learnt some special words that get used aboard a ship and we all agreed that we wanted double duff!!
We then finished our week and this half term’s learning with a special pirate day where we had to prove that we were clever, strong, brave and fierce.
We went on a treasure hunt, had cannon ball battles and even braved the sea slugs to rescue the gold. Some of us made hats and maps and others chose to make a strawberry sword as an extra pirate snack!!
What a week!! Well done Alfa Romeo, enjoy your well earned half term holiday – you deserve it 🙂
Week Ending 19 May
Arrrrrrrrrr!!!!! Pirate Pete came to visit us in Alfa Romeo this week. We asked him lots of questions and found out that he had sailed all the way from Brighton but his ship had sunk as he arrived in Naples. Alfa Romeo decided that they could help and as soon as it was time for outdoor learning, there were lots of motivated and resilient children who were collaborating to try and make him a boat. We had to learn how to negotiate as well as decide what we needed and how we could make it.
FS2 later explored some different containers that could act as a boat for Pirate Pete. We looked at how to predict what would happen and how many pirate teddies would fit in. We then tested all the containers to see what would happen and if our predictions were correct or not.
In FS2 we have been looking at addition and how this means putting 2 amounts together to make a new bigger amount. We looked at how to use the + and = sign and practised with Numicon, our fingers and with counters. Later we had a go at independently adding some treasure together and recording this in our learning journals.
Everyone has also enjoyed exploring the tuff spot which was full of buried treasure. Some children noticed that certain treasure was sticking to the tools and went on to explore what was the same and different about the materials or sorted them into ‘sticks’ and ‘doesn’t stick’. Later FS1 then worked on their scissor skills to cut out their own treasure to put in the treasure chests.
We also learnt some new pirate vocabulary like scrub the deck, climb the rigging, man overboard, cutlass, compass, captain and played some games where we acted like real pirates. We also listened to some sea faring music- “the hornpipe”, we moved, danced and even added our own moves to create a pirate jig.
Week Ending 12 May
This week we found out about how beaches and seas can be different according to where in the world they. We have looked at how there are some very cold places like Antarctica or the North pole. We used our fact-finding skills to find out more about some of these places and what animals might be living in those cold ocean and seas. FS2 also explored some maps, videos and books to find out more. We found out lots of penguin facts and used this to explore the life cycle of a penguin and how they grow and change over time.
FS1 also looked closely at penguins and practiced their scissor skills to create their own penguin. It’s important to use our scissors in one hand and hold the paper with the other. It takes a lot on focus and concentration to cut with scissors and we were very proud of our penguins.
We also worked together to pretend to be penguins and look after our eggs, huddle to keep warm and jump from iceberg to iceberg.
With all this talk of Antarctica we have loved exploring and talking about ice during our own learning time. We have thought about how to break it, why it melts, how long it will take to melt, how we can make it melt faster and how it feels when we touch it.
In FS2 we have also been thinking about shapes and how they look and how they fit together. We have looked at how 2D shapes can make pictures and how numbers can also be shapes. We all had a go at using the Numicon to find out what numbers would fit inside the rectangle shape.
Week Ending 05 May
This week we have been looking at finding out some facts and information about different sea creatures. We even got to look at some real fish and touch them, we found out about the different parts of the fish like the gills, scales, tail and fins.
FS2 have also been fact detectives and looked at non-fiction books and websites to help us find out more information. We used the fact-finding glasses to help us and shared what we found out with FS1. FS2 then later wrote their facts down and added it to our class information book. We are really thinking about making sure we have lovely letters and clear finger spaces so that other people can read our facts.
FS2 have also carried on thinking about those tricky teen numbers this week. We have played lots of different games to help us practice and we know that we can just count on from 10 or look for the counting pattern from 1 to 9.
We have also looked at piece of music this week called ‘Aquarium’ from Carnival of the Animals. We listened very carefully, talked about the instruments we could see and how it made us feel. We then played along to make some beautiful, soft music. We also learnt how to play the rhythm sticks this week and showed some great turn taking skills.
We have also enjoyed lots of time choosing our own learning in our indoor and outdoor classrooms. We have really enjoyed the jelly crystals in the tuff spots this week with lots of opportunities to share and talk and imagine.
Well done Alfa Romeo. Have a wonderful Bank holiday weekend.
Week Ending 28 April
This week we have been learning and exploring the story “Sharing a Shell” by Julia Donaldson. We have enjoyed reading it and acting it out. It has been lovely to hear so many children remembering important phrases from the story and learning new words like rockpool, anemone, limpet and hermit crab. We have also all enjoyed watching some video clips of real-life animals in rockpools back in the UK. It’s been great to talk about what we could see and share our ideas.
FS2 have also helped to tell the story by writing speech bubbles for one of the characters and have used their phonic knowledge to write their ideas. All the children knew exactly what their character would say and could talk about why they said that. Well done FS2.
FS1 enjoyed creating the sand for our class display and used big brushes and big paper to create a sand colour but they insisted on adding sand too as sand was bumpy and the picture was not! Great work with those arm muscles.
FS2 also explored shells and looked at their similarities and differences. We then looked at how to sort and group them. We then learnt about observational drawings and how this means you have to look really carefully to draw what you can see. We then chose what shell to draw and added it to our class display.
We have also enjoyed lots of time choosing our own learning in our indoor and outdoor classrooms. It’s lovely to see how well the children are able to choose and use the resources and we have really good at working in our tidy up teams to keep all of the things tidy and safe in the right place. Well done Alfa Romeo!
Week Ending 21 April
This half term Alfa Rome’s topic will be ‘On the Beach’. We will be learning all about beaches, their features, the animals that live there, the people who work there and the pirates who may dig for treasure there.
We have loved exploring some of the new areas to learn both in and out of our classroom. FS1 have loved exploring the sea creatures in the water tray and have been great at carefully filling up the water tray. We opened a lovely ice cream shop too and it has been very busy with lots of lovely ice creams being served and ordered, this is a great place to help us learn to share and take turns.
In our carpet times we had a great discussion about what a beach was and what we enjoyed doing on the beach. We helped Miss Howard to draw a picture of the beach and told her what to put on it. We also helped to check Miss Howard’s beach bag to make sure she had the right things for the beach. We learnt it is important to make sure we are protected from the sun with a hat, sun cream and some water to stay hydrated.
FS2 also explored a range of materials and techniques to create some sea. We looked at some photos to notice the different colours and shapes. We then worked together to try to create some big pictures of the waves and foam.
Web Topic – On The Beach