Summer 1
Summer Term 1 ‘Buzz, Wriggle and Crawl’
In EYFS we enjoy learning through first-hand experiences and our current topic of 'Buzz, Wriggle and Crawl' has given us the perfect opportunity to practically explore our learning inside and outside of the classroom!
In this topic, we will be having different guests visit our classroom from tadpoles to caterpillars. Allowing children to make real life observations, recording what they can see and watching them grow and change!
We will be using different key texts to support our learning, such as:
What the Ladybird heard by Julia Donaldson
The Bad Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle
The Teeny Weeny Tadpole by Sheridan Cain
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
*Click on the book title to listen to an interactive version*
Links to support Home Learning:
Minibeasts, insects and bugs! Lots and lots of ideas of activities to do to support your child develop their knowledge about minibeasts using many different skills. Also lots of songs and rhymes to share with your child.
Minibeast fact sheet Facts about minibeasts and links to further information.
Caterpillar ordering and sequencing Order and sequence numbers - lots of choice to suit all abilities and levels of development.
Life cycle of a butterfly A simple drag and drop activity to see if you can complete the diagram of the life cycle of a butterfly.
Paint - create your own minibeast picture. A simple paint website which includes adding graphics by stamping. There are different and background scenes themes such as minibeasts, clothes, transport, animals, people, underwater and body parts. Created pictures are printable.
The Bug Club A website for children who are interested in bugs. Some useful information if you are doing a minibeasts topic in school. Aimed at 5 - 15 year olds.
My Tiny Garden The site features wonderful close up images of minibeasts such as snails, bees, flies, wasps, butterflies, dragonflies and the like. Written for adults but the images on the site would be appropriate for use with young children.
Cbeebies - Minibeast Adventure with JessJoin Jess for a Minibeast Adventure and discover what minibeasts are on your doorstop.
Build your own super bug! Are you up to the challenge?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar The story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar
Click here for a video link to the Song Of Sounds
The Song of Sounds powerpoint has been added to a separate folder above.
The children will have the opportunity to develop their awareness of familiar story structures, thinking about the beginning, middle and endings of key stories. We will also have the opportunity to explore traditional story language such as 'Once Upon A Time' and 'The End'.
Please remember to use the hashtag on tapestry #readingrecord and have enjoyed seeing all our children reading at home.
We have introduced a new #ParentNoticeBoard through Tapestry to share any good articles, research and strategies to support awareness of child development. We hope you have found these resources useful.
Gentle Reminders:
Please continue to practise your Songs of Sounds phonic song daily to reinforce your knowledge of letter sounds and the accompanying actions.
PE sessions to be held every Friday morning (please bring in a labelled PE uniform to be kept on the school grounds till PE session and then taken home after each session for washing - as per government guidance). Please also remember to celebrate the children's independent attempts at getting changed.
Learning logs will be handed out every Friday to be returned the following week with completed work by very latest Thursday.
Summer 1 Curriculum
PSED & C&L
This half term our topic will be 'Buzz, Wriggle and Crawl'
We will be thinking about our transition into Year 1 and the things we will be looking forward to. During this half term, EYFS children will begin to attend the whole school celebration assembly on a Friday afternoon. We will also be joining KS1 children for their morning play on the KS1 playground to have opportunities to interact with children from the KS1 classes. We will be thinking about the need to care for our environment through our new topic. The children will have the opportunity to develop areas to nurture minibeasts and think about the ways we need to interact with them. The children will have the opportunity to go on bug hunts and communicate their thoughts and findings about different creatures observed.
We use Tapestry to share experiences from home and use our language to communicate confidently using our Oracy strategies:
- Listening to the children who are speaking
- Projecting our voices to speak clearly
- Speaking in clear sentences
- Using vocabulary to express our ideas
- Looking at our audience when we are speaking
- Making sure our hands and fingers are away from our mouths to promote clarity
Phonics
The children have made fantastic progress with their recognition of phonemes (single letters), digraphs (2 letter sounds) and trigraphs (3 letter sounds). This half term we will be developing our reading through application of phonic sounds to read cvcc, ccvc, ccvcc words. We will also be developing our 'chunking' strategy, encouraging the children to break up longer words into smaller chunks. We will also be thinking about real words (words that we use in English) and alien words (words that are made up and do not make sense). We will also be practising our recognition and formation of both upper and lower case letters.
Reading
Reading is promoted through application of phonics. We are also promoting reading for pleasure through our reading corner. Each week we have the opportunity to explore a core book to develop the children's vocabulary and imagination. We send home reading books and reading records so you can enjoy reading together at home. Each child will also to read to an adult at least twice a week in school. During this half term we will also be taking the children in small groups to our school library. This will be a fantastic way to develop reading for pleasure and also extending children's vocabulary.
Please use these links below to further your child's reading experience:
https://www.getepic.com/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b00jdlm2/cbeebies-bedtime-stories
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/?view=image&query=&type=book&age_group=Age+4-7&level=&level_select=&book_type=&series=#
Please use the #readingrecord to add a note on Tapestry about your child's reading progress.
Writing
During our Literacy session we will be applying our phonic knowledge and the use of tricky and high frequency words to explore a range of writing features. We will be exploring caption writing, the use of finger spaces between words and simple punctuation such as full stop. We will be developing our recognition of Upper and Lower case graphemes. We will be continuing to practise correct letter formation when writing our names, cvc words and simple captions. Through our topic we will be exploring meaningful writing experiences such as writing sentences linked to story, bug lists, bug facts and applying key vocabulary linked to topic.
Maths
At Silver End Academy we follow the Power Maths scheme of work. This half term we will be focusing on the themes of addition and subtraction, number and place value, multiplication and division. The children will have a range of practical and group activities to develop their awareness of these concepts. We will incorporate a range of songs and rhymes to reinforce learning.
Understanding of the World
We will be exploring some of the changes that occur in our natural environment such as the changes we observe in the weather. We will also have the opportunity to visit our forest school to think and comment on the changes we can observe. The children will have the opportunity to reflect on the major events that is happening within our society, such as the King's Coronation. We will also think about the important experiences that we may have in our personal lives and share these moments with our class, through Tapestry and our learning logs.
Physical Development
The children are taught PE by a dedicated Sports Coach. Our PE sessions are held every Friday morning. We also have a range of fine motor activities in the classroom and the children are encouraged to use gross motor movements whilst playing outside in the garden.
Our Code of Conduct:
As a class we developed a bank of rules for us all to follow
- We share with our friends
- We will help to tidy up
- We use kind hands and feet
- We listen to each other
- We use our manners
Phonic Games
Please continue to practise your songs of sounds phonic song to reinforce your knowledge of letter sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48uf9I6P2xQ&safe=true
Phase 3 Phonic Games:
Please find attached some links to phonic games that your child can explore to develop their awareness of words with a range of digraph and trigraphs. The children can also expand their knowledge to read simple captions.
Flash Cards
Phonics Frog
Phase 2 Phonic Games:
Please find attached some links to phonic games that your child can explore to develop their awareness of and discrimination of sounds.