Week 7

Christmas Dinner

Reception celebrated with a Christmas dinner.  Roast turkey with all the trimmings and Christmas music.  I especially enjoyed Dylan and Kaiden's sing along to Wham's 'Last Christmas'.  Merry Christmas everyone!

 Santa's Treehouse Grotto 

We had a special visitor in our Bushcraft area.  Santa Claus came to visit and handed out treats and gifts to the children.  Reception were so excited to see Santa and enjoyed catching their gifts at the end of the slide.

Christmas Party

Reception had a wonderful morning full of dancing, party games and party food.  Don't we look fantastic in our party clothes!

 Polar Express

Do you believe?  Reception received a golden ticket and watched this magical movie on the big screen.  Santa left Reception their very own 'first gift of Christmas' a bell from his sleigh!

Week 6

The Nativity

Reception were filmed singing the song "Christmas Calypso" on Monday.  Our whole school Christmas carol show will be released on the school YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R5lBgk8ZC0&t=128s by the end of Wednesday 16th December.  

The children looked amazing in the their costumes and enjoyed performing on stage.  Well done Reception!

 Mouse Skills 

In ICT we explored the website whychristmas.com.  The children continued to use a mouse to click, drag and drop.  We decorated a Christmas tree and built a Nativity scene.  Try these activities at home by clicking on the links below:

https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/decorateatree.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/buildanativity.shtml

 Shark Bite Game

We have loved playing Shark Bite as part of our number recognition challenge in Maths.

 Dice Games

Playing lots of dice games will eventually allow us to recognise the number of spots without the need to count them.  This is called subitising and will help us develop our number sense.  When playing Maths games we learn how to count, recognise numbers and turn take whilst having fun!

Week 5

 The Runaway Pea

Each child in Reception received the great book "The Runaway Pea" by Kjartan Poskitt as part of the BookTrust's 'Time To Read' campaign.  We created our own Runaway Pea inspired rolling prints using a tray, green marbles and paint.  The children carefully observed the new colours made when the pathways mixed.

 Runaway Pea Counting

In Maths we counted out peas from a larger group.  We practised putting the peas in a line, matching a number name to each pea and stopping at the total.

 Simple City

In the computer suite we used a mouse to click, drag and drop to make our own garden pictures.

 Christingle

Reception have been enjoying learning about the celebration of Christingle. They all made their own, decorating them with sweets and fruit. They learnt about the importance of each part and what it represents. 

Feeling Thankful!

Thank you Isla for sharing your wonderful igloo with your classmates.  We had lots of fun decorating it. 

Drinks Express West Denton kindly donated advent calendars to all the children in Reception.  The children in class were thrilled with their generous gifts.  Thank you for your support.   

Week 4

 Whatever Next!

Reception have enjoyed a space themed week inspired by the Jill Murphy story “Whatever Next!”.  The children used props to act out the story and tried hot seating as Baby Bear.  We have been practising how to use finger spaces when writing a caption and using 'Fred talk' to sound out words from the story.

 The Planets

Reception listened to the opposing music compositions Mars and Venus from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” whilst moving and drawing.  We watched a ‘conductor’ raise and lower their hands and played our instruments loud and angry or calm and quietly in response.  

Glowing Stars

In the dark den we investigated light and dark changes and how to make the stars glow more brightly.

 Space Maths

In Maths we worked out one less by moving backwards on a numberline.  The children problem solved using the Numicon shapes to make space rocket pictures.  We worked in teams exploring and counting on a space hunt around school.

  Aliens and Spaceships

In ICT we used the mouse to select, drag and drop to create an alien or spaceship design.  Try out some of the space activities at home by selecting the space pin or rocket paint project in 'Miss Knowles'.

 Bear Bread

Reception followed simple instructions to make toasted bear bread.  Our finished designs looked just like Baby Bear.

Week 3

 Dipal's Diwali

Reception listened to a story about Dipal and his family celebrating the Diwali festival of light.  As part of our finger challenges this week the children cut and made paper chain decorations for our home corner and created jewelled pathways for Sita.

 Mendhi 

We made our own beautiful mendhi pattern designs.

 Rangoli Designs

In ICT we made our own rangoli designs using a paint programme in Mini Mash.

 Diva Lamp

We used salt dough to create a diva lamp.  The children painted and decorated them with jewels.  I think you’ll agree they look amazing!

 Peda Sweets

Reception helped to make, roll and shape traditional Indian sweets.

 Bollywood Dancing

We took part in a Bollywood dance class in PE.  The children enjoyed it so much that we followed a few more dance classes on the Smartboard back in class.  It was fun and kept us fit!  Click on the link below to try a dance class at home:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zodMIu0_CfI

 Rosie's Walk

The children enjoyed listening to the story "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins.  In Maths we used positional language to describe 'Where is Rosie?' the hen.  We wrote captions and labels for a story event.

Week 2

 Leaf Man

Our story of the week is "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert.  Reception used the Autumn treasures we collected for homework to make our own animal and people designs.

 Autumn Prints

Reception looked at the Autumn treasures and created a mono print using warm coloured paint, plastic sheets and rollers.

Autumn Finger Challenges

We used tiny cotton buds to decorate a tree with warm coloured leaves.  This will help to strengthen our tripod fingers for writing.  We also used scissors to cut out and create a colourful Autumn tree design for the animals to enjoy.  

Autumn Leaves Dance

In PE we made up a dance sequence.  We started by rocking from side to side like a hanging leaf from a branch.  The children used 'light' flowing movements to travel and drew long winding pathways in the air.  To finish we made a leaf shape on the ground.

Loose Parts Poppies

The children used loose parts to make their own poppy designs.

 Lest We Forget

Reception made a poppy and observed the two minute silence on Remembrance Day.  We watched the Cbeebies animation 'Poppies' and talked about how the rabbit was feeling.  

Number Bonds to 5

In Maths we used Numicon to work out different ways of making 5.  We placed them in a part whole diagram and practised saying the matching number sentence i.e. 2 + 3 = 5.

Week 1

 Sparks in the Sky 

Reception listened to the bonfire night story "Sparks in the Sky".

 Bonfire Night Brave Writing

Our independent brave write this week was all about bonfire night.  We used a robot 'Fred talk' voice to sound out words.  Reception described the firework noises and spectacular sights they could see.  I was very pleased that this included 'wow' exciting vocabulary such as crackle!

Firework Shape Pictures

In Maths we have been learning the names of flat shapes and describing them.  We used the shapes to make our own firework pictures.  

 Homework

Reception were set a bonfire night paint challenge on Mini Mash.  Here are some examples of our super bonfire night designs.  Thank you parents for your continued support.

Shooting Stars Ribbon Dance

In PE we made our own dance sequence based on different types of fireworks in the night sky.  Can you spot a spinning Catherine wheel or an exploding rocket?

Firework Biscuits

Reception made edible fireworks.  We used coloured icing and sprinkles to make our designs.  They were delicious!

Flying Fireworks

We drew, decorated and cut out a paper firework.  This was attached to a narrow straw and placed inside a wide straw.  Look what happened when we blew ...

We had a competition to to see who's went the furthest.  Jessica-Lea was the winner!

Fireworks Crafts

We made our bonfire night pictures using a range of media.  This included collage, mono prints and chalks.

 Bonfire Night Pattern Cards

Reception used the bonfire themed pattern cards and paintbrushes to mark make.