Week 4 – The Rainforest

8th July 2021Beth Thompson

This week we have looked at rainforests as part of our habitats topic. We loved looking at the different types of animals and plants that live there. We even watched an orangutan documentary and drew pictures of them. We also learned about sloths and wrote our own sloth stories, describing them and writing about what they like to do.

Our favourite activity this week was a food taste test. Our jungle explorer friend sent us a package with different exotic fruits. We tried lots of new things that we had not even heard of and completed a taste test observation sheet, drawing what we liked and didn’t like.

We did lots of crafts this week too, including foot and hand painting as well as making our own rainforest shoe box. In maths we looked at estimation and number ordering, which we were all amazing at.

We talked about the importance of the rainforests and explored deforestation. Class 2 discussed why we need to look after the forests and what we can do to help. Well done.

Next week we will round up our habitats topic by explored ocean habitats. Have a happy, healthy weekend.

Week 3 – The forest

1st July 2021Beth Thompson

This week we have explored the forest habitat, looking at what it is like there and which animals live there. We loved playing in our campsite roleplay and with our ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ sensory tray.

We had a teddy bear’s picnic, which we made invitations for, made a Victoria’s sponge cake for and even wrote a poem about. We were excellent at describing food. We explored the garden again, completing a scavenger hunt for different woodland materials, and even made mini documentaries about what we found, describing the items while pretending to be presenters. In science we looked at food chains as well as seasonal changes of trees, making our own tree art to represent autumn, winter, spring and summer. In maths we explored number lines as well as days of the week.

We began discussions of why it is important to recycle our paper, sorting which rubbish went in which bin. We are going to try our hardest to make class 2 a recycling-friendly space. Our favourite story this week was ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. We listened to the story as told by it’s writer – he was a very talented story-teller. We were able to recite the story by heart through using actions to remember what happens next in the story. Well done as it is a very long story!

Next week we will continue our habitats topic by looking at the rainforest. Have a happy, healthy weekend.

Week 2 – Hot and Cold Habitats

23rd June 2021Beth Thompson

This week we have explored the desert and polar habitats. We explored pictures of what it is like in these places, talking about weather and environmental features. We discussed what animals live there and what makes them special enough to survive in the place they live. We have labelled adaptations of polar bears and camels as well as sorted animals by their habitats.

In literacy we have written fact files and explored adjectives by describing pictures of the habitats. In maths we have looked at measure, experimenting with animal heights and capacity with sand. In science we explored hot and cold, even making our own ice cream.

We have made lots of desert and polar themed arts and crafts and have explored lots of different sensory trays. We especially loved playing with the sand!

Next week we will be looking at the forest habitat. Have a lovely weekend!

Week 1 – Habitats, Houses and Homes

17th June 2021Beth Thompson

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed a very sunny week off from school. Our new topic this term is habitats. This week we introduced this topic by exploring the habitats of humans, looking at different types of homes. We talked about our own homes and even designed dream homes.

In maths, we began exploring 3D shapes and used them to build houses. We also used 3D houses to make a map for us to navigate around. In literacy we became estate agents and designed houses to sell, describing them to the buyer. We also talked about what we could see in photos of different houses, discussing similarities and differences. In science we conducted many experiments to find the best materials to build a home, revising strong, hard, soft and waterproof to pick items to build houses with.

We painted giant houses using dotting techniques with different shaped sponges and painted a map of our journey to school. We also explored how houses have changed over time, looking at old mud houses compared to our modern houses.

Next week we will be exploring hot and cold habitats. See you then!

Week 7 – Superheroes and other careers

9th June 2021Beth Thompson

This week in class 2 we have concluded our ‘Famous People’ topic. We explored the different jobs and careers we knew of and which we would like to do when we are older. We even explored the powers superheroes have.

In literacy, we designed and labelled super-suits and wrote about the jobs we want. We even applied to new classroom job positions that we have created and will start in the new half-term. In maths we continued counting practice, playing different counting games and singing different songs. In science we made parachutes to help Superman slow down when his cape stops working.

We made Beth’s ‘World Famous Brownies’ and they were delicious! We even celebrated a special birthday as a class and had lots of cake.

Thank you for a lovely half term. Next term we will look at habitats. Stay safe and have fun!

 

Week 6 – Teachers

26th May 2021Beth Thompson

This week we have looked at the work teachers do. We have been amazing teaching assistants this week, completing daily tasks such as taking the register and dinner order etc. We also loved playing teachers in our ‘school’ roleplay area.

In maths, we continued practicing our counting, adding and taking away. In Science, we explored rocks. We categorised rocks by size, shape and colour. We also tried to break rock, which was really hard. In literacy, we looked at letters, reading and writing some of our own.

We talked about good friends and what that means to us. We also touched on bullying and what is means to be kind. We began our new buddy system where we are in charge of looking out for friends.

Most importantly, we worked on our class rules. We talked about why we need rules and that staff should follow them. We used our ideas to make a ‘golden rules’ wall. Our new rules are:

  • kind hands
  • kind feet
  • kind words
  • good sitting
  • good looking
  • good listening
  • no shouting
  • no swearing
  • sharing toys
  • keep a tidy classroom

So far we have managed to follow these rules very well! Well done.

Next week we will conclude our topic by discussing what we want to be when we grow up. Have a lovely weekend and see you Monday.

Week 5 – Vet

20th May 2021Beth Thompson

What a busy week we’ve had! This week we looked at the job vets do, caring for our animal friends.

In literacy we’ve explored different animals and looked at adjectives, describing different animal characteristics. We made poems, describing Woody and other animals. We also wrote a letter to Honey, Beth’s poorly dog. In maths we have been practicing our numbers, counting and adding. We used animals to count as well as practiced our number formation. In science we explored materials, experimenting with what sinks and floats.

As well as making lots of animal art, we got our own desk pets! We were each given a tiny animal and asked to care for them. We made them beds and named them all. We were great caretakers.

Next week we will be exploring teachers! See you then.

Week 4 – Dentists

10th May 2021Beth Thompson

This week in Class 2, we have explored dentists and teeth. We discussed how we look after our teeth, including looking at how what we eat affects our health and teeth. We got our own toothbrushes and give instructions to each other to practice brushing. We read ‘Alan and his big, scary teeth’ and retold the story, ordering pictures. We also made lots a teeth art.

In maths, we used teeth and mouths to continue exploring halving and doubling, which we were all amazing at! Well done, everyone. For science, we’ve started looking at materials, sorting objects by adjectives like soft, hard, rough and smooth.

We loved exploring our dentist roleplay and scrubbing whiteboard teeth clean with toothbrushes. Thank you all for your hard work this week. Next week we will have fun looking at Vets and our pets!

Week 3 – Medical Professional

4th May 2021Beth Thompson

This week we looked at medical professionals, focusing on doctors, nurses and paramedics. We looked at parts of the body and even made up a skeleton from bones we found around the classroom. We talked about how to keep happy and healthy, doing breathing exercises to relax and sorting healthy and unhealthy foods. We looked at x-rays and made art with cotton buds making up our hand bones.

In maths we looked at shapes, sorting circles, triangles, and squares, as well as identifying shapes in the real world, like clocks and books. In literacy we made poems about hospitals. We looked at pictures of hospitals and described what they could see. For science we played giant operation, using magnets to remove items from the body and using tweezers to remove items that did not move with magnets.

We loved playing doctors, wrapping each other in bandages in the role play area and using boogie boards as wheelchairs to direct our patients to different rooms.

Happy bank holiday weekend! We will see you on Tuesday where we will be looking at dentists.

2A Police Officers

23rd April 2021Beth Thompson

This week we continued exploring community helpers, focusing on the work of police officers. We discussed how we keep ourselves safe as well as the role of the police who also keep us safe. We played lots of police themed games and read lots of different books to learn about the different things police do for us.

We used police tools, like magnifying glasses and radios to hunt for the alphabet and also used stolen coins to investigate doubling and halving. Using colourful semantics, we made wanted posters and newspaper articles for stories about the missing coins. In science, we continues to look at forces and magnets, pushing and pulling the police car to see how far we could make it go and exploring which materials were and were not magnetic. In computing, we used robots (Kubo and Sphero Mini) to follow directional language, moving the robots from the police station to the crime, debugging and fixing problems along the way.

We were also lucky enough to have a visit from Woody. He came in to say ‘hi’ to us and let us stroke and cuddle him. We also gave him a few too many treats (lucky Woody).

Next week we will continue our topic and look at medical professionals. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and we will see you on Monday!