Corona Virus Closure - Week 18th May

Don't forget that it's really helpful if I can have an email from you each week letting me know that you've been able to access this work and that you're getting on OK at home.  Please get in touch at 

annemarie.grimes@school360.co.uk

 Thank you!  

Well, who can believe that this is the last week of the half term?  It seems such a short time since we returned after the Easter holidays, rolled up our sleeves and got stuck into this new way of working!  I would just like to say that I think you all deserve a very big pat on the back for what you have delivered for your children during this time.  Each week, I am amazed by your creativity in taking my suggestions and tailoring them to your children.  Each Plum Class that comes through my door is special however; the class of 2019-20 will be one to remember for a long time to come.  But, before we all get too emotional, let’s get on with the outline of our week to come…

As is our usual routine, I've planned for three days of Read Write Inc, there is a maths activity for each day and some topic ideas to keep you going throughout the week.  This week, I’d like us to have a history focus.  For very young children, history begins by understanding your own journey from a baby to the person you are today.  It is then possible to go a little further back by exploring the lives of family members.  Understanding your own family tree and the closest relationships a child has is crucial to developing a sense of chronology.

On with the week…

 

Read Write Inc

As usual, I have attached a ditty and activity for each day.  I've introduced a new sound to the children oa goat in a boat to compliment ow blow the snow which is already known by the children. This appears in our Monday session.  Or, you're welcome to follow the daily lessons online at: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo7fbLgY2oA_cFCIg9GdxtQ

It's 10.00am for Mrs Vicky, Mr Rose and my group and 10.30am for Mrs Snowdon's group. 

Don't forget that the RWI sounds packs that I gave out at parent consultation meetings will be really handy for going over sounds and green words. 

Enjoy!

 

Mathematics

This week, in our mathematical work we are going to build upon our knowledge of time by learning the months of the year.  We will then do some directional work by exploring whole, half and even quarter turns.  We will use this new directional knowledge, along with our existing knowledge of left and right at the end of the week.

Daily challenge: Give your child 5 calculations, these can be additions or subtractions and I suggest that you work with numbers up to 20.  For an extra challenge, get your child to find the missing number in some of the calculations!

 

Monday: 

Activity: Months of the Year

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_A43_sYIiw

Let’s begin to learn the months of the year.  Singing is a great way to commit something to memory so I’ve popped a link to a months of the year song above.  Apologies if this becomes an ‘earworm’ or if your child begins to recite the months with an American twang!  If you can recall a months of the year song that you learnt in your school days, feel free to use that instead!  Sing this through a couple of times until you feel that your child is becoming familiar with the names of the months and their order.  Then write them out on pieces of paper or card and have a go at ordering them.  Remember that your child will not be able to read the words independently, but with encouragement to sound out and predict, should be able to have a good go!

 

Tuesday: 

Activity: Months of the Year

Recap the months of the year by singing them through again.  Then identify the 4 seasons (we talk about these regularly in the classroom) and write the name of each season on a piece of paper.  You may like to illustrate each season with some pictures – bare trees in winter, blossom trees in spring etc.   Next, get your months of the year cards and place each card in the season that it belongs within. You may be a little undecided on a few – where will you place May or November?  Discussion to enable decision making is great!

 

Wednesday: 

Activity : Whole turns, half turns and maybe even quarter turns

You might like to begin by working practically – this may get you all a bit dizzy!  Have a go at turning all the way round on the spot and explain this as a whole turn “we’ve gone the whole way round.”  Then have a go at making a half turn.  Did you turn left or did you turn right? 

Next, if it’s possible open the Whole and Half Turns with Teddy powerpoint that I have attached.  You will need to click ‘slideshow’ and then ‘from beginning’ if you want to watch it interactively.  If it’s not possible to watch the powerpoint, don’t worry!  Get out a teddy and two objects such as a toy truck and a dinosaur.  Place teddy in between the two objects.  Explore what happens to teddy if he makes a half turn or whole turn.  “When he does a whole turn, he goes all the way round and faces the truck again.”  “When he does a half turn, he ends up facing the dinosaur.”  You could then extend this with 4 objects in a diamond formation around teddy. If he makes a quarter turn what does he end up facing? 

 

Thursday and Friday: 

Activity: Applying our knowledge of whole turns, half turns, quarter turns and left and right

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/z7kwmp3

This clip is really good fun and I know that the children will enjoy watching it.  It goes at quite a fast pace so you may need to pause it to chat and watch it more than one time.  Your challenge over the next few days is to make your own route for an animal.  You could make a route for bison as in this clip or you might make a route for a ladybird to find a new leaf or a bee to find a new flower.  It’s up to you!  However, encourage your child to make turns and to explore left and right.  You can make your route on paper – it might be fun to join a few sheets together to make a big surface to work on or if you have some chalk you could work on a patio or pavement.  Additionally, you could use lego on a board to make the route.  As always, the most important thing is the talk that will go on as your child works.  Encourage them to explain what they are doing at each stage as they work.

 16 Fun ways to make the most of LEGO - Good Play Guide : Good Play ...

Topic: 

Activity 1: Me – the journey so far!

This activity should be really good fun!  Take some time to look at pictures with your child from them as a baby to the most recent pictures you have.  Talk about the obvious changes that have happened and the things that they have learnt to do – walking, talking, reading, writing etc. If it is possible to print some pictures out, make a collage of your child’s development and get them to write labels and captions for the photos explaining how old they were and things that they could and couldn’t do.  If you can’t print out pictures, just draw a few together (as a baby, as a toddler, first day of school etc.)

 

Activity 2: My Family Tree

Talk about your family and your child’s place in that family – it’s up to you how far you go back and how wide you go!  I’ve attached a few pictures of some creative family trees and I’d like you to have a go at making one together. 

Family Tree coloring page | Family tree activity, Family tree ...Scrapbooking With Grandchildren (With images) | Family tree ...Family Tree For Kids Project - Kids Art & Craft

 

Activity 3: The Scarecrow’s Wedding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZUiFB4Poc

I love this story, it’s great fun!  If you’ve got it at home, super!  If not, I’ve attached the link for a version from Youtube.  There are lots of rhyming words in this story.  Can you play a rhyming words game?  The adult must give the first word and then the child gives a word that rhymes.  See how many times you can take it in turns to come up with a word that rhymes with the first word given.  The first person to hesitate too much or give a word that doesn’t rhyme loses!  It’s up to you to decide if it’s ok to include nonsense words! 

For your writing task this week, you can write a list of things that you might need for a big celebration. It could be a wedding, a birthday party or maybe a list for a big family celebration you’ll have when all of this Corona business is finished with!

 

Activity 4: Finding out about a family celebration

I’d like the children to do a little bit of research into a family wedding or a significant family event such as a ‘big’ birthday celebration or a Christening.  The important thing for your child to understand is that it happened in the past and to know whether it happened when they were alive or before they were born.  So, this could be the wedding of parents or grandparents, a 21st, 40th or 60th birthday party, a brother or sister’s birth or christening, you choose!  Encourage your child to ask questions and look at pictures to help understand the celebration.  It may be that you could Facetime with grandparents or family members to help with this task.

I hope that you enjoy all of the activities for the week. 

I’ll hopefully upload a garden video when the weather improves and there’ll be some more chapters of the Twits too. 

Sheila, Vicky and I have been working on a little surprise for everyone, we hope it makes you smile and reminds you of all of the super fun we have in Plum Class!

Mrs G