Three bowls of porridge and a lot of sun.

 Hello Hedgehog Parents,

This week started with the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children enjoyed the story and then followed some instructions to make porridge. They chose which toppings to add and even made some for Mrs Davies and Mrs Ferfecka, who were very complimentary. 

From there, the children gave baby bear (Mrs Abery) some clear instructions and the Year 1 children wrote down a set of instructions using time openers (such as first, then, next, after that...), bossy verbs (put, pour, stir..) and adverbs (carefully, gently, quickly, slowly...). They did a brilliant job. Reception children also had a go at writing a few of the instructions. 

In Mantle of the Expert Year 1 learnt about the changes that occurred as a result of the Great Fire of London, in particular due to the Rebuilding Act of 1667. Using this knowledge they re-designed Pudding Lane to make it fire-safe. 

It was lovely to have so many daddies in this morning - I hope you enjoyed the sausages and the sun!

In Maths the children have been looking at capacity, using the three bears' bowls of porridge for context. They have learnt to identify full, half-full and empty containers and how to measure the capacity of a container using a non-standard measure (they used a small pot to compare the capacity of three different containers). This weather is a great opportunity to get some water out and practice this, filling up containers, making predictions about which one will hold more and measuring capacity using, for example, a plastic cup. 

We have also been learning doubles to double 10 by heart. Reception really only need to learn to double 5, but it doesn't hurt to start reciting up to double 10. For this, we have been learning a rhyme that goes something like this:

Reach down and touch your shoe
Double 1 is 2
Knock on the door
Double  2 is 4
Tap your sticks
Double 3 is 6
Open the gate
Double 4 is 8
Cluck like a hen
Double 5 is 10
Dig and delve
Double 6 is 12
Ghosts are a-haunting
Double 7 is 14
We are all mixing
Double 8 is 16
Now we are waiting
Double 9 is 18
Sweets a-plenty
Double 10 is 20. 

There are, of course, actions. See if your child can remember the actions, and practise the rhyme together. If your child is fluent in their doubles to double 10, you can see if you can make up a rhyme about halves (eg Fun in the sun, half of 2 is 1...). I would love to see it if you do. 

In Phonics:

Reception have been doing more memory sentences (see last week's blog). It has been a great way for them to start to apply the high frequency words they've been learning, as well as their phonics. Again, you can practise this skill at home by giving your child a sentence to write (make it a silly one, that usually helps) which includes simple words that use our phonics and the yellow or orange word list - they memorise it with your help, you both write it out from memory (you with some deliberate mistakes) and then see who has spelled the highest number of words correctly. 

Year 1 have been learning the prefix un-  in the context of Mr Men and Little Miss. We made, for example, a Mr Kind and a Mr Unkind character. We have also started to look at plurals, making sure that we write a whole word before adding -s to make a plural (for example, to write 'oats' many children would first write 'oas' but we are learning to write the single 'oat' first before adding -s). 

You could write a story about a cast of un- Mr Men and Little Miss, giving them names using the un- prefix and writing a story about them with a good beginning, middle and end. Bring them in if you do!

Have a good weekend - see you soon!

From Mrs Simpson