Goodbye Neptune 2020-2021

You are amazing – thank-you for such a brilliant year!

Have a wonderful summer.

Miss Davies x

WELCOME TO NEPTUNE 

KEY INFORMATION

SCHOOL STARTS 8.40-9.00

Finish time 15.00 (14.00 ON FRIDAYS)

Please be on time at the beginning and the end of the day.

email neptune@kafed.org.uk

PE is on Thursday.    Please send your child in summer PE kit: t-shirt, shorts & trainers.

HOT WEATHER

It is lovely to see the sunshine at last. 

However we need to mindful of being safe in the sun. So please remember to send your child to school with the following:

• Water bottle
• Sun screen (we will supervise your child to apply it themselves)
• A hat 

09.07 2021

Telling The Time

This week we have been learning how to tell the time. We can identify o’clock and half past by looking at the hour hand and then looking at the minute hand. We have been counting in o’clocks. We also looked at o’clock on a number line.

Everyone had a go at making a watch and then moving the hands to make a time.

Please keep practicing with your child – ask them to tell you what the time is and remind them to look at where the hour hand is first.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Davies

02.07.2021

Sports Week!!!

Miss Hedington organized some fantastic activities for us this week. We watched an Olympic gymnast, we tried out some gymnastics ourselves and we learnt golf. It was great. We have really enjoyed ourselves this week. Thank-you Miss Hedington.

On Friday we dressed in the colours of the Olympic rings. I think you’ll agree we look awesome!

Part of sports week has been about healthy eating. We made healthy sandwiches. Yummy mmm…

25.06.2021

We have been learning about hot places this week, specifically the Rainforest. We have all written another page in our travel journal about what it feels like there (hot and sticky) and what animals we might see (Jaguar, Blue Morpho Butterfly, Toucan).

We’ve also had lots of fun making a volcano using bicarbonate of soda, washing up liquid and food colouring and vinegar. It was lots of fun!

Have a look at The Natural History Museum for instructions on how to make it. Be warned it can get messy!

18.06.2021

We are reading The Snail and The Whale this half term. It is about an adventurous snail who wants to see the world. Luckily for her a whale kindly offers her a lift.

You can watch an animation of the story here.

Talking about the story:

• What did you like about the story?
• Was there anything you disliked?
• Was there anything that puzzled you?
• Did it remind you of another story or anything you have seen or heard?

Last week we thought about the places in the world that the snail might like to visit. We drew our ideas in a thought bubble. There were lots of different places including California, Disneyland, a tropical island, Africa.

This week we read up to the part where the Snail and the Whale visit Antarctica. We have made our own travel journals and we wrote about the things we might see in Antarctica. We also learnt about the Arctic and compared the similarities and difference between the two.

Next week we will be learning about hot places such as the African Plains and the Brazilian Rainforest. We will especially learn about the animals and insects and birds which live there.

Please have a look at this half term’s homework grid for ideas that you can try at home. All the activities complement our learning at school.

Homework Grid Summer 2

Homework Grid – Summer 1

21.05.2021

This week we have adapted the story of the Three Little Pigs by changing the characters to…

10.05.2021

We began the week by learning the story of The Three Little Pigs. The children have all used pictures to sequence the story. Then most of them have written the story. To help them with their writing they are learning a model text of the story.

You can encourage them to practice at home. The words in red mean that there is an action to go with them. Ask your child to teach you the actions.

The Three Little Pigs Model Text

When the children write the story they are using a storymap to help them remember the story.

Next week we be changing the story by adding our own characters. So instead of Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf there might be Three Little Fish and The Big Bad Shark.

Craft Time

We acted out the story this week using masks.

You could make masks at home using paper plates. You will need

Paper plates

Pink and brown or grey paint

Pink and brown or grey tissue paper

Paper or card to make ears and eyes

Here are some ideas for making puppets.

Using toilet rolls

Or wooden spoons

Whatever you do don’t forget to send me the photos.

Have a great weekend!

07.05.2021

This week we have been learning about Lucienne Day who was a British textiles artist working in the 1950s. These are some of her prints.

We have made our own prints using Styrofoam. I think they look stunning!

Besides printing we have been learning outside doing gymnastics, playing in the mud kitchen and with the water and the sand.

Next week we are learning about The Three Little Pigs. We will be writing the story and acting it out.

Look out for photos next week.

23.04.2021

This week we have been reading a story called Halibut Jackson. It is about a man who is so shy that he wears clothes which blend into the background. The children made emotion wheels and talked about what makes them sad, happy, angry, excited, scared, worried, surprised, proud. 

Here are some photos of them making faces for different emotions. Perhaps they can tell you what the emotion is.

This is a video of Halibut Jackson. When you have watched you could ask "Why does he want to blend in to the background?" "How does he feel when he gets an invitation to the Queen's garden party?" 

Discuss how you might feel if you got invited to a party and you didn't know anyone there.

Finally you might want to make an emotion wheel together at home. Making it together can be an opportunity for your child to tell you about their emotions, when they have them and what they can do to understand their emotions and learn how to explain to someone else how they are feeling.

What we have been doing in Neptune Class 15.03.2021-31.03.2021

What we are doing in school this week 08.03.2021

Week 2 – 01.03.2021 – Traditional Tales

This week we are going to look at Traditional Tales. On Thursday it is World Book Day so please dress up as your favourite character and send me your photos.

Remember to try to do one activity a day and maybe do a phonics activity/BugClub book. However, do what works best for you and your family.

We are going to focus on these 3 stories:

The Gingerbread Man

Little Red Riding Hood

The Three Little Pigs

Of course there are lots of other stories. You could adapt any of these activities for your own choice

Literacy

There are lots of questions you can ask about these stories. The main thing is to talk about the story

• What sorts of things did you like or dislike?
• Was there anything that puzzled you?
• Have you read any other stories like this?
• How did they compare?
• Who were the main characters?
• Where did the story take place?
• Which character interested you most?
• Little Red Riding Hood stopped to talk to the Big Bad Wolf. Do you think this was a good ideas?

You could act out the stories. Maybe create a theatre. Ask your child to make tickets, pretend money. You could use objects in your house as props.

Writing Activities:

Pretend you are Little Red Riding Hood and make a Get Well card for Grandma – write her a message inside the card.

Make a Wolf wanted poster. Describe what he looks like grey, hairy, sharp teeth, big eyes, big ears

Write a factfile about pigs. Watch this video to help.

Create your own StoryBox

What is it?

A story box is a miniature setting, a shoe box-sized stage with a background and objects within it relating to either a specific book, or to a common story scenario.

Story boxes are a great resource to support children’s exploration of stories. They form areas in which to retell a favourite story, as well as creative arenas for children to make up new stories too- encouraging talk, imagination and literacy skills. Choose a favourite story and create a scene from the story using art and craft materials.   

Art

We’re going to make the characters using things you have around the house including toilets rolls!! When you have made them you can use them to act out the story.

Science

This week we’re going to try a Wind Science Experiment and test our “huff and puff”

You will need

• Objects with varying weight
• A hairdryer or your own breath
• A recording sheet – you can print the one here or make one yourself

First ask your child to predict which items would be blown away by the wolf’s huffing and puffing. Allow them to hold the items and make comparisons. Record these predictions either with a picture or the word or both!

Next place the objects one at time on a table and use your hairdryer to “huff and puff”. In the Observations box record what actually happened.

Did it match your predictions? Why?

Dance

You could try some ballet this week.

Have a look at CBeebies ballet of The Three Little Pigs

Then see if you try some of the ballet moves yourself.

You can watch CBeebies Little Red Riding Hood on Friday 10th April at 9.30am on CBeebies iPlayer and the CBeebies channel. 

World Book Day

On Thursday it is World Book Day. You could dress up as your favourite book character for the day.

Make a book nook…

• behind a sofa
• in a cupboard
• on your bed
• on a landing
• in your garden or on your balcony

Bookmarks – why not try making a homemade bookmark. You could give as a present to someone in your family.

This clip shows you how to make an origami bookmark

Find an unusual place to read – send me a photo

Recommend a book to me – tell me why I should read it, what happens in the story, who are the main characters.

Stop & Read

Throughout the day everyone drops what they are doing and reads a book for 5 minutes.

Phonics

Sounds to practise this week.

Phase 2

m    a    n    u    s    t    r    o    p    h    i    d    l    f    c    e    b    g    ck    ff        

Phase 3

j    x    v    w    igh    sh    ng    oo    ow    er    ai    th    ear    ee    ch    air    oi

Now try reading and spelling these words

Phase 2

man    him    in    and    ran    can    red    big    bad    huff    puff    fun    pot    bed

Phase 3

right    shop    long    soon    cow    fox    tail    hood    path    wood    ears    teeth    chin    hair    down    fair    roof

Challenge words

just    fast    river    jump    stick    brick    boiling    crash    splash

Tricky words

the    to    me    he    my    she    I    no    you

Challenge:

Can you draw a picture from one of the stories and write a sentence using some of these words.

Cooking

Let’s make some Gingerbread Men. I hope they don’t run away!!

Ingredients

• 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 heaped tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 50g unsalted butter
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 100g golden syrup

Method

• STEP 1

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Sieve the flour, salt, bicarb, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl. Heat the butter, sugar and syrup until dissolved. Leave the sugar mixture to cool slightly, then mix into the dry ingredients to form a dough. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 mins.

• STEP 2

On a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll out the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Stamp out the gingerbread men shapes with a cutter, then re-roll any off-cuts and repeat. Place your gingerbread shapes on the lined trays, allowing space for them to spread. Cook for 10-15 mins, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.

This is the last week of online learning.  I hope you enjoy having a go at the activities. I’m looking forward to seeing your World Book Day costumes.

Stay safe.

Miss Davies

Tip for parents: please remember that when your children are at school I do not ask them to sit at an activity for more than 30 minutes. So please build in a lot of breaks and play to your day.  

What we have been learning at home 22.02.2021-26.02.2021

Spring 2^nd half term

Week 1- 22.2.21- The Hungry Caterpillar.

This half term we will be covering each week; being healthy/ life skills, Traditional tales for Book Week, learning about the season Spring and the signs, Planting/ Flowers and Minibeasts.

Let’s begin this week with the book, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. It is written and beautifully illustrated by Eric Carle. If you are lucky enough to have the book that could be your week’s reading together with your child. If you don’t the video below is great to watch together. Remember try to do one activity a day and a phonics activity/ bug club book. Do what works best for you and your family J

Talk about the story:

Questions:
Who popped out of the egg? A caterpillar
What day of the week did the sun come up and the caterpillar popped out of the egg? Sunday What do you do on a Sunday?
How might the caterpillar be feeling when he pops out of the egg? Confused/scared/ worried/happy/hungry
Why did the caterpillar keep eating more each day? Because he was still hungry
Can you remember what the caterpillar ate? Apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries, 5 oranges, one piece of choc cake, one cream cone, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese, one slice of salami, lollipop, one slice of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon.
What did the caterpillar have after he ate all that food?  A tummy ache Why? Because the caterpillar ate too much and caterpillars shouldn’t eat all that food..
It had been one whole week. What did the caterpillar eat on Sunday to make him feel better? A nice big green leaf
How can you describe what the caterpillar looks like now? A big fat caterpillar.
What did the caterpillar build around himself? A small house. What was it called? a cocoon. Another name for this is a chrysalis.
How long did he stay inside the chrysalis/cocoon for ? More then 2 weeks
The caterpillar then made a hole and pushed himself out. What did he transform into? A beautiful butterfly.

Encourage some imagining/ role- play: 
Activity 1-  Can the children make their own house to represent a chrysalis.
Could be wrapping themselves in a duvet, blanket, pillowcase or making a den again and pretend to push/ wriggle out of it. 
Send me your picture
 

Activity 2-  If the children could change into any kind of animal, what would they like to be? How would they move? What would they eat?
 

Activity 3-  They could draw themselves as this creature, with a photograph of their face added on? Or dress up as this creature or make a mask or a paper plate of the animal.

Send me your picture

Phonics

Phase 2

a    o    n    m    p    i    e    s    ss    l    ll     t     d    u    r    h    g    f 

Phase 3

  W     y      oo    igh    ou    er   ee  or    oo oo   ee    th    ch    ar   

Now try reading and spelling these words

Phase 2

On   egg    pop    sun    up    but    plum     still      lollipop       cup melon big    fat

Phase 3

Moon  light   start    look   food    for   swiss    cheese     cherry    green much    better    house   weeks  

Challenge words

caterpillar    Sunday   warm    hungry      two     four    five  ate strawberries     oranges   piece    Ice cream    cake    beautiful

butterfly

Tricky words

some    he    the    was    one   little

Literacy

Writing activity: draw and write a list of the foods that the Very Hungry Caterpillar eats.

Remember to encourage your child to use the sounds they hear, I do not expect words to be spelt perfectly.

e.g.

orinj

apol

wortu melon

pers

Send me a picture of your work

Activity - In the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats something different every day of the week. Write a couple of sentences what you may do on a couple of days.
E.g. On Saturday I go to the shop.
On Friday I eat fish and chips.

Make a story map.

A story map is a representation of the story in pictures. It helps you to remember what happens in the story. Here are some examples of a story map.

Maths
The caterpillar eats something different on each day. Let’s recap the days of the week by watching the youtube video below. Then complete the activity after.

Activity: Match up the food to correct days the caterpillar ate them.  You can do this online by pointing, by drawing it out, or printing off the pdf below.
Remember: you can look back at the story to help you.

Activity 2: Butterflies are unique and beautiful insects. Their wings are symmetrical which means, the same/identical on each side.

I would like you to draw a butterfly and make a symmetrical pattern on its wings.

Send me your picture

You can also play an interactive symmetry game on Topmarks.
Click on the link below.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/symmetry/symmetry-matching

More Maths Activities

Science:

In the story the caterpillar eats through lots of different kinds of food. Could you these foods into a table of healthy and unhealthy.

Talking about being healthy, there are lots of ways for us to keep healthy, especially through this time.

I want you try doing some of the activities below

1. Washing clothes- Help your mum/dad/nan/grandad/carers with washing your clothes, folding it up, putting it away nicely.  Send me a photo of you helping doing the laundry.

Cooking:

Activity 1: Above you were learning how to be healthy. Another way is to eat healthy foods too. Make The Very Hungry Caterpillar with tomato and cucumber and peppers. These are known as vegetables which are very good for us.
 

Activity 3: Food tasting with eyes closed. Can you find any of the foods in your house from the story; if not just get different types of food?
Taste some of the foods with your eyes shut and see if you can try to identify them.  Send me a picture of you trying this activity out blindfolded!
You can talk about which ones are healthy and unhealthy foods.

PE:  Moving our bodies and doing exercise is another great way to be healthy.

Activity 2: Act out the lifecycle of a butterfly.

Activity 3: Watch the kitchen disco- it is about healthy fruits that have a party in the middle of the night. Can you move like each of the fruits?

Expressive Arts and Crafts:

Art: make a painting of the Very Hungry Caterpillar using fingerprints/collage materials/ paints/ colour pencils.

That is all for this week, I hope you enjoy the activities and remember do what works best for you and your family.

Stay safe Miss Davies x

Tip for parents: please remember that when your children are at school I do not ask them to sit at an activity for more than 30 minutes. So please build in a lot of breaks and play to your day.  

Half Term 15.02.2021-19.02.2021

At last we have got to half-term. Well done to everyone. It’s been difficult at times but I think we all need to look for the positive things:

• Time to spend with your family
• It snowed!
• You have made some wonderful projects.

Next week is a holiday. At the moment, none of us can go anywhere but we can take a break from our routine of the last few weeks.

Here are a few things that I will be doing in the half term holiday, why not try have a go too?

Valentine’s Day

Make a card for someone you love. Here are some ideas you might like.   

Make heart shaped cookies.

Click here for the link to the recipe

Below are 2 stories.

Snuggle up and watch it as a family as a bed time story.

On Tuesday, it is Pancake Day.

All you need is 2 eggs, plain flour and some milk and choice of toppings; lemon/sugar/Nutella/ syrup/ fruit etc.

READY… STEADY …. START FLIPPING!

I thought you would like this story called Mr Wolf’s Pancakes

Spring Clean

Empty your cupboards, give everything a clean and put it all back neatly. Wash your car, make your bed, tidy your room.

Play some of your favourite music while you’re cleaning.

Have a spa at home

Have a warm bubble bath or a shower with some of your favourite shower gel. Get some nice lotions, face masks and put cucumbers over your eyes. Wrap up warm after by wearing a bath robe or Pjs. Make your favourite drink, and play some calm music and pretend you’re in your favourite place (beach, forest). There’s lots of You Tube clips to help you imagine.

Beach

Forest

Mountain Lake

Have a slumber party/ duvet day.

Get all your blankets, pillows and duvets into one room. Stay in your pjs all day, snuggle up, make a den and watch movies with some popcorn.

Have a Teddy Bear’s Picnic- layout a blanket on the floor, invite your family and your toys/teddies. Make your own sandwiches and put your snacks in a bowl- maybe some crisps, grapes, crackers and cheese.

Why not play this song too while enjoying your picnic.

Make up your own dance.

Play justdance on youtube for some inspiration.

OR make  up your own gymnastic routine – forward rolls, crab, leaps, tuck/star jumps, balances..

Have a fancy dress party.

Use clothes you already have to turn yourself into…

I am sure you will have lots of ideas of your own.

The main thing is to relax, look after each other and stay safe.

Have a great week.

Miss Davies x

Do you need resources to support your child’s home learning? Paper, pencils and exercise books will be available for free for all Athelney families.

ALL YEAR GROUPS

Every week on Thursdays between 1pm and 2pm

Available from outside the main school entrance

Please remember social distancing and wear a mask if you are able to.

Week 6 – 08.02.21- Blackbird Blackbird What Do You Do?

This week we are going to think about how we can care for birds. We will start by watching the story of a blackbird called Pip who wants to find out what do blackbirds do. The story is called “Blackbird Blackbird What Do You Do? by Kate McLelland.
 Remember to try to do one activity a day and maybe do a phonics activity/BugClub book. However, do what works best for you and your family. Don't forget Well-being Wednesdays!! Time to look after yourself and your family and do something that makes you feel happy: cooking, painting, being outside...

See below for a youtube clip

Literacy

Questions: What types of birds did Pip visit? heron/owl
Why couldn’t Pip stand in the river Because his legs were too short
What do owls do? Stay up all night 
Where did Pip meet Puffin? At the seaside
How did Pip get to the city? He soared on the breeze
Why couldn’t Pip peck at seeds like Pigeon?  Because it was far too crowded
What do the other birds do? Falcons – swoop to the ground/Parrots – chatter/Ducks - waddle

What did Pip discover that he is good at? Singing

Activity:

What do you think you’re good at? You could play a game with an adult or your brother/sister taking it turns to tell each other what you or they are good at. Maybe you could teach each other something new.

Challenge:

Make a story map.

A story map is a representation of the story in pictures. It helps you to remember what happens in the story. Here are some examples of a story map.

Book Review

When you get to the end of the week listen to the story again. Then have a think about the story. Would you recommend it to someone else? How would you describe this book to someone else? What did you like or dislike about the book? What questions are you left with after reading it? What personal connections did you have with the text – does it remind you of a walk you might have been on, does it remind you of times you have spent with your grandma or grandad? You can write out your review like this.

My Book Review

Title:

Author:

Did I like the book?

Draw how many stars I give it:

My favourite part?

Draw my favourite part of the story

Send me your storymap and /or your book review

Phonics

Sounds to practise this week.

Phase 2

b    l    a    ck    p    i    o    n    e    s    t     d    f    ff    u    r    v    h    g   

Phase 3

w   x    ng    ai    ow    er    sh    or    oo    igh    ee    th    ch    ar   

Now try reading and spelling these words

Phase 2

pip    pop    met    but    leg    at    not    peck    duck    can    up    in    set    off    of    sun   

Phase 3

wing    wait    down    fish    far    too    short    good    high    owl    night    sail    seed    sigh    thing    perch    sang          

Challenge words

black    nest    fluff    river    heron    tree    looking    next    morning    puffin    nest    sand    swoop    chatter    soft    sweet    flock    singing    stand

Tricky words

you    was    the    he    his    we    to    said    do 

Challenge:

Can you draw one of the birds from the story and write a caption.

Eg: A heron can stand in the river

Send me your picture

Maths
 

This week we’re going to practice counting and addition and subtraction.

First how many birds can you count in this picture?

First person to email me the correct number wins a prize.

Now try these word problems:

• There are 6 birds in one tree and 7 birds in the next. How many birds are there altogether?
• There are 10 blackbirds in a nest. 2 of them fly away. How many are left?
• A heron eats 2 fish and then eats 5 more. How many fish did the heron eat altogether?
• An owl stays awake for 3 hours on the first night and 7 hours on the second. How many hours altogether did the owl stay awake?
• A Puffin digs a nest that can fit 5 eggs. First she lays 2 eggs. How many more can she fit in the nest?
• There are 6 pigeons eating seeds. 4 more join them. How many pigeons are there altogether?

Send me your answers and I’ll let you know how you got on.

Here are some more maths problems for you to try.

Science:

This week we are going to try and spot some garden birds. The RSPB are collecting results from people in Britain so that scientist can find out how many different garden birds there are in Britain.

What I want you to do is to choose a day and sit quietly and watch how many birds you can see in your garden or on your balcony.

Use the photos and information below to help you

Blackbird

Not always black...

Male blackbirds live up to their name but, confusingly, females are brown often with spots and streaks on their breasts.

What they eat

Blackbirds eat a variety of foods, from earthworms to fruits like apples and berries. They also love porridge oats.

Great tit

Grabs seeds and flies away with them

The largest UK tit is green and yellow with a striking glossy black and white head. It's a woodland bird which has found that our gardens offer plenty of food and places to nest.

What they eat

Great tits make quick visits to bird feeders for seeds and fat. They also eat insects and consume a lot of caterpillars in spring and summer.

Magpie

Simply unmistakable!

With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up, it's easy to spot the beautiful iridescent purple, blue and green tones in its feathers.

What they eat

Absolutely anything. 

Robin

The gardener's friend

The UK's favourite bird – with its bright red breast the robin is familiar throughout the year and especially at Christmas! Males and females look identical, and they both hold territories during winter. 

What they eat

Robins eat a lot of creepy-crawlies, including worms (which is why they like gardeners turning over the soil). They'll grab mealworms from a bird table or feeder, or snack on sunflower hearts. Fruit is another favourite.

Starling

Glossy, squawky and starry

Smaller than blackbirds, with a short tail, pointy head and wings, starlings look black at a distance but when seen closer they are very glossy with a sheen of purples and greens. In winter they're covered in pale spots – which gives them their name.

What they eat

Starlings aren't picky and will eat almost anything they can get their beaks into. They can be quarrelsome on the bird table, however.

Woodpigeon

Now a common garden visitor

The UK's largest and commonest pigeon, it is largely grey with a white neck patch and white wing patches, clearly visible in flight. Woodpigeons also have beautiful pinkish and turquoise hints to their plumage – can you spot where?

What they eat

Seeds and grains, and green shoots when they're out in the fields.

Make some binoculars

 To help you with your bird spotting you could try and make some binoculars. You will need 2 toilet rolls, some tape or glue and paint or pens to decorate.

Here are some examples to give you some ideas.

Bird Feeders

To attract birds to your garden or balcony you could make a bird feeder.

Here are some instructions

When you’ve finished all of that try this quiz to find out what kind of garden bird you are.

 https://www.rspb.org.uk/search/?q=what+garden+bird+are+you

Art

You could have a go at drawing some of the birds we have been learning about.

Owl

Puffin

Robin

Send me your bird pictures

Cooking

This week’s cooking is not for yourself but for the birds.

Bird seed cake

Bird kebab

PE

Try this Cosmic Yoga – Nelson the Pigeon

Extra

There are lots of bedtime stories on the RSPB website. Let me know which one is your favourite.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-kids/kids-stories/bedtime-stories-audiobooks/

That is all for this week. I hope you enjoy having a go at the activities. Look out for more next week.

Stay safe.

Miss Davies

Tip for parents: please remember that when your children are at school I do not ask them to sit at an activity for more than 30 minutes. So please build in a lot of breaks and play to your day.  

What we have been doing at home 1.02.2021-5.02.2021

Week 5- 1.2.2021

Ruby’s Worry

This weeks learning is a little different. This week is Children’s Mental Health Week and lots of schools, youth groups, organisations and individuals will take part in this. The theme this year is ‘Express Yourself’ 

Expressing yourself is about finding ways to share feelings, thoughts, or ideas, through creativity. This could be through art, music, writing, dance and taking photos and doing activities that make you feel good.

It’s important to remember that being able to express yourself is not about being the best at something or putting on a performance for others. It is about finding a way to show who you are, and how you see the world, that can help you feel good about yourself.

For Children's Mental Health Week 2021 we will be encouraging children (and adults) to explore the different ways we can express ourselves, and the creative ways that we can share our feelings.

Let’s start by watching the story below called ‘ Ruby’s Worry’ By Tom Percival. Its about a little girl called Ruby who was very happy doing lots of things she enjoys and is good at however, one day she has a worry and she doesn’t know what to do and it begins to make her feel sad and alone.

Remember to try to do one activity a day. However, do what works best for you and your family.

Talk about the story:

Some Questions you can ask below about the story and a great starting point for sharing feelings.

• Who is the main character in the story? What is her name?  Ruby
• What does Ruby like to do? She likes to Swing, explore faraway places, like the bottom of her garden. Do you like to do this too? 
• Are there things you love doing? What are they?
• Who makes you happy? Or do special toys make you happy? Is there a special place that makes you feel happy? 
• She was happy until one day… what did she get? A worry
• Do you know what a worry is?  Concern about something that might happen. It is feel or cause to feel anxious or troubled about actual or potential problems.
• Where is the worry in the book? It is always with her 
• What colour was her worry? Yellow
• Can you always see a worry like this? No
• Could anyone else see Rubys Worry? No – not even her teacher
• How might you know if someone is worried? By their face, they may look upset/sad, they may not want to talk, they shoulders may be curved over, they may not want to play, they may not want to do the things they love etc..
• Was her worry getting bigger or smaller at the start of the story? Bigger
• Her worry was everywhere! Can you remember where it was? At breakfast time by the cereal box, at night time when she cleaned her teeth.
• How do you think Ruby feels about the worry? Sad, cross, upset, scared  
• What do you think Ruby should do about the worry? Do you think she should keep it to herself or tell someone about the worry?  She shouldn’t keep it to herself, that’s the worse you can do, is worry about a worry. She should tell someone!
• Do you have any ideas of how Ruby can make herself feel better? For example, what do you do when you feel worried or sad? Maybe you have a toy that makes you feel better? Or maybe you hold someone’s hand or have a cuddle? 
• Have you ever had a worry? What was your worry? Have you ever talked about a worry with someone before? What happened when you shared your worry? Did it make you feel happier?
• Who did Ruby notice on the bench? A boy. How did the boy look? Sad, lonely
• What colour was the boys worry? Blue
• Everyone has worries. Do we all have the same worries or different? Different
• When the boy started talking to Ruby about his worry, did it get bigger or smaller? Smaller – it shrunk!
• Whats the best thing you can do if you had a worry? Tell someone
• How did Ruby feel at the end of the story? Happy why? She shared her worry

Activities below:

Activity 1: Look at the pictures of Ruby doing the things she enjoys.
Can you draw yourself and all the things that make you happiest? All the things that you may be good at?
You might have some photographs or special objects that will help you to do this.

Activity 2:

When you have drawn a picture of the things that make you happy and are good at, you could try to do some of these things, while you are at home. 

You can send in your drawings to me, or send me a picture of you doing an activity that makes you happy. E.g. painting, baking, listening to a story, playing a sport, going for a walk, playing with your siblings. These are just some ideas.

Activity 3:

Ruby’s Worry was yellow and the boys was blue. Have you had a worry before? What did your worry look like? It could be very similar to Ruby’s worry e.g. similar shape but different colour. Or, your worry could be very different? Maybe it has a different shape, different eyes, colour, body etc..
Can you draw your worry and send it to me please J
It may help me spot your worry in class.

Challenge: write about what worries you.

Activity 4: 

You can write a note or draw a picture for Ruby to help her take her mind off her worry. Think about the ideas you thought of before and use these to help you. You could give Ruby three different ideas to help her feel less worried, for example talking to someone, hugging your teddy bear and going outside to play on the swings. 

Activity 5:

Connecting feelings with colours.
Let’s think about what colours make people feel certain emotions and how these colours can be used in art work. 

Now let us relate this to our story of Ruby’s Worry. When Ruby’s worry gets bigger, she begins to feel really sad, afraid and lonely. The colours change in the background to black, white and grey.

Can you make a picture similar to the one below.
You can use chalks/pastels and explore using your hands to smudge the media.
You can use paint and explore making grey. How do you make grey? Yes black and white together!

At the end of the story, Ruby told her worry and the darkness (black, grey and white) disappeared and a lots of beautiful colours came out. A bit like a sparkly rainbow.

Can you try and recreate a colourful picture. You can use paint/ pencils/ pastels/ chalk/ collage materials e.g. pomp oms, tissue paper, glitter, stickers.  You can add things that you may associate with happiness or looking pretty e.g. butterfly, smiley faces, sun

Activity 6:

As a Challenge, you could first explore mixing different colour paints together and see what they make?

Next, you could recreate your own colour-mixing chart, like the picture below.

Activity 7:

How could you make friends happy. One idea could be to draw a picture for your friend. I would like you to draw a picture for one of your friends and we can show it on Zoom on Friday 5^th Feb.

Don’t be upset if you friend is not on the Zoom, you could take a photo of your picture and send it to me and I will send it to them after our ZoomJ

Activity 8:

In the story Ruby told someone to make her worry, go away. Why not try to make one of the items below where you can tell your worry to. It will be amazing if you tell your worry to them and be brave to tell an adult/ friend too. 

1. Make a worry monster: You can tell an adult your worry and they can write it down and if your worry monster has a mouth, you can put it in the monsters mouth where they can GOBBLE up your worry.

You can make your worry monster out of toilet rolls, boxes, plastic containers, a sock and stuff if it with something soft, sticks etc…

2. Make a worry doll. 

You can make your worry doll out of pegs, lollipop sticks, ice-cream sticks, sticks collected from outside, wool/string etc..

3. Make a dream catcher

You dream catcher will catch any bad dreams but you can also tell your worry to them and they will trap it in the string. You can make your dream catcher out of paper plates, cd’s, sticks, feathers, beads, wool etc..

Activity 9:

Make rainbow slime

Activity 10:

Some children enjoy baking and are good at it.

Let’s make some cupcakes: watch the video below for the recipe. You could add icing and rainbow sprinkles to them. YUMMY!

Activity 11:

PE- Play a game with your child where you can encourage your child to act out certain emotions this week.  You could do this indoors or outdoors in a larger space.  For example, act out being happy, sad, angry, worried etc.  What facial expressions can your child use to show certain emotions? Role play alongside your child. How can you both move around to show different emotions e.g., you may be jumping with joy, smiling with delight or ‘frozen’ and stuck when worried?

Watch the clip below to see how these children role played different emotions.

Another really fun game to play when role playing acting out different emotions is a game of charades.  Encourage your child to act out a certain emotion where you have to guess the emotion that he/she is acting.  You can also role play a certain emotion and see if your child can guess correctly how you are feeling.  On our display board in class, we have Inside Out characters to represent different feelings.  You child may like to watch this clip below to see if your child can tell what different characters are feeling

Activity 12:

Dancing makes some people happy and some children are very good at dancing. Why not join in on the dance below or type in your own just dance song on youtube, maybe wakka wakka? and move your body to the music!

Activity 13:

Yoga is also a very good for your mind and healthy. Why not join in on the cosmic yoga session, it is Trolls, and it is to do with ‘I got that feeling’ or you could find your own one to do on youtube.

Activity 14:

Make a weekly journal of each exercise you do on each day and record it. You can draw pictures or write a caption.

Maybe something similar to the one below:

Activity 16:

Snuggle up, maybe in your cave/den, if you still have it, with some popcorn and watch a movie that you like/ enjoy. If you can maybe watch the movie Inside Out- it is all to do with feelings/emotions and links to our classroom display of zones of regulation.

Phonics

Sounds to practise this week.

Phase 2

s    i    u    p    h    f    t    g    d    e    n    l    b    ll    m    k    r   

Phase 3

w    j    ng    igh    ar    er    ee    th    oo    sh

Now try reading and spelling these words

Phase 2

up    of    it    big    but    bit    at    bus    sad    had    rid    his

Phase 3

high    far    hung    night    teeth    see    seem    feel    look    too    them    soon    her   

Challenge words

swing    went    garden    until    bigger    just    still    normal    stopping    forever    think    felt    person    shrink    best

Tricky words

she    to    the    was    so    go    he

Introducing Well-being Wednesdays

On Wednesday try switching off phones, tablets, laptops and TVs and go for a walk. Just a walk. Walking is very good for you and your child’s wellbeing. It helps clear your mind, maybe of any worries, and keeps your body healthy. We will continue this each week on a Wednesday.  You could share your favourite routes and places. J

That is all for this week, remember you do not have to do them all!

I hope you enjoy some of these activities and remember to send them to my email address.

Stay Safe

Miss Davies

x

What we have been doing at home this week. 23.01.2021-29.01.2021

Week 4- 25.1.21- Lost and Found

This week we are going to learn about penguins and other animals you may find in a cold climate. Let us start by watching the story of a little penguin and a little boy. The story is called “Lost and Found” by Oliver Jeffers.
 Remember to try to do one activity a day and maybe do a phonics activity/BugClub book. However, do what works best for you and your family.

Literacy

Questions: Who turned up at the boy’s door? A penguin
How might the boy feeling when he saw a penguin? Confused/scared/ worried/
How was the penguin feeling at the start of the story? Sad 
Why did the boy think that? Because he thought he was lost.
Where did the book say penguins come from? South Pole
When the penguin and the boy got to the South Pole the penguin became sad again and When the boy left the penguin, the penguin was even sadder. Why? Because the penguin was lonely/ he wanted a friend/ he didn’t want the boy to leave.
Discuss what it means to be lonely and how we can help others when they are feeling lonely. What can we do when we feel lonely ourselves? Ask our friends to play with us, get a hug, talk to someone, play with our toys
What did the boy and the penguin do at the end of the story? Hug.
How are they both feeling now? Happy Why? Because they are together
 

Activity:

Can you make up a story to explain how the penguin ended up at the boy’s door? To help you come with some ideas you can play a “Maybe” tag game.  Adult: MAYBE he was kidnapped by a whale! Child: MAYBE – your child’s idea Adult: MAYBE he chased a fish all the way here! Child: MAYBE – your child’s idea (and so on)

Challenge:

Make a LOST poster- a lost poster is when you describe someone/something to help people find them. Describe what he looks like. How did the penguin feel?

Draw the penguin and write some words to describe how he looks.

You could set your poster out like this.

LOST!

DRAW YOUR PICTURE HERE

NAME

DESCRIPTION

Make your own penguin story - can you make up your own story of a lost penguin?

You can set out your story like this:

Book Review

When you get to the end of the week listen to the story again. Then have a think about the story. Would you recommend it to someone else? How would you describe this book to someone else? What did you like or dislike about the book? What questions are you left with after reading it? What personal connections did you have with the text – does it remind you of a walk you might have been on, does it remind you of times you have spent with your grandma or grandad? You can write out your review like this.

My Book Review

Title:

Author:

Did I like the book?

Draw how many stars I give it:

My favourite part?

Draw my favourite part of the story

Send me your story and/or your poster and /or your book review

Phonics

Sounds to practise this week.

Phase 2

s   a   d   u   ck   r   n   b   i   g   p   o   t   h   u    e    ss    ll

Phase 3

oo    ch    igh    sh    or    oa    ee    ow  ng    er   th   oi

Now try reading and spelling these words

Phase 2

sad    duck    ran    big    pack    bad    back    got    at    had    it    him    but    his

Phase 3

look    check    night    ship    much    horn    boat    need    push    good    down    quick    see  

Challenge words

lost    help    next    just    must    missing    float    sleep    morning    strength    telling    sadder    fast   last    point    wind

Tricky words

and    was    he    a    the   to    be    so    in    are    said    they

Challenge:

In the story it says “They packed everything they would need”

Try writing a list of what you would need if you went on a trip to the South Pole. Remember it is very far and very very cold. Remember too that you only have a small boat!

Send me your list

Maths
 

This week we are looking at capacity. Talking about capacity- this means how much of something (water, soil, flour) will fit into something. We’re going to experiment using water.

Get a bucket/big pan/washing up bowl/ or get in the bath and fill it with water. Find different containers to use in your household- small cup/jug/tall cup/empty containers e.g. milk bottle/washing up liquid. Experiment first filling up the different size containers.

Now, have a go at making the capacities below.

Take a photo of your containers and send them to me.

Science:

The boy and the penguin make a boat for their journey to the South Pole. When it is finished “They tested it for size and strength”

We are going to test out which materials are good for making boats?

I want you to find, in your house, items/materials that float and sink.

Then record your answers on a table similar to mine below. Can you find anymore?

Send me your table and photos of your experiment

Learn about penguins

First watch this clip

Activity:

Write a fact file on penguins

Art

Make a boat

Why not try and make your own boat and see if it floats or sinks?

Remember to think carefully what materials will be good to use to make your boat - look at the table you made of materials that float or sink. 

Draw a penguin

Colour it in paint it or make it out of collage materials.

Learn how to draw a penguin with this You Tube clip.

Send me your penguin pictures and/or photos of your boat

Cooking

In the book it said “They stopped for lunch”

Activity:

Can you set up a picnic for you and your family or toys. What would you eat at a picnic? Think about what is healthy and unhealthy?

Try making a sandwich by yourself (your adult can be there to help you get the ingredients)
Be sensible when buttering your bread with a knife (parents please model how to use a knife safely, and let you child have a go, please supervise!)

Music

In the story they went through a storm. What noises does a storm make? Quiet/ loud? Can you make some noises with your voice or parts of your body? What could you find around your house to make a loud noise like the crashing thunder? (Sorry Parents J) What noise does rain make? pitter patter – can you find something around your house to make that noise?

Why not make an instrument out of junk modelling? Find on of these: Milk bottles/ cardboard cereal boxes, elastic bands, rice, pringle tubes, biscuit tins.

Use rice or dried peas/beans to put inside. Seal it up tight and decorate your instrument.

You could bring your instrument to the Friday Zoom

PE

Try moving like a penguin. Can you jump like a penguin? Waddle like a penguin? Slide like a penguin?

Try this Cosmic Yoga – Pedro the Penguin

Then try and move like different animals?

Chimpanzee – pretend to swing through trees .

Lion – prowl slowly on hands and feet.

Elephant – large stomping movements.

Zebra – galloping movements.

Snake – slither along floor.

Giraffe – stretch up tall and walk around slowly on tiptoes.

Hippopotamus – crouch or lie or the floor.

Crocodile – move quickly making large snapping movements with hands.

Rhinoceros – run in straight lines stopping to change direction.

Bird- flap your hands and pretend they are your wings

Gazelle – large strides and jumps.

Gorilla – stand still and (gently!) beat chest.

Tiger – crouch and pounce around.

Leopard – run around avoiding obstacles.

That is all for this week. I hope you enjoy having a go at the activities. Look out for more next week.

Stay safe.

Miss Davies

Tip for parents: please remember that when your children are at school I do not ask them to sit at an activity for more than 30 minutes. So please build in a lot of breaks and play to your day.  

What we've been up to at home 16.01.2021-22.01.2021

18.1.2021- Week 3: Winter Sleep

This week we are going to learn more about hibernation. Our story this week is Winter Sleep.

It is a story about a child who learns about hibernation when he stays at Granny Sylvie’s house in the winter.

After you have finished the story have a go at the activities below- remember choose activities that you suit you and try to do one a day J

Literacy:

First Talk about the story and ask questions:

• What is the weather like in the beginning of the story? What time of year is it?
• What time of year does it change to?
• Who was in the story?
• The story takes place in a forest near Granny Sylvie’s house. What would it be like to be there?
• What would you see, hear and feel?

Watch a section of this video of a winter walk in the woods (the whole video lasts for 3.5 hours, so don’t try to watch it all!).

• What words do you think of when you watch it?

Challenge:

Imagine that you are at Granny Sylvie’s house exploring the forest with her. Try writing a letter home, either to a friend, a parent or another family member, or even to me to tell them what it is like in the forest.

• What is it like in the forest?
• Who is with you in the forest?
• What are you doing together?
• What can you see in the forest?
• What do you most like about the forest?

Book Review

When you get to the end of the week listen to the story again. Then have a think about the story. Would you recommend it to someone else? How would you describe this book to someone else? What did you like or dislike about the book? What questions are you left with after reading it? What personal connections did you have with the text – does it remind you of a walk you might have been on, does it remind you of times you have spent with your grandma or grandad? You can write out your review like this.

My Book Review

Title:

Author:

Did I like the book?

Draw how many stars I give it:

My favourite part?

Draw my favourite part of the story

Tip for Parents – Ask your child the questions and make a sentence together and then ask your child to write that sentence down. Your child will need support remembering the whole sentence.

Role-play:  

If you still have your den you could take some blankets in there and pretend to be like the boy at the end of the story when he is in bed. Otherwise make a bed with cushions and blankets.

Take some paper and pencils and draw yourself asleep in the corner of the paper. On the rest of the paper draw all the things you might dream of after your winter walk in the woods. Can you remember the things Granny Sylvie and the boy saw in the woods? Maybe you could listen to this soundscape while you’re drawing.

Phonics:

You can spend a few minutes every day practising your Phase 2 and Phase 3 sounds.

Phonics Play has lots of online games. They have a free username and password for the lockdown.

Username: jan21

Password: home

Sounds to practise this week.

Phase 2

k      h     f     s     ss     r     t     u     n     i     d     l     o     m     p    g

Phase 3

w     oa      oo      ng      igh      er      ar      ee      th    ch    qu    z

Now try reading and spelling these words

Phase 2

nut   sun    mud    web   bat   egg   top   den   cub   bed   moss

Phase 3

hoof   oak   fern   song   night   hard   long   food   queen   bee   moth   wood   tight   dark   feet   seem   deep

Challenge words

winter   sleep   summer   print   splash   pond   green   tree   secret   frozen   sleeping   insects   nest   spring   trunk   under   frog   croaking   twig

Tricky words

was   she   I   to   the   with   we   me   no   in   into   go

Challenge:

Here are some words from the story you could try and read. If your grown-up reads them to you maybe you can have a go at writing them as well. To make an extra challenge see how many you can do in 2/3 minutes.

moss, run, up, back, yes, if, can, it, will, sun, on, bats, webs, eggs, until, top, cubs, bed

Use these words to make a sentence. Draw a picture to match the words.

Maths:

The story takes place in the summer and winter. These are called seasons. Do you know what the other 2 seasons are called?

The 4 seasons make up a year. There are 12 months in a year. Listen to this song and then try and name all the months. Perhaps you could try writing them.

This is a list of animals and insects which hibernate. Can you re-write the list starting with the largest animal and ending with the smallest?

stag beetle

dormouse

bumblebee

earwig

bat

moth

frog

bear

hedgehog

ladybird

Activity:

Try sorting your toys by size then group them by colour.

This is another sorting activity you could try.

There are lots more maths activities you could try at home on this website.

Challenge

Here are four addition problems

1+1

2+3

6+4

5+3

Your challenge is to put them in order, from easiest to hardest.  

How did you decide the order? 

I would love to hear the reasons for your final order.

Science:

Have a look at these websites to learn about hibernating bats, dormice and hedgehogs

Challenge

Can you make a fact file about one or all of these animals. You could use this template or make-up your own.

Arts and crafts:  

Geography

Can you make a map from Granny Sylvie’s house to the secret glade. Make sure you include these features:

• River
• Bridge
• Pond
• Green ferns
• Oak trees

Cooking

After a cold walk in the winter woods, it is nice to have something tasty and warm for tea. I am going to try this tasty tuna bake this week. Why don’t you have a go and send me some photos. I am sure it will be yummy.

I saw this and thought it looked super cute. If you’re in a baking mood why don’t you have a go.

Follow this link for the instructions.

That is all for this week. I hope you enjoy having a go at the activities. Look out for more next week.

Stay safe.

Miss Davies

Tip for parents: please remember that when your children are at school I do not ask them to sit at an activity for more than 30 minutes. So please build in a lot of breaks and play to your day.  

What we've been up to at home and in school 05.01.2021-15.01.2021

Our topic this term is winter

11.1.2021 - Week 2: A Bear Snores On

This week we are going to learn about hibernation. Hibernation is when animals sleep for a long time, throughout the winter.  Let’s learn more about hibernation by watching the story of

A Bear snores on

After you have finished the story have a go at the activities below- remember choose activities that you suit you and try to do one a day J

Literacy:

First Talk about the story and ask questions:

What season was the story in? (Winter)
What is the weather like in Winter? (Cold/ freezing/icy/snowy)
Where was the bear hibernating for winter? (in the cave)
What was the bear doing for most of the story? (sleeping) (snores on)
Who came and joined the bear in the cave? (mouse, hare, badger, gopher, mole, wren, raven
What activities did the animals do?
The animals had a party. What would you do/bring/eat at a party?
Why did the bear get upset? (because he didn’t get to join in the fun)

Challenge:
Why was the bear sleeping throughout the story? (because it is Winter and they hibernate)
What does hibernate mean?
When the bear woke up the other animals went to sleep why?
What season comes after winter? Spring – do you know what happens in Spring? Flowers start to grow, some animals have their young, it starts to get sunnier and rain

Tip for Parents – you could write your child’s responses down and then encourage them to draw their den and write about who would live in there. When would they go in there? What would they do in there? Ask your child to use the words you wrote for them.

Role-play:  

I would like you to make a cave in a room from duvet covers, sheets, pillows, boxes, tables, chairs.