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    Coral Reef Reflect and Review

    26 April 2024 (by Laura Thornton (LauraT))

    This week some Caterpillars arrived in our classroom. Over the next few weeks we will be observing the changes to help us understand Life Cycles.

    Each day the children have been excited to come into school and use their noticing skills to see the how the caterpillars have grown and changed.

    As scientists we have been learning what a habitat is. We looked at different insect habitats and created our own bug hotels out of different natural materials which we have put in our garden. We are hoping that lots of creatures will want to make their homes in them. 

    We also discovered that a Robin has made a nest in one of our small sheds! Helen made a special sign to remind us not to disturb it. We are wondering if the Robin will lay some eggs? 

    The children have been looking at insect  X ray picture cards on our LED light panel.

    As artists we have been following instructions to create finger print insects using an ink pad and pens to add details.  

    In Drawing club have been drawing pictures and writing about the story 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' We followed instructions to make our own jam sandwiches which we enjoyed eating during our snack time on Thursday. 

    As writers we have continued to write sentences about the story 'Katie and the Sunflowers' Grandma Fantastic came with her basket of exciting vocabulary and we used these new words in our sentences. 

    In Maths the children have been practising their counting, forwards and backwards to 20 and beyond. We have continued to practise recalling the number bonds to 5 and 10 through a variety of games and songs. We have also been developing a deeper understanding of 'teen numbers' and how theses numbers can be represented, using  Numicon tiles and placing objects on 10 frames to help us. 

    Next week we will be writing sentences linked to the story 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' as part of our English focus.

    In Drawing Club we will be thinking about the funny story Doug The Bug That Went Boing!' 

    On Tuesday we are off to the Museum of Natural History in Oxford for our Bug Bonanza session- the children are very excited about this trip! If you are one of our parent helpers please meet us at the Main Reception Gates where you will be asked to read through and sign our risk assessment form before we set off for the bus stop. 

    The children will be going on bug hunts in our garden and using iPads to photograph the insects they find. 

    As Geographers we will be making physical maps of our garden using different resources such as wooden blocks, log slices and pebbles, to show where the insects live. 

    As artists we will be using loose parts to create insects and creating Relief Sculptures at our art table. 

    Don't forget to support your child to complete their reading homework. There are lots of free ebooks on oxford owl that your child can access too. For further phonics practise there is a fantastic phonics game based app/website that we recommend called Teach your Monster to Read. It can be accessed on any smart device PC or Laptop. 

    We hope you all enjoy the weekend and we will see you on Monday. 

    The Coral Reef Team