This week we will continue with our topic of winter with a focus on story structure. The children will be hearing the story ‘The Snow Queen’ and will be thinking about the characters, setting and plot. They will sequence the story and will also help to retell the story using a story map designed together. We will then use the ideas to help us map out our own winter story and use the map to tell the story. Encourage your child to retell stories that they are familiar with. It is a great way for your child to think about a story and to begin to understand story structure. You could also encourage your child to change parts of the story. They could maybe suggest a different ending or could retell their own similar story with different characters or a different problem or adventure.
The children are all working really well in their new phonic groups. They are now beginning to apply the sounds they have learned when not only reading but also writing. We are working hard on writing words and simple captions. The children are learning how to use their Fred fingers to help them spell out words that they wish to write. Below are some videos that you could watch and join in with, with your child to help them with their spelling of words using the sounds they know.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/gqMspnp3/aiGeRcQI
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/72cTMbte/ueWbgxNV
This week, the children will continue to engage with activities that draw attention to the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. The children will also revisit the concept of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us how many things there are ALTOGETHER. They will continue to be provided with opportunities to hear, join in with and develop their knowledge of the counting sequence.
A key focus this week will be the stable order principle – rehearsing the order of the first 5 numbers and understanding that the position each number holds in our number sequence does not change. While continuing to work with numbers to 5, the children will develop their understanding of the ordinal aspect by investigating the difference in value of consecutive whole numbers. They will spend time discovering that each number has a value of 1 more than the previous number. Using blocks and squares to order quantities from 1 to 5 will help to embed this key understanding.
Although, linguistically, they bear little relation to our number names in English, the children will hear ordinal numbers (first, second, etc.) alongside these ordering activities and as part of classroom routines. Using representations of quantity alongside these ordinal numbers will help to embed understanding.
To conclude our topic on winter we will be celebrating with a ‘Frozen’ day on Friday 24th January 2025. This is a day where the children can come into school wearing something the depicts frost/ ice/ winter. This could be something as simple as wearing winter colours, sparkles or ‘Frozen’ dressing up clothes, from the film. Feel free to express the term ‘frozen’ however you wish. Please do not go out and buy anything special, coming to school dressed in blue would be more than okay. If you are struggling please speak to a member of the team and we will help with an outfit. We will have different Frozen themed activities across the day and look forward to seeing all the children in their chilly frosty outfits.
Have a wonderful week,
The Reception Team