Highlights of the week:
Phonics:
We have learnt the split digraph i-e as code for /igh/ as in bike. We have also learnt the split digraph o-e as code for /oa/ as in rope. The children remembered that we don’t say the ‘e’ at the end of words and used it as a clue to use the long vowel sound /igh/ or /oa/. We have talked about how this isn’t a hard and fast rule as we know English is very tricky! They were fantastic at tackling these new words. When reading these words we remembered to track with our fingers and when we got to the split digraph we used two fingers to point to both letters at the same time.
We have then had a go at forming our letters correctly. We have been working on our pencil grip using our ‘froggy legs’ and trying to form the letters correctly using the word patters/rhymes to support us.
The children are working hard towards our end of year expectations for reading and writing. We have been working particularly hard at remembering to use capital letters, finger spaces and full stops when writing sentences.
For your information we have attached the end of year Early Learning Goals. These set out what a child is expected to have achieved by the end of the year.
● Early Learning Goal - Reading:
- Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs.
- Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
- Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
● Early Learning Goal - Writing:
- Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
- Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
- Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.
Phonics Top Tip:
We teach children to never sound out the ‘end e’ in words. This is because many words in the English language end with the letter ‘e’ but often it does not require decoding with its own ‘sound’. There are some exceptions to this rule and the children will learn these as they move through the school.
When reading a word with a vowel in it (a, e, i, o, u) we teach the children to try the short vowel sound first, then, if it doesn’t sound like a real word, to try the long vowel sound.
Maths:
This week in maths we have had fun exploring measures and used these skills to help us bake cakes for our PDSA cake sale.
Sports day:
The children really enjoyed sports day and worked hard to earn points for their teams. Well done to everyone for competing, we are very proud of all of you.
Topic:
The children have really enjoyed the topic this week and we have continued to talk about change within our lives. We have looked at physical changes as we grow up and we have been talking about our hopes and fears as we get ready for Year 1.
Art:
This week the children have shown a lot of focus when creating self-portraits for the art gallery exhibition next week! They have thought carefully about colour, shape and detail. We can’t wait for you to see all of their hard work.
PDSA cake sale:
We are really excited about our cake sale on Friday afternoon. The children have been really busy this week making posters, writing invitations and making an advertising video! They have definitely put a lot of effort into wanting to help make a change and a difference to someone else’s life. They have definitely been learning together for a better tomorrow!
Home learning ideas:
To support your child in reaching the end of year expectation in comprehension, enjoy reading and talking about books together. Reading comprehension is about the children being able to talk about what has been read to them.
This is the Early Learning Goal for comprehension which sets out what a child is expected to have achieved by the end of the year.
Early Learning Goal - Comprehension:
- Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
- Anticipate (where appropriate) key events in stories.
- Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, nonfiction, rhymes and poems and during role play.
- How many levels can you complete on Numbots?
- Take some time to look through your child’s new phonics folder with them and pick out some pages to practise. You can record this as part of your child’s reading in their reading journal.
- Remember you can complete the reading challenge and collect a prize from the prize box every time you read 10 times.
- Can you listen to some of the number bond songs and recall all of the numbers bonds to 5.
- Can you mentally recall number doubles up to 5?
