We have been very excited about our new additions to the classroom this week and we have been eagerly observing them. I wonder what is in the new tank. “Tadpoles, those tadpoles” said Molly,
“Swimming” added Susannah.
“A fish” suggested Raphael,
“No” said Chanel, “dey tadpoles. Dey will turn into a froggy” she added.
“It will turn into a frog, ribbit” agreed Lara,
Sebastian V agreed also, “turn into a frog” he said.
“How are they going to turn into a frog?” asked the Teacher.
“I don’t know” said Chanel,
“I’ll ask Mummy and Daddy” suggested Lara.
We’ll have to keep a close eye on them to see what happens.
We are also on the hunt for any bottle tops, jar lids, tin cans or old cutlery to help us create our musical instillations and would greatly appreciate any donations!
Kind regards,
Jess, Kerry, Jennifer and Hayley
Mead
The Mead children are really enjoying sharing at the weekly 'Show and Tell' sessions. This week Harry brought in a lizard he found in his Grandfather's swimming pool. It wasn't showing many signs of life, and was floating in a glass jar full of water. The children were fascinated, and demonstrated their observational and information gathering skills are developing through the questions they asked and the discussion that took place.
We found it in my Baps's pool. It's dead. Harry
You can't die. Oliver L
Why do you think you can't die Oliver? Mrs McKenzie
That's because I don't get up in the night. Oliver L
But I get up in the night! Tommi
If I dived under water like that lizard, I would have to go to hospital. If I dived really badly. Tommi
I can wear my floaties in my pool and I don't have to go to hospital. Gabe
I can swim under water, but not too long. Harry
Do you think the lizard swam too long under the water? Mrs McKenzie
Yep, it did. Harry
Did it drink too many water? Jesse
I think. Harry
Why is the lizard dead? Tommi
'Cos they can't stay alive forever. Jack O
It was wonderful to see the children express wonder and interest in this new situation and to be curious and enthusiastic participants in their learning.
Best Wishes,
Emma M, Susan L and Emma G
Cooper
The Cooper children's interest in the story Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? has continued this week - we have read it so many times that we've lost count! We decided to create a story table for this book and the teachers and children collected figure toys of all the different animals in the book (thank you to the Lock family for their help with this!). We set out the toys with the book and watched the children retell it in their own words, looking at the book pages for clues and acting out the story with the toys...
Lucy read "Polar bear, polar bear, then we say ‘What comes next?’"
Erin added "Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear? I hear a lion roaring in your ear… all the children talking from school, talking about animals."
"The polar bear hears a hippopotamus then the hippopotamus hears a lion" explained Jasmine.
"Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear? I hear somebody screaming in my ear… And the lion does a super job. When the snake comes close you [the zoo keeper] have to splosh in the water" Joshua S. said as he told the story.
"Tiger, tiger, stomp, stomp, stomp, what do you hear?" read Noah.
"No, that’s a leopard" corrected Joshua.
"Oh yeah, leopard, leopard, I hear stomping" said Noah.
It was interesting to see how such a simple and repetitive text captivated the children and inspired their brilliant literacy play. Look out for more story tables to come!
Kind regards,
Ali and Susan
Chapple
Music, music, music! We have been enjoying a regular sing-a-long session every afternoon as well as playing percussion instruments to Bob the Builder the disco version! We have been learning the counting songs - Five Little Seals and the Ants Go Marching and we discovered that there are many different ways to make the same numbers with your fingers....check out our poster above the computers. Children have continued their interest in maps and have started making their own treasure maps - something that we will continue to work on next week. We had some special visitors during our music lesson where we watched and heard someone play the cello. We have also been painting whilst listening to music and have discovered that the music can make us paint fast or slow. The children have also really enjoyed role-play in the 'office', typing on the old type-writer, answering the phone and taking messages!
Enjoy the long weekend, warm wishes,
Suria, Sinead and Sue
Edgerley
Dear Edgerley Parents,
You may remember on Tuesday this week that we had a great deal of rain during the day. The children were very interested in the weather and talked a lot about the fact that it was raining, but that the weather was still very warm. We decided that we would have to play in the town square in the afternoon as it was too wet in the garden. The boys decided that because the weather was still warm that they would take their shoes off and leave them in their lockers to play in the town square. Just as we were about to leave the classroom Angus shared a thought with Mrs Bishop
“I think I am allowed to go into the garden”, he said
“Are you sure Angus, it’s very wet out there” she replied
“But I brought my waterproof jacket and that’s what waterproof jackets are for” he said
This sounded like very good reasoning to Mrs Bishop so she agreed that Angus could play in the garden. Angus decided to ask the other boys if any of them had bought waterproof jackets to school that day. Alan, Aadi and Roshan all had jackets in their bags and quickly ran to retrieve them.
And so, suitably attired, the boys set off in the playground in the rain as the rest of us watched. It looked like a lot of fun and Mrs Nacca and Mrs Bishop, after seeing the looks on the four boys faces, agreed that a run in the rain is an eternal childhood joy! The boys experimented on the wet slide, whoosh, they slipped down very quickly, they jumped in puddles and tried to drink the rain, and finally they collected buckets and spades from the indoor sandpit and began to collect the water from the puddles to water the garden.
“The grass is very happy!” shouted Aadi with a huge smile on his face. Pure joy!
Have a great long weekend
Mel and Rosalie
