'Who would I invite to the Ugly Bug Ball'?

Week 6

This week Dragonfly Class enjoyed an amazing Minibeast Workshop. Here are some of our photos from the workshop where we go to meet Gary the Snail, Colin the Cockroach, Skippy the Scorpion, Oscar the Snake, a Millipede and Lizzie the Tarantula who caused quite a commotion!

Week 5

This week in Dragonfly Class we have been learning all about positional language. We have been using our positional language to describe where objects are in relation to other objects and we have been using our knowledge of positional language to place objects after listening to a set of instructions. When you are at home why not try and put your favourite toy:

next to the chair

under the table

in front of the tv

in between the car and the dinosaur

on top of the bed

behind the cupboard

Maybe you could even ask the people in your house to stand in a variety of different positions.

During the week we have also been learning how to take away a set amount from a number given using a tens frame to help us. If we have 10 spoons and we take away 4, how many will we have left?

Dragonfly Class have been learning about the artist 'Monet' this week. In particular we have been looking at the painting 'Water Lilies'. We have all had a go at painting our own Water Lilies. We have added them to the slide show below.

On Friday we released our butterflies into the playground. It was an amazing experience to see them fly away and the children were all so very excited.

Throughout the week Dragonfly Class have been reading and enjoying the story of 'What the Ladybird Heard'. The children have been retelling the story in their own words using the tuff spot tray to help them before writing their own 'What the Ladybird Heard' story. All the children did such an amazing job. Dragonfly Class have become amazing story tellers.

Week 4

This week in Maths Dragonfly Class have been learning about symmetry. We have been learning how to make a symmetrical butterfly by adding shapes to a butterfly template. Once we had created our symmetrical butterfly we then took a photograph of our butterfly by ourselves using the iPad.

We have also been creating our own symmetrical butterflies on the interactive whiteboard using Purple Mash.

During the week Dragonfly Class have been reading the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. While reading the story we have been learning the days of the week. We have been sequencing the days of the week on a timeline and recording what the caterpillar ate each day.

During the week Dragonfly Class have been learning about the artist Henri Matisse. We have been looking at 'The Snail'. We used the collage technique to create our own version of 'The Snail'.

What an amazing day Dragonfly Class had on Wednesday! Despite the weather we all enjoyed a picnic and a bug hunt in the Meadow and the Walled Garden. We found lots of bugs and enjoyed exploring their habitats. Thank you to Laura O'Malley, Kirsty Scott and Victoria Gilbey for helping us with our Bug Hunt.

Week 3

This week in maths Dragonfly Class have been learning about Spatial Reasoning. We have been learning the names of our 2d shapes and matching 2d shapes by rotating them and placing them in different positions. Throughout the week we created some shape pictures including houses, rockets and trucks. Maybe you could have a go at making some shape pictures at home.

As well as making shape pictures we have been learning to make a simple model with bricks and then matching our model with our friends. Maybe you can make a model at home with bricks and ask someone in your family if they can copy it thinking carefully about the position of the bricks and colours used.

During the week Dragonfly Class have been exploring geoboards, using elastic bands to make shapes and using numicon pieces and numicon boards to make shape pictures.

During the week, Dragonfly Class have been reading and exploring a range of Information Books about bugs and minibeasts. After reading these books we then chose one of the facts which we had learnt to write out in a sentence. We are going to be making a class book of Minibeast facts. 

Using Non-Fiction books we have been learning about where minibeasts like to live. We have been learning all about their habitats and how we can help to look after them. With our plastic bottles we then created our own bug houses. We thought carefully about the materials which we would need and went exploring in the wildlife area as well as our outside area to find the resources we would need. We collected an assortment of sticks, twigs, leaves, pine cones, grass and petals.

We worked as a team to create 'Hexagon Habitat' and 'Insect Inn'.

On Thursday we enjoyed a return visit from our very special guest 'Baby Leo'. Mummy Ellie came back to visit Dragonfly Class so that we could see just how much Leo had grown. We wanted to see how Leo had changed since the last time we saw him. Can you believe he is now crawling! We asked lots of questions about how Leo had changed and thought carefully about how we need to care for Leo so that he can continue to grow big, strong and healthy.

Week 2

Bank Holiday Challenge!

We have been learning all about keeping our bodies fit and healthy. Over the bank holiday can you try a different exercise everyday AND try 3 new healthy foods?

Please email Mrs Brown via the office or use a WOW voucher to let us know what exercise and food you try.

Good Luck!

This week in Dragonfly Class we started our week by carrying out a Summer walk. The children were encouraged to make observations and identify the changes in the season from Spring. The children took photographs, made observational drawings and enjoyed sharing their discoveries with each other. We may have also found a few minibeasts along the way.

In maths this week we have been learning to recognise and use numbers greater than 10. We have been using tens frames and numicon to help us recognise 10 before adding another number to the set of 10. Some of us have been learning how to add numbers which have a total more than 20! We have even been counting in 10's!

During the week we learnt how important it is to look after our bodies. We learnt about how to keep healthy by carrying out exercise and eating healthy foods. We learnt about the effects of exercise on our bodies and how carrying out exercise makes our hearts beat faster. We also learnt how important it was to let our bodies cool down after exercise and we tried some new calming techniques.

Also this week we learnt about Ramadan and Eid al fitr. It was great for some children to share their own experiences of Ramadan with their friends and talk about their mums and dads who were fasting. We enjoyed watching 'Let's Celebrate' on Cbeebies and we loved listening to a podcast all about  a family who was celebrating Ramadan and Eid. We shall continue to share these experiences next week.

Week 1

This week we introduced our new Big Question, 'Who Would I invite to the Ugly Bug Ball?'

The children enjoyed reading the story 'The Ugly Bug Club' by Gail Abbitt. Not tall enough, not smart enough, not fast enough. The members of the Ugly Bug Club all dislike things about themselves, but admire the things they see in each other. The Ugly Bug Club reminds us that we are all unique, and that sometimes it's the things we don't like about ourselves that make us so very special.

After reading and enjoying 'The Ugly Bug Club' story the children in Dragonfly Class were very keen to go on a bug hunt and learn lots of facts and information about bugs. The children each wrote their own question which they wanted to find the answer to. Using information books and Non Fiction texts the children learnt about a range of bugs and we shall continue to develop and build on this knowledge throughout the half term. 

This week we have been learning about the lifecycle of the tadpole to the frog. It is very exciting to have our very own tadpoles which we were lucky enough to see hatch from the frogspawn. We have learnt about the 4 stages of the tadpoles life when growing into a frog, frogspawn, tadpole, froglet and frog. We were able to draw the lifecycle of the tadpole on a lifecycle wheel.

In Maths this week we have been consolidating our learning of subitising.

What numbers can you see?

We have also been developing our understanding of composition.

How many ways can you make 6?

How many ways can you make 10?

This week we have been learning how to make numbers beyond 10. Which numbers beyond 10 can you make?