Unicorn Class Blog                    Term 5 Week 6                Week Commencing 20th May 2024

This week we have been exploring vegetables. As part of this we have been using our senses to have hands-on exploration of the vegetables. We liked the smell and touch of the carrots once we had grated them, ready to add with the rest of the ingredients for our carrot cakes. We thought the broccoli and cauliflower both felt bumpy and looked like little trees but had a different smell. We have enjoyed washing, preparing and using the vegetables in our play to make up soups and other dinner dishes. We have been learning the names of different vegetables, learning the signs for them and a vegetable song.

We found out fruits come from the flowering part of a plant and contain seeds. Whereas, vegetables are the edible parts of a plant, such as the leaves, stem, roots and bulbs.

We enjoyed sharing the story of ‘Supertato’ by Paul Linnet and Sue Hendra, making Supertato paintings, drawings and making Supertatoes using real potatoes, collage materials, tape, felt tips and crayons. Some of us wanted to make Escapees by cutting out circles on green cards and adding facial features, arms and legs. Some of us wanted to make traps to catch the peas that had escaped like in the story. Harper told everyone that with her trap the Escapee will climb through the gap and then it will snap shut so the pea does not get out and escape. We have been making up stories around rescuing vegetables.

In the water tray we have been developing friendships, extending and elaborating each other's play ideas with the boats, people and sea creatures, we have also enjoyed turning it into a car/truck/pony wash. Some of the water came out of the tray which was then turned into a river with crocodiles in it. Monty found some stepping stones that we could stand on to walk across and stop our feet getting wet. 

During Forest School this week we enjoyed pond dipping and was very excited when we realised we had caught newts in our net. We were fascinated by their lizard-like appearance and how they swam and splashed to the bottom of the pond. We also caught some pond snails and nymphs. We carefully put them back into the pond once we had finished observing them in the white plastic trays. This week we also enjoyed making and splashing in muddy puddles, using the hammocks and swings.

Outside the bikes, scooters, climbing frame, spinning the hula hoops, looking for mini beasts, playing ‘Hide and seek’ and large construction kits has been popular this week with children squeezing into the houses that were made.

During phonics we have been learning the sound l and j, we have enjoyed Georgie’s Gym, attempting to read CVC words with the sounds we have learnt so far and enjoyed rhyming with nursery rhymes, silly soup and in stories.

It has been lovely to see children’s confidence grow to sit in front of the whole class, showing, retelling stories and making up their own.

This week during maths we have had a shape focus. We have been finding shapes in the environment, colouring and making pictures using the 2D shapes squares, triangles, rectangles and squares. We have also been describing them using informal mathematical language ‘side, corners, flat, round and straight’.

The Stickle bricks, Lego, Duplo, Blocks and Mobillo have continued to be popular this week. Whilst building we noticed and have been discussing some of the 2D shapes we have been learning about and selecting shapes appropriately to make our amazing models.

After half term we will be learning about space, if you have any related books your child/children would like to share they are welcome to bring them in. 

Hope you all have a lovely relaxing week and look forward to seeing you after half term. 

Best wishes 

Mrs Fenwick