Space is our topic for the first half term of the Spring term. We will be finding out about what makes the Earth a good place for humans to live, astronauts and what it is like to live on the International Space Station, the stars and space exploration. The knowledge organiser features key vocabulary that we will be teaching the children.
To support our learning we suggest that you could try to engage with the following low, or no cost activities from 50 things to do before you're 5.
Visit 50 Things to Do | Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and look for these activities!
#26 Bubbles
#27 See the Stars
#31 Boing!
#39 Making Connections
#47 Mini Artists
Week 5
The children loved their space themed maths in dark dens at the beginning of the week. Glow in the dark stars were counted and glo-sticks were used to try and show how numbers could be made, for example a glow-stick split 7 stars into sets of 3 and 4. The week ended on a maths theme too with a Shaun the Sheep themed Number Day to raise money for the NSPCC. The children measured their height in 'sheep', played 'fill the frame', made their own number lines and put their maths eyes on to estimate, count and spot where maths was used in the 'Championsheeps'!
National Storytelling Week was incorporated into our provision activities and the children have been attempting to use puppets and dressing up clothes to bring their stories to life.
The children have learnt the poem Zim Zam Zoom and loved practising their writing on rocket shaped paper. We can't wait to see what they will produce next week when they innovate the poem!
Week 4
The excitement about this half term's topic has continued with the children finding out about the International Space Station and how the astronauts sleep, eat, drink and keep themselves clean there when there's no gravity. They have made discoveries about planets and our solar system which they have been demonstrating through their artwork and role play. The junk modelling workshop area has been busy with children practising their fixing and joining skills as they create rockets and spaceships of varying sizes. Some children have even made them big enough for them to sit in by joining two boxes together!
The story Whatever Next has really inspired the children with their writing, and they have been applying their phonic knowledge well to create a book which tells their own version of the story, with some space facts added in.
In maths, the children have been using stars and 'space rocks' to practise their subitising, counting and understanding of ways of representing and making numbers up to 8.
Week 3
This week has been all about our solar system! The children have been amazed to find out how different the eight planets in our solar system are and have joined in with catchy songs and dances to help them remember facts. Find out more here!
The children have been impressing us with their writing skills and all contributed to a Reception version of Whatever Next, complete with additional space facts! They are becoming much more independent at using their phonic knowledge to segment words to help them with their spellings and are working hard to develop good letter formation skills. Don't forget to log in to Letter Join to see how we teach the children to form their letters. www.letterjoin.co.uk
Week 2
Did you know that the International Space Station is orbiting Earth at this very moment and that the British astronaut Tim Peake flew there in a rocket? The children have been fascinated to find out about how astronauts live in space by seeing how they brush their teeth, where they sleep and how they make a cup of coffee. They also discovered that Mae Jemison was a scientist and that she was the first black woman to go into space. The children created their own space camp with astronaut training where they explored how they could move in space as well as how objects fall because of gravity.
The children have been investigating ways of making numbers to to 5 using 'space rocks' and have continued learning the story of Whatever Next. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Learn with Parents Maths session. We hope you enjoyed it!
Week 1
Welcome back and Happy New Year! 'Space' is our new topic for this half term and already the children have been learning about gravity, astronomers such as Caroline Herschel and Galileo Galilei, as well as discovering that the Earth orbits the sun. They have enhanced their learning by making telescopes in the junk model workshop, collaging images of the Earth to show the land, sea and icy polar regions and writing labels for them. Our new focus text is Whatever Next by Jill Murphy and we are sure that the children are going to have lots of adventures just like the bear to inspire their writing! In maths we have been learning to identify zero and subitising numbers. We have launched our reading challenge to encourage the children to develop their love of stories, books, and reading so please look out for the letter about what that involves.
