Upton Noble

C of E VC Primary School

Part of the East Somerset Federation which includes Bruton and Ditcheat Primary Schools

Autumn 1

Autumn Term 1

We have been having lots of fun this term in Elm Class. We had a message from the Big Bad Wolf, after we laughed about his hot bottom in the pot of stew. We found some paw prints in our outdoor learning area. The children have been making stews and traps outside, and we made a rickety-rackety bridge leading to the trap.

The children predicted what happened next in the story, after the wolf left the brick house belonging to the Three Little Pigs. The children predicted that 'He went to the wolf hospital'; 'He got some ice' and 'He had a cold bath', then wrote their ideas.

We have used drama technique 'Conscience alley' to tell the wolf exactly what we think of him, after he entered the house of the three little pigs, without being invited. We generated some amazing adjectives to describe him, such as feisty, ghastly, beastly, sly, cunning, selfish and a brute. 

We are now in the process of creating our 'WANTED' posters for the residents of Upton Noble to warn them that the wolf is prowling around. The children are generating new adjectives to describe the wolf so they know exactly what he looks like, such as amber, sly eyes; a long, fluffy tail; a wet, smooth black nose.

We have read a wide variety of traditional tales this term and we have talked about how stories start by introducing the characters and the setting. We have talked about the problem in our story and how the problem was resolved. We ordered the story of the Three Little Pigs into the beginning, middle and end. 

 

We have linked our English learning to maths, where we can, and the children have been counting out the right number of sweets for the wolf. The children like to help our maths mascots Polly Parrot and Cheeky Monkey with their maths and will explain when these characters make a mistake. We have been learning about different ways to represent numbers, such as on our fingers, a tens frame, as a Numicon shape, a dice shape, a numeral, and as a word. We have been reading and writing numbers as words to five and beyond. We have also been counting on from different start numbers as this is a key skill for addition.  The children enjoyed using the hopscotch to count on from different start numbers to 10. We are now finding one more than a number, and learning the rule that 'one more is always the next number'. 

 

In Science, we have been learning about materials and their properties. We went to the outdoor area to find objects made of different materials, such as wood, plastic, metal, brick, rock, fabric. We found  a large rubber tyre, but that was too big to bring back to the class! We are learning that some objects are made of more than one material, and we have looked at their drinks bottles, the tables and chairs and the toys in the class. We have discussed properties of different materials, such as bendy, stiff, hard, soft, stretchy, transparent, opaque, waterproof / not waterproof. We have talked about 'Being a Scientist' and we know that Scientists are 'great at looking' and can make predictions. We have investigated which materials can absorb liquids. We know you can pour liquids, and named squash, juice, milk, water, coke, lemonade and oil as the liquids we know. We recorded what we found out in a table.

 

In DT, we will design our own houses for the three little pigs, thinking carefully about the materials to use to ensure the house is strong and sturdy. We will make the designs and then evaluate them. 

 

In Geography, we have been learning the name of the country we live in, as well as the name of the village or town we live in. We have been looking at features of villages, towns and cities. We are learning geographical words, such as harbour, port, valley, factory, office, farm, beach and river whilst talking about physical and human features of places we know.

 

In PE and PSHE, we have been learning about the effect of exercise on our bodies. We are learning that exercise can make us feel good and make our bodies stronger. We are also learning that moments of calm and stillness is also important and they have practiced some mindful techniques. 

 

It's been a busy term so far, but a joy to see the children excited and engaged in their learning and choosing to extend the learning during play-based learning time. The children have written messages to the wolf; brought the pets into the dolls house and counted them; practised their numeral writing on whiteboards. 

 

 

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