Our topic for this half term is This week we visited America to find out about Thanksgiving. The class listened to a story about the Pilgrims who set sail from Plymouth to find a new place to live. They found out about the Indians who kindly taught them how to build new homes and hunt for food. At the end of the year, the Pilgrims and Indians held a Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate the end of a hard year and give thanks for the food and new homes. The children talked to their friends about what they were thankful for in their own lives and drew a picture on a pumpkin template. They also had a go at writing labels. Each child also made a turkey hat this week and had to count out the correct number of feathers to represent each letter in their name. We are trying really hard at school to praise children who are learning to form their letters using cursive handwriting. Each day in phonics we learn to form a new letter the right way and can see an increasing number of children transfer this skill into their everyday writing. It is wonderful to hear about all of the children practising cursive letter formation at home as well. On Thursday the class tried some foods mentioned in the Thanksgiving story- pumpkin, turkey and popcorn. We observed the changes to the kernels as they popped and puffed up into popcorn. We are also hoping to hear from an American parent and find out about how they celebrate Thanksgiving at home with their family. This week in Maths, we have been learning to pay for items in our American shop. The class talked about the different currency and learned how to pay using American Dollar bills. Children learned how to count the dollars carefully, saying one number name for each bill. Make sure your child can count out 10 objects reliably at home. Some children learned how to find the total cost for two items in the shop by combining two prices e.g. 10 dollars and 6 dollars. Perhaps you could set up a small shop together at home and price some items from 1p to 10p. Encourage your child to choose two items to buy and count out the correct number of pennies to pay for each item. Then combine the pennies to find out how much the two items will cost altogether. We would love to hear how you child gets on with this skill at home so remember to write it on a ‘learning at home’ label and send it into school. Our topic for this half term is ‘Around the World’. WB 23/11/15 Our rehearsals for the Christmas Nativity have already begun! Performance times are as follows: Monday 7th December 2015- Afternoon dress rehearsal for children at school Tuesday 8th December 2015- Afternoon performance Wednesday 9th December 2015- Morning performance Please remember to make sure your child’s costume is in School by Friday 27th November. Next week we will be talking more about ‘The Christmas Story’ in preparation for the Christingle Service at church. The morning service at the church means Reception will NOT be visiting the woods on Friday 4th December. We will resume our normal visit the woods on Friday 11th December.