1. Our topic for this half term is ‘Brave Britain’. WB 1/2/16 In preparation for our class assembly next week, we will practise using our loud voices so you can hear us at the back of the hall. Please remember to talk to your children about this at home. We hope you enjoy finding out about all of our learning! Next week we will visit the ‘Optician’ at school to enable us to review the Phase 3 Letter Sounds. I can already notice a difference in the number of children who actively use ‘phonics mats’ to refer to when writing. Mrs Bramley will soon be awarding ‘golden tickets’ worth 10 merits to children for their efforts, consistency and improvement in writing and letter formation. In Maths this week, we have been building on children’s ability to count back. We practised counting down around the circle like a rocket 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 before the next child blasted off into space! In keeping with our theme this week, the children have played a ‘pulling teeth’ game to encourage them to use the language of subtraction ‘subtract, take away, equals’. On Thursday during the Maths Open Morning, children played another ‘lost tooth’ subtraction game using mini white marshmallow teeth on pink gums. Many children were competent in taking some of the teeth away and counting how many were left. As children become more confident in ‘taking away’ they should begin to count back to find out how many are left. This week we have been leaning about the job of a dentist. At the beginning of the week we watched a video clip of a dentist being interviewed about his job. We found out about what we need to do to look after our teeth and had a look at some real teeth and the different types. The children definitely enjoyed using the giant teeth in the classroom to practise their brushing technique. The class listened to the story ‘Open Wide… What’s Inside?’ (Alex Rushworth). Dentist Alex Rushworth reveals the revolting truth that will (hopefully) have children running for their toothbrush. It is a humorous, rhyming story of the Sugarbugs and their horrible habits which helps children to understand what happens to their food to make their breath smell and explain why their teeth need brushing. Phonics This weeks sounds: Week 5: ar, or, ur, ow I am so impressed with the children’s motivation to practise their goals. Some children have already achieved both their literacy and maths goals and are working on their second goal. Remember our ‘can-do’ attitude. Persevere and keep trying, you can do it! Important Dates Don’t forget to come to our first class sharing assembly next week: Thursday 11 th Feb 2.40pm We will be talking about what we have been learning during our topic this half term ‘Brave Britain’. Following on from the story, the children sorted pictures of foods that make their teeth happy and those that make our teeth sad. They each made a healthy lunchbox and wrote a sentence to tell us what was inside. They also began to think about the jobs our teeth do when tasting some foods. Children began to sort the foods into those that are crunchy and those that are soft.