1. This term our topic is: ‘ Animals’ Write down anything your child has found out about or experienced in their home school book. We will be reading the following books: Walking Through the Jungle, Augustus and his Smile, Rumble in the jungle, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Handa’s Surprise, Bear Hunt, Dear Zoo and Farmer Duck. Stay and Play everyday 9:00 - 9:15. Please check folders weekly for letters and your child’s home school book where you will find their homework task for the week. Remember you can fill out a ‘Wow card’ or bring in work from home to add to your child’s folder. Please bring any empty boxes/containers for children to use in make and create. Petting Zoo to visit. Please can send in pictures of any pets you have at home. Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) Initiates conversations, attends to and takes account of what others say. Explains own knowledge and understanding, and asks appropriate questions of others. Can play in a group, extending and elaborating play ideas. Begins to accept the needs of others and can take turns and share resources. Demonstrates friendly behaviour, initiating conversations and forming good relationships with peers. Communication and Language (CL) Beginning to understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions. Listening to stories with increasing attention. Using talk to organise our ideas and listening to each other. Questions why things happen and gives explanations. Asks e.g. who, what, when, how. Uses talk to connect ideas, explain what is happening and anticipate what might happen next. Joins in with repeated refrains and anticipates key events and phrases in rhymes and stories. Understanding the World (UW) Using technology to find out about different animals. Talking about different animals, where we find them and what they look like. Comments and asks questions about the natural world. Can talk about some of the things they have observed such as plants, animals, natural and found objects. Shows care and concern for living things and the environment. Expressive Art and Design (EAD) Exploring the different sounds of animals and singing animal songs and dances. Manipulating materials to create artwork (animals). Builds stories around animal toys. Beginning to construct, stacking blocks vertically and horizontally, making enclosures and creating spaces for animals. Taps out simple repeated rhythms. Literacy (L) Listening to stories about animals. Reading fact books. Using our sounds to help us write about animals. Beginning to be aware of the way stories are structured. Describes main story settings, events and principal characters. Enjoys rhyming and rhythmic activities. Sometimes gives meaning to marks as they draw and paint. Mathematics (M) Describing their position e.g. behind, in front of, between. Beginning to use everyday language relating to money (1p,2p etc). Estimating how many objects they can see Recording information in surveys. Shows an interest in shape and space by playing with shapes or making arrangements with objects. Knows that numbers identify how many objects are in a set. Uses positional language. Physical Development (PD) Experimenting with different ways of moving (like animals). Travelling with confidence over, under, behind, on top etc. Moves freely and with pleasure and confidence in a range of ways, such as slithering, shuffling, rolling, crawling, walking, running, jumping, skipping, sliding and hopping. Uses one-handed tools and equipment, e.g. makes snips in paper with child scissors. Draws lines and circles using gross motor movements. Key questions: Where do animals live? What do they look like? How do you look after animals? How do animals move? What is my favourite animal? Role play and real life links Being jungle explorers. Using props in our play. Introducing stories into our play. Engages in imaginative in role play based on first hand experiences. Uses available resources to create props to use in role play. We will be talking about how to look after animals and looking where animals live in their habitats. We know that animals live in different places and make different noises. We would like to find out more about where they live, what they eat, and what do they do with their friends.