Author: Miss Hudson

Phonics 

Stand up and get ready to join in with this alphabet dance… 

Have a go at playing the buried treasure game below on Phonics Play. Choose which digraphs or trigraphs you would like to focus on in the phase 3 section. After reading the word, discuss what it might mean and say it in a sentence. This should help you to figure out if it’s a real or silly word!

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/buried-treasure

Now have a go at writing your own silly and real sentences. You could base them on our traditional tale characters. For example…. 

The big bad wolf has red fur. 

Little Red Riding Hood went to see her granny.

Literacy

This week we are going to explore the settings of different traditional tales. Choose your favourite traditional tale and have a think about the setting. Look through the pictures inside the story book or pause the story online. Can you describe the setting? What can you see? What sort of feeling do we get about the setting? Does the setting change through the course of the story? 

In Little Red Riding Hood, she has to walk through the deep dark woods to get to her granny’s house. How would you feel walking through here? What might you hear or see? What is the setting like at the beginning and at the end of the story? 

You could even think about how the story would be if the setting was different. If Little Red Riding Hood had to walk across the beach to visit her granny, would she still meet a wolf on her travels? 

Spend lots of time chatting about this to your families or friends. 

Message from Mrs Smith:

Good afternoon everybody!

Thank you for sharing all the wonderful learning that has been happening this week, both in classrooms and in your homes. It has been great to see that our love of learning still shines bright, wherever we may be.

I have also really enjoyed reading your reflections on this week’s assembly and talking to parents about it on the gate. So many people have acknowledged how important it is to talk about diversity and have recognised that within our own community, diversity is the absolute glue that holds us together and makes us even stronger as a whole. 

This week we have celebrated …

• A chance to focus on the ‘unique’ and ‘special’ positives within us at a time when some of us are feeling a little uncertain about what is going on around us and how we feel about ourselves
• Children who have two beautiful different coloured eyes … that match their cat’s different coloured eyes!
• Children who recognise their own distinctive creativity, humour and kindness
• Freckles! – A sign of true beauty
• Our hands as a reminder about diversity – one child explained that all our fingers belong to one hand but aren’t the same. Divided they can’t perform any task completely but together everything can be done 
• Children who are able to read and speak Slovakian
• Recognition of the diversity that existed amongst dinosaurs
• One child’s ability to always make others laugh, including the time that he dressed up as a chicken and danced outside his granny’s window during lockdown to cheer her (and other passersby) up
• Children who are experts on the monkey bars who can dangle for longer than any other member of the family
• And people who have actively supported other people’s rights. Dorothea and Orson reminded me that at the start of Mary Poppins, Mrs Banks comes back from a march with a Votes for Women banner, singing “Well done, Sister Suffragettes” and Rosie told me about one of her favourite quotes reminding us of the need to always show kindness to others  …

Thank you once again for all of your lovely images and emails. I hope that you can now sit back and enjoy a celebration of everything that makes us unique and special, as well as the learning that we are all particularly proud of this week.

https://youtu.be/6B40n1usQEc

Another piece of work that I am particularly proud of this week is Miss Barnes’ final Damers recipe book – the Damers Sweet Treats! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these recipe collections and a huge thank you to Miss Barnes for creating such a beautiful legacy of this time within our community.

http://www.damers.dorset.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Damers-Sweet-Treats.pdf

Our story today is ‘The Lion Inside’. I wonder if you can work out why I chose this story today and how it fits with our theme this week?

Look after that mouse and that lion inside you and make sure that you use them as best you can, especially if you think anyone is being treated unfairly.

I hope that you have all enjoyed this week as much as I have, seeing our new arrivals in school and also seeing all of the amazing learning that is still happening in homes has filled my heart with joy I have to say. Keep up the good work Team Damers as we all gradually steer our way back to our Damers home.

Enjoy your weekend.

With warm wishes 

Mrs Smith 

Phonics 

Sounds

Revise your sounds with this game.

https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/flashcards-speed-trials

Tricky words

Have a go at phases 2, 3 and 4 tricky words with this game.

https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/tricky-word-trucks

Pictionary 

Explain that you are going to draw something and your child is to have a go at writing the word to match the picture as quickly as possible on their own.

hands, tree, lightning, milk, clown, flowers, pond, tent, wind

Creative 

Diorama

This week we would love you to have a go at making a diorama (see pictures below) of your favourite fairy tale. You can use an old box that you don’t need any more and paint the setting of your story, this might be the woods, a castle or a little house in the forest. Think carefully about what you might see in the setting of your story and try to add all the details you can. Next think about the characters in your chosen story, you could make these out of little bits of card or use existing toys. Finally think about any other details that might be in the story and add those for example 3 bowls for the 3 bears porridge. Most importantly get creative and have fun 🙂 

We’ve been having some good fun in school learning about place value and unscrambling our tricky words!

Phonics

Start with the following alphabet song.

Scrambled up tricky words!

Oh no! The tricky words have been scrambled up, can you unscramble them? 

Work with a partner or on your own and look carefully at the words, can you see what the word is supposed to be and put the letters in the right order. 

Maths

Have a listen to this song!

Have some fun today with the following place value games 🙂 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/place-value/place-value-charts

http://www.ictgames.com/sharkNumbers/mobile/index.html

Phonics 

Listen to this catchy song, We are the Alphabet, to get you ready for phonics time

Read the sentence slides below. Can you become digraph spotters? Spot all the digraphs in the words, count on your fingers how many you can find in the sentence. Use the basic code in the back of your reading diary to play bingo. Place a button, coin or piece of pasta on top of all the digraphs you find in the sentences. Don’t forget the double consonants (these aren’t in your basic code) such as ll, pp.  Can you do the same with the tricky words? How many different tricky words can you find in the sentences?

Maths 

Get your maths brains warmed up with this Grab a Ten song

Have a look at the numicon plates below. What is the total number using your knowledge of 10 for each pair?

Explain how you know. Can you record it as an addition number sentence? 

https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/arrowCards/index.html

Use the link above to practise making the teen number above using arrow cards. Start by having a play with the programme and figure out how to make teen numbers (and higher numbers if you choose). Once you are familiar with the arrow cards challenge your child to make a number. Call out a number and let them have a go at creating it using the arrow cards. Ask them to tell you what their number is made of i.e, what the digits represent.  

Exploring place value using a ten frame

Create two ten frames at home, see the examples below.

Use a baking tray and some tape to section the tray into 10 equal sections

Use a large egg box (cut off two holes from a box of 12)

Draw your own

Practise using your ten frames to create different teen numbers. This will reinforce the importance of ten in a teen number. Encourage your children to not count out the ten when filling their first frame but to remember and know that a teen number always has ten which means we must always fill a whole ten frame first and then count out the ones for the second ten frame. Use whatever you can find at home to fill the ten frames, coins, buttons, dried lentils, raisins.

Phonics

Get your brains warmed up with this alphabet song

Now practise your digraphs…

Today you will be looking at the pictures below and thinking of a short sentence to go with the picture. For example, for the first picture you could write The good witch cast a spell. For picture 2, The beanstalk is big. For picture 3, The big pig had a big sack. These are just some examples of what your child could write, they might have their own ideas! Don’t forget to use the Basic Code in the back of your reading diary and the tricky words on the lists we sent home if your sentences include them.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Literacy 

Show your child the pictures of the good characters and bad characters below. Talk to your child about these characters. How would they describe the characters? Try and get them to expand on the simple ‘good’ and ‘bad’ vocabulary and ask them to explain why they think that. Model describing your child to them using a range of vocabulary to describe your child’s traits and personality. Get your child to do the same with the characters and tell you. Take some of their suggestions and write them on a piece of paper to create a key words sheet (they’ll be able to use this later on in their writing so keep it). Get your child to help you segment the words as you write them or get them to have a go at writing some of the words too. In school we like to do shared writing where the children support the teacher to write and they get to see some good writing being modelled. You don’t have to pick all three pictures to talk about (unless you want to), just choose your favourite. 

The Three Little Pigs

Goldilocks & The Three Bears 

Jack & The Beanstalk

Little Red Riding Hood 

PE

Join in with this Fairytale Fitness yoga session. Can you tell which traditional tale it’s going to be about from looking at the picture? 

Message from Mrs Smith:
Good morning everybody!
This week sees the start of our new Jigsaw theme ‘Changing Me’ and a chance to focus on the
diversity that exists within our school, our communities and throughout the world.

I want you to think particularly about the word ‘unique’ and how often we see examples in nature
that remind us that two things are rarely exactly the same.
One perfect example of this is the snowflake and I’ve included a short film to allow you a
moment of awe and wonder at the beginning of our assembly today. The images were taken by
Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farmer who became fascinated with snowflakes at a very young age
and was one of the first people to photograph a snow crystal, after years of trial and error (and
never giving up!). He took pictures of more than 5,000 snow crystals and drew the conclusion
that no two snowflakes are alike; each one is unique. Wilson Bentley celebrated and shared the
beauty and diversity of the thousands of snow crystals that he photographed so that we could
appreciate them, and so that their brief existence did not go unnoticed.
Diversity, Tolerance, and Snowflakes
I wonder if we were to make a film capturing images of the children in our school, what would
we notice and would we draw the same conclusion that no two children are the same; each one
is unique? Have a think about the diversity that we would see in those images – hair, height,
gender, eye colour, number of freckles, glasses, colour of skin … would any two children be
exactly the same? What is it about you that makes you unique or special?

When we talk about diversity in school we recognise that groups and communities are always
stronger when they have lots of different types of people in them. Diversity in nature also
teaches us that there is beauty and strength in difference. We know that everyone should be
treated fairly and with respect regardless of their gender, age, ethnicity or skin colour and we
take great pleasure in recognising the things which make us similar as well as the things that
make us different in order to live in harmony with each other.
However, whilst we all recognise this, sometimes in the world around us we see signs that
people aren’t always treated fairly, that differences aren’t tolerated or that people make
judgements about other people purely based on one unique characteristic such as their gender
or the colour of their skin. The sadness and anger that this generates has been seen throughout
history and can also be seen today. We have focused on some of the people who have stood
up for people’s rights in these situations in our assemblies in school.
I wonder if you can remember who they are or what they were fighting for? Don’t worry if you
can’t, I have included some clips in your grown-up’s notes if you want to explore their stories
together. Just like you, these people recognised the importance of treating everyone fairly and
that diversity should be celebrated and inequality challenged, just as it is in our school.

A story which illustrates this theme beautifully is ‘The Sneetches’ by Dr Seuss.

How did the changes that the Sneetches made make you feel as you watched them? Did they
need to add or take away their stars?
The Sneetches eventually recognised that everybody should be treated equally, no matter what
they look like. They realised that differences should be celebrated and that communities can
live in harmony and be happier and stronger when everyone shows respect for everyone else,
whether they have a star on their belly or not.
So – your task this week is to help us to celebrate the diversity that we see in our school
and we are going to look for this in two places this week.

1. I would like you to share with me an image or a drawing of you, which will show
   everyone in our community why you are ‘unique’ or ‘special’. You may want to
   focus on a physical feature such as your eye / hair colour or another aspect of you
   that makes you unique.
2. I would also like you to share with me a piece of learning from this week that you
   are particularly proud of.
   As well as focusing on the diversity that exists amongst us, this will also help us to focus on the diversity that now exists in our learning situations as some of us are now learning back in school, some of us are still learning at home and some of us are now learning in different homes as parents return to work. Wherever you are we want everyone to know that we are still all learning together and we’ll be celebrating the shared learning that is happening in all those different settings in our Celebration Assembly on Friday.
   Enjoy your week, wherever you may be learning. Here’s to a celebration of diversity at the end of the week and a recognition that as agents of change we are all trying our absolute best to ensure that everyone within our community is treated with respect, fairness, care and unique Damers kindness, whatever their differences. Everyone one of us is unique and special.
   I look forward to seeing some of you in school and also want those at home to know that you are in my thoughts ALL of the time and I miss you!
   With warm wishes
   Mrs Smith 🦋

Phonics

Our phonics reading today focuses on the tricky words some, come and said. See if you can spot them in this tricky bug song and find them on your phase 3 tricky bug sheets. 

Now have a go at reading these sentences and guessing which tales they are from. Can you spot the three tricky words? There is something else in each sentence…. Speech marks! Can you find these and discuss with an adult what these are and why they have been used? 

Once you know that the speech marks help to tell you when a character is talking, see if you can say the speech in a voice just like the Wolf’s, Witch’s and Jack’s. Can you think of anything else the characters say in one of your favourite traditional tales? 

Literacy

Remind yourself of which traditional tales you have enjoyed reading/listening to this week and talk about which one is your favourite so far. What makes it your favourite? Is it the funny story line, a particular character or maybe the ‘happily ever after’ ending?

Encourage your child to join in with retelling the story to you or maybe to a friend or family over video call. The listener could guess the traditional tale based on your storytelling and descriptions. Include a description of the story setting in your retelling and think what the place would look like and if you would like to live there. 

Let’s now turn this into some Drama! You are going to imagine that you are one of the characters from your favourite tale. As your adult reads the story or plays it online, see if you can act it out with actions and movements. 

Can you use your facial expressions to portray the good/bad character? Do you look sneaky and scary, like the Big Bad Wolf?  Do you look sad and hungry, like Baby Bear in Goldilocks and The Three Bears? 

Phonics

Let’s start with a Snow White ABC song. Get your pen and paper or whiteboards ready and see if you can write out the alphabet as you singalong. Make sure your v,w,x and z letters are straight and pointy!

 https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWF26JjgkCI

Listen to this tricky word song to help refresh your memory … 

Now have a go at a 1 minute tricky bug challenge!  Keep your paper handy to see how many tricky bugs you can write down. I wonder if you can beat your score next time!

Tricky bug disco!

Scatter tricky bugs around your floor, dance to some music and when the music stops you must find a tricky bug to stand on. Your adult can ask you to then shout out the tricky bug before the music starts again. Why not remove the bugs once you have stood on them and play until you have run out of bugs!

Here’s a Three Pig Jig to dance along to for your disco … 

Or see if 

you recognise the tune to this song.. 

Creative

Draw/ paint your favourite character from a Traditional Tale that you have listened to this week. Think about the character’s appearance. Are they tall? Short? Fat? Furry? What colour are their clothes or fur? Do they have sharp claws or carry an object? You could use a paper plate to create the face of the character using materials such as wool for their hair. 

Here’s a really simple homemade paint recipe using just cornflour, water and food colouring… 

https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/cornflour-paint-recipe/395o29ll