Find out all about Henri Matisse by watching Art with Mati and Dada. Find out about Mattise and his famous paintings. His artwork below is named The Snail. Can you notice the spiral in it?
After watching the video think about creating your own piece of art by experimenting with space, shape and colour.
Make your own spirals using natural materials. You can either make these when you go out for your daily exercise or collect some materials (leaves, twigs, small stones) whilst you’re out to create a spiral once you get back home. You could stick them down with some glue or just arrange them in a spiral shape and take a picture. See how creative you can get! Have a look at some of the pictures below for some inspiration.
Let’s listen to this opposites song to remind us of some of the measurement language we learnt earlier this week –
Length
Use playdough to make play dough snakes or worms of different lengths. Use your fine motor skills to gently roll out the snakes with your hands, making them longer and longer. Which one is the longest? Which one is the shortest? Are any the same size? Can you put them in order?
Go on a measuring hunt inside or outside. Use a length of ribbon or string and go hunt for things that are longer or shorter than it. Remember to always begin measuring from the very end of your ribbon all the way across to the other end. Record your answers in a table of longer/shorter by writing down the item or drawing a picture. You could also record your findings by taking photos of the item next to the ribbon for comparison.
Weight
Weight can be learnt in many different ways. You can measure by using your hands to hold items and compare how heavy you think they feel. You can stand or put heavier objects onto scales on the floor. You may have some scales in your kitchen for cooking. Talk about and go see if you have any scales. Do they have a dial? Are they digital? Do they have weights on the other side to compare and balance?
Think about other places or peoples jobs where scales are used and what they are used for. Eg – vets for weighing animals to check they are healthy.
Choose some different sized objects in your home to weigh in one of the ways we have discussed and have a go at ordering them from heaviest to lightest.
Use these challenge cards to extend your learning further –
Have a go at this weight game where pan scales are used to compare and decide if the food is heavier or lighter –
Begin your phonics learning by listening to this fun farmyard themed abc song –
Twinkl also has some blending and segmenting farm reading to have a go at. Once you have read the hotspot words, have a go at writing some labels for the other animals or farm related objects in the picture.
On Monday you started to talk about farm animals and listened to the story I Love Animals.
Have a go at designing and writing your own page for the book. Look at your tricky words to write ‘I love the’ and then choose which farm animal you love the best. Use your robot arms and basic code sheet to find the sounds that you need.
Challenge yourself by extending your sentence so that it includes an adjective (what does it look like? How does it feel?) and a verb (what is it doing on the farm?)
eg-
I love the fluffy yellow duckling quacking on the pond.
Draw a picture to go with your sentence making sure the colours and appearance of the animal matches your adjective!
We are moving on from doubling and halving and beginning to look at measurement. Grown-ups this is mostly just a focus on the accurate use of the language of measurement and being able to make comparisons in sizes, weight and capacity of at least 3 different objects. Our focus words will be;
Tall, tallest, taller
Short, shortest, shorter
Long, longest, longer
Small, smallest, smaller
Wide, widest, wider
Narrow, narrowest, narrower
Big, biggest, bigger
Heavy, heaviest, heavier
Light, lightest, lighter
Full, fullest, fuller
Empty, emptyist, emptier
Half full
Lets begin with this picture. Have a look at the farm animals in the picture and discuss the different sizes for example which animal is the biggest? Which is the smallest? Which animal has the longest ears? Which animal has the shortest tail? Which animal might be the heaviest? Which animal might be the lightest?
Why not have a go at ordering some of your toys at home from tallest to shortest or longest to smallest. On your daily walk see if you can find some leaves or twigs that you can bring home and order. Don’t forget to try your best to use the right words to describe the different sizes of your objects.
We hope you have been having lots of fun with Joe Wicks, Cosmic Kids and some crazy dances!
This week in your PE we would like to explore ‘counterbalance’, you can do this with a brother or sister or your parents. Counterbalance is using both yours and your partners body weight to create a pose and hold it, it is a good exercise to help you understand different movements and positions your body can achieve. Have a look at the different pictures below and see if you can recreate any of them!
Play a game of pictionary. Adults can draw something and you have to write the word as quickly as possible on your own piece of paper. Can you guess the picture before your grown-up finishes drawing? This week try to focus on words with 1 or more diagraphs. Choose your own pictures to draw or choose from the list below;
rain torch teepee beard shark sheep chain book
Literacy
We have been thinking lots about growing over the last few weeks. This week we would like you to start thinking about the animals that live and grow up on a farm. Today we would like you to have a go at writing down what you already know about animals on a farm such as pigs are big, cows eat grass. Have a think and discuss with your grown-ups about what animals might live on a farm, why do you think the farmer keeps that animal on a farm. What is the animal’s name when it is a baby for example baby cows are called calves.
Here is a lovely story about animals on a farm!
What is your favourite animal from the farm?
I have noticed that there are some new born lambs around some of the fields around the Poundbury area. See if you can spot them on your daily walk!
I hope that you all enjoyed your Bank Holiday weekend and that many of you were able to join in with the VE Day 75th Anniversary celebrations. During the celebrations you may have seen a few faces that are familiar to us all at this current point in history but who also had a vital role to play 75 years ago too, including Captain Tom and Her Majesty the Queen.
I am sure that if you did get a chance to join in or to watch the celebrations, that you will have found many links between the care that was shown within communities during a time of global conflict 75 years ago and what is happening in our world today. Two very different events, but two significant points in history when communities have witnessed ‘Oneness’ first hand and have seen acts of bravery, sacrifice, strength and resilience all around during the most difficult of times.
During the celebrations I am sure that you will have heard stories of ‘Hope’ and just as the rainbow is our current symbol of hope, in 1939 a popular singer, Dame Vera Lynn, released one of the world’s most popular wartime songs ‘We’ll Meet Again’. This became a source of optimism, strength and hope for many during wartime broadcasts and has become popular again during the Coronavirus crisis. You may have seen this performance of the song on Friday which beautifully draws the links between the two points in history and also celebrates many of the key workers who are currently showing their care for others through the work that they do every day.
I know that as a result of the work that some of you were doing on your class blogs last week, that many stories of ‘unsung’ WW2 heroes emerged such as the story of one of our friends’ great grandfathers Kenneth Sanderson, who played an incredible role on the frontline during the war. These stories remind us that the true heroes in difficult times aren’t always the most celebrated or the most famous but that their contributions can make such a difference to the lives of many and their worth will live on in the hearts of others forever. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
This week, I would like us to think about and celebrate all the ‘real-life’ helpers and heroes that are caring for us during the current crisis. Real people who are showing true bravery and sacrifice, taking increased risks to keep others safe.
Do you know of someone within our community who is going above and beyond to look after or care for others at this time? Maybe you have someone in your own home who you are bursting with pride for and want to tell their story? Maybe you have noticed someone who is quietly helping others without being celebrated or noticed? Our very own ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
I know that I am surrounded by many unsung helpers and heroes at the moment. I see school staff in school every day, willing to do anything that is needed to support our role within the community response to Covid 19 without question. There are also staff who are now based at home but are working incredibly hard to ensure that they are still supporting children, families and colleagues relentlessly during this difficult time. I get to see some of our key workers every day too, all smiling and all doing their absolute best to keep so many of our vital care and support services going at this time. And then my own very personal heroes – my treasured family.
So – your task this week is to share with me an image or a drawing of your ‘real-life’ hero or helper that you feel should be celebrated at this time and the reason why. You may have seen the piece of artwork above by Banksy that appeared in Southampton Hospital last week, beautifully depicting the role of ‘real’ heroes too.
I can’t wait to ‘meet’ your own personal heroes and who knows, in 75 years time when our own grandchildren and great-grandchildren are marking this point in history, they may be telling stories of the actual heroes and helpers that made a difference in 2020, so let’s start telling those stories now.
I think Her Majesty The Queen summed up our celebration of helpers and heroes beautifully at the end of her speech to the nation on Friday.
‘But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other. And when I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognise and admire.’
Enjoy your week and your reflections on your very own ‘real-life’ heroes and helpers, people that we possibly took for granted before but now see in the light that they have always deserved. A huge thank you to all our key workers and unsung heroes from us all!
With warm wishes and my heartfelt hope that you too will ‘keep smiling through, just like you always do, til the blue skies chase the dark clouds far away …’
I have loved hearing about your ‘Lockdown Legacies’ this week and seeing your words presented in such creative ways.
Inspired by the wise old words of Master Oogway you have told me about …
The greater value that is now placed on the simple things in life. Hugs with grandparents, aunts and uncles now feel like gold dust and even the less exciting parts of the school day are desperately missed
A greater appreciation of the natural magic of the outdoors
The love of family and how we are all learning to accept the diversity that exists within our own homes more
A greater understanding of the school’s ethos and its invaluable role within the wider community
The importance of patience and how it feels to live through and find peace within a significant challenge
The innovation that has resulted from our need to live life in a slightly different way for a while
The enhancements to life, such as family zoom/skype sessions that are bringing us ‘together’
The strength that has emerged within our community and the neighbourhoods that we live in as people talk and look out for each other more
A recognition that nature often mirrors the feelings and experiences that we have too – the joy of a new moorhen brood and signs of ‘healing’ all around us and all over the world
Relationships with brothers and sisters that have grown stronger
The increased opportunities that you have had to become more mindful of the changes in nature, birdsong, the names of flowers
How one of our friends’ name was chosen because it means ‘present’ or ‘gift’, fitting beautifully with this week’s theme
The absolute joy of a great board game
An appreciation of a new found ‘togetherness’
And how you really want all these positives to remain with you, long after the lockdown ends
As always, I have loved hearing all your other updates too, especially seeing all the newly hatched chicks that you have shared with me this week (I shared your photos with the chickens and they got very excited too!). Joe shared with me his idea of another symbol of ‘Hope’ – the daisy. Joe felt that daisies were hardy, survive under the harshest conditions and always bounce back. And Benji, Hugo and Ella reminded me of one of my favourite books ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’ and how relevant the beautiful words in this book are at this particular time (I’ve included one of their favourite quotes above).
Thank you once again for all of your wonderful thoughts and messages this week. I hope that you enjoy the images and words as much as I did …
https://youtu.be/GyJTMyZIKk8
Along with your legacies we also wanted to share with you the first part of our Damers Recipe collections. Miss Barnes has been working incredibly hard in the background, as many of you will know, collecting all the information and images she needs from you following your recipe emails and is creating four recipe collections as a lasting community legacy. Here is a wonderful insight into her amazing work so far, and my favourite one – the Veggie Collection!
https://bit.ly/2YJOI9d
I’ve chosen a book this week which shows us the power of ‘yet’ and how we may think we can’t do something until the conditions are just right …
https://youtu.be/OSXST7QnvAw
So many parents have told me that ‘today’ has gifted them something that they didn’t have enough of before lockdown – time. As a result of this families are enjoying some of the simplest things in life much more than they were doing before as they now have time to do them more often and without other distractions. The music has changed and we are all recognising that we have always had the ability to ‘dance’ we’re just so much better at it now!
Here’s to your role in recognising the power that you have to keep all of these wonderful legacies alive, long after the lockdown ends Team Damers!
Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend and your VE Day celebrations. I will leave you with Ellie’s beautiful poem today …
Nature is full of symmetrical patterns. It follows geometric laws. By looking closely we can learn about the relationship between beauty, harmony and geometry.
Can you find some more animals with symmetric patterns? Have a look in magazines or newspapers for symmetrical pictures that you can draw on the line of symmetry or cut it in half. Make a collage of all the symmetrical pictures you find or draw or paint some in detail? Have a go at this symmetry painting game to get you started…
Us humans are also symmetrical in many ways. We have a line of symmetry that can be drawn straight down the middle of us. On either side of this line we have an eye, ear, nostril, half of our lips, an arm, a hand with five fingers, a leg and a foot with five toes! Draw a picture of yourself or someone in your family, making them as symmetrical as possible. Do some baking or use playdough to make gingerbread men or other symmetrical shapes! Remember to make sure their decorations are symmetrical too!
Listen and watch this fun symmetry song for even more symmetry ideas!
You have been learning a lot about doubling and halving. Below are links to halving and doubling stories.
True or False
Play a game with your families! Adults, prepare some real and fake doubles and halving facts on sticky notes to stick around your house or outside.
They might include…
double 5 is 10
half of 8 is 4
double 2 is 5
double 1 is 2
half of 4 is 1
Make sure that your children are familiar with the words double and half. Let the children explore the room/outside area, find the sticky notes and bring them back to you when they are found. Once you have them help the children to read what they say and then work out together if they are true of false statements.
Have a go at the below games for quick recall of sounds and tricky words. You may need a login in order to play the games however phonics play has provided parents with a free one for home learning which you can find here …
This is a favourite in the classroom! To help the children recognise where a digraph is to go in the word you can use a longer line or different colour line where the digraph goes.
Example words you could use:
farm, goat, duck, chick, duckling
boat, chip, mash, shark, car/park
Animal to animal
This is a ‘full circle’ game, you start with a word and change one letter at a time eventually making it back around to the word you started with however this version has a twist! For this game we start with a farm animal and finish with a different farm animal!
Round 1: goat
boat
boot
shoot
sheet
sheep
Round 2: chick
chip
cheep
sheep
Literacy
Think back to the story of ‘The Little Red Hen’. If you would like to you can watch another version here ..
Use tricky bugs together to form the sentence …
The little red hen had
Discuss with your child the different things the little red hen had in the story to complete the sentence e.g. bread, corn, water,etc. (If you made a story map you could use this as a guide) Have a go at writing the complete sentence. If you wanted more of a challenge you could add an adjective such as;
The little red hen had lots of corn.
The little red hen had cold water.
Try to focus on letter formation, finger spaces and full stops while you are writing.
