Dangerous Dinosaurs- Foundation- 25.2.21
Another great week in Foundation! We started a new topic, dangerous dinosaurs. The children have loved learning about prehistoric creatures and creating dinosaur movements to music outside. We have created our own dinosaurs and dinosaur names!
The children have been discussing empathy this week in wellbeing Wednesday. We have focused on self empathy. The children practised breathing exercises to feel calm and relaxed. They also celebrated all the ways they excel.
In maths this week, we have focused on ‘cheeky number 9’. We have loved learning about number 9 and looking at square numbers. The children enjoyed exploring the composition of 9 with numicon.
In literacy the children have shown incredible determination to make progress. We have been thinking about winter. We have thought about all the things we might smell,feel,touch and taste in winter. We made our own snowflakes and wrote some fantastic adjectives to describe them. 
Foundation have been working so hard this week, displaying their amazing growth mindsets! They have been using their ‘metacognition minds’ to justify and reason. Well done Foundation for another fantastic week! 🙂
We have been developing our oracy skills by trying a daily ‘odd one out’ challenge. We collaborate and share ideas using key language such as ‘I agree…’ and ‘I believe…’ Here is an example of an odd one out challenge:
We have been so excited to start our new Cornerstones topic ‘Dangerous Dinosaurs’! We have learnt lots of interesting facts. We now know that the T-Rex had teeth that were bigger than bananas! We have been making dinosaur footprints, creating dinosaur silhouettes and writing dinosaur speech bubbles! We also created our own dinosaurs!
In literacy, we have been learning all about winter. We even made some bird food ‘cakes’ to make sure the birds are keeping warm. We also looked at some pictures of snowflakes and made a list of all of the adjectives we could think of. We then up-levelled our adjectives to make them even better with shades of meaning! We used some fantastic adjectives such as ‘twinkly’ and ‘transparent’.
In maths, we have been learning about the number 9. We have been looking at how it is a square number and can be made from 3 lots of 3. We have used lots of different resources and approaches such as numicon, part-whole models and dominoes to help us learn all about the composition of number 9. We have been using the metacognition cycle and have been planning, monitoring and evaluating our learning!
We have been challenging ourselves in phonics as we have been learning all about adjacent consonants and vowels. We added the word ‘adjacent’ to our vocabulary as we now know that it means ‘next to’. Throughout the week, we have been looking at different adjacent consonant or ‘consonant blend’ words and have worked at putting them into context by using them in sentences!
We have also been engaging in lots of additional activities to support our wellbeing such as going for beach walks, learning about Chinese New Year and water play!
Foundation have been very busy this week! We have been learning all about 2D and 3D shapes in our maths learning. We went on a shape hunt, created some shape pictures and even challenged ourselves to create repeating patterns. In phonics, we have been practising our tricky words. We extended ourselves using our oracy skills to put the tricky words into context! In literacy, we have been learning about the North and South Poles! We made some beautiful pictures and labelled them. We have also been creating our own winter themed songs and used our metacognition minds to challenge ourselves in all areas of our learning. Some children had a go at redrafting their work to make it even better! We have really enjoyed our Cornerstones topic “Starry Night” and this week, we completed some interesting ice experiments! We even wrote our hypothesis (vocabulary word)! Well done Foundation for your amazing enthusiasm, eagerness and positive attitude towards your learning. You are superstars and we are so proud of you!
We watched a video to celebrate and reflect on all of our brilliant learning. Here is a short snippet:
A huge thank you to all of the parents and carers of Ash and Beech for your continued support! Have a lovely half term! 🙂
Have a look at our incredible learning below:
What a fun packed week we have had in Foundation! The children have been looking at why snow melts, and how we get snowy weather. We made sure to watch out for any snow outside too. We looked at different things we might do in the snow and made some freeze frames.
We all really enjoyed learning Pilates. The children loved taking on the different challenges and learning all about their abdominal muscles.
In maths this week, we have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes. The children have been sorting shapes based on the number of sides they have. We discovered that we are all magic and can turn 2D shapes into 3D shapes- wow Foundation!
Well done on such a super star week Foundation. You never cease to amaze me!
Ash and Beech have been working incredibly hard this week. In phonics, we have been recapping some very important trigraphs. We have also been extending our learning by putting our words into context and using them in sentences. In maths, we have been continuing with our learning about number 8 and have even challenged ourselves to look at number 18 and how it is made from a ten and 8 ones. In literacy, we have been continuing our learning about ‘Dear Zoo’ and even made our own story books, they looked amazing! We have also been having lots of fun learning all about our Cornerstones topic ‘Starry Night’.
We have also been thinking about keeping our minds healthy for Children’s Mental Health Week. We thought about ways to support our friends and discussed the importance of talking about how we are feeling. We all made sure that we took 15 mins on ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ to look after ourselves. Here is a fantastic example of one of our wellbeing activities:
Foundation have worked particularly hard at using their ‘metacognition minds’ this week. We learnt all about the metacognition cycle and how we can plan, monitor and evaluate our learning. Ash and Beech worked so hard and planned their response to a maths activity. They explained what resource they would use and why it would be useful, they then monitored their progress and evaluated how well it worked! We even ensured we used our oracy skills to communicate our answers effectively! WOW, Foundation, you really do have magnificent metacognition minds!
We are so proud of you all! 🙂
Take a look at our amazing learning below:
We have been working so hard in Maths, using the Numicon to explore fact families. We know our number bonds to 10 confidently now and have been using these known facts to help us work out other facts.
We started by finding four facts first, two additions and two subtractions.
We then challenged ourselves to find another way of presenting the four related facts. We needed reminding that we could only use the same three numbers each time. Having the Numicon there really helped us to see what was happening to each number.
How did you get on with your learning at home?
Foundation have been working so hard this week and I have been so impressed with their enthusiasm and resilience. We have had a really exciting week on zoom! We have been playing ‘I spy a tricky word’, feeding polar bears fish and enjoying lots of fun games. In maths, we have been continuing to explore the number 8. We looked at composition of number, worked with number lines and used our ‘metacognition minds’ to extend our learning and make our brains bigger. In phonics, we have been recapping our digraphs and reading sentences with capital letters and full stops. For our Cornerstones topic of ‘Starry Night’, we have been making bat caves, finding out interesting facts about stars and discussing bedtime routines. In Literacy, Gerald the giraffe came back to visit and we wrote some fantastic sentences about what zone he was in. We used words like: frustrated, thrilled and heartbroken to describe Gerald’s feelings. We also worked hard on up levelling our adjectives to describe the animals in Rod Campbell’s ‘Dear Zoo’ and I was amazed to see words like: colossal, immense and towering! What fantastic vocabulary we have in Foundation!
Amazing work Foundation, you are making us so proud! 🙂
Have a look at our amazing learning below:
In Year Three, we have been sharing some of the resources we have been using to help us with our a maths learning from home. What a resourceful bunch you are! We have seen cars, lego, cereal, coins and some of you have even made your own base ten. These resources have then been used to represent different numbers. For example one car could represent 10. That would mean ten cars are worth 100.
Mrs Jeffery also asks us to explain our learning during our zooms. We’ve been trying hard to explain over the chat facility at times.
Foundation have blown me away this week with their phenomenal attitude towards their learning! They have been ‘Tryatops’ by trying their best and have challenged themselves in all areas of their learning. We have been talking about the ‘Zones of Regulation’ this week and are making sure we are discussing our feelings with our adults. In maths, we have been experimenting with the part-whole model and the bar model. In literacy, we have been writing some beautiful letters to Gerald the giraffe from ‘Dear Zoo.’ We have also been practising our digraphs in phonics and challenged ourselves to read some adjacent consonant words! We have been developing our skills in oracy and have been debating on whether or not zoos should exist. In our zoom sessions, we have been playing some games such as ‘Blankety Blank’ and ‘The Chase!’
Amazing work Foundation, you all deserve a huge STAR!
Take a look at our incredible learning below:
This week in Foundation, we have had a superb week. The children have been working incredibly hard writing questions to Gerald the giraffe. We copied Gerald’s movements in PE and made up movements for other animals. The children also made some zoo’s for Gerald to move into. They up levelled their zoo’s by describing them as “immense,spiky, sharp, colossal and terrifying “.
The children really enjoyed using a part-part-whole to partition 7 and to discover all the number bonds to 7.
All the Foundation children have been working their ‘socks off’- well done Foundation! Keep up that amazing resilience!
Wow, we are completely overwhelmed with how much work is being shared with us from Year 5 at home. It’s impossible to share everyones – there’s just so much!!! Here is a snippet of all of the amazing work that our wonderful children are doing at home.
We researched the photographer and artist Andy Warhol and had a go at making a digital montage of ourselves replicating his style.
During our zoom sessions, we like to have bit of fun too!! Today, we watched a video from Rob Biddulph and tried to draw the same character with our paper on our heads!!!
Continuing our learning journey of ‘The Time Traveller’, we have spent our time at home building time machines, making timelines of our lives and speaking to the older generations of our families to see how things have changed in their lifetime. We even had a look at some photos from https://www.francisfrith.com/teignmouth/photos to see what our local skate park used to look like!! We couldn’t believe how different it looked! Have a look at Thomas’ picture!
We are continuing to work really hard on our core subjects of maths, literacy and SPaG with the addition of some of the Oak National Academy’s videos. Today, we learnt all about non-finite clauses and wrote some of our own. We shared these during our afternoon zoom sessions.
Finally, we are reminding ourselves to look after our mental health. Mrs Prentice spoke to us about our ’10 a day’ – Our very own magic. We realised we are doing lots of these every day.
Well done Year 5! Everyone at Hazeldown are so proud of how hard you are all working – don’t forget to say a big thank you to the adults at home who are helping you too.
This week in the Foundation bubble, we have been focusing on climbing out the ‘learning pit’. The children have been challenging themselves and then working collaboratively to improve. Well done Foundation bubble.
We have looked at one less than, our number of the week, 7. The children really enjoyed using cubes to secure their understanding.
Well done to all of Foundation. Miss Redwood and Miss Banning are incredibly proud of all your hard work and achievements, both at home and in school.
Ash and Beech class have been working incredibly hard in their new bubble. Miss Redwood and Miss Banning have been extremely proud of all the Foundation children’s resilience and enthusiasm this week.
This week we put on our wellies and went on a fantastic nature walk. We discussed nocturnal animals and looked at these animals in more detail. We really enjoyed learning about one more and one less in our maths lessons. The children loved collaborating to represent one more/one less in a tens frame.
The children enjoyed seeing Miss Banning on the ‘big screen’ and playing a game with her. They told her about their week in school with Miss Redwood and what they did for Christmas.
Well done to all of Foundation for a fantastic week!
Foundation have blown me away this week with their amazing remote learning. They have all been so resilient when facing a new challenge and have made Miss Banning and Miss Redwood so proud. It has been so lovely to see your smiley faces on Zoom and I have enjoyed playing lots of fun games with you all. This week, we have learnt lots about our new topic of ‘Starry Night’ and have introduced our new Talk for Writing topic – ‘Dear Zoo’. We have also been learning about one more and one less in maths.
Well done Foundation, you are SUPERSTARS! 🙂
Look at all of our fantastic learning:
In maths today, we were investigating what happens when we create shapes from a set number of lollypop sticks. We knew we were dividing the total number of sticks by the number of sides our shape had. We noticed that if we were making triangles we were diving by three and there would never be a remainder of more than 2. Any more than 2 left over and we could make another triangle.
What shapes could you make at home from sticks?
If you had 21 sticks and were making pentagons. How many pentagons could you make and how many sticks would you have left over?
In Ebony this week, we started looking at algebra. To start with we were looking at simple equations such:
If x=10 what does 2x =?
Later on we looked at more complicated equations such as:
If x=3, b=5, d=10 then what does (x + b) – d =
Someone asked why we learn algebra; the class know I cannot resist a ‘Why?’ question!
In our discussion, we started talking about some of the jobs that use algebra – mainly focusing around advanced jobs in mathematics, science and engineering.
We also spoke about the impact of learning algebra on our brain. It can help with critical thinking skills including pattern recognition, problem solving and reasoning.
In Foundation, we have been using different resources to make number 5. We created number sentences using cubes, numicon and counting bugs. We represented 5 in lots of different ways!
In Maths this week, we have been working out strategies for finding the difference between two numbers. We have used a number of resources. One method is to use a 20 frame and counters. We took the first number and lined up that number of counters on the top row, then we took the second number and lined up that number of counters on the bottom row. This helped us to clearly see how many more there were and find the difference between the two numbers. Have a look at some of the children using this method.
We then looked at how we could use a number line as an alternative strategy. We circled both numbers and then drew in the jumps it takes to move from one number to the other.
The children in Maple class are getting much more confident now at choosing which resources support them best. Keep up the good work, Maple!
Over the last term, Holly Class have demonstrated excellent learning attitudes, especially in maths. They have been reflective by thinking about what they noticed and learning from their mistakes by using them to make progress. They have also been collaborative, with lots of great examples of maths discussions and helping each other. Additionally, the pupils in Holly Class have shown excellent resilience. I am very proud of them!
In Ebony we have been looking at fractions in our catch up maths.
So far this week we have multiplied fractions by other fractions, multiplying fractions by an integer and dividing fractions by an integer.
Sometimes we need to create images to help with our understanding.
Can your child explain what is going on here?
In Ebony class this week, we spent a day refreshing our subtraction skills. As a part of this, we thought of some of the ways we could represent a single calculation (4648 – 2347).
Here are some of the visual representations we came up with:
Can your child tell you the name of some of these?
Can your child explain to you how they represent the subtraction?
Yesterday, Holly Class investigated Roman Numerals. We looked at the symbols used for different numbers and then had a go at making some of our own. We then used Roman Numerals to write our ages, birthdays and the date.
What a busy few days we have had back in Oak Class and the children have all grown in more ways than one. It has been delightful to be back amongst such a friendly, happy and delightful bunch.
We have been learning about worries that we might have and thinking of ideas that could help us solve them. When we revisited the school rules we discussed what they ‘look like’ and what we would expect to see. Today, we had our first trip to the library and chose our first books. This was particularly exciting and we are planning on visiting again in the week so we can change them after we have quizzed on them. Everyone was keen to be able to have a go on the Chromebooks. We have a few experts amongst us but a few of us will need to keep practising how to log in and create documents.
We are looking forward to more exciting learning and time spent with our friends.
We have been blown away by the incredible effort our Year Two children have been putting into their learning at home. They are working hard with their maths using the Google Forms, using scientific vocabulary in literacy and carrying out lots of science as part of their SOLE work. Please do keep sending in your wonderful photos.
We have been investigating the number 17. Look at the ways we partitioned 17. We could even say some number sentences to describe what we had done.
Can you think of another way to make 17?
We have been working so hard at school again this week. We have done some wonderful writing, marvellous maths and brilliant playing. Look at what we have been up to!
Year 2 you are incredible.
It is great to see that so many of you have thrown yourselves into our new topic. It’s a shame the weather has turned as it’s a great one for being outdoors.
I love how creative some of your are being at home with your maths and making patterns. Some of you have made pooters ready for all your bug hunting and lots of you are already learning lots of awesome facts.
Have a look below at different word classes some people have been sorting after going on their bug hunts.
What’s the best minibeast you have found so far?
Please keep sharing your learning with us. We love to see what you have been up to.
Some great Maths and SOLE learning here! We love seeing how our planning is transferred into learning at home. You are all doing so well, keep up the good work and keep sending us photos. Even if it’s not based around your learning, it might be some cool lego model or picture you have made, we would love to see what you are up to!
We have recently moved on to our new topic in maths; fractions. Today we were looking at improper fractions and mixed numbers. We used fraction pieces to investigate how to convert improper fractions into mixed numbers. It made us feel very hungry as we pretended these pieces were pizza!
This week, we have been learning about column subtraction in maths. Today we showed resilience, reflection and collaboration when we got stuck in the learning pit. Working together we managed to solve problems and reflect on our mistakes. By the end of the lesson, some of us were able to be teachers and help anyone left in the learning pit.
In Maths today, we were looking at different ways to solve addition problems and methods we can use to prove we are correct. We spoke about two parts making one whole. Some of us even attempted writing a story to go with the number sentence.
Three children, who had worked incredibly hard to solve the problem, were then appointed experts for the lesson to support others in their understanding. They were so helpful. Well done!
Today the children were introduced to ten frames in Maths. We worked out that we could represent different numbers by drawing dots. We also worked out that a number can be represented in a variety of ways.
We challenged ourselves to find different ways to represent the same number. We then applied our reasoning skills to solve a problem.
This week in maths, Bonsai have been looking at polygons. We have been discussing how shapes can be categorised and the differences between regular and irregular polygons. What polygons can you spot around school or home?
Today, we looked at collecting information and presenting our findings in a table. We each drew our face then stuck it down alongside our favourite superhero. We could see which the least popular superhero was as it only had one face by it.
We will be interpreting this data tomorrow and drawing comparisons using the words more, most, fewer and fewest.
In our maths lesson recently, some of the class were given some very complicated problems to solve. They involved calculating the angles of compound shapes. The part that made it tricky was that not all of the information was shown, so we had to work out the missing information before we could solve the problem.
Some of the class spent a whole lesson (45 minutes) trying to solve a single problem (unsuccessfully).
In Hazeldown, we call this being in the learning pit. This struggle is very important as it makes our brains work very hard and deeper learning takes place.
Today we discussed the learning pit. We discussed the fact that whilst it is good to be in the learning pit, there is a time limit.We think that in Year 6, if we are still in the learning pit after about 25 minutes, we should change task.
On the flip side, if a task is too easy, we should change to a more challenging task – putting ourselves into the learning pit where the deeper learning can take place.
Every morning in Year 6 we solve a variety of calculations. This slows the forgetting curve so we create permanent knowledge about a range of mathematical approaches.
Some of the calculations we do have a variety of solutions.
Today we had the calculation 23 x 1 1/2 (Twenty three multiplied by one and a half).
Here are some of the solutions we discussed:
23 x 15 = 345 then 345 / 10 = 34.5
Here someone converted the one and a half into decimals (1.5) then adjusted that to 15 by multiplying by 10.
After the calculation was done, they adjusted back by dividing by ten.
23 x 1 = 23 and 23 x 1/2 = 11.5 23+11.5 = 34.5
Here someone noticed that they could split the one and a half into one and one half, they then multiplied 23 by these and combined the solutions to get the answer.
One person converted both numbers into fractions and multiplied them!
23/1 x 3/2 = 69/2 = 34.5
We must make sure we are using the most efficient method, but we can use one of the other methods to check our work.
We have an exciting new maths app. We have begun using this in class but you can also access it at home. Its called NUMBOTS. Your login details are the same as your TTRock stars.
This week in Maths, we have been learning about short division. We were looking at division in real-life situations.
Today Monkey Puzzle had fun in maths learning a song to help them with the 9x table and then applying it to their arithmetic.
Over the last few weeks, Year 6 have been developing lots of positive learning attitudes. Today, we looked at using formal methods for multiplication. Holly Class showed lots of resilience to get themselves out of the learning pit. We talked about the importance of ‘the struggle’ to help with learning. They also showed great collaboration skills to work together and work out where they had gone wrong, learning from their mistakes. Here is an example of the struggle and using purple pen to show progress.
Keep it up Holly Class – excellent attitudes and effort!
Please also see the following links for videos, which we have used in class, for extra support with short and long multiplication.
https://mathantics.com/lesson/multi-digit-multiplication-pt1
https://mathantics.com/lesson/multi-digit-multiplication-pt2
Today, we were tasked with finding things that are shorter than us. We had fun going around the classroom and standing next to objects and people. We had to use the correct language to compare, ie taller than and shorter than.
Some of us were even challenged to find objects that are half our height.
Why not find objects at home to measure.
Year 2 have been looking at measuring objects and comparing their lengths. We had to look at which was bigger 1cm or 1m and why.
We had lots of interesting conversations about the accuracy of our measuring when we measured then ordered ourselves.
Today, year 6 showed great resilience during their maths lesson. Some of the groups were focusing on converting between standard units of measure and then applied this to solving problems.
Year 2 have been looking at the value of each digit in a number. Today we built on what we already know and we have to compare different numbers and sorted them from smallest to largest.
Which is the largest 3 tens and 1 one, 29, 2 tens and 14 ones or 20+10? Maybe you can build them first to help you fin out? 
Some of the Year 5s worked hard today to order a range of decimals with 3 decimal places. They picked the numbers themselves so they challenged themselves appropriately. Great work was achieved and they showed really good collaboration figuring out the challenges with their partners.
This week, Year 6 have been looking at maths in a different way!
One of the areas we looked at was speed. Speed is not always the best way – sometimes mathematicians need to think deeply.
We played a game called 25. If you are interested – please ask your child to explain. It was a game that seemed very simple but made us think deeply about each move to ensure we won.
When we played this game, we used physical equipment, recorded it visually and with digits. All of these methods helped us think more deeply about what we were doing.
The children in Ash Class used numicon to see how many different ways they could make 11. What fantastic mathematicians!