We have really enjoyed our work on the book ‘Leaf Man’. We loved talking about the story, thinking of all the different creations that were made out of the leaves as they were blown about in the Autumn weather.
We followed the steps to draw our own Leaf Man, and we chose different Autumnal colours to add extra detail to our finished drawings. We then use a starting dot to trace the word ‘m-a-n’ underneath.
To link to our work on the text ‘Owl Babies’, Crew McGlone have been drawing their own mummy owl following a step-by-step instruction sheet. They used crayons to make sure that each part of the owl was the correct colour, and once finished they used a starting dot to trace over the word ‘m-u-m’. The children have worked hard at remembering everything they need to show that they are ready to write, including; bottoms to the back of their chairs, tummies touching the table, 6 feet on the floor, 2 hands ready to write, and pinch parrot.
One day each week in Crew Frost, we spend time focusing on developing our fine motor skills through activities such as using scissors to cut along lines and around shapes. Cutting is an excellent skill to master in the Early Years, as it supports so many of the important skills children need as they begin their writing journey.
The children are learning how to separate and strengthen the muscles in their fingers and hands whilst carefully controlling the scissors. They are also developing their hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills as they work out how to move the paper and scissors together whilst trying to stay on the lines. This takes a huge amount of concentration, control, and perseverance.
Alongside this, we have been practising our “ready to write” positioning by sitting with our tummy to the table and all six chair legs on the floor. Developing core strength, balance, and posture is a very important part of early writing development, helping children to gain the stability needed for mark making and pencil control in the future.
Although cutting may look simple, it is actually a very tricky skill that requires children to coordinate many different movements at the same time. We are so proud of the resilience, determination, and focus Crew Frost have shown whilst practising these important skills. Well done, Crew Frost — it is much harder than it looks!
Take a look at some of our beautiful pieces of writing from last week. I am so proud of how well the children are working hard to get smart and take real pride in their work. Keep up the amazing work Crew McGlone!
Using our anchor charts in Phonics today, we often use these whilst in choosing, but today we sat and did the whole lot! Well-done Alexis, great blending!
This week, Crew McGlone have been focusing on the story of ‘Storm Dragon’ by Dianne Hofmeyr. We have really enjoyed taking part in a sensory story to help support us with the structure and sequencing of events in the story.
Our writing this week saw us create ‘I can see’ sentences using a stimulus of a depiction of the storm dragon. We talked about the different parts of the storm dragon we could see, some of us even challenged ourselves by adding in some detail to our sentences to give a clearer description. We even used our sentence building knowledge in provision when drawing our own pictures.
We have also absolutely LOVED using our imagination and leading our own learning when accessing provision – we have created shelters to protect us from the storm, large scale models of the storm dragon, small world scenes of the story, created our own role play sensory story, made a collaborative collage dragon, made models out of playdough, made our own spyglasses to search for storm dragons, and lots of things in between!
Before the Easter Holidays, we finished our paper mâché nests and decorated them, ready for the Easter Bunny. The children have also made Easter cards, creating bunnies out of handprints.
Using concrete resources, we incorporated Easter into our maths lessons with number matching and colour-by-number activities. We then used Easter in our phonics lessons to support blending CVC words. These activities were completed with minimal adult support—fantastic work!
Hope you all had a lovely Easter break!
A selection of beautiful work and provision from Crew McGlone this week, including name writing, sentence writing, expedition and independent learning in provision.
During this focused activity, the children’s early phonic awareness was assessed and further developed. The children were challenged to sort a range of familiar objects according to two initial sounds they have been learning through the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme.
This activity provided a valuable opportunity to observe the children’s ability to listen attentively, recognise initial sounds and apply their growing phonics knowledge with confidence. The children demonstrated strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they discussed their choices and organised the objects appropriately.
Activities such as this highlight the importance of secure foundational phonics skills and how these can be applied meaningfully to support future reading and writing development. We were extremely impressed with the progress the children have made and the confidence they showed throughout the task. Well Done Crew Frost. Keep up the hard work.
This week, the children have began using Read Write Inc. practice sheets. These help them to develop their letter formation skills and create clear, recognizable letters. This will be an ongoing activity throughout their school year.
The children practice saying the picture of the sound, the letter sound , then they practice using the picture cards. They then say the phrase as they write, and finally say the sound again while forming the letter. This supports their phonics and early writing development.
We look forward to sending these sheets home as part of home learning and seeing the amazing work that Crew Frost continue to produce.
