Story telling using Tales Toolkit

To support children's communication and language skills small groups  have  been using story bags with props as part of Tales Tool kit method.

Four story bags depict four steps for story structure.

Character- Who will be in our story today?
Setting- Where are the characters going?
Problem- Oh no, a problem!
Solution- How can we help?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aMF9rLyhRU 

Becky's group having been enjoying the weekly group times and have demonstrated wonderful imaginative ideas, turn taking and confidence to contribute.
The adult uses the children's ideas to model and weave their story together, modelling pronunciation, introducing and expanding on vocabulary. 

Each week the story is inspired by the props and the group use thir creative thinking to solve problems and find a solution. They explain how the characters move, describe their characteristics i.e. 'She's a Harry Potter witch, I know because she has a pointy hat'. This can be through words and gestures.
The stories come to life with actions, sounds effects, songs and lots of laughter.

For example todays story:

Once upon a time a 'yellow, happy Octopus' was 'swimming' in the 'sea'. He liked to 'splash' and 'swim very fast'. Octopus was playing under the rays of a warm 'sun' when suddenly. Oh no a problem! A 'tiny angry fish' swam along. He used his 'sharp teeth' to eat all the Octopus' tentacles (' legs'). The Octopus 'cried' and asked for 'help, help'. Luckily after a loud bang and puff of smoke a 'Witch' came floating down from the sky. The witch used her 'magic wand' , saying 'abracadabra', and ziggety, zaggerty zoom'. The Witch' turned the angry fish' into a 'Happy Fish'.
'Octopus' and 'Happy Fish' played happily together in the sea, swimming and splashing.

The End.

https://talestoolkit.com/

Signs of Spring

We are appreciating the sunny days and the warmth on our faces but equally we find ourselves busy in the puddles and during windy days at nursery.  In Oak room we have been noticing the signs of spring. We have spotted flowers starting to bloom, stems pushing up through the soil and found worms in the soil. 

We have used our ICT skills to capture photographs of our observations, looked in non-fiction books to learn more information and support our drawings. We have talked and shared lots of questions and theories about bees', pollen, and honey.  We have estimated how long the bulbs will take to grow? ' one million', 10 minutes, tomorrow'. This is such as exciting season with lots of possibilities. I wonder what we will discover next!

Can you take a photograph, using your skills from our photography sessions?

Developing our Maths skills using subitising

In Oak Nursery we are introducing subitising as part of our mathematical curriculum and teaching.

Subitising can help children to build images for numbers, to visualise and to learn number facts so to build their number sense.

This term might be new to parents and to support this we wanted to share a short video clip which may be useful to explain why this is such a beneficial skill for children to nurture.

Karen Wilding is a maths consultant. Staff are currently taking part in training by her.

Explanation clip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4KtifCNlYy4 

Going on a subitising walk clip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bX3i6g7in0M 

Subitising can be a fun, active way to incorporate maths at home, on walks etc.

Chinese New Year

Friday 12th February is Chinese New year! 2021 is the year of the Ox.

As part of our Understanding of the World curriculum you could watch this clip with your child to find out more...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/chinese-new-year 

Discuss the term ‘New Year’ and how your family might celebrate this. You could watch the clip ‘Preparing for Chinese and Lunar New Year’ and compare Abbie’s preparations and experiences with your families.

Or you might like to learn more about the signs of the Chinese Zodiac by watching a shadow puppet performance of ‘Chinese and Lunar New Year Story’.

Can you make your own shadow puppets, using your hands or card? We would love to see photographs on tapestry.

Writing letters home

Today in small groups children used visual clues to walk and find the local, red post box! Bringing their learning to life in a 'real' way

In Nursery this half term children have been busy learning about post men, ladies and how they help us. We have watched clips on the internet, role played in our own nursery post office and have enjoyed sharing the Jolly Postman story.

Children have all written a letter home to someone in their family.  Adding their own marks, writing and pictures. They talked about home and important people in their life. They had to add a 'stamp' and folded their letter to fit inside an 'envelope'. We talked about where we live and our 'address'. N was proud to be able to recall the first line of his address.

Using the visual clues on the map the group led the way to find the post box. Making observations and connections to their previous experiences outside of Nursery. ' I went there when I was a baby (park), 'Look flowers'.
Excited to finally find the post box, they explored the cylinder shape and compared heights against it. 'taller, I'm shorter, big, long'. At the adults suggestion the group made a closer inspection and spotted different symbols.

A 'Queen hat' (crown)
N '9 and 0 and 0' ( 9.00am)
Ar 7 and 0 0' ( 7.00am)

Parents/carers in a few days the letter should arrive at your house. Can you please read, share and enjoy the excitement of this with your child. They are so very excited for it to arrive!

We would really love to see photos on Tapestry.