Nursery blog: January 2012

LANGUAGE, LITERACY & COMMUNICATION
- Self portraits for Summer term.
- Continue to recognise and write own name, ensuring correct letter formation
- Read/listen/discuss a variety of jungle related stories and rhymes
- Sound of the week (Jolly Phonic)
- Develop pencil grip & left-right orientation through pre- writing activities: increasingly complicated writing patterns, colourings,tracing , shaving foam, stencils
- Develop pre- reading activities – odd one out, left to right orientation, difference between pictures and print, picture snap/lotto
- Group reading activities - sharing stories
- Develop speaking and listening skills- 'Letters & Sounds' phase 1 activities
- Emergent writing activities – favourite part of story/character, invitations, labelling, etc
- Home /school link – share reading books – retell story in own words, describe character/events in story, recognise key vocabulary and identify initial sounds

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT
- ABACUS scheme activities.
- Count, recognise and name numbers 1 – 10 and on to 20+
- Number of the week
- Capacity - full/empty, half empty/full
- Recite days of week and match to activities
- Begin to recognise coins
- Compare animals by size/weight/quantity/skin etc
- Recognise and name 3D shapes
-Begin to use ordinal numbers e.g 1st the crocodile, second the lion

-Use Ict to generate pictograms of animals

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
- ‘Val Sabin activities (gym, games,).
- Develop spatial awareness.- coloured ribbons, coloured spots, coloured hand/footprints
- Awareness of body parts.- transfer weight to body parts, carry beanbags on body parts, travel on different body parts(record and evaluate using tough cam)
- Hang like monkeys, travel like foxes(Pess), jungle obstacle races
-- Develop, co-ordination and gross motor skills –pedalling, manoeuvring, climbing, sliding, pushing ,pulling, throwing, catching, rolling, jumping, hopping, skipping ,balancing
- Develop fine motor control – peg board colour patterns, sorting small coloured objects with tweezers, threading coloured beads, jungle lacing cards

WELSH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
- Continue to introduce ‘brawddeg yr wythnos’ (Sentence of the week) on a weekly basis to build up phrases
- Develop a range of topic-related vocabulary:- animals, colours, numbers, greetings, weather, etc
- Watch Welsh language videos/DVD’s (‘Ding Dong’, ‘Fflic a Fflac’) to enhance and develop language
- Choose a ‘Helpwr Heddiw’ and ‘Seren y dydd’ daily
- Sing a range of simple Welsh songs

PERSONAL & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
- Primary National Strategy PSE scheme (SEAL)- Relationships and Changes
- Continue to learn to share and take turns.
- Continue to adapt to school routines and become independent in personal
needs
- Continue to identify different feelings and emotions
-Safety rules for visiting farms/zoo
- Develop self confidence
-Prepare to move on - implications/transition for reception
- Develop care and concern for plants and animals
- Begin to develop understanding of food/clothes/customs in other countries/cultures
- Healthy Eating

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
- ART - Make Fathers Day card, snake patterns,
animal masks, animal footprints, imprints

- D.T –binoculars, magnifying glasses, rainsticks,
jungle drums
- MUSIC – ‘Music Express’ activities- African drums,
Monkey Puzzle - sound story , Bye Baby Bunting
-
- DANCE – ‘Val Sabin’ dance activities
- Respond to different stimuli - move like animals- Explore a variety of simple movements- e , turn, spin, pounce, spring ,bounce, hibernate, slither - sequence 2 movements

KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD
-Animals found in jungle - identify, features
- ICT 2 simple -create pictures of jungle animals/ graphs
- Beebot /I pad activities
-Materials and their properties - tents/jungle dens
-Ways of travelling - travelling to the jungle
- Hot/Cold countries
- Clothes for hot/cold countries
- Following trails - can the footprints lead us to the animals
- Zoos/circus in the past

VISITS, VISITORS & MATTERS OF INTEREST
Fathers Day - 16th June
Infant Fun Day