Term 1 Week 8 – Number 8

We start our numeracy lesson by listening to a number song so the children get used to the numbers one after the other.

They also understand that we are talking about numbers and not about letters. The number we worked with this week was number 8. We also revised full and empty.

Number 8

We associated this number with our recycling topic work, where the children had to count and stick 8 pieces of recycled paper onto their numeracy scrapbook.  Then they practiced writing the number eight by using various crayons following the explanation written below.  We also mentioned that first the recycling bin in empty and them it is full of recycled paper.

Important Point – I emphasized that when writing this number they cannot put two circles on top of each other.  They have to write it using the animal character associated with this number. 

Number 8 Story –

Baby bear is bouncing up and down.  He is getting tired so let us help him go to sleep by patting him.

This is what we say:

1. Start at the right ear.
2. We go around his face
3. Slide down his neck and tummy in the shape of a s.
4. Then we go back up to join his ear.

• This is the manipulative which helps the children understand the value of this number. As always we show them the numicon shape corresponding to this number.  In this case the dark green shape with 8 holes in it.

Wilf our robot showed the children to successfully count till 8.

• Step 1 – Point or pick each object one at a time.
• Step 2 – Say each number 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, 6, 7, 8.
• Step 3 – Say stop. We cannot keep on saying the numbers if we need to count only 8 objects.  In this case 8 recycled papers.

Practice Ideas for Home

• It is important that you practice the numbers done so far by using the animal stories and the rhymes so the children become more confident in their number work and which number comes after which.
• They can use nature around then to count 8. They can gather 8 small rocks, 8 empty snail shells, 8 dry leaves and so on
• They can also clap, jump, go up and down, and hop 8 times.
• They can practice the formation just like we do it in class with the rainbow colours. If they are reluctant tell them that they are playing teacher and it should do the trick.
• They can draw various objects on a piece of paper or small whiteboard, count them and help them write the corresponding value using rice, flour and sand saying the story or rhyme in the process. Please praise every little effort the children make.  If they do mistakes just correct them with no fuss at all and tell them to try it again together.  Repetition, practice and praise help build their confidence.

 

 

Term 1 Week 8 – Number 7

This week we worked with number 7, the next number on the number line.

As part of our topic work we spoke about where we live.  Some mentioned they live in a flat, some in a house with a garden.  This led us to colouring in a house and garden on our number scrapbook.  They then had to count and stick 7 small flowers on the same page.

Wilf our robot showed the children to successfully count till 7.

• Step 1 – Point or pick each object one at a time.
• Step 2 – Say each number 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, 6, 7.
• Step 3 – Say stop. We cannot keep on saying the numbers if we need to count only 7 objects.  In this case 7 flowers.

The Number Story which helps us with the formation is the following:

Ms. Giraffe helps us see the shape of number 7.  She is hungry.  She loves eating leaves which are found at the top of very tall trees.  She stretches her neck up high and eats away 7 leaves.  We help her swallow the leaves with the following movement:

1. Start at the top
2. Go across her face
3. And down her neck

The children used manipulatives to understand the value of this number. As always we show them the numicon shape corresponding to this number. In this case the pink shape with 7 holes in it.

The children were given play dough mats where they put seven apples on a tree and formed the number 7 with play dough.

Practice Ideas for Home

• It is important that you practice the numbers done so far by using the animal stories and the rhymes so the children become more confident in their number work and which number comes after which.
• At times children count incorrectly because: they count too fast: they miss out pointing to an object completely: last but not least they point to an object twice.  In this case tell them to count in a sing-song manner stretching the time pointing to an object a soecind or two more. 
• They can use their bodies to form the shape of number 7. They can also clap, jump, go up and down, and hop 7 times.
• They can practice the formation just like we do it in class with the rainbow colours.  If they are reluctant tell them that they are playing teacher and it should do the trick.
• They can draw various objects on a piece of paper or small whiteboard, count them and help them write the corresponding value using rice, flour and sand saying the story or rhyme in the process. Please praise every little effort the children make.  If they do mistakes just correct them with no fuss at all and tell them to try it again together.  Repetition, practice and praise help build their confidence.

 

 

Term 1 Week 8 – The Circle

During our topic work about the solar system we looked at the planet shapes.  This was the introduction to one of our numeracy lessons this week – The Circle.

Our Wilf robot helped us see the circle rules:

• A circle is round.
• It has no sides.
• It can roll over.

With these properties in mind the children were able to play treasure hunt in class and look for objects which are circular in shape.

They found various objects amongst them a cushion, the clock, tape, the round flashcard rules we have in class, blocks, pompoms, the play dough lids, other container lids, and buttons.

The children worked on their shapes workbook where they had to colour in the circle shape amongst other shapes.

They also sorted shapes we have done so far into their different sections.

• The circle songs –

 

 

 

Story of St. Martin Of Tours

Our religion lesson during the 8^th week was also related to family topic work which we finished during the beginning of the week.  We emphasized the importance of showing our love to our family.

We discussed that there are people who although don’t form part of our family still have a very big heart and are ready to help other people in need.  A classic example is St. Mother Theresa and St. Martin.

Three boys acted out the story of when St. Martin saved a poor man from dying by tearing his cloak in half to protect him from the cold weather.

We ended the lesson by creating a craft of St. Martin with a two coloured cloak representing the splitting of the cloak in half to save the poor man’s life.  These are hanging outside our classroom door.

There aren’t any online cartoon St. Martin of Tours stories for children.  This is the closest version available.

 

 

Term 1 Week 8 – Letter r

The second letter for this week was letter r.  As you know from one of the topic work blogs we discussed recycling, thus letter r.

We also discussed other words which start with the r sound.  These are some words we came up with: rabbit, rain, red, road, roses, rocking horse, racket, river and ring.

I suggest that when you go through these words with your children show them pictures of the items on the internet and also write the word on a piece of paper highlighting the first letter.  This helps them understand the first letter sounds better.

A boy is in his room, playing with his dog Ralph.  The boy is pulling the old rug that the dog plays with saying, /r,r,r,r/.

Jolly Phonic Rhyme Letter r Sound

The children pretend to have a rug in their mouth just like Ralph the dog, moving their head from side to side saying /r,r,r/.

Formation

• Step 1 – Start at the top
• Step 2 – go down
• Step 3 – Bounce up
• Step 4 – and Nod

The children practiced the formation of this letter using the usual rainbow technique in their literacy scrapbook.  They also coloured in a recycling sign green and stuck recycled green paper inside it.

They also created a rocket using recycled cardboard and other scraps of coloured paper.  This linked recycling to taking care of our planet.  They played with the rockets for a while pretending to be astronauts and flying in space and then we hung them outside our class.

The children were so interested that I showed them a couple of videos of how astronauts do some every day chores in outer space like washing their hair and brushing their teeth.

 

Practice Ideas For Home

• You can practice the letter formation by using a white board and colourful washable markers using the steps above.
• You can place about 5 objects or pictures on the table, amongst which you have objects starting with the letter r sound.
• Say the name of each object emphasizing and exaggerating the first letter sound of each object and ask your child if that object or picture starts with the letter sound r. This is a skill which needs loads of practice, so don’t get worried if they are not understanding at first what this means.  Praise at this point is very important to build their confidence

We also revised the letters we did so far from the second jolly phonic group by playing a recycling game each item to recycle started with one of the letter such as c-car toy, k-key, h-hat, money, egg and dinosaur toy.

 

Term 1 Week 8 – Letter e

One of the letters for this week was letter e.  As you know from one of the last topic work blogs we took a close look at the Earth.  We associated this with e for Earth.

We also discussed other words which start with the e sound.  These are some words we came up with: egg, elbow, enter and exit, elephant and envelope.  The children discussed amongst them whose name starts with the letter sound e – Emily.

The children also followed the Jolly phonics story for the letter e sound:

Some children are staying on a farm.  In the morning they feed the hens and collect the eggs for breakfast.  They take the eggs back to the kitchen and give them to the farmer’s wife.  She cracks the eggs open on the side of the pan, saying, /e,e,e,e/.

Jolly Phonic Rhyme Letter e sound

Pretend to crack an egg at the side of a pan with one hand.  Use both hands to open the shell saying /e,e,e/.

When saying this letter sound e at home the children might try to stretch their mouths horizontally by putting a finger at both sides of their mouth.

I told them to practice it this way to distinguish it from the letter a sound where you have to open your mouth like in biting an apple.  These two letters don’t have the same sound.

Formation

• Step 1 – Start in the middle, go across.
• Step 2 – and make a c or curve.
• Step 3 – Stop.

We ended the lesson by creating the earth with a small blue circle and splashing drops on blue paint on half of the circle.

They then folded it to create the same image on the other side.  (Introduction to symmetry).  This work is displayed on our wall outside the classroom.

Practice Ideas For Home

• You can practice the letter formation by using a white board and colourful washable markers using the steps above.
• You can place about 5 objects or pictures on the table, amongst which you have objects starting with the letter e sound.
• Say the name of each object emphasizing and exaggerating the first letter sound of each object and ask your child if that object or picture starts with the letter sound e. This is a skill which needs loads of practice, so don’t get worried if they are not understanding at first what this means.  Praise at this point is very important to build their confidence.