Gnome

What is that?

Week 5

This week we read 'Dragon Post' and this inspired us to write letters.  We learned about how to write a letter, what to put on the envelope and where to stick the stamp. We even had our own post box to post our letters.  A dragon arrived in our castle and we had fun making up stories for the dragons in our small world.  We painted dragons with Sheridan and designed dragon eggs with Lauren.  Wonder which magical creature will visit us next week?

Week 4

This week our story has been 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and we have been learning about why fairy stories can be slightly different.  We have had so much fun role playing in our new castle, it has a drawbridge and everything.  We have planted our own 'magic' beans and can't wait to see if they grow like Jack's beanstalk but we really don't want to meet a giant.  We have also been learning about 9 and 10 and how they fit in with the other numbers.  Reading day each Wednesday is working really well and we are all practising our sounds lots at school.  Mrs Blackman and Miss Mills are very proud of our achievements and how quickly we filled up our pompom jar so we had a little tea party on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate.

Week 3

This week our book was a favourite of lots of the Gnomes.  We have been reading The Gruffalo.  There was lots of discussion between the children as they used the stick puppets to retell the story.  Everybody made some Gruffalo crumble which was delicious, I have been told.  Making a playdough Gruffalo was great fun.  Have a look at our photos to see what they looked like.

Week 2

This week we shared the book 'Freddie and the Fairy' which was really funny.  Freddie kept mumbling his wishes and the fairy kept on getting things wrong.  The book made us think about speaking out clearly and using our good manners.  There were lots of fairy inspired tasks in class this week.  We could untangle the fairies on our finger gym, make up stories for the fairies in our small world and make fairy soup.  We have been thinking about different fairy stories, fictional characters and the structure of stories.  It has been a busy week.

Week 1

This week we have been reading the 'Gnomes' Winter Journey' and this has led us to think about maps and routes.  The gnomes had a feast with their cousins and we have been having feasts in our role play cafe.  Our writing task this week has been to describe a fairy tale character and we are very proud of our achievements so far.  Check back again next week to see some examples of our writing.

Seasons Come, Seasons Go!

Week 7

This week has been all about the Nativity.  Thank you to everyone who squeezed into the hall to watch our Gnomes and Elves.  They were amazing.  Miss Mills and I are very proud of each and every one of them.  Our book this week was 'The Snowflake Mistake' and we learned about how each flake is unique.  Just like us.  What a fantastic end to the first full term as Gnomes.  Can't wait to see everybody in 2020.

Week 6

This week our book was called Here Comes Jack Frost.  In class there were lots of different tasks related to frost, snow and ice.  We talked about how we know that winter has arrived and the changes we could see around us.  In the absence of real ice, we used polystyrene to make an ice berg for our Polar animals to live on.  We also found out why polar bears don't eat penguins.  Do you know why?

Week 5

As the weather has turned colder we have started to think about Winter and what happens to animals and plants during this season.  We shared the book 'One Snowy Night' where Percy the park-keeper ends up sharing his bed with his animal friends from the park.  We visited Sherwood Forest for our third Wild Sherwood session and the focus was on team work.  We worked together to build shelters large enough for us to get inside.  Simon was our Forest School leader this time and he tested our knowledge of trees and animals.  He was very impressed and Mrs Blackman was very proud of us.  Have a look at what we have been getting up to this week.

Week 4

This week we learned all about spiders and owls.  That was because in our book called 'Tree, Seasons Come, Seasons Go' both a spider and an owl lived in the tree.  We voted to see who liked spiders and 21 out of 30 people liked them.  We learned lots of interesting facts about both spiders and owls.  Did you know that not all spiders spin webs?  Did you also know that there are five different types of owl which live in the UK?

Week 3

'The Very Helpful Hedgehog' was our class book of the week.  We heard how Isaac the hedgehog was a bit of a loner and didn't really like to talk to anyone.  But one day all that changed.  We discussed how we help other people and who helps us.  We also learned about nocturnal animals and what animals do in the winter.  We learned which animals hibernate or migrate and which just manage to survive. Our 'small world' had lots of natural materials which we could use to make animal habitats.

Week 2

This week we really enjoyed joining in with our book, 'We're Going on a Leaf Hunt' and even made up our own part to add to the story.  We have learned all about trees, how they grow and why they are important to us.  In class we had our very own 'tree' which we could decorate with beads, ribbons and pegs.  It looked really beautiful and made us work hard at our fine motor skills.  We have also enjoyed learning outdoors, which we still did even when the rain was pouring.  Check out our photos to see what we have been getting up to.

Week 1

This week our book was The Weather Girls and we have been learning all about the seasons and weather.  We have been exploring lots of Autumn items which you kindly gathered for us on your adventures.  We have made pictures, used them for counting and all sorts of other exciting things.  It was also our second session of Wild Sherwood.  What a brilliant time we had in the forest, we were so lucky with the weather.  Take a look at our photos to see what we have been getting up to this week.

Half Term 2

This half term we will be looking closely at the 4 seasons and how they change throughout the course of a year.  We will investigate trees, woodland animals and our ever changing weather.  Keep checking our class page for weekly updates on what we have been getting up to and remember to email any exciting things you have been doing at home too.

Week 7

For the final week of this half term we have been reading 'The Enormous Turnip' and have investigated a range of fruit and vegetables.  We looked at how different the fruit and vegetables were on the inside to the outside and used them for printing.  We have been investigating the number 5 and how it can be made using other numbers and showing this using a part/part/whole model.  Check out our photographs.

Week 6

This week's book was 'Commotion in the Ocean' and we imagined that we had been diving to the bottom of the sea in a submarine.  We looked out of the porthole to see what we could spot.  We saw dolphins, octopuses, jellyfish and much more.  We found out that 'facts' are real things and that sea creatures have some pretty amazing facts.  Did you know that an octopus has three hearts?

Week 5

This week we read 'Grandma Bird' together.  We thought about what Grandma and Noi might be thinking at different parts of the story and also how we could describe where things were in the illustrations.  We used language such as above, below, next to, on top of, under and in.  The children spotted that the birds were different sizes so we looked at ordering animals by their size and introduced the vocabulary of size.  It was also our first trip to Sherwood Forest this week.  Here are some photos of our week 5 adventures.

Week 4

Our book this week was 'The Storm Whale' by Benji Davies.  We heard all about the whale being washed up onto the beach and then Noi taking it home and putting it in his bath.  This inspired us to learn about animal habitats and what they need to survive.  Our role play is now a fishing boat with a magnetic fishing game so we explored magnets and made boats to test if they could float.  We have also been sequencing and ordering numbers and making paper plate whales.

Week 3

This week we shared the book 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch' and learned all about lighthouses.  We followed instructions to make sandwiches and then had a picnic to enjoy them.  We focussed on the number 3 as that was how many scavenging seagulls stole Mr Grinling's lunch each day.  Here are some photos of our learning from this week.    

Week 2

This week our focus book has been The Rainbow Fish.  Our Gnomes have been counting shiny scales on the Rainbow Fish and sequencing the story.  They have also been 'catching' fish with nets, building boats and completing lots of other fishy themed tasks.  Here are some photos.

Week 1

During week 1 our new Gnomes explored our learning areas and had lots of fun.  Here are a few photos of what they were getting up to.

Our first topic is 'Beside the Sea' and there are lots of fun activities lined up for all our new gnomes to enjoy.

If you haven't sent in a holiday picture yet, please email to me (dblackman@gateford.notts.sch.uk) as soon as possible.  I love seeing where you have all been.