In terms 3 and 4 we will be building on the skills the children have already developed and supporting them to:

• Ask questions to find out more and to check they understand what has been said to them.

• Listen to and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding.

• Retell the story, once they have developed a deep familiarity with the text; some as exact repetition and some in their own words.

• Learn rhymes, poems and songs.

• Listen to and talk about selected nonfiction to develop deep familiarity with new knowledge and vocabulary.

The development of children’s spoken Ianguage underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and- forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a Ianguage-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s Ianguage effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. We will continue to reinforce carpet time skills when children are expected to listen attentively, sit comfortably and respond appropriately. Children will benefit from quality literature, using stories with a richness which will allow them to experience and develop a range of vocabulary and language structure.

Communication and language is developed further through our adult directed learning in phonics, maths, PSHE, RE, Music, writing, PE as well as stories and topic learning. Our topics (Term 3 - Space, Term 4 - Knights and Castles) will support the children to  ask questions to find out more and to check they understand what has been said to them. As we read a variety of stories, including those linked to our topics, the children will learn to listen to and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding, retell the story, and once they have developed a deep familiarity with the text they will be able to retell some as exact repetition and some in their own words. Children will develop the skill to listen to and talk about selected nonfiction to develop deep familiarity with new knowledge and vocabulary about Space and Castles and knights. We will learn rhymes, poems and songs such as the planet song.

In terms 3 and 4 we will be building on the skills the children have already developed and supporting

them to:

• Describe events in some detail.

• Use talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and activities, and to explain how things work and why them might happen.

• Develop social phrases.

• Use new vocabulary in different contexts.

As we develop our knowledge of our topics, the children will be developing the skill of describing events in some detail, such as the phases of the moon, the planets orbiting the sun the features of a castle and how to become a knight.  Children will use talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and activities, and to explain how things work and why they might happen as well as use new vocabulary in different contexts. We will support the children to apply this knowledge to their play such as when we are making castles out of junk modelling. Through adult interaction, as well as social interaction with each other, children will develop social phrases.