Writing

Year R

Module 1

Mark Making

We have enjoyed mark making inside and outside. We have used pens, pencils, paint pens, board pens, smartboards and chalks to draw and write. We have enjoyed our writing areas and exploring the different writing materials.

DM Physical Development 4-5 . • Use a comfortable grip with good control when holding pens and pencils. • Show a preference for a dominant hand.

DM - Literacy 4-5 Use some of their print and letter knowledge in their early writing. For example: writing a pretend shopping list that starts at the top of the page; writing ‘m’ for mummy. • Write some or all of their name. • Write some letters accurately

DM Expressive Arts 4-5 Create closed shapes with continuous lines, and begin to use these shapes to represent objects. • Draw with increasing complexity and detail, such as representing a face with a circle and including details.

Let the Phonics begin!

We have begun our phonics lessons. We started with the 's' and 'a' sound. We tried hard to hear the first sounds in words and to think of things beginning with that sound. Each week we will complete a phonics activity sheet, which we enjoyed. We focus on the letter formation and identifying the letter shape.

DM - Literacy - 3-4 Develop their phonological awareness, so that they can recognise words with the same initial sound, such as money and mother • Write some letters accurately. Reception - Read individual letters by saying the sounds for them

We have learnt the sounds for the letters s, a, t and i. We have worked hard to hear the initial sounds in words. We have practiced the letter formations for the letters, working on our pencil grip and pressure to form each one carefully. We have also worked on our oral blending and can now blend words segmented by our teachers e.g. b-a-g is bag!

DM - Literacy - 3-4 Develop their phonological awareness, so that they can recognise words with the same initial sound, such as money and mother • Write some letters accurately. Reception - Read individual letters by saying the sounds for them

Drawing Club

We started Drawing Club. In Drawing Club we listen to and explore a book as a class. Using this we focus on the characters, setting and 'I wonder...' statements linked to the book. We then draw a picture to match the focus, writing words and numbers linked to the picture. We are focusing on writing the initial sound in words and some of us are writing the other sounds we can hear when we sound the word out.

DM - Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Character: Leaf Man

I wonder what pet Leaf Man would have?

I wonder where Leaf Man might travel to?

Phonics

We have continued to learn 2 sounds per week and identify words beginning with and containing the sounds. We are focusing on sounding out words and blending them to read, trying to blend our own sounding out. Using this knowledge we are also writing simple CVC words.

DM - Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Drawing Club - Christopher Pumpkin

We explored a new book in Drawing Club. We thought about the characters and the setting for the book and then wondered about what other gruesome characters might attend the Halloween party.

We are trying hard to use the sounds we know to write words for our drawings, such as the witches spell or the name of the creatures.

Vocabulary focus words: celebration, hair-raising, cheerful, surprise, distasteful, terrified, plotting.

DM - Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Character: The Witch

Setting: The Castle

I wonder what gruesome guest might go to the party?

Module 2

Phonics

This week we completed Unit 1 by learning the sounds h and r. We are focusing on sounding out words and blending them to read, trying to blend our own sounding out. Using this knowledge we are also writing simple CVC words.

DM - Literacy - Blend sounds into words, so that they can read short words made up of known letter-sound correspondences. Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Drawing Club - Wacky Races

We adventured into the past this week by watching the old cartoon of Wacky Races. We loved the cartoon and used this as a stimulus for our writing. We learnt more new vocabulary linked to the story, adding actions to help us to understand and remember.

accelerate braking hazard

steering chuckle demolish

overtake transport

DM - C&L - Enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much of what happens.. • Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Character: Every race needs a mascot - what might it look like?

Setting: Design a new vehicle to enter the race.

I wonder what the 1st place prize is?

Drawing Club - Rama and Sita

As part of our inquiry into the Hindu festival of light Diwali, we focused on the story of Rama and Sita. In this story Prince Rama enlists the aid of a tribe of monkeys and the Queen of the seas to rescue Sita from Ravana, The King of the demons.

Vocabulary focus.

swooping warrior cottage

fetching petrified gather halt

searched gigantic island

DM - C&L - Enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much of what happens.. • Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Characters: Rama and Sita

Character: Monkey King

I wonder what the magic arrow looks like?

Drawing Club - Every Bee's Birthday

As part of our inquiry into birthday celebrations we read the story Every Bee's Birthday. The story explores the idea that every birthday is special.

Vocabulary focus.

hatch determined antennae

disappointing bunting blocked hover

merry sneak peer

DM - C&L - Enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much of what happens.. • Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Character: Beetrix

Setting: The party decorations

I wonder what the birthday cake will look like.

Party Shopping Lists

As part of our Inquiry, we looked at what we would need if we were to have a birthday, the children wrote lists on what they would have to buy to have a party.

DM- C&L Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Party Invitations

As part of our Inquiry into celebrations - including birthdays, we learn't about how important it is for people to give and receive an invitation. The children then wrote invitations to their bears for our party on Friday.

DM- C&L Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Drawing Club - Trap Door

We took a journey into the past and watched an old animation called The Trapdoor. We met the character Berk.

Vocabulary focus.

stalking smuggle miniature slink

evade grasp foe dozing

DM - C&L - Enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much of what happens.. • Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s.

Character - Berk

I wonder what other monster will come out of the trapdoor.

I wonder what breakfast Berk will make for his master next?

Drawing Club - The Christmas Pine

As part of our Christmas celebrations, we found out about the tradition of Norway gifting a tree to the UK each year. The tree is then put on display in Trafalgar Square in London. We read the story of The Christmas Pine by Julia Donaldson. We have begun to focus on writing captions and sentences.

Vocabulary focus.

ancient iridescent soaring remote

journeyed gape warble absent

DM - C&L - Enjoy listening to longer stories and can remember much of what happens.. • Use a wider range of vocabulary . Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s. Write short sentences with words with known letter-sound correspondences using a capital letter and full stop.

Character - The Christmas Pine

Setting - The Forest

I wonder how the pine is transported to London?

Writing for purpose

We have used our phonics to write letters. We are applying our phonic knowledge to sound out words and beginning to write simple captions and sentences.

Literacy - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. - Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s. Write short sentences with words with known letter-sound correspondences using a capital letter and full stop.

Writing letters to the cheeky elves that have visited our classrooms

Writing letters to Santa.

Phonics - Unit 1 and 2a

We have worked hard in phonics and have learnt many sounds. We are now using all of the sounds to write words, captions and some of us are writing sentences.

DM - Literacy - Rec - Form lower-case and capital letters correctly. • Spell words by identifying the sounds and then writing the sound with letter/s. • Write short sentences with words with known letter-sound correspondences using a capital letter and full stop.