This week we have been learning all about Chinese New Year. We learned who celebrates CNY and how they prepare for it.  We learned about Dragon Dances and listened to and made Chinese music to go with the dances.

In PE we performed our own Dragon Dance along with the beat of a drum.  We covered ourselves in a long sheet and walked in a long line together just like the dancers.

We learned that red is an important lucky colour at CNY and made our own Chinese lanterns, decorated with Chinese symbols and gold glitter. They look great! We learned about the way in which CNY is celebrated. Ask your child how people prepare!

We also listened to the story of The Great Race and know that it is this story that explains why each year is named after an animal.  2024 is the year of the Dragon. We made our own dragon puppets, decorated lion and dragon heads and made Hong pow envelopes, which the Chinese give as gifts at CNY with money inside.

We wrote about the story of The Great Race in our books; choosing a few sentences to write about our favourite parts.

In maths we compared length and height and measured the height of different objects in our classroom, using non-standard units. The children chose to measure the heights of the objects using cubes. They then recorded their measures pictorially on paper, using drawings and their own marks and numerals to show their understanding. We use language to compare, such as ‘the bottle in taller than the jug.  I know because it is 8 blocks high and the jug is only 4’.  We also really enjoyed measuring ourselves on our class height chart.  We read the story of Titch, which is all about comparing height.

This month we are celebrating people from the LGBTQ+ community who have had great achievements in medicine. We learned about Sophie Jex Blake (Born 1840) who wanted to become a doctor.  She had to fight prejudice so that she, as a woman could attend university and study to become a doctor. She then set up two medical schools. She paved the way for women in the future to follow their dreams.  We then made rainbow hearts at the art table to show that everybody is different and can love who they want to love.

In Monster Phonics this week, we have learned the phoneme ‘oa’ and met Miss Oh No! It also featured in our Floatella story (which was the story of Cinderella with a twist!)  We wrote and read many words with this sound in.  Our tricky words for this week are: come, some, were, one.  They are the next set to be sent home.

World Book Day is on Thursday 5th March. Please look our for more info on this on ParentHub. The children are invited to dress as their favourite book character of your choice.  Have a lovely weekend and we will see you next week.