Category: Pioneers Class

A little friend arrived on my kitchen table today and he whispered to me,” I am lost. Can you help me?”
I asked him to tell me about himself and he told me that his name was Mr Puffin. He was migrating and needed to stop for a little rest. He knew that all the children in Pioneer Class were very kind and looked after birds. Some sparrows,a pigeon and a seagull had told him that they often stop off at Sleights C of E School to pick up some snacks. His bird friends had eaten from our bird feeders.
Mr Puffin needs some help to get to his next destination.
Take a look on Google Earth and look for Shetland.
That is where Mr Puffin is going. They have lots of sand eels there and he likes to eat them.
He said,”Thank you Pioneers for being kind and leaving out food for birds. Every little act of kindness will cheer someones day. It doesn’t matter how small you are,you can make a difference.”Pop over to Tapestry to meet him.

Maps are wonderful.
Mr Puffin could use a map to work out where he is and where he is going.
Take a look at these maps.
Can you find Scotland,England,Ireland and Wales?
Can you find Whitby and North Yorkshire?
Mr Puffin wants to fly to Shetland. Shetland is a collection of islands way up north.
The map puts Shetland in a box because it is so far away. It is not really in a box!
Puffins spent part of their year there.
You could talk abut how far the puffin must travel and discuss kilometres.
Put the route into Google Maps and take a look at how to travel to the island of Unst where he lives.
Happy Learning

https://www.shetlandwebcams.com/cliff-cam-3/

Now this one is really tricky and will need a bit of work.

Take a look at Geraldine Giraffe for support with sh.

Take your time and look at all the features of this nonfiction text.

Read together and enjoy.

Here is a suggestion for today’s maths bringing together some measuring concepts.
Use the language of comparison to build up estimation and measuring and checking.
Enjoy

On Tapestry are two versions of the same song by two different sets of artists.
This is not one we have sung in school but I thought that it fitted in well with this weeks work on capacity.
The Muppets had more rehearsal time than we did. It was fun

While you listen look at the pictures I have drawn. You will be able to retell the story yourself.

Enjoy and look out for my video on testing materials!

In the song, they try to mend the bucket with straw. I’m not sure that would work.
It is always interesting to look at materials and their properties.
I had fun in the garden deciding if materials were absorbent or not.
What would you use to mend the hole in the bucket?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zrssgk7/articles/z9pgcdm
This link has some starting points to talk about materials
Have fun. We did!

Play! Play! Play! Play!

This Learning suggestion is great because it is fun and gives lots of opportunities for maths chat.
You can use the words:full,empty ,half full and chat about fractions: a quarter and three quarters.
Ask: What happens if..? and Did you notice…?
You can also talk about higher and lower sounds. If you are interested there is also a free app you can download to show the sound and it names the sound. This might be really popular with some Pioneers.
And you can just have fun making music and playing in the water.
Happy Learning.

This suggestion for today is great for getting talking about maths and science.

What will happen when…

What did you notice

What changes could you see?

When I put the stones in then…

What happens if I add more stones?

How many more stones do I need to make it overflow?

Why does the water level change when I add the rocks?

What is happening when I take the rocks out?

This works best when you can find enough rocks to make it overflow.

I have written a text to go with this which include only sounds we have covered. Your Pioneer will not recognise “Pour”.

You could draw a set of pictures to show what happens when you add the stones or you could take photographs and add text later if you want to do some writing.

Enjoy
Happy Learning.

And here is a suggestion for handwriting.

Have a wonderful day together.

Get out and play!

http://paperaeroplanes.com/index

Now as well as making kites,I am pretty hopeless at making paper aeroplanes.
I am delighted to direct you to a great website with fantastic instruction to help you make the best aeroplanes. Mr Hann was very helpful and made these up for me. He has given them names.

My suggestion is to have a bit of a competition which will involve your mathematical thinking.
Once you have made your aeroplanes,find an open space ,position a start line and throw.
Estimate
Compare
Order
How far do you think “the Lion” will fly? 3 big steps,4 giant jumps or use a stick.How many sticks?
Once you have estimated you could discuss a tape measure if your Pioneer wants to.
Which aeroplane flew the furthest?
If there was a competition for flying the furthest who was 1st, 2nd,3rd…
What would happen if we put a giraffe on top of the aeroplane?

I have taken photographs of the boat making from yesterday.
I have added text that fits with the sounds we have covered along with the tricky words.
You can read this like a reading book
Your Pioneer may like to write their own words or sentences.
You could make your own photostory of boat making or of your aeroplane measurement.
I did this on Messenger on my phone but I can recommend Piccollage if you have not tried it before.

Today, I suggest a Millilitre Hunt. It’s raining so take a look in your food cupboards.
Take a look in your cupboard and look for the ml abbreviation. Can you find any other letters and numbers on the sides of tins and bottles? Why do some have g and some have ml? Can you sort the bottles in different ways?
Look at a measuring jug and the numbers on the side.
Estimate
Compare
Order.

A teaspoon holds 5ml. It is a really useful starting point when talking about ml.
How many teaspoons of water would fill the cup?
Which bottle holds the most?
Which bottle will hold the least?

That’s Maths Magic!

Here is a new reading book featuring the oo sound.
I suggest reading this together a number of times and letting your Pioneer join in.
You could take a look at Geraldine doing the oo sound to help you along and extend this.

Haooy Reading

This week’s book is all about modes of transport. I will make suggestions for learning during the week using ideas in the story.
Aeroplanes,boats,,cars and animal classification to follow.
As always all the posts are suggestions to dip into as you need them. If there is anything I can do to help or to guide please leave me a message on the one to one contact we have set up or have a list ready for me when I ring this week.
Happy Learning.

This week’s maths is measurement. Estimation is always key.
Estimate how many cups of tea you get in a pot.
Estimate how many glasses of juice in a bottle.
Compare and order.
Which jug holds the most?
Which cup holds most?
How do you know?

If it is right for you,take a look at ml and litres and use these in your comparisons too.( More coming later in the week)
Have fun with pouring and filling.
That’s maths magic!

In this week’s story, the camel does not fit in the boat and will make it sink.
I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at making a boat and seeing how much it could hold.
I have used tin foil but you could try out other materials to see what happens.
In maths we are looking at estimating,comparing and measuring.
If you made more than one boat with your family you could compare what each boat will hold.
Maybe your grown up would let you use the weighing scales and you can talk about grams and kilo grams …if your boat is really effective.
Let me know.
Happy Learning

You three words to work on this week are : all,were and little. Write them on postits. Stick them on the fridge.

Here is a link to Mr Thorn reading the tricky words.Have a listen to this one as often as you can during the week.
Do it with the sound on and with the sound off. With the sound off, your Pioneer can pretend to be Mr Thorne and read the words.
Try writing the words if that suits your Pioneer.
Happy Learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sSpqLJUbiQ 

This one was very popular with addition so try it now with subtraction.
Can you mark,correct and finish my calculations please?
Can you show me why some of these are not correct?
Remember to practice your number formation and maybe do a bit of estimating. Don’t get rusty now!

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1numeracy.html

Take a look ar this maths link for some simple games. Try Two digit number labelling for a bit of a challenge and Subtraction to support subtraction!
Happy Counting

I have tried and I have tried but I really cannot get it right. I wanted to build a great catapult to help my Lego friends but it just didnt work.
Perhaps you can help.
Can you build a catapult to fire a lego person up into the tree to do the rescue?
Show me how!
Happy Learning

Stuck is one of my all time favourite stories.
I have started the story map but I need you to finish it for me.
There are too many things stuck in the tree and I simply cannot manage to remember them all!
If you would like to you could draw a story map to help you to retell the story or you could watch my story video with the volume down and retell the story as it goes along.
Have a wonderful day.

All the things are stuck in the tree and they need to get down.
We’ve tried a rocket.
We’ve tried a zip wire.
Now let’s try a parachute.
I have collected some materials to make a parachute. Which one will work best?
Try different material and different shapes and sizes. Can you save Floyd,the firemen,the rhinoceros and Mitch,his cat ?

Here is a little game to play with a number line,a dice and some magic beans.
We started with 6 beans. Roll the dice and give away the correct number of beans.
The winner is the person who gets rid of all of their beans.
You could just play or you could talk about each calculation.You could write down each subtraction !
That’s up to you and your Pioneer.
We just had fun and the counting just happens.

Here is the link to a Numberblocks episode about bigger numbers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0007gcv/numberblocks-series-4-24-land-of-the-giants
Its a good one.
And here is a number square game that you might like to play when it is quiet and it is snowing and hailing:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/chopper-squad.

And a great song,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0dJWfQHF8Y

Happy Counting

That’s Maths Magic

Here is your new reading book.
Over the next few days I will add links to help you focus on ee and oo.
The most important thing is to enjoy reading together so get comfy and have a nice time.

Pop over to Tapestry to see the videos and more photographs to help you.

Happy Learning

Here is another link to some phonics with Mr Thorne. He is Geraldine’s owner

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaumAMxXEzY

You can turn the volume down on this one and use it for reading  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjmsx-XmB5w
Mr Thorne does W
Here is a link to Mr Thorne if you would like to revise this sound.

It Alll Began When Floyd Got His Kite Stuck in a Tree…

Afters reading the story,Stuck,I had lot of ideas of things to make to help to get things out of the tree.
I always enjoy making zip wires.
You can try different angles for your wire and add a variety of weights to see what happens.
I have used lego to make a very simple construction but I am sure that you can come up with your own wonderful ideas to help when things are stuck in the tree.
Enjoy

Right Pioneers,gather up your toilet rolls and count how many you have to start with.
Estimate,count and check.
Set up your toilet rolls and go bowling to play Toilet Roll Takeaway!
Write down how many you have at the start.
Throw the ball or the toilet roll.
Write down how many you knock down.
How many are left?
Have fun.
That’s maths magic.