Author: Liz Allen

….to notice and make sense of similarities, differences and changes in nature and the wider world
In the garden we are noticing signs of spring and the changes as plants and trees grow buds and leaves, and flowers and blossom start to appear. We will be growing cress and planting and caring for beans and seeds. The beans won’t grow as quickly as Jack’s magic beans, but we can see how they grow in this amazing video.
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/kidney-bean-and-spinach-plants-soil-cross-section-time-lapses
We have spotted some frogspawn in our pond, which we will be watching carefully. We will also be thinking about recycling and how to care for our nursery environment, and the planet.

This term in
Oak room we are
learning...

….to listen to and re-tell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk
Our core book this term is another traditional tale, Jack and the Beanstalk. We are reading the Nick Sharratt rhyming version, as well as alternative versions to notice the similarities and differences. We will be using story maps, props and story stones for re-telling, as well as learning an action song (see over).
….to hear and notice the initial sounds in words
We are noticing the initial sounds in our names, and other objects, through songs, games and stories. We will be learning about alliteration, when words start with the same sound, and making up silly alliterative strings and tongue twisters— Lovely Leo likes licking lollipops, ten terrible tigers try teaching tennis. Why not have a go.

….to make yummy pancakes
Linked to pancake day, we read the story of Mr Wolf’s Pancakes. We noticed the characters from other stories and rhymes (who weren’t very helpful in this story) and enjoyed the surprise ending! You can hear the story together here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_x-GDKYsJo
We have been making shopping lists, playing shops and making both pretend and real pancakes. At snack time we remembered the ingredients from the story and added them to a bowl, before all taking turns to whisk and stir and make a smooth batter. The adults cooked the pancakes but we were able to watch one being flipped. We were worried the pancake would fall on the floor! Everyone enjoyed trying the yummy pancakes.
At circle time we learned a new song called 5 crispy pancakes in a frying pan which helped us to notice that a quantity changes when one thing is taken away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyAVMa8uifo
In the garden we have been playing What’s the Time Mr Wolf? and trying to take the same number of steps as the number that the ‘wolf’ calls out. It’s quite tricky to count and step at the same time but we’ll keep practising when we play the game again during explore time. Why not try the game together at home. This website shows how to play https://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/What-time-is-it-Mr-Wolf.pdf

There was a boy whose name was Jack
There was a boy whose name was Jack, name was Jack, name was Jack There was a boy whose name was Jack Long, long ago
He sold his cow and got some beans....
His mum was cross and threw the beans.....
The beans they grew and grew and grew....
Jack climbed the beanstalk up and up....
He found a hen that laid gold eggs....
The angry giant followed Jack......
They cut the beanstalk with an axe....
Now everybody’s happy now.....