The children have continued to be fascinated by how plants grow and have been excited about watching more timelapse videos of carrots and potatoes growing under the ground.

The children enjoyed the story, Oliver's Vegetables, by Vivienne French which is about a little boy who explores his grandad's garden looking for potatoes, but trying all the vegetables he finds along the way. We discussed why Oliver was not able to find the potatoes easily and that some vegetables grow underground. We also learnt that we eat different parts of plants, sometimes the root, sometimes the leaves and even the flower! We handled some real vegetables, passing them around the circle, smelling and exploring them. We then sorted them into overground and underground vegetables. 

The children have also been learning how to draw all the different parts of vegetables, including the roots, stem, leaves and flowers. Some children drew potatoes, some drew carrots and some drew onions. They looked carefully at the pictures to ensure they had included all the parts and they were able to talk about what they had drawn using new vocabulary. They produced some really impressive drawings that showed their great understanding of the structure of these plants and they were also able to talk about their function.

In literacy this week, the children have been writing shopping lists for their favourite vegetables. We have been focusing on hearing sounds in words and remembering how to represent these with the corresponding letter. The children were so proud of their shopping lists they wanted to take them home! We have also been learning about rhyme this week and the children have loved all the rhyming stories we have shared during snack time. We focused on understanding that it is the end of the word that makes it rhyme with others and we made rhyming strings such as bug, rug, mug, hug. The children then had fun making up funny rhymes such as a pear on a bear or a parrot on a carrot and they made their own funny Form 1 rhyme book, drawing pictures to match the rhyme they had thought of. 

Following on from last week's pumpkin soup, the children were keen to make some more food to try! Luckily, Mrs Carn had some delicious apples from her apple tree at home, so Form 1 decided to make an apple crumble. The children tried peeling the apples and chopping them into little pieces. We added cinnamon and sugar and then made the crumble, weighing out the butter, flour and sugar. The children tried it at the end of the day and decided it was delicious! 

In maths this week, the children have been learning how to add two amounts together. Using plastic farm animals and squares of grass to represent fields, the children have grasped the concept that adding is combining groups. Rolling a die to generate two numbers, the children then counted out that amount of animals, adding them to their field. Careful one-to-one counting was needed and the children showed accuracy when finding the total of their groups. They have also been introduced to how addition is represented when written down, using the addition and equals symbols. The children recorded their number sentences in their maths books and they are continuing to develop their number formation.

We have also been rehearsing for our Coffee Morning activity and the children are now speaking with confidence, saying their lines clearly and loudly. They have also been singing their songs for Harvest and they cannot wait to perform them for you all next week.