Blog 9 - 22nd Nov

A very cold and snowy start to our week, needless to say we wrap up warm and got out onto the field to explore the frost! 
 
We have been really busy this week learning all about the story of The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. This story is a class favourite and the children know it quite well. Many of you will have a copy of the Gruffalo at home and if you do - see if your child can tell you the story by remembering lots of the key phrases and refrains. If you haven't, we've attached a version from Iplayer that you can watch together. 

As well as listening to the story, the children have really enjoyed creating their own Gruffalo paintings and Gruffalo pictures, which are on display in our classroom.  We decided to revisit the skills of scrunching and ripping tissue to make pictures as some children needed support with this last week. The aims of these activities were not only to develop our fine motor skills, but to develop vocabulary. Before making their pictures the children had to describe the Gruffalo and select the appropriate materials and colours. For example, he has ORANGE eyes, a black tongue and PURPLE prickles. Most children could remember the key features of the Gruffalo but some needed to look closely at the soft toy as a prompt. Vocabulary is so important for making meaning clear to others and so developing vocabulary is something we do continuously in Nursery and the children will have lots of opportunity to develop this in the year. 

 To go alongside making their own stories, many children have been using the characters as props in almost all areas of the classroom! Again, this is a great way to develop a good understanding of the story and build upon their communication and language skills. 

 Next week we will be making and baking real 'Gruffalo crumble' and enjoyed eating it too. 

Wrap up warm this weekend everybody and take care, 

Ms Farrar