Week 3 - 16th November 2020

This week in maths we have been comparing objects by length, thickness and weight. We have been learning the appropriate vocabulary to describe and order the objects and finding out that there is a lot to confuse you in the English language. When we look at a tower of cubes that are standing up, the 'biggest' one is described as being 'taller'. If you lay the towers down, the 'biggest' tower is no longer taller, but it is 'longer'. Discussing the weight or mass of objects also revealed confusions-we talk about weight, but we are weighing, not weighting. The 'biggest' object is 'heavier', not stronger, but you might have to be strong to be able to lift it. If one of the objects in a set of balance scales is 'lighter' than the other, the other object is 'heavier', not 'darker'!

We will continue to explore the appropriate language to compare objects next week. Please help your child by encouraging them to use the correct vocabulary at home and discuss any misconceptions.

Thank you

The children have been working really hard on their phonics in class and it is clear from their progress that they have also been practising at home. Thank you for all your hard work! As a result, we can work on securing blending skills in reading and we have also been trying to write simple 3 letter words.

You can support your child by:

• learning the letter sounds in the phonics pack
• putting 3 letters together to make a word-say the sounds then blend them together to read the word
• practising writing letters
• saying a 3 letter word slowly to hear the sounds and writing the letters to represent those sounds

Online games (and reading books) are on the Phonics Bug website

username: your child's first name and initial of last name (eg SamH or FredGD for a hyphenated last name)

password: Shenley

school code: gpwk