Donaldson Class

Welcome to Donaldson Class

Class Teacher:

 Miss  G Mason

Teaching Assistants: 

Miss E Baker

Miss E Bell 

Miss C John

Tiffany (Supply TA)

This half term we have looked at "Dear Zoo"

We have had a super last three days in Donaldson Class!

This week we have had lots of fun and enjoyed various activities, especially outside in the shady areas with the nice weather. We have been very resilient and coped so well with the scorching heat. 

We have enjoyed exploring ice, splash pools and enjoying lots of things to keep us cool. We have made dens and enjoyed eating ice pops. On Wednesday, we explored shaving foam with ice cream scoops and cones and in the afternoon some of us went to afternoon tea with Mrs Padgeon and then we all joined together for our final Donaldson party before the summer!

You have all been pleasure to teach this year Donaldson Class and I look forward to seeing you all continue your journey in your new classes. I hope you all have an amazing summer.

Miss Mason and the class team. 

W/C: 15.07.2022 

We have had another busy, super week in Donaldson class. 

In literacy we have been reading the story 'Giraffe's can't dance' and we loved learning about how Gerald could dance by the end of the story. We have completed some activities this week linking to the story including making our own giraffe collage with tissue paper and some of us made our own giraffe bodies using our arms and handprints. The rest of us wrote a sentence about the story, using the word bank to help us. In phonics this week we have used the interactive screen to access the sounds for our listening and reading skills, all groups had games that were suitable for individual levels for phase, 1/2, 3 and 4. 

In maths this week we have been looking at money and how we can use this in real life contexts. We enjoyed using the coins in lots of different ways such as coin slotting in the piggy bank, to matching the coins to the purse and using coins in a real life scenario when we paid for our ice creams in class. 

In topic on Monday, we finished our final STEM activity and we explored gloop and how the temperature of how hands made it melt. On Tuesday, we visited Miss Baker and Miss Bell's ice cream parlour and we bought our own ice creams. We could make requests such as flavours, scoops and if we wanted a flake or sauce. Some of us even used the correct coins for each item such as 1p for sauce, 2p for flake and 5p for a cone. We enjoyed eating these afterwards. On Wednesday in Understanding of the World we went to forest school to collect leaves for Gerald from our story, we enjoyed the page when Gerald was eating the shoots and leaves from the trees. We ate our snack outside with Gerald once we got back. On Thursday it was our 2^nd and final transition day before September and we all did very well in our classes and on Friday we were all very resilient to the changes of being back in Donaldson! On Friday we enjoyed making giraffe biscuits and enjoyed our last rewards on Friday. 

Have a lovely weekend ready to enjoy the last three days of school before the summer holidays! 

Miss Mason

W/C 04.07.2022

This week in literacy we have been reading 'The Koala who could.' We learnt about how brave Kevin was by facing his fear of coming down the tree and meeting new friends, which has linked in very nicely with our first transition day of the week. We did some activities linking to our story including, decorating koala's and making their homes using wood like materials. In phonics the phase 2 group have been using their listening skills to explore various sounds and what they link to. Phase 3 have done 'sh' sound and phase 4 have done the 'lf' sound in words such as 'shelf, wolf'. 

In maths this week, we have been focusing on 'measure - heights'. We have learnt about tall and short and what this looks like with our zoo animals, for example a giraffe is taller than a panda because of its tall neck. We have done activities to support our learning including measuring animals and teddies using cubes and a cut and stick activity with visual pictures of tall and short. 

In topic this week, it has been heavily focused around our 'STEM' week, linking to fun and engaging science experiments. On Monday afternoon, we did two called 'Brilliant bubbles and sneaky shadows'. We learnt all about how we can make different shaped bubbles using a pipe cleaner to help us make different shapes. For the sneaky shadows activity we used a torch, a dark place and blankets. We explored the shadow with our hands and made lots of shapes. On Tuesday we focused on, music maker with bottles and confusing cans. We had to experiment if the heavy or the light can would roll the furthest. On Wednesday, we did 'plant detectives' at forest school and speedy scooters with sand timers for PE, we used different materials to see if the scooters/ bikes went quicker or slower across the surface and how it felt. Altogether, we have to complete eight activities to gain our STEM award, so we have one more activity to complete next week.

On Thursday, we had our transition days to our new classes, some of us stayed with Miss McLaughlin in Donaldson Class and the rest of us moved to Rosen to meet Mr Banks. We all enjoyed ourselves and were very resilient. On Friday, we made Koala biscuits in PSD and we had our stay and play in the afternoon, it was lovely to see many parents attend the session and learn about how lots of us communicate through play within the classroom. 

Next Thursday is our 2^nd and last transition day before September. 

Please find attached the last homework mind map for the academic year and enjoy your weekend! 

Miss Mason 

W/C 27.06.2022

This week in literacy we have been reading 'Through with the zoo' and we learnt about how the goat didn't like to be petted or hugged by visitors and decided to escape from the zoo, but then realised he was lonely without the zoo, so went back! We have done some activities around the story including making our own goat collages and ordering the story from the beginning, middle and end. In phonics this week, phase 2 group have done some 's' and 'a' initial sound matching and played an interactive game called 'In the zoo' practising listening skills, phase 3 have done 'zz' and practiced reading CVC words and phase 4 have done the blends lt and lp, 'belt, felt, melt and 'help, gulp, yelp' and practiced tricky words 'were, out, what'. 

In maths this week, we have been looking at position and direction, we do this in our day to day lives within the classroom, such as following instructions and listening for key words as to where to go. An activity we completed this week was with the stickle bricks and the small world zoo animals. We learnt about different directions the lion had to go such as, 'forwards, backwards, left and right'. Miss Mason made the maze a little tricky for us to have challenge! 

In topic this week, we have been very busy: Including our school trip to the Wild Discovery Park in Preston. We were all very well behaved, used our manners to say thank you to the bus driver and we enjoyed seeing the animals and of course going to the park; it was a lovely day! On Tuesday, in topic we did sensory animals, exploring different textures and habitats such as ice, custard and kinetic sand. We enjoyed waiting for the ice to melt so the leopard could be free again. On Wednesday, we had Miss Baker teaching us and on Thursday in PSD we learnt about germs on our hands by using the green glitter to show us the germs and then we followed a washing hands routine, we learnt important facts about how to keep our hands clean and when we should wash them, such as before eating, after the toilet or playing. On Friday, it was our 'Julia Donaldson day' across the Primary classes and we celebrated this very well, including decorating our own Julia Donaldson character t-shirts by using fabric paints, making our giant characters, reading 'The smartest giant in town' story and making our own giant biscuits. In the afternoon we enjoyed our rewards! (If your child's t shirt has not come home, it is still drying at school)

Next weeks events are: 

STEM week (we are completing 8 science challenges across the week for the CREST awards)

Our first transition day for children to meet their new teacher and class (more information to follow next week) 

Have a good weekend Donaldson Class, 

Miss Mason

W/C - 20.06.2022

This week in literacy we have been reading 'The lion inside'. We have enjoyed this story and learnt about how the mouse and lion became friends no matter of their size or how loud each animal could be. We did some activities around the story including making our own lion collages with forks and paint and some of us wrote captions about the lion underneath. In phonics this week, the phase 2 group have done 'l' phase 3 have done 'y' and 'z' and phase 4 have done 'ft' and 'sk' and learnt tricky words, 'little', 'one' and 'were'. We did an outdoor phonics lesson one day using the chalks on the big playground, we enjoyed this for a change! 

In topic this week we have done communication signing 'lion' and some of us did adjectives to describe the lion, i.e. 'orange', 'big'. On Tuesday in topic, we made our own zoo collages using pictures frames, animal stickers and pipe cleaners to make sure the animals didn't get out, we enjoyed this activity! On Wednesday we had a very busy day in the sunshine for our sports day, we all took part and it was lovely to see so many parents come along to support us. On Thursday in PSD, we learnt about sun safety and this was a perfect activity to go alongside one of the hottest days of the year! We used real life experiences to talk about wearing sun cream, hats and drinking lots of water and how some items weren't very important such as the beach ball and the bucket and spade. On Friday, we had a enrichment day off timetable looking at Spain, we made Spanish flags and had a 'Tapas' tasting session with Patatas Bravas, potato croquettes, tomato sauce and churros for dessert. We also enjoyed a game of Pinata which originates from Spain, we enjoyed the sweets at the end.

Please find below the homework mindmap for this week. 

Next weeks events are:

- Our whole primary trip on Monday

- Whole school Donaldson Day on Friday

Have a fantastic weekend Donaldson Class! 

Miss Mason

W/C 13.06.2022

This week has been a super week and we have enjoyed the weather and being able to use our outdoor space. 

This week in literacy we have been reading "Put me in the zoo!" We learnt about how the leopard could do marvellous things with his spots. Some activities we have done this week are making our own leopard using coloured dabbers to represent the coloured spots, some of us wrote a sentence to go with the picture. Later in the week, some of us got a big leopard template and coloured spots and could make their own leopard with the coloured spots, naming and learning different colours. The rest of us wrote captions and sentences about the story. In phonics this week, phase 2 group have focused on 'f', phase 3 have done 'w' and 'x' and phase 4 have continued doing blends 'mp' and 'nk' in words such as 'lamp, ramp' and 'ink, pink, blink'. 

In maths this week we have continued with our number fluency, we have enjoyed using a choice board to choose our favourite counting songs. Some activities we have done are ordering number quantity to '3, 5 and 10' and the rest of us began to make number sentences to 10 using a dice to recognise a number and amount in different forms. Later in the week, some of us acted out the '10 fat sausages' song using sausages in a frying pan - this is one our favourite songs! The rest of us used numicon to continue to make number sentences up to 10. 

In topic this week, we have been very busy! In communication we signed 'leopard' and some of us signed the coloured spots the leopard has. On Tuesday in topic we did a 'science experiment' and we were all very excited to see if it was going to work. We used skittles sweets to make a rainbow in water, of course we saved some to eat! Some of us have been talking about this experiment all week. On Wednesday, in Understanding of the World, we went to forest school and enjoyed the weather, we explored nature and living creatures including bees landing on the flowers to collect pollen. For PE, we enjoyed practising some of our key skills ready for sports day next week. On Thursday in PSD we looked at oral health and how we take care of our teeth, we brushed the teeth using toothpaste and some of us enjoyed showing Miss Mason how we could brush our own teeth, the rest of us did a challenge of ordering the sequence cards for brushing our teeth and talking about key facts such as brushing our teeth twice a day. On Friday, we enjoyed making our leopard waffles using smarties for the spots and chocolate chips for the eyes. 

Next week's special events are: 

Wednesday - Sports day & Friday - enrichment day - 'Spain'

Enjoy your weekend Donaldson Class! 

Miss Mason

W/C: 06.06.2022

What a super first week back we've had! 

This week in literacy, we have been reading the story called Dear Zoo, this book is very short and snappy and draws our attention to all the animals in the zoo. Miss Mason has been challenging us by not revealing the animals and has been giving us clues to guess the animal such as, colour, features, size, and noise. We have completed some activities around the story this week, including having real life boxes the same colours as the story. We had to put the animals in the boxes and some of us worked as a group to demonstrate our listening skills to key words to guess the animals; the boxes have been thoroughly enjoyed for the rest of the week! Later in the week, some of us did some animal collaging with patterns from different animals and the rest of us sequenced the story. In phonics this week, phase 2 group have focused on 'b' and revisiting 's, a, t, p, i, n' and phase 3 have done j,v and phase 4 have begun blends and clusters 'st' and 'nd' in reading and writing words such as nest, stem, hand, band. We have worked extremely hard this week! 

In maths we have worked on our numbers, some of us have focused on ordering our numbers to 10 using flash cards and the rest of us have been grouping numbers and using the language such as '4 animals in a group'. Later in the week, some of us did some animal stamping to 10 with a 'Dear Zoo' theme and the rest of us practiced our number formation to 20. 

In topic this week, we have done communication: signing our animals from the story. On Tuesday, we had a special friend come into our classroom called 'Oliver', he is Mr Byrom - Jones' tortoise and we were able to stroke, feed and give him a bath. We tried our best to use our inside voices, so we didn't scare Oliver. He even walked across the table to find the lettuce and cucumber, how brave! We loved him so much, that we didn't want him to go. On Wednesday we did Understanding of the World and PE, we linked these together by having a trails and tracks walk on the way to forest school and in the afternoon, we started our athletics and racing. Some of us did this in pairs. On Thursday in PSD, we looked at adjectives that describe the animals from our story and some of us made the faces in the mirror and used the playdough to express these. Some of us even talked about the word 'fierce' and said 'it's like when a lion roars, it's scary!' In the afternoon, we did some cutting skills with Miss Bell and on Friday we made our lion biscuits using strawberry laces for the mane. Also below are pictures of some of our IEP work and fantastic homework from over the half term holidays, well done everybody! 

Have a fabulous weekend Donaldson, 

Miss Mason

In summer 1 we looked at "How does your garden grow?"

W/C: 23.05.2022 

This week has been a very busy week for Donaldson class with lots of new things happening. We have moved into our lovely, brand new classroom. We’ve had lots of time to explore our new environment and get used to all the big space and our new outdoor area. 

In literacy this week, we have been reading “Supertato”. We enjoyed finding out about the evil pea and what he had been up too! We have done some activities around the story including, collaging our own potatoes and making our real Supertatos using actual potatoes. We had lots of fun with these! In phonics this week, we have been doing some phase 1,2 and 3 assessments to see how much we have learnt this half term. 

In maths this week, we have carried on looking at patterns. We have focused on our patterns of routine in the new classroom and what changes have happened. On Friday did some colour patterns using real vegetables. 

In topic this week, we did a mission for Supertato and helped him wash the veggies using soap and warm water! We were able to wash the squiggles that the silly pea had drawn on them. In PE, we have carried on with our different ways of moving and have done more circuits with Miss John. In PSD, we looked at different characters feelings in the story and some of us talked about how the evil pea was silly and Supertato was happy that he saved the day. On Friday, we enjoyed making our own Supertato biscuits and in the afternoon it was our Jubilee stay and play were our Mum’s and Dad’s could come and do some activities with us to celebrate the Queen. We had flag making, party picture props, sensory rice and cake decorating. We enjoyed this lots! 

But most of all we have enjoyed getting into our new classroom and getting settled. Have a lovely half term holiday Donaldson, I am so proud of how resilient you’ve all been towards the move. 

Below is the homework mindmap for over the holidays. I look forward to seeing what you’ve all been up too. Our next topic for our final half term is called "Dear Zoo". 

See you all soon, 

Miss Mason and the team

W/C 16.05.22

This week we have been very busy and have enjoyed the nice weather!

In literacy this week we have been reading 'The Very Lazy ladybird' we liked it when the elephant sneezed and the ladybird learnt how to fly. We did some activities around this story including making our own ladybird homes and painting our own ladybirds using pebbles. In phonics this week phase 2 group have focused on 'h' and phase 3 have focused on consolidating all the tricky words. 

In maths this week we have focused on patterns in time, including looking at day and night time and the days of the week. Some of us looked at simple routines including when we eat our breakfast and when we go to bed. The rest of us did this with lots of routines including, brushing our teeth, having a bath and lots more! Later in the week, some of us role played various scenarios that happen in the day and at night time, such as putting the doll to sleep at night and eating breakfast in the daytime. The rest of us ordered the days of the week using some visual supports to help us. 

In topic this week we learned our signs of the week in communication and on Tuesday we got to meet our real ladybirds and look at the environment they live in. We were really excited to look at them! On Wednesday we took our scarecrow to forest schools and enjoyed talking about how the scarecrow looks after our fruit and vegetables. In the afternoon, Miss John set up an obstacle course outside whilst the weather was nice, we all could begin to follow the track and the instructions, including some key skills such as jumping, hopping, and balancing. On Thursday we enjoyed our Queen's Jubilee craft morning for PSD, we made our own Union Jack handprints and decorated crowns using jewels, I wonder which crown the Queen will like the most? Miss Mason is going to make an A3 collage out of out magnificent work to go up into the school hall. On Friday, we decorated ladybird biscuits using red icing and chocolate chips for the spots and in the afternoon we enjoyed our rewards groups. 

Next week we've lots of exciting things going on including, our Space centre trip, Jubilee school dinner and our family stay and play Jubilee picnic. 

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson Class!

Miss Mason

W/C 09.05.2022

This week in literacy we have been reading 'The Extraordinary Gardener'. We enjoyed looking at the flowers 'as tall as sky scrapers' and how the tiny apple seed grew into a tree. We have completed some activities linking to this story including making our own sensory flower picture using buds and petals that smelt of real flowers, we could smell the scent all throughout our classroom. Later in the week, some of us wrote a sentence/ caption about the story and the rest of us did some flower stamping using paint. In phonics this week the phase 3 group have focused on 'ure' and 'oo' sound and phase 2 group have focused on the 'r' sound. 

In maths this week, we have continued with our measuring using language such as 'tall and short'. We did a whole class project measuring ourselves to see who was tall and short. Some of us didn't like that we were short, but Miss Baker and Miss Mason talked about how it doesn't matter who is the tallest and that we are still growing! Later in the week, we measured bear feet linking to our Rosen theme day. 

In topic this week, we watched singing hands - minibeasts as part of our communication lesson. We signed 'ladybird and butterfly'. On Tuesday in topic we made a class scarecrow by using straw, a school jumper, gloves and a hat. We used stickers for the eyes, mouth and nose and we learnt that a scarecrow scares the birds away to stop them eating the fruit and vegetables that are growing. On Wednesday, we enjoyed moving in various ways by getting active on the primary yard. In PSD, we enjoyed making our friendship recipes, by linking our favourite sweets to attributes that make a good friend such as being, kind, sharing love and being helpful. We loved this activity and we even got extra sweets! On Friday as part of our Rosen day we read the story 'We're going on a Bear hunt' - This is a classic favourite in Donaldson class and to celebrate this story we made bear rolls, by using chocolate rolls, match makers for the legs and edible eyes for the bears 'big eyes'. 

Below is some of our fantastic homework from the last two weeks, I am really impressed with the homework I am receiving. Please find attached the homework mind map that is also in your child's bag. Enjoy your weekend Donaldson Class! 

Miss Mason

W/C 02.05.2022

In literacy this week we have been reading 'What the ladybird heard.' We loved this book and enjoyed when the two thieves fell into the duck pond. We have done some activities around this book including, exploring our mini beast small world tray and decorating our own ladybirds. We had lots of activities linking to our story in our choosing times, including catching magnetic ladybirds using the magnetic rod and other activities. 

In maths this week we have begun to look at measure. We have looked at 'big, medium and small' and some of us have touched upon 'tall and short' (which we are focusing on next week). Some activities we have done include, some of us looking at small, medium and big leaves and being able to match the correct save ladybird to the leaf. The rest of us used the cubes to measure how big each leaf were. We could say sentences such as 'the big leaf is 6 cubes, the small leaf is 3 cubes.' Later in the week, we used different sized spots to put on the ladybirds. Some of us could put these in a straight line up the ladybirds body to see how many spots the ladybird had and the rest of us made big and small spot patterns. 

In topic this week we have been very busy! On Tuesday we had a lady bird picnic! We enjoyed trying different foods that looked like ladybirds such as babybel cheese, strawberry yogurts and strawberries with chocolate icing on them. We could put the spots on the strawberries and enjoyed eating these afterwards. Miss Mason is still waiting for our real ladybirds to arrive so we can have minibeast mascots in Donaldson!  On Wednesday, the weather was a bit rainy for forest school, so we enjoyed trying our new sensory room and doing some 1:1 IEP focus activities and in the afternoon we enjoyed our PE lesson, trying to climb up and across ladders as part of our movement, coordination and climbing skills. On Thursday, we had a theme day across school called 'Bastille day'. We had lots of fun, including listening to counting, greetings and nursery rhymes in French, decorating French flags, collaging the Eiffel tower with pasta and tasting some French cuisine in the afternoon. We tried, croissant and jam and French baguette and cheese. On Friday, we enjoyed making our lady bird pizzas using tomato puree for the ladybirds red body and circle mozzarella and pepperoni for the spots. We enjoyed eating these for snack after our Friday rewards. 

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson, next week's story is 'The Extraordinary Gardener!'

W/C 25.04.2022

We’ve had a super week in Donaldson class with lots of learning taking place! 

In literacy this week we have been reading “Jack and the beanstalk.” We enjoyed the part when the giant said “Fee Fi Fo Fum” and when Jack had to chop the beanstalk down. We’ve done some activities around the story including making our own beanstalk collages, character stamping up the beanstalk and some of us wrote our own sentences about the story. In phonics this week the phase 2 group have focused on the sound ‘e’ and phase 3 group have worked on ‘ear’ and ‘er’ sound within words. 

In maths this week, we have continued our consolidating counting through recognition of the number to quantity. Some activities we did are, putting the correct amount of beans in the numbered pots. Some of us worked on this to 3, 5, 10 and 15 and beyond; we were amazing! Later in the week, some us did some number stamping up the beanstalk and the rest of us used the pots again to look at grouping beans in 2’s up to 10. 

In topic this week we started the week off by watching Mr Tumble tales and learning some new makaton signs for Jack and the beanstalk including “beanstalk, grow and castle.” We all tried really hard to sign these. On Tuesday in topics we worked in two groups, one group decorated their castles and the other group made their real life beanstalks using kitchen roll tubes and green paint, we loved doing this! In Understanding of the World we went to forest schools and planted our own beanstalks; we hope to see these grow in the next few weeks! In PE, we continued to look at different ways to move and we used the apparatus to climb up the beanstalk, we enjoyed climbing and jumping from the top. At the end of our lesson, we chopped them down so the giant couldn’t catch us! On Thursday with Miss Baker, in PSD we decorated our own “magic bean” using coloured paints to represent different coloured feelings such as happy, excited and sad. On Friday, we made our own beanstalk biscuits using jelly beans and in the afternoon we had our rewards groups. 

Please find below the homework mind map for this week, thank you!

Have a fabulous weekend Donaldson, don’t forget it’s May Day on Monday so I will see you all on Tuesday 3rd May. 

Miss Mason

W/C 18.04.2022

Welcome back Donaldson Class! 

We have all settled back into our routines and have had a new friend join our class this week, he has had a super week and is settling into our class wonderfully. 

This week in maths we have been looking at counting. Some of us have done this through our counting songs looking at 'one tomato, two tomato'. We used real life tomatoes and carrots to sing the song and place them on each number, looking at the amount going up each time. The rest of us have looked at one more and one less of a given number up to 10. Some of us found this a tricky concept at first but from the help of a number line; we began to get the hang of moving the peg the different ways for one more and less. Later in the week we did some turnip counting, some of us up to 5 and 10 and the rest of us consolidated our one more and one less using the turnips. 

In literacy this week we have been reading 'The enormous turnip'. We have enjoyed reading this story, we particularly liked when the turnip popped out the ground! Some activities we have done this week have included creating our own turnip collages and writing descriptive words about the turnip, i.e. its colour and what it is. In phonics this week, phase 2 have done messy phonics looking at 'g, o' and recapping 's a t p i n' making different words with these sounds. The phase 3 group have done 'ow' and 'oi'. 

In topics this week we have done some signing on Mr Tumble Tales - The enormous turnip. We signed, turnip, grow and enormous and we also did some squiggle whilst you wiggle turnip and carrot printing using paints. On Wednesday at forest schools, we went on a minibeast hunt looking at the world around us, we caught various things including, lady birds, worms and insects. We also planted some turnip seeds and watered them using the watering can. In PE we began to look at different ways of moving, i.e. running, spinning and movements on the bikes using our feet. On Thursday in PSD, we began to look at 'healthy and unhealthy foods'. Some of us used pretend food to look at which ones were healthy such as fruit and vegetables and not healthy, like crisps, cookies, and pizza. The rest of us used picture flash cards to record this information. On Friday, we enjoyed decorating our garden biscuits using crushed oreos for soil and green icing pens for the grass and in the afternoon we enjoyed our rewards groups. 

Homework mindmaps will resume from next week, have a lovely weekend Donaldson ready for our full week of learning next week! 

Miss Mason

Spring term 2 we looked at "Once upon a time."

We've had a super short week this week, finishing off our topic with 'Early Easter activities' 

In literacy we have been reading 'We're going on an egg hunt.' We were excited to read this story and loved finding the eggs on every page, we especially loved the wolf being behind the big egg on the last page. We have completed two activities linking to our story this week, these were to make our own chocolate easter eggs, following our visual instructions to help us know what to do. Miss Baker melted the chocolate and we helped to mix and pour the chocolate into the egg moulds. We could then add sprinkles to make them colourful and put them in the fridge to set. We enjoyed eating these! On Wednesday we decorated our own Easter egg pictures, with colours, tissue paper and a baby chick to go on top. Some of us could write a caption for our Easter egg. 

In maths this week, we have enjoyed our usual counting songs and have started looking at Measure: Position and direction. We looked at positional language by placing the Easter egg in various places. Some of us could put the egg 'on top, inside, behind, next to and left and right of the box'. The rest of us focused on 'on top and inside'. We all did very well at listening, following instructions and using the visuals to support our learning. 

In topic this week, we did some communication linking to our topic. We watched the signed song for '5 little Easter Eggs' on Singing Hands. We could then sign to Miss Mason what colour egg we wanted, some of us signed, yellow, gold and green. On Tuesday in topic, we made Easter nests/ cornflake cakes. Again, we used visual instructions to help us make the cakes, we could mix the cornflakes and chocolate, pour and scoop into the cake cases. We made so many cakes there was even enough for our friends in Rosen class. Miss Mason was very proud of the children for sharing and handing the cakes out to Rosen; showing kindness and a sense of responsibility. On Wednesday, in Understanding of the world we went to forest schools on an 'Easter egg hunt'. We could find the chocolate eggs and enjoyed eating these at forest schools, in the afternoon we enjoyed our PE/ rewards for our last day.

In your child's bag is the homework mind map for over the Easter holidays and an Easter egg from Miss Mason as a treat for all your hard work this half term! 

Have a fantastic Easter Break Donaldson class, stay safe and we look forward to having you all back on Tuesday 19^th April. 

From Miss Mason and the team. 

W/C: 21.03.2022

What a busy week in Donaldson, we have enjoyed the sunshine this week! 

In literacy this week we have been reading our last once upon a time story, “Little Red Riding Hood”. We have done lots of activities around the story including making our own baskets for Little Red Riding Hood. Later in the week some of us decorated the wolf character from the story using feathers and the rest of us sequenced the story using language such as “beginning, middle and end”. In phonics this week, phase 2 have consolidated sounding and writing “s, a, t, p, i, n” and phase 3 have been doing assessment and consolidation of all the sounds.

In maths this week we have looked at measure (weighing). At the beginning of the week we could explore the scales and weigh different toy foods. We learnt how the scale moved and how it measured the food as “heavy and light”. Later in the week some of us had pictures of scales and symbols to place on the heavy and light side. This allowed us to demonstrate our estimating skills. The rest of us explored the scales again using “heavy and light” symbols for visual and physical understanding. 

In topic this week, we continued with our makaton signing, we learnt everyday symbols that we can use to communicate in the classroom. For our focus lesson we signed different foods in Little Red Riding Hood’s basket. On Tuesday in topic, we made banana muffins by following a symbol instructions menu, some of us could read and point to help Miss Mason with which ingredients came next. On Wednesday, we went to forest schools as a whole class and pretended to be Little Red Riding Hood going to Grandma’s, we even took her basket with our banana muffins for Grandma (except we ate them!). For PE, we enjoyed gross motor movements on the bikes and water play using the water shooter, demonstrating our push and pull skills. On Thursday, in PSD we acted out the story of Little Red Riding Hood using wooden characters and some us expressively made marks using a paint bag. In the afternoon, we made our Mother’s Day cards. On Friday, we made our wolf biscuits using chocolate chips for the wolf’s hair. 

Also below are some pictures and video of some fantastic homework in Donaldson Class, I am very proud!

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson Class and I hope you all enjoy Mother’s Day. 

Miss Mason

W/C: 14.03.2022

This week in literacy we have been reading “Paddington and the disappearing sandwich.” We have done lots of activities around the story, including, exploring what Paddington needs to take on his journey, his suitcase, coat, map and binoculars. We enjoyed using the binoculars to look for things outdoors! Later in the week me made our maps to go to forest schools to find the disappearing sandwich. Some of us used symbols to mark different locations such as school, road, track and forest. In phonics this week, phase 2 group have done some sound matching recapping on “s, a, t, g, o, c, k” and phase 3 group have done “ur” and colourful semantics. 

In maths this week we have focused on “shapes” this has linked in with our story really well as Paddington goes hunting for shapes in the story. On Tuesday, we went on a shape hunt outside, we used the binoculars to find the shapes and some of us could name them. Later in the week, we used shape stencils to draw round the shapes, beginning to name how many sides each shape has. 

In topic this week we have been very busy! In communication we signed “sandwich” and some of us could sign for a specific sandwich I.e, cheese, chicken and banana! We had lots of different ideas as Paddington’s favourite sandwich is marmalade. On Tuesday, in topic we had Paddington’s tea party/ Birthday party for Miss Baker. We enjoyed using the menu to ask for food such as sandwich, crisps and cake. We could try different toppings including marmalade, jam and chocolate spread and we could sign Happy Birthday to Miss Baker. On Wednesday, in Understanding of the World we went to forest schools with Paddington using our maps to find the disappearing sandwich and in PE we carried on with our gymnastics and exercise. On Thursday, in PSD we learnt about sharing and demonstrated this in real life contexts by using the play food to share with Paddington and his friends. We talked about how we feel when we share with our friends. On Friday, it was comic relief and our class challenge was to see how many laps we could do round the primary yard, walking or on a bike and scooter. In PSD, we then decorated our own comic relief biscuits using red icing sugar, edible eyes and black icing pens. On Friday afternoon we had our rewards groups. 

Lastly, this week’s homework mind map is in your child’s bag and attached below here. I hope to give out more homework prizes next week. 

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson! 

Miss Mason

W/C 07.03.2022

This week we have been reading “Goldilocks and the 3 bears.” We have really enjoyed this story and have done lots of work linking to this story. In literacy, we have done some activities including making our own porridge bowls for the bears and some of us could label them. Later in the week, some of us wrote sentences/ captions about the story and the rest of us decorated the bears from the story. In phonics this week phase 2 group and continued the ‘K’ sound, mark making in the porridge and phase 3 have recapped ‘igh’. 

In maths this week we have looked at measure: big, small, full and empty. This has been a lovely link in with our story as we have been able to measure bowls of porridge for the bears and some of us could use the language, big, small, full and empty when talking about “Daddy bear and baby bear”. Later in the week, some of us used symbols and real life measuring to consolidate these skills and the rest of us completed a work sheet with 3 bowls going from big to small and we had to fill the bowls by each size bear. 

In topic this week, we started off the week by doing communication signing “Goldilocks” Mr Tumble Tales. Some of us could sign “bear "and the rest of us signed “Goldilocks” and “bears.” On Tuesday, in topics we made and tasted our own porridge, we could all ask and request for different toppings and some of us showed awareness that we didn’t like porridge, so we asked for toppings instead. On Wednesday in Understanding of the World, Miss Baker and Miss Bell took us to forest schools which is the setting of the Goldilocks story. We could find Daddy bear's chair; it was super exciting! In the afternoon, we enjoyed a carousel of activities including gymnastics in the hall, cosmic yoga in the classroom and sensory porridge walking outside. We enjoyed all these activities! On Thursday in PSD, we looked at the characters from the story, some of us could look at sad and happy bear and making a face using the playdough and the rest of us could use the symbols to match each part of the story. In the afternoon we had Miss Bell and IEP focus time. On Friday in PSD, we made our own bear rice cakes, by decorating a chocolate rice cake with chocolate spread, bananas for the ears and blueberries for the eyes, these were very tasty. This week we celebrated a classmates birthday, we had cake and he were very happy sharing his birthday with us. 

Finally, I am sending homework mind maps out every two weeks. When your child completes any homework, they will be able to choose a prize from the “homework prize tin”. I hope this will encourage more children to do some activities set out on the mind map. If you’ve any questions or need any further support on this, please write in your child’s home learning diary or alternatively please don't hesitate to email me. 

Have a great weekend Donaldson! 

Miss Mason

W/C 28.02.2022

We have been very in Donaldson class this week, with lots of different things going on such as Pancake Day and World Book Day!

This week in literacy we have started our story linking to our 'Once upon a time topic' by reading the story 'The Three little Pigs', the best part of the story was when the wolf ran away from the 3 little pigs. We have done lots of activities around the story including decorating pig masks and exploring the 3 little pigs small world tray with straw, sticks and bricks to build. Later in the week some of us did pig stamping using a pig and brown paint for the mud and the rest of us sequenced the story in order. In phase 2 phonics this week we have looked at the sound 'k' for kite and phase 3 group have looked at 'igh', we will continue looking at these sounds next week. 

In maths this week, we have been looking at patterns through real life materials linking to our story. At the beginning of the week, we decorated the 3 little pigs houses by using different materials such as shreddies for straw, lolly pop sticks and bricks with paint to make the pattern. We enjoyed manipulating the materials to show cause and effect. Later in the week, we made our own model houses for the pigs using playdough, lollypop sticks, shreddies and bricks. 

In topic this week, we have been very busy! On Monday in communication, our focus sign was 'pig', some of us could sign the title of our story 'The 3 little pigs' - we enjoyed watching Mr Tumble tales that signed the story to us. On Tuesday in topic, it was pancake day, and we had a 'pancake party' with lots of pancakes and toppings to choose from, we all sat together and communicated using our Makaton menu to choose the different options. Most of us sat for 15/20 minutes; Miss Mason was impressed! On Wednesday, in Understanding of the world we went to forest school, and we looked at the real-life materials linking to our story, we could find, sticks, bricks and the rest of us enjoyed the mud! In PE we carried on with our gymnastics and we used the hall to begin to practice different types of rolls such as, forwards roll and sausage roll, we enjoyed using the gym balls and doing our cosmic yoga. On Thursday, it was World Book Day, we were all very excited when all our friends and teachers came dressed up - our theme in Donaldson was 'Be a star, be Wonder Woman!' We enjoyed listening to the story and doing fun activities like making our own 'wonder wands' and baking and decorating paw patrol cakes. On Friday, in PSD we decorated our own '3 little pigs' biscuits using pink icing sugar and foam sweets for the nose. We have also started our speech and language groups and our new rewards groups in the afternoons. 

Have a fabulous weekend Donaldson!

W/C 21.02.2022

This week has been a super week back in Donaldson Class, we have settled back into our school routines and activities. 

In literacy this week, we have read the story "Some parts are not for sharing" linking to our focus week "Pantosaurus - Nspcc". We have talked about keeping safe, who can help us and what "trusted adults" can help us. We completed some activities around the story, like decorating our own underpants using lots of colours and designs. Later in the week, some of us wrote a sentence/ key word about the story and the rest of us decorated some fish from the story. In phonics this week, the phase 2 group have focused on 'c' and phase 3 have done 'or'. 

This week in maths we have explored number and counting. Some of us have explored number to 5, number bonds to 5 and the rest of us have done number bonds to 10 and begun to make number sentences using the number block cubes to help us. Later in the week, some of us did an addition sheet to 5 and 10 and the rest of us explored fish in the water, by throwing them in the water to count, linking to our class story this week. 

In topic this week, we did communication signing 'people who help us' in the community. We focused on signing 'teacher' and some of us did 'teacher' and 'help me' together. On Tuesday, in topic we decorated our own gingerbread people as a whole class, we used edible paper to make the underpants and used icing pens, edible eyes and sweets to decorate. On Wednesday, in Understanding of the World, we went to forest school with our wellies on and we learnt about being safe on the road and in the car park, some of us spoke about what we do to keep safe such as, holding hands, looking left and right and listening for cars. We enjoyed wearing our wellies; splashing and squelching in the mud. In the afternoon we started our new PE topic "gymnastics and dance" and we started by using the gym balls to do some cosmic yoga in small groups; we all really enjoyed this! On Thursday, in PSD we looked at pictures of the 'trusted adults' that work with us in Donaldson Class, some of us recognised who the adults are and the rest of us used symbols and labels to talk about how our teachers help us in school. On Friday, we enjoyed rewards time using iPads and choosing our favourite educational videos and games. 

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson!

Next week is a very exciting week as it is pancake day on Tuesday 1^st March and 'World Book Day' on Thursday 3^rd March, letters have gone home regarding World Book day. 

Last half term we looked at "Colours".

W/C: 7.02.2022 

(Children's mental health week)

We have been very busy enjoying lots of different things in class linking to our focus week! 

In literacy this week we have read a story called "kind". We learnt about what things we can do to be kind to our friends and the world around us. We did some work around the story including making our own friendship hand, we added lots of colour and emotion stickers. Miss Mason stuck them together to make a 'Kindness hands chain'. Later in the week, some of us decorated a flower using artificial flower petals and the rest of us wrote a sentence or key words about the story. In phonics this week, the phase 2 group have focused on the 'o' sound and phase 3 have done tricky words and recapping the 'ar' sound.

In maths this week, we have focused on patterns and we have looked at these in lots of different ways, such as colours and objects. Some of us could use the small world-coloured animals to make a pattern with up to 2 colours and the rest of us used some animal cards to make a pattern of up to 3 animals. Later in the week, we had a 'Kindness' jar laminated from the story and we used different coloured smarties to make a pattern on the jar; we even got to eat the smarties afterwards!

In topic this week we have done lots of different activities linking to kindness including, signing feelings 'happy' and 'sad'. On Tuesday, the worry monster snuck into our story bag, and we had to look after him. We had a 'Kindness' tea party in the afternoon with love heart shaped sandwiches, biscuits and barny cakes. We used our menu to ask for what we would like. Worry Monster chose to have a biscuit! On Wednesday, we went to forest schools on a welly walk and splashed in the puddles with Miss Baker and Miss Bell. In the afternoon we had a special PE for our last week's session by having a sensory session as well as outdoors. On Thursday, we made our own "Kindness" sensory bottles in PSD, using different food colouring, water, baby oil and sequins. On Friday we made our own 'kindness pancakes' by making a love heart shape, adding strawberry jam and laces. 

Happy half term Donaldson Class, stay safe and we look forward to seeing you on Monday 21^st February. 

Miss Mason and the team. 

W/C: 31.01.2022

This week in literacy we have been reading "Maisy's Chinese New Year". We have learnt a lot about Chinese New year such as how they celebrate with the colour red as a sign for luck. We completed some activities around the story such as, making our own Chinese lanterns and learning key words from the story. We did an activity with Miss Baker using red envelopes and coins as a Chinese tradition giving a gift of 'luck'. Later in the week, we practiced writing our names in Chinese, even Miss Mason, Miss Baker, Miss Bell and Miss John did theirs too! 

In maths this week, we have looked at numbers and patterns and this linked in nicely with Chinese New Year. We looked at Chinese numbers 1-10 and practiced writing them, some of us did 1-3, 5 and 10. We tried really hard as some of these were tricky. Later in the week, we matched coloured pompoms to the lanterns, some of us could count the pompoms and some of us matched them by colour. 

In topic this week, we have been very busy. In communication, we signed two more colours this week, including "orange" and "green" animals linking to Chinese New Year. Some of us signed the animals as well as the colours. On Tuesday, we had a Chinese New Year party, trying lots of new foods like noodles, spring rolls, prawn crackers and fortune cookies. We all sat together and used the Chinese menu to ask for food and we even tried to use the chop sticks. On Wednesday, in Understanding of the world we went to forest school and pretended to be a Chinese dragon, we enjoyed exploring the forest. In PE, we looked at the colours of traffic lights using the cones, we were able to follow the coloured signals using the bikes to stop, get ready and GO! On Thursday, in PSD we explored coloured noodles, linking to the feelings, happy, excited and angry. Some of us said: "I'm feeding the dragon happy noodles" and one of us fed the dragon "angry" noodles and after that he breathed fire. On Friday, we decorated our own lantern biscuits with red icing sugar and gold sprinkles to represent 'luck'. 

Below are some of our IEP (individual education plans) work this week: 

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson, next week is mental health week!

W/C 24.01.2022

This week has been another busy week in Donaldson Class.

In literacy this week, we have read 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see.' We have done lots of activities around the story including creating our own Brown Bear collages using paint and tools to make different marks. Later in the week, some of us have done some colour and animal matching and the rest of us have read the sentences and solved the mystery of which animal it was. In phonics this week, phase 2 group have focused on the sound 'g' and did an activity with letter stencils and sound splat using the tactile sensory hands! The phase 3 group have focused on the sound 'ar' this week, applying this in their reading and writing. 

In maths this week, we have focused on 3D shapes and have explored these in various ways including shape printing in paints and grouping/ matching shapes. Whilst using the shapes in the paint we explored how some shapes could roll and we could feel the pointy edges and corners on some too! 

In topic this week, we have been very busy! In communication we signed some more colours and this week we focused on brown and pink. We each had to sign one of the colours to receive the teddy from Miss Mason. In motor skills we did some dough gym with Mr Banks. In topic for Burns night we decorated some sheep using paper plates and cotton wool (there is also a sheep in our story!) On Wednesday, in understanding of the world we went to forest schools and went on a hunt for some bear foot prints, we all found them and some of us were very imaginative and found different parts of the bears home, including the bears bed, fire and bath; we even left berries out for his tea! In PE, we used the coloured hoops and different coloured materials to throw into the hoops. On Thursday in personal social development, we have been learning about our friendships and some of us could find different friends, say their names and talk about similarities and differences such as some of us have black hair or brown hair. On Friday, in PSD again we decorated our 'Brown bear' biscuits using chocolate spread, edible eyes and oreos for the ears.

Next week we have got a very exciting week; learning about Chinese New Year. 

Have a fabulous weekend Donaldson!

W/C 17.01.2022. 

This week has been a very busy week and we've all worked so hard! 

In literacy this week we have been reading 'The blue balloon', we all got very excited when Miss Mason pulled a blue balloon out the bag. We have been very engaged with the story! We have done some activities linking to the story including, decorating our own balloon pictures using balloon materials, stickers and coloured pens. Later in the week, some of us did some balloon painting using a balloon to dip into the paint and the rest of us did some writing and letter formation practice linking to the story. In phonics this week, phase 2 group have been practising 'm' and 'd' and phase 3 have done 'oo' and 'oa'. 

In maths this week we have been looking at 2D shapes and we have looked at these in a range of ways including matching the shapes by the colours and naming the colours. We could all group the shapes and some of us named each shape. Later in the week, we printed the shapes in balloons and some of us wrote the shape names. 

In topic this week, we started the week off with communication by signing the colours, we practiced signing 'red' and 'yellow'. We consolidated our learning by signing to Miss Mason to ask for a red or yellow balloon, some of us could sign the colour and please; Miss Mason was very impressed! On Tuesday we did some sensory/ tactile experience painting using bubble wrap around our feet to walk in the paint, some of us didn't want to use our feet, but used our hands instead, we had great fun! On Wednesday in Understanding of the World we got very active and went to forest school with our rocket balloons, we loved chasing them around the forest and one even got stuck in a tree, oh no! In the afternoon we did PE using the coloured hoops, we loved chasing them and some of us could listen and follow instructions about the colours. In PSD, we looked at two feelings linking to our story 'happy' and 'scared'. We learnt why Kipper felt scared when he thought the balloon was going to pop, we then decorated our own balloon faces. On Friday, we made our own balloon chocolates using a mould and sprinkles! In the afternoon we had rewards. 

Have a fabulous weekend Donaldson!

Miss Mason

W/C: 10.01.2022

This week has been very busy in Donaldson Class. We have got stuck in with our new Spring term topic. 

In literacy this week we continued with our story 'Elmer', we have really enjoyed listening to this story and we especially loved the page when Elmer said BOO! We then did some activities to consolidate our learning around the story. These were creating our own Elmer patchwork pictures using paints and sponges. Later in the week some of us did some elephant stamping, writing the initial sound 'e' for elephant and the rest of us did some writing about a page from story. In phonics the phase 2 group have recapped 'p, i, n' and phase 3 have looked at 'ai' and 'ee'. 

In maths we have continued consolidating counting and have practiced this in lots of ways, including counting elephants, some of us did this to 5, 10 and 20. We have looked at grouping the elephants into colours and size. Later in the week, we did some elephant stamping representing each stamp as a number. 

In topics this week we have been very busy. On Monday we did motor skills as a whole class project decorating Elmer with lots of coloured stickers and we did communication with Mr Banks. On Tuesday we explored learning colour names and matching them by using the cars and the paints to park the cars to the correct colour, we loved pushing the cars through the paint! On Wednesday in 'Understanding of the World' we did whole class baking by sitting round the table together and baking Elmer biscuits; some of us talked about the ingredients. In PE we played a game of 'Hungry hippos' using the coloured cones. Miss Mason shouted a colour and we had to collect the most cones, this got tricky as Miss Mason shouted more than one colour, we loved this game! On Thursday in PSD, we did group work learning about 'Good' and 'not good choices' we looked at the flash cards and some of us were able to explore the faces on the cards and the rest of us could talk about where each card went and why. On Friday, we decorated our Elmer biscuits with icing sugar and coloured jelly beans to represent Elmer's patchwork and in the afternoon, we had rewards time outdoors and iPads. 

Have a great weekend Donaldson!

05.01.2022 - 07.01.2022

This week has been a shorter week and we have all been settling back into our school routines and have had a super start to the new year!

In literacy we have started reading the story 'Elmer'. We have learnt that Elmer is different from other elephants because of the patch work colours. We have started activities this week linking around the story including making our own Elmer masks, they were all colourful and unique to us. We will be continuing this story next week. In phonics this week some of us recapped the sounds s, a, t so Miss Mason could see what we have remembered. 

In maths this week we have listening to our favourite counting songs and have been looking at consolidating counting. Some of us could look at counting the mood monsters from 1-5 and the rest of us did to 10 and beyond. 

In topics this week we have done some parachute and group games in PE, communication/ makaton signs of different family members with Miss Baker and in PSD we have looked at exploring our emotions and feelings by looking in the mirror and making a playdough face. Some of us even used emotion cards to match our faces! Also, we have made our own Elmer pancakes and decorated them using chocolate spread and different fruits for colour.

Have a lovely weekend Donaldson ready for a full week of learning next week!

In Autumn half term we looked at "Celebrations".

W/C: 13.12.2021 

This week has been a very busy, different and exciting week in Donaldson class. 

There’s been so many different things happening everyday. 

For our final week before Christmas we have read “The Christmas bear.” We loved finding out about what the boys favourite toy was in the story. We have done lots of Christmas activities this week including decorating our own Santa Claus using cotton wool for his beard. We have made our own 2022 calendars showing the seasons in our own expressive way including Easter eggs for spring time, bucket and spade for summer, leaves for Autumn and snow for winter. We really enjoyed making these. On Thursday, we made our own reindeer food using Oats and some magic glitter to give it some sparkle, we were very good and spooning the mixture into the cup carefully. We also made our own Santa strawberries; we enjoyed the cream the most. On Friday, we made our own Christmas ornaments to take home and decorated a gingerbread house. 

In other news: 

This week we performed our nativity scene by signing Away in a manager not once but twice… we performed for the Seniors Monday and on Tuesday we performed for the parents and guardians. We did fantastically and Miss Mason was very proud of how well we sat, signed and sung along to Away in a manger. It was lovely to see some of our parents there and we were very grown up coming back to class and not getting upset. On Tuesday afternoon we had our Christmas party. We had games like pass the parcel, music and equipment in the hall. We joined Rosen class and really enjoyed ourselves. On Wednesday, we had party food for dinner, it was very tasty! 

On Thursday, Miss Mason’s sister and nephew kindly donated us lots of new toys for us to play with. We were very enthusiastic to get stuck in and play with all our new toys. We were very grateful for these and we are learning new skills including sharing and taking turns.

In our bags this week is a Christmas file with all our own Christmas crafts that we’ve made this week, these include: Santa craft, paper plate baubles, pictures of us from the Nativity dress rehearsal, making reindeer food and Santa strawberries, our 2022 calendar, Christmas card and our reindeer food. We really hope you like them! 

Lastly I just want to say have a fantastic Christmas break Donaldson, stay safe and see you all in the New Year on the 5th January. 

From Miss Mason and the Donaldson team. 

W/C: 6.12.2021

This week we have been getting in the Christmas spirit in Donaldson class. We have begun counting down the days until Santa and making our classroom all Christmassy.

In literacy this week, we have read 'Dear Santa'. We loved finding out what was behind the different presents and some of us could even guess what the gifts were from the shape of them. Some activities we have done in literacy are: Decorating our own Christmas presents using tissue paper and a coloured bow for the top of the present. Later in the week, we made our own paper plate baubles using paints and glitter, we could select our own bauble with a different shape cut out the middle of it. In phonics this week phase 2 group have focused on the 'd' sound and phase 3 have done the 'ai' sound. 

In maths this week we have continued with our 'position and direction topic' and we have done some activities to consolidate this learning from the previous week. We explored the beebots again and used a track for the beebot to follow. Some of us could give the beebot a one sequence instruction of 'forwards' to the presents and the rest of us could give the beebot a sequence of instructions including forwards, right and left. Later in the week, some of us stamped using paint to get to the presents and some of us could write different letters, captions and instructions to get to the presents.

In topics this week, we have done motor skills where we practised using the scissors to cut the snowman out and add different parts including arms and a face. On Tuesday, we had some sensory snow play and we enjoyed making our own snowmen and some of us really thought it was snow and wanted a snowball fight! On Wednesday, it was Christmas dinner day which was very exciting and daunting for some of us. We were all very grown up and ate in the hall together, it was nice for our teachers to sit together and eat with us. In the afternoon, we had Christmas films and popcorn! On Thursday, we made salt dough ornaments to sell at the enterprise bingo, we made these all by ourselves. On Friday, we made melted snowman biscuits using icing sugar and marshmallow sweets. We ended the week with Christmas videos and songs. 

It has been a very busy week in Donaldson, 15 sleeps till Santa! 

Have a fabulous weekend, 

Miss Mason

W/C: 29.11.21

This week in literacy we have been reading “The dinosaur that pooped Christmas”. We found the story hilarious, especially when the dinosaur ate everything. We did some activities around the story including making our own dinosaur winter pictures using white paint in a spray bottle. Some of us wrote a sentence and key words about the story and the rest of us did some dinosaur footprints using paint. In phonics this week, the phase 2 group worked on “m” and phase 3 worked on “ch” and “th”. 

In maths this week we have started looking at “position and direction”. We did some activities around this by exploring beebots. We could all programme the beebot by pressing buttons and watching the beebot move. Some of us could use a beebot manual to give the beebot some instructions using language such as “forwards, backwards, left and right”. Later in the week, we had to help the dinosaur get to the food so we gave the dinosaur some instructions to get to the food. We all worked really hard!