It has been another busy and exciting week in Dosbarth Pili-Pala. In maths, the children carried out an investigation inspired by The Enormous Turnip. After receiving a letter from the farmer asking for help weighing his vegetables before taking them to Cowbridge Market, the children predicted which vegetables would be the lightest and heaviest. They then tested their ideas using balance scales and weighing scales, measuring the vegetables in grams and discussing whether their predictions were correct. It was fantastic to see the children developing their reasoning, estimating and measuring skills through this real-life problem.

Across the classroom, the children explored a range of enhanced provision activities linked to traditional tales. In the writing area, they created character profiles for their favourite story characters using labels, adjectives and descriptive sentences. Another challenge asked them to help Little Red Riding Hood reach Grandma’s house by creating maps of the forest with symbols and directions. In our digital learning, the children used drawing apps to help the Three Little Pigs design their houses and programmed Bee-Bots to guide Little Red Riding Hood safely through the forest while avoiding obstacles. In our maths area, the children also carried out a data-handling challenge where they surveyed their classmates to find the most popular traditional tale. They recorded their results using a tally chart before turning this information into a physical pictogram to represent the class data. In the reading area, the children revisited Goldilocks and the Three Bears, retelling and sequencing the story using puppets. They also enjoyed a range of creative challenges, including designing royal crowns with repeating patterns, plaiting and measuring Rapunzel’s hair with playdough, and sorting Jack’s magic beans while practising counting and comparing quantities in the fine motor area.

Now that the children have finished making their animal puppets, they began planning their own puppet stories, thinking about a beginning, middle and end and what adventures their animals might have. Towards the end of the week, they started writing their stories. We are looking forward to showcasing their puppet creations next week at Jump Out Day.

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and that the sunshine sticks around for you to enjoy! ☀️