This week, we have been excited to kickstart our new inquiry all about puppets. On Monday, we began by sharing our ideas through a KWL grid, thinking about what we already know about puppets and what we would like to learn as our inquiry develops. This helped us shape the direction of our learning and sparked lots of curiosity and questions.

Our 'Jump' In Day was a truly special way to begin. The children arrived to find a theatre set up in the classroom, with puppets waiting to be discovered and no explanation given at first. This immediately encouraged wonder and discussion. Later in the day, our class puppets, Bella and Luke, arrived with a letter explaining that something strange had happened after school – the puppets had come to life but had forgotten how to move and tell their stories. They needed help from some very important experts… us!

Throughout the day, the children explored a wide range of puppets, including sock puppets, hand puppets, finger puppets and more traditional styles. They experimented with how each puppet moved, the emotions they could show and the sounds they might make. The children stepped into role as puppeteers, sketched puppets they noticed, explored sound effects and even created a shadow puppet performance. Using the puppets to bring stories to life encouraged imagination, collaboration and early storytelling, filling the room with creativity and excitement.

In maths, we have been focusing on one more and one less. The children explored this concept practically, pictorially and symbolically, using resources and movement to show how numbers change when one is added or taken away. They explained their thinking using mathematical language, building confidence and understanding.

In literacy, we continued our work on instructions. The children practised identifying bossy verbs and time or sequence words, sequencing pictures and choosing appropriate verbs to match each step. They challenged themselves to use a wider range of time words when giving instructions, developing both their oral and written language skills.

It has been a wonderful start to our puppet inquiry, and we are really looking forward to what’s to come. As part of this learning, we are very excited to share that Puppet Play will be visiting us on Thursday 12th February to explore puppets with the children. More details will follow soon.

We would also like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to all our families for your incredibly kind and generous contributions to our Amazon classroom wish list. We are extremely grateful for your support, and the children have already been so excited to explore and use the new resources, which will enrich their learning and play even further 🫶🏼