| Topic | Seal’s topic this half term will be exploring ‘Space’
Each week we will explore a new story related to Travel and holidays. During each week we will engage in a number of activities that are topic related. Your child will be encouraged and supported to explore and engage in each of these activities at a level that meets their individual needs. The holistic approach to learning in Seals class will allow your child to progress at a pace that is suitable to their individual needs and abilities within a rich and enabling environment.
Your child will regularly bring home information on their individual learning targets, individual targets may change in line with the topic, as and when experienced or consolidated. Each pupil will have individualised timetables to work alongside our class time table. Each individual timetable highlights targets taken from your child’s personal targets such as EHCPs, Sensory enrichment plans and communication plans. Your Son/Daughter’s individual timetables and current PLGs will also home at the beginning of the term, if you have any questions or require an additional copy please do feel free to contact me.
Please do feel free to explore individual targets at home, it would be great to hear about your child’s experiences via their home School book, here are the themes we will follow this half term, including key signs and stories of the week.
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| Suggestions for Learning at Home | Activities and exploration of learning will be as follows, each activity will be linked to our topic of ‘Space’ or directly to the story of the week.
Total Communication will be running throughout each activity and working alongside children’s individual Communication plans, we will be learning topic related words/signs and symbols found in our stories. We will continue to work throughout the half term on contextual words that support requests, play and social situations.
Daily activities - Each day after registration we will continue to take part in a number of activities such as –
Number songs
Disco dough
● Exploring listening skills and comprehension.
● Fine motor skills and dexterity
● Following direction-pinch, roll, splat etc., forward, backward, numbers 1-5
● Tactile discrimination
Wake up shake up
● Exploring listening skills and comprehension, following instructions
● Gross motor-wake up shake up.
● Recognition of body parts, feet, hands etc.
● Moving around the room safely/spatial awareness.
During our Multi-sensory Listening and Attention sessions we will be exploring our individual PLGs and communication targets/SaLT programmes. This will involve attention and anticipation activities, following instruction in activity songs, exploring our listening skills and expressing our preferences to stimuli. A is our Music topic, we will be using instruments to instruments to compose and perform a musical accompaniment to one of the following ‘Space’ songs- The solar system song, The planet song or Sun, moon and stars. |
| Curriculum Area | Subjects |
| Maths | In maths we will continue to take part in exploratory activities that are related to numbers between 5-10-recognising these numerals, (moving on to numbers up to 20. Where appropriate) representing these numbers, making sets of these numbers as well as exploring the concept of more/less. We will also be exploring 3D shapes. We will be using 3D shapes to build rockets and represent planets in our Solar system, we will use 2D shapes to create stars, and we will explore our early number skills to count stars, planets and all things space related too. We will be exploring counting to and back from 10 to launch rockets and lots, lots more.
Throughout the week we will also be exploring the following areas
Position & Direction
Exploring space around and engaging with position and direction, such as pointing to where they would like to go
Reaching to touch and beginning to explore big and small objects.
Exploring the form of objects
Moving blocks / objects with purpose
Investigating fitting inside and moving through spaces
Enjoying filling and emptying containers
Moving our bodies and toys around objects and explores fitting into spaces
Begins to remember their way around familiar environments
Responding to some spatial and positional language
Exploring how things look from different viewpoints including things that are near or far away.
Pattern
Experiencing patterned objects and images
Beginning to predict what happens next in predictable situations
Joining in with repeated actions in songs and stories
Anticipating meaningful events in response to object / song of reference.
Initiating and continuing repeated actions using preferred mode of communication
Becoming familiar with patterns in daily routines
Joining in with and predicts what comes next in a familiar story or rhyme
Correctly identifying object/song of reference for part of school day
Beginning to arrange items in their own patterns, e.g. lining up toys
Place value
Showing awareness of the difference between one or lots from range of sensory stimuli.
Showing response to number rhymes and songs e.g. anticipation.
Becoming aware of number names through their enjoyment of action rhymes and songs that relate to numbers
Looking for things which have moved out of sight
Exploring collections of objects.
Responding to words like lots or more
Creating collections of objects in play showing awareness of contrasting quantities.
Finding/matching (by eye pointing, gesture...) photo of object ‘the same’ from a selection of two.
Using number words like one or two and sometimes responds accurately when asked to give one or two things.
Properties of Shape
Exploring differently sized and shaped objects
Beginning to put objects inside others and take them out again
Stacking objects using flat surfaces
Responding to changes of shape
Attempting, sometimes successfully, to match shapes with spaces on inset puzzles
Pushing objects through different shaped holes, and attempting to fit shapes into spaces on inset boards or puzzles
Beginning to select a shape for a specific space
Eye/hand points to direct the actions of another to put shapes into matching space.
Enjoying using blocks to create their own simple structures and arrangements
Sorting objects which are the same
Choosing puzzle pieces and tries to fit them in
Recognising that two objects have the same shape indicated by preferred mode of
communication.
Making simple constructions
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| English | This half term we have a focus on Non-Fiction and instructions, this area of learning will run through our routine and structure in class, following instructions, timetables and supporting symbols. Available in our reading corner will be factual books about, space, the sun, the moon and the solar system. We will be listening to and exploring songs related to space, the sun, the moon and the solar system too. This will accompany are stories of the week activities which continue to include daily story time, mark making activities, listening activities, activities focussed on the story of the week, sensory exploration related to the each story.
Here are a list of some the stories of the week that we will be focussing on-
1. Whatever next-Jill Murphy
2. Back to earth with a bump-Ebook Twinkl
3. Here we are-Oliver Jeffers
4. Aliens love underpants.-Claire Freedman
5. On the way back- Oliver Jeffers
These are additional areas of learning that we will be exploring.
Reading
Showing an interest in and exploring sounds made by banging and tapping familiar objects and simple instruments
Showing a response to rhythmic activities in storytelling
Showing anticipation of repeated refrain or key moment in a familiar story or rhyme
Beginning to join in with actions and/or sounds in familiar book sharing experiences.
Noticing pictures and symbols
Beginning to recognise what pictures and symbols stand for within their familiar experiences
Recognising and decoding a single symbol
Begins to respond to pictures in familiar book sharing experiences
Recognising and decoding a sequence of at least two symbols.
Handling books, printed and digital reading material with interest e.g. tactile books, symbols, pictures, photographs, electronic devices
Starting to engage when being read to by familiar people
Being interested in and anticipates books and stories and may have a favourite
Having some favourite books or stories
Writing/mark making
Manipulating objects using hands singly or together, e.g. squeezing water out of a sponge
Hands start to operate independently during a task that uses both, with each hand doing something different at the same time
Using a combination of independent movements in play e.g. grasp, release, throw, bang, drop, using one hand or two hands
Tolerating hand over hand support from adult during play/learning activity eg. to complete a task, to request/exchange a PECS symbol.
Enjoying the sensory experience of making marks e.g. in food, damp sand, water, mud, paste, paint
Attempting to use tools to interact with materials, e.g. crayons, chalks etc.
Beginning to understand the cause and effect of their actions in their mark making
Enjoying drawing and writing on paper and/or in different media, e.g. in sand or playdough, foam, paint, styling gel
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| Creative (Art, Craft and DT) | will involve exploring Colour, shape, texture and frame structures. |
| Exploration and investigation | we will be exploring the Movement of moon and Earth, as well as day and night. We will do so by exploring the shape of the moon, sun and planets, their sizes in comparison to each other, which is biggest/smallest. We’ll be making moon sand and discovering ways to manipulate it with our hands and tools. |
| Motor skills development | As well as our usual motor skills activities will including-Pencil control, hand eye co-ordination activities, puzzles, which are topic related-and life skills such as cleaning, tidying away, laying the table, locating objects in their correct place. We will work on our individual Physio and SE plans alongside our motor skills too. |
| Relaxation | To draw our busy week to a close we will take part in a number of relaxation activities on a Friday afternoon, such as yoga, foot spas, massage mats and time for reflection. We will explore how we feel before, during and after these sessions as well as how to activate such resources. |
| PSHE | Keeping safe out and about, we will be exploring road/safety for pedestrians, the rules for basic road safety. Exploring our own responsibilities towards personal safety such as dressing appropriately for the weather and taking precautions such as applying sun cream, hats gloves or sunglasses, or being safe during transitions. |
| Things to try at home. | At home you might wish to further explore/discuss our solar system as well as its planets and stars.
Try involving your child in discussions about the sun and moon and when they appear in the sky-day/night? When you ask ‘where is the moon/sun?’ does your child look to the sky?
Maybe spend some time outdoors after dark to see if you can spot any stars, count them, and compare their sizes-big/small.
You could try creating a space themed edible sensory tray- blackcurrant jelly, star shaped cereal or foods, using different sized circular biscuits to represent planets. This is a great way to explore our topic using items that pupils engage with using their senses, by touching, tasting, smelling and seeing.
Maybe a quick game of Boules, using a yellow ball to represent the sun, and using the others as planets, who can roll their planet closest to the sun?
We would love to hear if you have any star/galaxy projectors or lights at home, do you find them useful for relaxation?
Please feel free to comment in the home/school book or send me an email-swebster3fr7@nsix.org.uk
Enjoy
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