The Squeaky Story

As our Primary Writing Project continues, the children in Reception have been busy learning 'The Squeaky Story'. The use of story mountains provide children with a visual representation of the story that they are all able to follow and actions help to embed the pattern of the story.


Exposing children to as many different stories as possible, as well as repeating favourite stories, will support children on their journey to becoming independent readers and writers.


Have a go at sharing 'The Squeaky Story' with your child tonight and see how many actions you can pick up on!!

The Squeaky Story

Once upon a time there was a little girl and a little boy who went to stay with their Grandma.
Just before bed, Grandma said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, and closed the door……


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a cat….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door……
and the cat said, ‘meoooow!’ 


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, ‘What you need is a dog….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a sheep….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a cow….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’
and the cow said, ‘Mooooo!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!


So, Grandma said, what you need is a horse….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’

and the cow said, ‘Mooooo!’
and the horse said, ‘Neighhh!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a pig….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’
and the cow said, ‘Mooooo!’
and the horse said, ‘Neighhh!’
and the pig said, ‘Oinkkk!’ 

but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’

So, Grandma said, ‘OK’ - and she - Took away the cat - meow!
The dog - grrrr!
The sheep - baa!
The cow - moo!
The horse - neigh!
And the pig - oink!

Then she said ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door……

and the children fell fast asleep.
Shhhhhhhh!

The end.

Mud Pies

This week the nursery children have spent some time exploring the mud kitchen during CIL and created some amazing mud pies.

Outdoor play (especially messy outdoor play!!) is a fantastic way for children to explore different areas of the curriculum. In this photo we can see three children working on their communication and cooperation skills as they share resources and work out what they are making, developing their physical skills as they mix and stir and handle tools and growing their vocabulary through experimenting with different textures and materials.


For children, play is key in developing skills that they can use as they learn throughout their school and adult lives.




For children, play is learning.


"Play is the highest form of research" - Albert Einstein

Take a Walk Little Bear

Across the school, the children have been hard at work learning lots of different stories as we put our Primary Writing Project into practise.


In Reception, we have been leaning the story of a little bear who followed a bee in search of some tasty honey. The children have been using pictures in the form of a 'story mountain' as well as actions to help them remember how the story goes so that they are able to tell it to their friends and teachers.

 

Jessica's Little Bear 'story mountain'

Some children even had a go at turning their favourite stories from home into a story mountain!

 

Hungry Caterpillar 'story mountain' by Bradley

Learning and retelling familiar and much loved stories is such an important part of learning to read and write for children and using pictures to represent a well known story in this way gives children the opportunity to practise their writing and reading skills, even before they know how to read and write!!


To make the story come to life even more, the children discovered exactly what the little bear was hunting for by tasting honey and discussing why they thought he was so keen to find some.

If you would like to find out more about the Primary Writing Project then please talk to your child's class teacher or follow the link for more information... Primary Writing Project

The universe is made of stories, not atoms - Muriel Rukeyser