English Reception Spring Captions and Instructions

1. What can you see in winter?
2. Winter senses
3. Winter page
4. More winter pages

1. Winter signs
2. Extending vocabulary
3. Writing captions
4. Ice investigation

1. Winter den role play
2. Snowflakes and icicles
3. Snowman maths
4. Icy water

1. Share and enjoy The Bear’s Winter House, looking at illustrations. What made the other animals unhappy? Ask children to spot the signs of winter.
2. Share book & discuss how bear built his winter house. Children mime and say each step, ‘First, collect branches and logs. Next, scrape up soft moss. Then, hammer the logs into…’ etc.
3. Share book discussing how the bear felt about the behaviour of his guests. Did they notice that bear was not happy? What rules would have helped them behave better?
4. Introduce Thinking about the Seasons: Winter, explaining that this is an information book which we can use to find out facts about winter. Use the question boxes to prompt discussion.
5. Reread Thinking about the Seasons: Winter. Focus on animal adaptation, ‘migration’ and ‘hibernation’

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: I Made a Little Snowball and Here We Go Round (see resources)
Introduce on Monday (send a copy home). Rehearse and chant during week, waiting to go to lunch, on carpet, for fun! Develop performance and add actions.

Essential texts
What Can You See in Winter by Sian Smith
The Bear’s Winter House by John Yeoman

Websites
Winter from bbc.co.uk/cbeebies
Animation about icicles and being cold from bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

Resources
Photos from winter walk
Winter clothes, fairy lights, twigs, buttons
Floating/sinking objects for water tray

1. The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark
2. Sleepover instructions
3. Shared instruction writing
4. In the dark

1. Comforting word bank
2. Writing instructions
3. Writing instructions continued
4. Sharing instructions

1. Role-play books
2. Night sky
3. Frozen treasure
4. Explore the dark!

1. Share The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark with its beautiful illustrations.
2. Read the story with children joining in with the ‘Dark is…’ sentences.. Discuss the different things that were enjoyable in the dark. Have children been to a firework display, looked at stars, sat round a camp fire, etc?
3. Read All About Animals in Winter, another information book. Point out contents page, index and glossary. Which words do we know the meaning of? What have we found out from reading this book? Can anyone tell us a fact?
4. Reread All About Animals in Winter. Can children act out the actions of the different animals as you read the text? You may need some extra space for this!

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Twinkle Twinkle & Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear (see resources)
Introduce on Monday (send a copy home). Rehearse and chant during week, waiting to go to lunch, on carpet, for fun! Develop performance and add actions.

Essential text
The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson

Resources
Books about winter
Pictures of the night sky, dark paper, foil
Facility to freeze small toys in ice, food colouring
Dark fabric/blackout tent, fairy lights, torches, mirrors