Exploring Countries
This week our theme was countries around the world. We enjoyed leaning about the following countries:
South Africa– After locating South Africa on the map, the students learned that Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and that Cape Town is known as the Mother City as it was the first western settlement established in our country. There are 11 official languages in South Africa, but English, Xhosa and Afrikaans are widely used. We also know that South Africans eat a wide variety of foods similar to most western countries. Some traditional foods are biltong, rusks, potjiekos, braai, samp and beans, melktert and bobotie. The South African flag represents the coming together of our Rainbow Nation in the new democratic South Africa. The students loved decorating the South African flag.
China- The students discovered that China is the fourth largest country and that the capital city of China is Beijing. The national flag consists of a red background and five golden-yellow stars. The Chinese are known for eating a wide variety of foods. The staple foods however, are rice and noodles accompanied by vegetable or stir fried meats. The Lantern Festival is a fun festival where people flock to the streets with a variety of lanterns under the full moon, watching Lion or Dragon dancing and lighting up fireworks. The students made a dragon during art and craft time.
Australia- We did Aboriginal Art while we learned more about Australia. Australia is the only country that is also a continent. It is also one of the driest places on earth. It is a multicultural country and they have cuisine from all over the world including Greek, Middle-Eastern and Asian food as well as good English fish and chips.
Russia- We made a Russian cityscape collage during art and craft time. We learned that Russia is the world’s largest city. Russians enjoy eating caviar or fish eggs, served on little pancakes called ‘blini’ topped with sour cream. Borscht, a hearty soup made from beetroot is also very popular during the cold winter.
We enjoyed learning about these countries and we will discover more about France, England, Spain and America next week.
Martie van Dyk
Reception Teacher
Super Sums In Reception
In Reception, the students have been learning how to write addition and subtraction sums. Leading up to learning to write sums, the students learnt about more and less. We practised finding numbers that are more or less than a given number using a number line. The concept of ‘one more’ helps students understand that numbers can be increased or added to, to make them bigger. ‘One less than’ teaches students that numbers can be decreased to make them smaller.
The students were introduced to Mr Plus using an online video lesson on Google Classroom. Mr Plus is a very friendly fellow who drives a big red bus. He always wants to add the numbers together so they can play together in a bigger group. So he puts the numbers together to make his sums. The students started out with picture sums. They also practised making sums in fun ways with games, dice, dominoes and play dough mats. The students then progressed to working out sums by drawing their own pictures above the number. They were taught to count on when adding the numbers together. The students had a lot of fun trying to write their own sums on a whiteboard. Addition sums were also practised on worksheets at home and during focus group lessons with their teachers via Zoom.
Last week the students were introduced to Minnie Minus. He is friends with Mr Plus and all the numbers, but the numbers have to keep a close eye on him, because he is always taking away. The numbers taught him to always ask permission to take away from the bigger numbers. This made everyone in Number Land much happier.
The students have started off with picture sums. They are learning that the pictures refer to the first number in a subtraction sum. The second number shows how many to take away and the answer is what is left over. These sums have been practised again this week by following online videos on Google Classroom and during their focus groups on Zoom with their teachers.
The students are extremely excited and proud to be writing their own sums and this is really evident in their smiling faces when sharing their work on Google Classroom. We look forward to having a lot more fun learning about our super sums.
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Teacher
