Monday 6th, October, 2014 - Phonic Sound 'i'

It is that time of the week again and we are thinking about the next sound in our phonics journey.  This week we are introducing the sound 'i' not to be confused with its partner eye!  We are talking about itchy, igloo's, ink, ingredients and insects.  So this is how I am proposing to approach the sound....

I have found a great book 'itchy bear' by Neil Griffiths, I think that we can all relate to an itchy bear.

This week we have volunteers a plenty with Tracey-Anne volunteering to provide us with our natural ink activity.  She is going to be helping you and your child to whittle a twig with a potato peeler and use natural ink to create lovely art on the bits of cloth we will provide.  Natural ink can be made from the natural supplies we have in the surrounding area.  If you can find any blackberries left we could make purple, any part of an oak we can make brown, nettle tops make yellow (please bring some gardening gloves if you have any!) sweet chestnut twigs make a brown ink as do conkers and elder berries give lovely blues and purples. Or we can mix a little mud in a bowl with water and that makes a nice deep brown ink.

Another idea is hammering leaves, this will need to be supported by yourself as I feel that we could have a few hurt thumbs if we leave it to the children alone!!!

I think finding a snack beginning with 'i' is going to lead to us taking artistic licence.  Helen Hurren is going to be making us some fairy cakes so that we can talk about the 'i'ngredients used to go in the cake.     I am going to try to make some 'i'njera bread, which is an Ethiopian bread suggested by Annabel Bradbury that consists of water, flour and a pinch of salt.  Paul Taylor has said that he is going to man the BBQ this week so we should be able to cook them fresh.  I think they are a little like pancakes, obviously if there is anyone more experienced at this please help.  

We will of course be providing our usual coffee, juice and biscuits, but you may need to bring any other refreshments your child may require during our time in the wild!

Jo Frost has offered to build us an 'i'gloo using our willow twigs and a sheet, I think she could use some young assistants to make this.

Marina will be assisting with the administrative tasks of taking the register and collecting the funds. This is going very well and we are hoping to connect with the friends of Etherow at some point to ask for their advice on how to spend the money we are raising in order to improve our little area.  

Neil is going to be making insects from leaves, pine cones and berries.  

We look forward to seeing the return of Ranger Steve, but last week he was called away on urgent business in rural Wales, so hopefully he has returned safe and sound and back to our little group.

I would like to thank every one who has attended Mini Rangers, I was so excited last week to see so many interested and happy faces.  The children all seem really engaged and eager to meet the challenges set up for them.

In our circle time this week I will be introducing a few instruments.  I will bring all the instruments that I have, but I feel that it won't be enough, so if you could bring an instrument with you that would be brilliant.

As always looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.  

Melanie Commins
EYTS