Today in Reception Class
On Thursday’s I volunteer in a primary school, and today was my first day in this schools Reception Class.
To start the day, both class teachers incorporated the current class topic Counting into ‘Morning Movement;’ which incorporates active movement such as: steps, running, jumping, etc, outside in the playground.
Once the children were back inside the classroom and sat on the carpet in front of the interactive whiteboard, the teacher then announced to the class how many pupils were in class today and who (if any) were not in class. The teacher then asked the class if we have 19 pupils in class but one isn’t here today, how many do we have in the classroom today? 19-1=?
The teacher then discussed the days of the week, including a days of the week song, and today’s date. Thursday 26th January 2017.
Later on in the morning, while the pupils were getting ready (washing their hands) for lunchtime, the teacher would wait for all pupils to be lining up at the classroom door and would get everyone to count while she counts them in the line.
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On another day in a year 3 class.
After all the pupils had washed their hands for lunchtime, the teacher would get the pupils to count a times-table (of her choice), for example the 5 times-table, 6 times-table, 7 times-table, etc.
The teacher supported the pupils with their counting and encouraged the pupils to use their fingers if they seemed unsure.
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These school experiences were interesting to observe, as the class teacher was incorporating counting during a typical day in school, so the children could see how numbers can be used throughout the day.