As part of our 'Seaside' topic this week we will be focusing on the story of 'Lucy and Tom at the Seaside' written and illustrated by Shirley Hughes. Parents/carers I have highlighted the key vocabulary in purple that you should encourage your child to use and have put questions you should ask them in bold.

Before starting the video/opening the book look at the front cover, here is picture of it below:

Point out the author, who is the author? What does an author do? Look at the illustration. What can you see on the front cover? What do you think the story is about? What do you think will happen? 

Here is a link to the story:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAzz_vMO1I8
 

Questions for parents/carers to ask about the story:
What were the children's names?
How was Lucy helping mum to get ready for their trip?
What did Lucy and Tom bring to the beach
How did the children get to the beach?
Why is it harder to swim in the sea than the swimming pool near their home?
What features did Lucy and Tom's sandcastle include?
What happened to their sandcastle? Why?
What are the other people doing on the beach?
What do Lucy and Tom find in the rockpool?
Why were there donkeys on the beach?
What is the last thing Lucy and Tom do before they go home?
Do you think Lucy and Tom enjoyed their day at the beach? Why?
After listening to the story which thing would you like to do most at the beach and why?

Key vocabulary: author, illustration, front cover, character, event, beginning, middle, end, setting, donkey, harness, tide, rockpool, moat, turret, tunnel, picnic, arm bands, waves, beach, paddling, bathe, bathing suits, seaweed, speedboat

Writing

Each day encourage your child to describe the seaside using their senses as follows:

Day 1: Ask your child to imagine they are on the beach. Ask them to write a sentence about what they can see. Encourage them to use some descriptive words in their sentence and if possible write a couple of sentences.

Day 2: Ask your child to imagine they are on the beach. Ask them to write a sentence about what they can smell. Encourage them to use some descriptive words in their sentence and if possible write a couple of sentences.

Day 3: Ask your child to imagine they are on the beach. Ask them to write a sentence about what they can feel. Encourage them to use some descriptive words in their sentence and if possible write a couple of sentences.

Day 4: Ask your child to imagine they are on the beach. Ask them to write a sentence about what they can hear. Encourage them to use some descriptive words in their sentence and if possible write a couple of sentences.

Day 5: Ask your child to imagine they are on the beach. Ask them to write a sentence about what they can taste. Encourage them to use some descriptive words in their sentence and if possible write a couple of sentences.

Depending on how challenging your child finds it to write choose whether they write one simple sentence each day, write a longer sentence (use 'and') or write more than one sentence. You can find more information about how to help you child with writing by referring to the 'How to write a sentence' information sheet in your "Home Learning" envelope. 

Encourage your child to form letters correctly and write nearly remembering spaces between words.

Key vocabulary: letter, word, sentence, Fred Fingers, gap/space, full stop, describe, character, setting, place, event, conflict, problem, beginning, middle, end

In the story Lucy and Tom enjoy going for a swim in the sea. Design some swimwear that you would like to go swimming in. It could be swimming trunks, a costume or a suit. Start by drawing an outline of a person, if you find this tricky parents can help with this. You can decorate your swimwear in any way you choose using felt tips, pencils or collage materials. What colour will it be? What patterns will you use? How long will the trunks be? Will the swimming costume have sleeves? Will you have pockets? Why?/Why not?Why

Key vocabulary: swimwear, costume, trunks, suit, sleeves, pockets, pattern, colour, material

In the story the children go on a donkey ride. Watch these video about donkeys:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPp2RbmHwFE

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0acEkZ1vwXg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K6jPKQScEXk

Make an information booklet based on donkeys. An information booklet contains true facts about something. It isn't a story.

To make the information booklet fold an A4 piece of paper so it looks like a book, draw a picture of a donkey on the front cover and the title of the booklet. Inside the booklet write information about donkeys and add pictures if you wish. Continue on the back of you need to. What do donkeys eat? Describe what a donkey looks like. What is a female donkey called? What information will you include? What will you draw? 

You may want to use the internet with the help of an adult to find out more about donkeys.Perhaps you could come up with some questions about donkeys and see if you can find the answers on the internet.

Key vocabulary: information, facts, sentence, rehearse, re-read, letter, word, full stop, non-fiction, internet, booklet, question, answer

You are going to learn about how sharks stay afloat in the sea.

What you need:
2 water bottles
Cooking oil
Water
Large container filled with water
Pen {optional but fun to draw shark faces on the bottles}

What to do:
Fill each water bottle equally one with with oil and one with water. Set out another bowl filled with water that is big enough to hold both the bottles. If you want to you can draw a shark face on the bottles.
Before you put the bottles in the bowl predict whether they will sink or float.
Put the bottles in the bowl of water
The oil represents the oil that is in the sharks liver. What happened? Did they sink or float? Were you right? Why do you think that happened?

Explain the following to your child:
Sharks are buoyant.
As you can see, the oil filled bottle floats! Which is exactly what the large, oil-filled liver of the shark does. Oil is lighter than water, which is why the other bottle sunk. Because Sharks contain oil which is lighter than the water around them they float or are buoyant.
Buoyancy is the ability to float in water. Sharks need to put effort into remaining buoyant. In fact, if they stop swimming, they will in fact sink. Their fins also help them steer and float

Key vocabulary: float, sink, buoyant, buoyancy, predict, result, liver, oil, lighter, heavier

Think about all the things that Lucy and Tom did at the seaside. Draw a seaside scene and label the features. Talk about the environment. How is the seaside different from where you live?Are there any similarities? Would you like to live near the seaside? Why?/Why not?

Key vocabulary: same, different, similar, sand, shore, waves, sand, rock pool, tide, sand, gritty, rough, hard, cold, hot, seaweed, pebbles, shells, drift wood, pier, beach, seaside, sea, environment, landscape

Seaside picture

Draw, paint, collage or cut out pictures from magazines/catalogues to create a picture of a seaside. Think about where you will draw the sand, the colours used for the sea and what you might see at the seaside. You can also turn your art work into 3D by using a large piece of paper with the sand and sea drawn then add shells, bucket & spade, sandcastles using recycled materials e.g. plastic or card cut into shells, empty boxes used as sandcastles. You could do this 3D art work as a whole family. Talk to each other on what they would like or have seen at the seaside. Use the focus story for ideas.

Picnic

Some families like to have a picnic at the seaside. Make a picnic that you would like to take to the seaside. This could be a picture, a collage or a real picnic that you can have as a family in your home or garden. Possible questions to ask: What drinks would you take? Why? Will there be any fruit/vegetables? If so, which ones? What dessert would you like? Could you make your dessert at home to take with you? What sandwiches could you make for the picnic? Does your picnic have some healthy foods? Which ones are they? What will they put their food on e.g. a plate? How many plates, bowls and glasses will you need? How many knives, forks and spoons will you need? Will you take a bag, box or a basket for your picnic? Where will people sit and eat the food? Here are some examples:

Seaside bag

Before you go to the seaside, think about what you will take with you or need. Draw a large beach bag on a piece of paper then draw (or cut out pictures from magazines) the things you will take in the bag. If you want, you can find a nice large bag from your home and put real things into it such as your swimwear, sun cream. Talk to your adult what you have put in your bag and give reasons why you want to take them. Here are some suggestions: hat, bucket, spade, sunglasses, fishing net, flip flops, ball, goggles.

Ice cream

At the seaside, most people like to have ice cream.  Design your favourite ice cream. What flavours will you have? How many flavours will you have? Will you have toppings on your ice cream? If so, what will it be? Will your ice cream be in a cone, a small tub or on a stick? What shape will you have? Will you share your ice cream with someone? If so, who? If you want, you can make ice cream together with the following recipe:

Ingredients:

½ a 397g of sweetened condensed milk (or all of it if you want it sweeter!)

600ml of double cream

1teaspoon of vanilla essence.

Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix with an electric whisk until it is thick. Pour into a large container such as an old ice cream tub, cover with cling film or a lid and freeze until solid. If you want, you can add syrup, fruit, chocolate pieces, nuts, sprinkles, honey, etc. half way through the freezing time & stir before putting it back in the freezer.

At the seaside

Play the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-4jywjdiy0

Imagine you and your family are at the seaside. Together as a family, talk about what you might find at the seaside. What can you see? Take turns to describe one thing you might see? Now close your eyes. What do you think you can hear? What other sounds might you hear at the seaside? Next, take a deep breath in through your nose? What do you think you can smell at the seaside? Where would the smell come from?

Sand picture

Make a 'sand' picture. In a tray put a piece of shiny paper inside such as foil. Then use dry rice, lentils or broken pieces of pasta and spread in the tray. Using your finger or a stick, draw things relating to the seaside. It can be your swimwear; things you take to the seaside; picnic food; things you see at the seaside, etc. Turn it into a family game, one person can draw an object and the rest of the family have to guess what they have drawn. The winner can choose what film to watch/treat/ game to play/etc.

Song

I do like to be beside the seaside: