EYFS Picture News
How to use Picture News in the Early Years at home
Introduce the News Story
- Show the EY Picture News Poster.
- Get the children thinking about what they can see on the poster and then tell them what is happening in the news story (Use the Speaking and Listening task on the EY Picture News Resource for question prompts and a simple explanation of what is happening in the news).
- Use EY Home Recording sheet to record the child’s thoughts. Encourage other family members to also give their thoughts so the child can see that other people may think or feel differently to them. It might be useful to name the comments to help remember who said what.
- Show the EY Resource and read through together. This resource may spark the conversation further. It might help them to remember things that have happened in the past, encourage them to talk about things they already know or show them how other people may think differently about something and encourage them to give their own opinion.
- Write any further comments on the EY Home Recording sheet.
Take the learning further
The discussion about the news story may give the child ideas for what they want to do next. If this is the case, let the child lead their own learning.
You can use the EY Picture News Resource sheet for further ideas to extend the learning. The child can choose which activities they would like to do.
Each idea on the EY Picture News Resource has open questions that the adult supporting the play and learning can ask. These will help to develop the children’s thinking, whilst taking on the challenges.
Mark making and writing
A printable writing proforma is available for the writing challenge. If the child has other writing ideas, great! Let them show you what they want to write!
If the children are at mark making stages, encourage them to make marks and tell you what their writing says. If the child has been introduced to letters and sounds, encourage them to listen to and write the sounds they can hear in the words they wish to write. Read back what they have written.
Praise all written attempts.
Remember
Take your child’s lead of when an activity is finished, allowing them move onto something else. Some activities may be for very short periods of time and some may carry on for much longer -this is normal!