Weekly update 20th October 2014

Information

Welcome to the last week of this half term. The children are tired now and ready for a break- and so are the staff!

 Although it seems very early, we have mentioned the Christmas play to the children and we had many happy faces!! By the end of this week you should receive a letter about what character your child is going to be and the costume they will need.  The Year 2 children should also have lines to learn as we only have 4 weeks in school after half term before the first performance.

Thank you for your support.

Maths

This week in Maths we will be learning about measuring length. The Year 1 children will compare two or more lengths or heights by direct comparison and measure lengths using uniform non-standard units.

 

The Year 2 children will estimate, measure and compare lengths in centimetres and metres and use a 30 cm ruler.

 

Some websites to help:-

 

 http://mathszone.webspace.virginmedia.com/mw/ruler/ruler_cm_easy.swf

 

http://www.funbrain.com/measure/

 

http://www.taw.org.uk/lic/itp/itps/ruler_1_2.swf

 

 http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/measures/index.htm

 

 http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book7/bk7i19/bk7_19i1.htm

 

English

In English this week we are starting our ‘Autumn’ topic. It is a beautiful time of the year and the children will be inspired to write lovely poems about what they see, hear, smell and feel outside. We will be focusing on adjectives and using lots of visual aids for the children to describe. 

Ask your child what they can see, hear, smell and feel this time of year.

If you find any conkers, acorns or pretty leaves, please ask your child to bring them in so the children can describe them.

Have a go at some fun online literacy games.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1literacy.html

Topic

This week in Topic we will be finding out who Christopher Columbus was and why was he famous.

Children will be taught about the story of Christopher Columbus who thought that by crossing the Atlantic Ocean he could get to Asia more quickly than other people.  However using just a compass and stars he discovered the Americas and not India as he had thought!

Following previous grammar based lessons we will be discussing adjectives to describe Christopher Columbus – was brave? Courageous? Clever? Uneducated?

To conclude our Journey’s topic the children will compare the two famous explorers – Neil Armstrong and Christopher Columbus.  How were their journeys similar? Different? Whose journey was the most daring – and why?

Interesting fact – did you know that Columbus sailed to the Americas four times in all and died believing that he had been sailing to Asia!

Come and See

Belonging

We will be continuing to explore the many different experiences of being welcomed into new situations and groups.

We will be talking about the different groups that the children may belong to in school, at church and in the neighbourhood eg. Swimming, Rainbows, Beavers, choir.

We will exploring the following key questions.

·         What groups or clubs do you belong to? (Al children belong to school and their particular class)

·         What do you do in the group?

·         How does it feel to belong to the group?

·         What helps people feel they belong?

·         How would someone know you belonged to the group? (e.g. badges ,uniform, special skills)

·         How can we help a new child in our class feel they belong?

 

The children will design a class badge to show “belonging.”

The children can bring in any items from their clubs to show the class. E.g. badges, awards, uniform.

 

Thank you for your continued support- and have a great week!

The Key Stage 1 team.

 

Weekly update 13th October 2014

Information

Just a reminder this week about ensuring that the children have a warm coat to wear for playtime as the weather forecast is not good for the week ahead.

Maths

This week in Maths we will be learning about subtraction.

The Year 1 children will say the number that is 1 less and count back 1 from a given number using a number line.

They will subtract a 1-digit number from a 'teens' number by counting back and begin to show this on a blank number line.

The Year 2 children will count back in 1s, not crossing a multiple of 10.  Count back in 1s, crossing a multiple of ten, beginning to partition and show this on a blank number line.

http://www.taw.org.uk/lic/itp/itps/counting_on_and_back_1_1.swf

http://www.taw.org.uk/lic/itp/itps/number_grid_4_0.swf

http://www.taw.org.uk/lic/itp/itps/numberLine1_6.swf

English

In English this week we are reading the story Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. This story will captivate the children’s imaginations and we will be writing about what we do when we feel wild and what we might look like if we were a wild thing in the story. We will be sequencing the order of the story using pictures and writing captions. Finally, we will be making masks and retelling the story using drama and role play. Our Grammar and punctuation focus this week is exclamation marks.

Ask your child what they dream about? How do they feel when they are dreaming?

Have a go at some fun online literacy games.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1literacy.html

Topic

This week we will tell the story of the journey to the moon made in 1969 by Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.

This is the video of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZb2mqId0A

We will be asking questions about this historic and famous journey.

·         How many astronauts were in Apollo 11?

·         How long did it take them to get to the moon?

·         Who was the first man on the moon?

·         What did he say?

The children will understand that the rocket had 3 main parts and what role each part played:

Saturn 5 to propel them into space.

Apollo 11 the main spacecraft to fly to and then orbit the moon.

The lunar excursion module Eagle, which took 2 of the astronauts down on to the moon.

Emphasise the historic importance of the moon landing.

The footprints made on the surface of the moon are still there now and will stay there for hundreds of years. Where do you make footprints? Do they stay there long? Why not? Wind, rain, etc.

Why do you think they stay in place on the moon? No air, no atmosphere, no weather – wind or rain.

Come and See

Belonging

We will be exploring the many different experiences of being welcomed into new situations and groups.

We will be talking about the different groups that the children may belong to in school, at church and in the neighbourhood eg. Swimming, Rainbows, Beavers, choir.

We will exploring the following key questions.

·         What groups or clubs do you belong to? (Al children belong to school and their particular class)

·         What do you do in the group?

·         How does it feel to belong to the group?

·         What helps people feel they belong?

·         How would someone know you belonged to the group? (e.g. badges ,uniform, special skills)

·         How can we help a new child in our class feel they belong?

 

The children will design a class badge to show “belonging.”

The children can bring in any items from their clubs to show the class. E.g. badges, awards, uniform.

 

Thank you for your continued support- and have a great week!

The Key Stage 1 team.

 

Weekly update 6th October 2014

Information

It was great while it lasted!

Sadly it looks like Summer has ended and cooler weather is on the way. Therefore please could you make sure that your child has a coat with them in school so they will be warm enough for going out at playtime.

Collecting from school

A letter was sent home last week to enquire about who will be collecting your child from school each day. Please could you send this back to school complete with details, if you haven’t already done so, so that your child’s teacher will have up to date information. Also if the arrangements do change, please could you write a note in the home/school linkbook or phone the school office to pass a message to the teacher. Thank you.

Taekwando taster session

The children will all experience a short taster session in Taekwando this week from a registered coach. A letter will be sent home later if your child enjoys the taster and would like to take part in lessons.

iPad support session

There is a free support session on iPad training for parents on Friday 10^th October at 3:15pmin the school hall. This will be run by MGL who are the team providing ICT lessons in school for the children. You will be able to find out about the apps that the children use in school and how to get the most out of them for your children. Please bring your own iPad with you as we will not be able to provide them on the day.

Maths

This week in Maths we will be learning about number bonds.

Year 1 children will know addition facts for pairs that total up to 6 and relate addition facts to an understanding of addition, including + and =

Year 2 children will rehearse addition and subtraction facts for pairs that total up to 10 and relate addition and subtraction facts to missing number sentences.

Some websites to help:-

 

http://www.ictgames.com/beaver.html

 

http://baileytraining.co.uk/resources/ma_num/swf/make10.html

 

http://www.ictgames.com/brilliant_beadstring.html

 

http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/colquiz.html

 

http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/colquiz.html

 

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/851/Hitthebuttonv7.swf

 

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/850/calcbalancev3.swf

English

This week we are reading the story The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr. This is a lovely story that encourages children to think about the feelings of the characters. We will be hot seating the children as both Sophie and the Tiger to find out their thoughts and feelings. We will be writing about our favourite parts of the story and writing character descriptions. We will also be having lots of fun designing a tin of tiger food and a making a tiger mask.

Ask your child what animal they would like to come for tea?

What would they feed the animal?

Try these websites for fun English activities!

 http://ictgames.com/literacy.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/

 

Topic

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT LAST WEEK IN EQUIPPING CHILDREN WITH SHOE BOXES AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THEIR SPACE ROCKETS!

All the children had great fun!  The year 1/2 classrooms looked like a glitter bomb had exploded – it was a very sparkly exercise!

This week in Topic…

Is it a bird or is it a plane?  Neither – it’s Albert II – the first monkey to travel into space in 1949!

To start the children will be asked to think about questions they would ask an astronaut who has just returned from a mission to the moon.  This introduction builds on recent English grammar lessons where we studied types of questions and how to structure and write questions – not forgetting the all-important question mark!

In discussion we will look at what astronauts wear and what equipment they take to space.  We will discuss what we would need to take with us if we travelled to the moon and also what things we would like to take with us.

Independent work – the children will be asked to write a list of what items they would need and want to take to the moon.

The Space Race

This week we will also be looking at the space timeline.  Children will be asked to think about how the Americans felt when Russia beat them to put the first man in space.  And what it spurred the Americans on to achieve.

Paired work – the children will be given space timelines and will be tasked to put the events in chronological order from Albert II the monkey to Laika the dog to Uri Gargarin!

Interesting fact – did you know that because moon gravity is less strong compared to gravity on Earth, we can jump 6 times higher & weigh 6 times less on the moon! A small child would weigh the same as 2 bags of sugar!

 

Come and See

 Families

We will be remembering, rejoicing and renewing the Families topic this week. The children will be continuing to recognise the stories and psalms which reveal God’s love and care. The children will be listening to stories of when Jesus was a little boy.

We will be looking at these pictures and asking the following questions.

·         How can you tell Mary and Joseph loved Jesus?

 

·         What do you think life was like for Jesus when he was growing up?

 

·         What stories do you remember about Jesus when he was young?

 

·         What would a typical day be like for Jesus and his family?

 

·         How do you think Jesus’s life is different from yours?

 

The children will share in a reflection and prayer.

 

 

 

Thank you for your continued support- and have a great week!

The Key Stage 1 team.