Hi all,

What a wonderful week we have had in Year One! The children have continued to show incredible enthusiasm towards all of their learning and have braved the wet and windy weather with beautiful smiles.

English

In English, we have learnt all about Poetry! We have focused on two poems, 'Oi Frog!' and a firm favourite in Year One, Green Eggs and Ham. Our word of the week was 'Rhyming Couplet' which the children have learnt as a pair of consecutive lines in a poem that rhyme with each other. We spent the first half of the week exploring the poems and practising reading them as part of a group. This meant we all had to try and read at the same pace and volume as each other and be supportive of one another - the children were absolutely amazing at this. 

We then wrote our own versions of both poems, including our own rhyming couplets! On Monday we will be editing our poems and publishing one of them using our neatest, clearest handwriting. 

Maths

In Maths, we have started our new topic of Addition and Subtraction, focusing on numbers to 20. We have spent a lot of time practising how to add ones using our knowledge of number bonds. For example: 

  • If we know that 2 + 3 = 5, we also know that 12 + 3 = 15 because we are just adding an extra ten. 
  • If we know that 2 + 3 = 5, we also know that 3 + 2 = 5 because we are using all of the same numbers, just in a different combination! 
  • If we know that 2 + 3 = 5, we also know that 3 + 12 = 15 because we are still adding on an extra ten, just using a different starting number. 

We practised using tens frames and counters to help us complete different addition number sentences and then we began using 'part, whole models' to help us visualise what can be quite an abstract way of thinking. 

Phonics

This term we have so far covered the following graphemes:

/ee/ – y (funny)
/e/ – ea (head)
/w/ – wh (wheel)
/oa/ – oe / ou (toe, shoulder)
/igh/ – y (fly)
/oa/ – ow (snow)
/j/ – g (giant)
/f/ – ph (phone)
/l/ – le / al (apple, metal)
/s/ – c (ice)
/v/ – ve (give)

This week we focused on the Grow The Code aspect of Little Wandle, which helps our children to recognise the many different ways of spelling a particular sound. For example: 

oo, ue, ew, u, u_e, ui and ou all make the same sound but are spelt differently within words. 

Tricky words: any, many, again, who, whole, where, two, school, call, different.

We would be very grateful for your support in practising these at home and reading with your child regularly to help build fluency.

Topic Learning

RE:
We had thoughtful discussions about what makes the religions of Christianity and Islam different, and in some says, similar. The children thought of some wonderful questions they would like to know about Islam and showed a great understanding about what Muslims believe about God, where they worship God and how they do this. 

History:
We have absolutely loved learning about the Victorian Times in Year One. The children learnt how to use sources to gain information about a topic. We looked at diary entries and recounts about what school life was like for Victorian children and then compared this perspective to that of a Victorian Teacher. 

Science:
This week we created weather reports! We thought carefully about what the weather was like that day, what the temperature was and what types of clouds we could see as well as what clothing might be most appropriate to wear. We also made guesses as to what the weather might be like the following day - many of us thought it would rain (again!)