Please do not think your child will have to complete lots of written tests and assessments! There will be lots of practical activities and observations to help us check for their understanding, particularly for numeracy.This week’s blog is part of that review. It would be fantastic, if you could spend some time this week, working with your child on some of the links and activities that we have included. Just count how many times you hear the phrase, ‘Oh yes...I remember that!’ You will be amazed at just how much they have managed to get through!
Parent’s Evenings
On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of this week, we hold the first of our parent’s evenings for the year. It is a chance for us to meet together to discuss how your child has settled into Year 1 and the progress they have made so far. You will receive a list of targets for reading, writing, numeracy and science. Although this may seem a lot, please remember that these are the targets they will be working on until after Christmas, so there is plenty of time to get through them.
The parents meetings are slightly different those in Foundation Stage. They are held in the hall, with appointments being made at 10 minute intervals. As you can appreciate, this is a very short amount of time. It can be a good idea for you to write down any questions you may have to ask, prior to the appointment, as 10 minutes can go very quickly. We are very good at sharing the information in the allocated time, but please be aware that we may need to make a further appointment with you, to avoid other parent’s running over their time slot.
Literacy
The children will complete a piece of writing this week, based on their own experience. It would be really helpful if you were able to have a discussion with your child this weekend about what they would like to write about. It may be about a favourite holiday, a journey or a party that they went to. Talk for writing is perhaps the most beneficial part of the preparation process that you can support your child with, and ensures that they don’t have ‘empty-page’ syndrome.
The children will be asked to ‘check’ their own work, seeing if they have included the following:
I used a capital letter for the word ‘I’
I used a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence
I used a full stop at the end of each sentence
My work makes senseI wrote as if ‘telling the story’ of what happened
The children will also be tested to see if they are ready to move onto the next book-band level. This includes seeing how well they can decode the words (match the letters to the sounds they make) and how well they have understood the story (comprehension). Although it may appear that texts are easy for your child, it may be that they need more practice in their comprehension of what is happening in the text. It is a combination of BOTH of these factors which determines their readiness to move on.
Why not try asking your child to retell the events of the story either to you, or to a younger sibling. Also, get them to make up alternative endings for the story, by using sock puppets...a great use for those single socks that we all have in our cupboards!
High Frequency Word checklists will be updated again this week in the front of the diaries. As agreed at the induction meeting at the beginning of the year, the children have been working on the words in school and at home. We have been assessing the children’s ability to transfer these words into their independent writing and have been really pleased with what we have seen so far. It is vitally important that children are given daily practice in the reading and spelling of these words, as they are the ‘glue’ that holds all text together. Children who practice these words regularly at school AND home, make significant progress!
These sites will help to support the reading and spelling of these words:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/hfwords/index.shtml a great site, where you have to match the shape of the HFW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/index.shtml choose any of these activities to help with CVC words (cat, hat, mat etc)
http://www.ictgames.com/dinosaurwordsrepeat.html you need to turn the volume up for this one! Click on the dinosaur egg to hear the word and then click on the written word that matches it.
http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html I love this one! You can either choose from the lists of prepared words, or you can type in the words that your child is working on. You need to click on start to begin ‘look, say, cover, write, check’.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=stickyl drag and drop the letters on the green letter rack at the top of the page and then click on the ‘Send’ button to send it to the word bank
http://www.ictgames.com/wordreader.html listen to the word and then click on the matching flower
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/airport_xray.html this may bring back memories of your holidays (doesn’t it seem a long time ago?!) Scan the suitcase to find the high frequency words
Numeracy
We have been really pleased with how well the children are working numeracy and know that many of the children are going to fly through the assessments this week!
Number knowledge – can they match the correct digit to the correct number of objects?
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/850/calcbalancev3.swf click on the number names in the middle of the scale to match the number name to the digit. This will be a really useful site to bookmark, as we will be using it regularly throughout the year.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/ngfl-flash/numbers_eng/numbers_e.html this site is useful for practicing the formation of each of the numbers. The first slide is VERY fast, so click on the green arrow on the bottom right-hand side to practice the numbers individually.
http://www.numbernut.com/basic/activities/number_mem20_1-10words.shtml play a memory game and match the number names to the digits at the same time!http://www.sums.co.uk/playground/n2a/playground.htm click on the ‘continue’ button to start the activity. This activity looks at the number names up to 100, so give it a go if you fancy a challenge!
http://www.primaryonline.co.uk/sitetour/pol/blastoff1.html a lovely game in which you have to launch 5 spaceships! Remember that the number name won’t always match a spaceship, so you have to click on ‘next’ until you get a match.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=washindex For those children working or ordering numbers to 20
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/ngfl-flash/place_value/place_value.html a great way of explaining place value. Select Level 1 and for a challenge, why not have a go at level 2? Even more of a challenge is Level 3, when it asks you to order 1000's!http://www.ictgames.com/dinoplacevalue.html can you 'partition' the numbers into tens and units?
http://www.ictgames.com/postletter.html fancy a challenge? Listen to the number and post the letter in the correct letterbox.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/bgfn/number.cfm Choose how many tens and how many units make up the target number. If you click on 'check' it will even mark it for you!
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=Toolkit index2a The children are used to using a 100 square in school, so this will be a big help at home, particularly when doing numeracy homework.
http://www.ictgames.com/football2.html kick the ball that shows 10 less than a given number
Knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/maths/maerdy_2d/e_index.html guess the name of the 2D shape by listening to the propertieshttp://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/build_it/eng/Introduction/default.htm what can you build using these shapes and blocks? Encourage the children to describe the properties of the 3D shapes too!http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/mathsE3.htm you will need to be selective from these ideas, but there are lots of sheets, activities and powerpoints for you to use at home to support your child with both 2D and 3D shapes. Be aware, that some of them are for Key Stage 2, but give them a go if you fancy a challenge!http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=MatchingPairs3Dshape why not try a memory game with 3D shapes. Some of these shapes are quite difficult to name, but you could ask your child to describe the properties them - how many faces/edges do they each have? Remember to click on start a new game to begin the activity.We are also keen to develop the children’s scissor skills this week, so any help at home, cutting out shapes etc. would be a big help!
Measurement
http://www.edukate.net/special_files/ruler.swf use this site to practice measuring the ‘red bar’. If you can though, measuring objects around the house is a much more practical way of measuring in centimetres.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/measures/index.htm click on Reading Length.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=ntrack ordering numbers on a number track. Can your child recognise the numbers? Are they able to order them? Can they locate the missing number?http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/ruler/ruler_cm_easy.swf measure the length of the lines using the on screen ruler
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/ruler/ruler_cm.swf move the ruler to the line to measure it in centimetres
http://www.counton.org/games/circus/ choose the Pole Climber, Maths Pairs or Shapes and Numbers activities. With the Pole climber activity, start on level one and then see how high you can go – subtraction begins at Level 3!
http://www.numeracyworld.com/addition%20worksheets.html I have been really pleased with the number of children who have been printing off some of the activities from the websites on the blog, so this is should be a big help! It has lots of printable sheets for you to print off and practice at home for all areas of numeracy. Some are more difficult than others, but have a look through for the topic we are covering this week for some extra practice.
There are lots of practical activities that you can do at home to support all of these areas. Have a look through previous blogs to revisit some of the ideas that were suggested.
Here I Am
Last week, we began our new topic of Invitations.
The children:
Recognised a special invitation
Reflected on invitations their family has received
Respected the type of invitations their family has received
We move on this week to the Relate part of the topic, where we will talk with the children about the Sacrament of Baptism. Maybe you could share some photographs of your child’s Baptism with them. Do they know who their Godparents are? If any of you would be willing to share a video of your child’s Baptism, then please see any member of the team.
http://www.request.org.uk/infants/tellme/infant/baptism01.htm some lovely questions about infant baptism
http://www.request.org.uk/infants/milestones/baby/baby00.htm click on some of the links on this page to view a video click of an Infant baptism
Spanish
Ooh we had a great week last week during our whole school Spanish week. Did the children tell you all about the Paella? A big thank you to Mrs Fox too for making Spanish Omelette and our visiting work experience students, for being excellent waiters and waitresses!
For those of us who are learning alongside the children (and I DO include myself in this!) I have included a couple of links below which will help with pronunciation etc. so we can keep our language skills going...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/ this is a site for adults who are new to the language. You can download lots of mp3’s for your iPod and then amaze your child by asking them some questions in Spanish (before they ask you!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryspanish/ a great site for the children to use. There are also lots of downloadable activities, again for practising those scissor skills!
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/spanish_songs_ks2 I loved these! There are some great Karaoke songs to download, along with some matching activities for the children.
http://gamequarium.com/spanish.htm a great site for help with pronunciation!http://www.studystack.com/menu-21283 again this is another site for adults, but the matching game is a great one for testing yourself! It does take quite a while to load, so you need to be patient before hitting the back button!
Homework
An apology...As I was out on courses last week, homework did not arrive on home on the usual day. You should have received it on Friday, but if there are any difficulties in completing it for Monday, then please feel free to send it back in on Tuesday.
As it is the last week before the half term, there will be no homework, due to parent’s evenings etc. We would therefore appreciate it, if this time could be spent reviewing any high frequency words and sharing reading books with your child. Also, you could check back through these blogs for links to support your child over the holidays.
Finally, a thank you from all the staff for encouraging your children to come into school independently this week. It really has reduced the congestion in the area and the children are getting into their classrooms a lot quicker, ready to start work. We would also encourage children NOT to play on the patio area before school in the mornings. The children cannot be easily supervised there and so the children should remain on the playground until staff collect them at 8.45am.
Competition
This might be a good activity for over the holidays - not for the children, but for parents! I bet you are all fantastic story tellers, but why not share your stories with other mums and dads over the internet?
Munch Bunch are running a competition, which aims to encourage the art of storytelling among parents, particularly in what can become a very busy 'bed-time'.
The competition prizes are fantastic and include:
- An all expenses paid day-trip to Lapland for you and your family to visit Father Christmas and take a magical husky-led sleigh ride by a frozen lake
- An overnight stay in a central London hotel for two
- The chance to meet celebrity mum Gail Porter
- A day in a London recording studio seeing your story come to life as a podcast
- Your winning story published online as a podcast
The link for the competiton is http://www.munchbunch.co.uk/parents/win/ but why not send them into school too, so that we can compile our very own bedtime story book.
That's just about it for this week, except to say that we are looking forward to meeting with you all this week and have a great half term!Year 1 team xxx
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