Before we find out what we will be doing this week, may I extend a big thank you to both yourselves and the children for welcoming Miss McKay to our team last week. She has settled in really well and is looking forward to the rest of her time with us.
I know we have some great things planned, so here goes for this week...
Literacy
The children worked really hard last week and enjoyed listening to Aesop’s Fables, particularly the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. We certainly have some budding actors and actresses in our midst and so we have decided to take full advantage of this and are going to get out the masks, dressing-up box and props to make our very own versions.
And the exciting bit...we are going to make our very own interactive big book in our teams! The children are already familiar with the Photostory program and so will be using this, to upload photographs of themselves and write the text over the top.
We have even seen some of the photostories that children have made themselves at home. If you feel like having a go yourselves, look back through the blog for the link to download it onto your own computer.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to retell the text in chronological order and sequence pictures to match
SHOULD be able to create short simple texts on paper and on screen that combine words with images
COULD be able to plan and produce clear sections for writing on paper and on screen
http://www.umass.edu/aesop/fables.php another version of Aesop’s fables
http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/World-Classics/Aesops-Fables-Podcast/23064#plink Aesop’s fables to download as a Podcast
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm this is quite a difficult site to navigate, but I think that with support from an adult at home, I think this site could be useful. I particularly like the Word Wizard which appears on the right hand side of the screen!
http://myths.e2bn.org/create/ again, you will have to sit with your child for this site, but they will love being able to see their own stories in print on the screen. If they decide to join the site (for free) their stories can even be rated by others! This site is well worth bookmarking, as it will be useful through St Vincent’s.
http://www.eurotales.eril.net/contents.htm another great site! The children can read the stories and then use them to write their own. If you have access to a scanner at home, why not get your child to draw the pictures, scan them in, and write the text to accompany the stories? If you do have a go at this, we would love to see them in school!
Phonics
We will be continuing with our phonics work from last week, as we feel that the children need a little more practice on the segmenting of sounds to support their spelling. When trying to spell some of these words at home, trying asking your children to see if they are able to identify the sound they can hear in the middle of the words.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to read and recognise SH TH NG AI EE IGH OA OO AR OR UR OW OI EAR AIR URE ER
SHOULD be able to use known phonemes to blend unfamiliar words
COULD be able to segment words containing known phonemes to spell unfamiliar words
This week’s task: to make a list of the phonemes which make the same sound.
The children will be set a series of spelling challenges, in which they will have to try and work out the spellings to a number of words. Sound simple? Well, they will have a few words which don’t fit the patterns they have been given and they will have to work out what other letters can make the same sound.
http://www.ictgames.com/cluster.html spelling game based on the initial sounds they can hear
http://www.ictgames.com/hybrid.html it took me a while to figure out how to play this game! To select a word in the wordsearch, click on the first and the last letter of the word you wish to highlight, and the cow will ‘MOO’ if you are correct! A great way to investigate spelling patterns.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/snap/snap.shtml click SNAP when the sounds match the word written on the right hand side http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/spelling/spelling.shtml drag and drop the correct spelling pattern into the gaps before the time runs out.
Numeracy
This week we will be reinforcing the idea that adding can be done in any order, in order to make the ‘sum’ easier to calculate. We have a great song which we sing with the children to help them remember to put the biggest number first –
Adding can be done in any order
You can swap the swap the numbers round it’s up to you
Choose the best way not the worst
Put the biggest number first
It means you’ve got less counting on to do!
Must be able to add two single digit numbers by counting on from the largest number
Should be able to add any single digit number to 20 by counting on from the largest number
Could be able to add any single digit number to any two digit number by counting on from the largest number
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/number-english.html match the number names to the figures http://www.ictgames.com/100huntplus10.html click on the number in the 100 square to find 10 more
http://www.hyperstaffs.info/work/math/wilce/cosmic.html I love this! The children have to solve the problems along the way, to complete the mission. Some are harder than others, so it may be best if you sit with them for this one. Good for problem solving.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/ngfl-flash/estimate/estimate.html group these objects into small groups in order to make counting easier
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/ngfl-flash/estimate/estimate.html this site is a bit more challenging, but it great at allowing the children to practice grouping in 10s to make counting quicker.
In the second half of the week, we will be investigating subtraction being the opposite of addition. Children often find this a difficult concept to grasp, so any support you are able to offer with this at home will help.
They will be introduced to the term ‘find the difference’, which always produces comments such as ‘one number is big and one is small!’ We teach the children that when we ask them to find the difference, it actually means subtracting the smaller number from the bigger number.
By the end of the week, the children:
Must be able to subtract a single digit number from another by counting up
Should be able to subtract a single digit number from a two digit number by counting up
Could be able to subtract a two digit number from another two digit number, where the difference is less than 20
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/test.shtml a simple game to play to work on mental calculation of subtraction
http://www.ictgames.com/football2.html a game for calculating ten less – a really good one for the boys!
http://www.ictgames.com/soccer_subtraction.html click on the footballers to work out the answer, then click on the ball to score a goal. Possibly the only time that England will ever beat Brazil!
http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game8.htm although this is a great site, why not use your own bottles and play this large scale game in the garden?
You will receive another numeracy bookmark in the diaries this week, listing all the vocabulary the children will come across this half term. Please do take the time to read through it with your child, as from our assessments, we find that the children’s misunderstandings of the words used, are preventing them from moving forward at a faster pace.
For those who want to get a head start this weekend, then I have included them below:
pattern, answer, number sentence, sign, operation, explain, show me, read, write, record, count, compare, order
the same number as, as many as, equal to, equals (=), sign, more, most, less, least, greater, greatest, larger, largest, bigger, biggest, fewer, fewest, smaller, smallest, before, after, halfway
add, plus (+), makes, sum, total, altogether, subtract, minus (–), take away, leaves, difference
one, two, three, …, hundred; first, second, third, …; ones, tens, ‘teens’ number, exchange, digit
how many …?, how many more to make …?, how many more is … than …?, how much more is …?, how many fewer is … than …?, how much less is …?, what is the difference between …?
odd, even, pair, double, near double, half, halve
Science
The children will continue their topic of materials and this week will look at identifying a range of common materials that can be found around home and school. You could help by making a list of all the different types of materials that the children can name on Post-it notes and then walk around your house and put them on objects made from those materials.
We will also be introducing the children to a Venn diagram, which is used when sorting, An example of this can be found at :
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/maths/dinas_powys_sian_mansfield/venn_2.htm
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/maths/dinas_powys_sian_mansfield/venn_1.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/sorting_using_mate.shtml a favourite website, but why not try doing this yourself with materials from around the house?http://www.glassforever.co.uk/ find out how glass is made
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=materials2d a great sorting activity for explaning how materials are grouped
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/scope.html you will keep playing with this one! Click on the numbers on the left hand side to get and image. Then, click on the magnify button to see what the image looks like up to 200x bigger!http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=materials drag and drop the materials names to the correct places
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/science/material_matters/index.htm you will need to support your child with the reading of this text, but it is realloy interesting information.
Presto Music
The children had a great music show on Thursday and they should have received an invitation for a free music taster session on Friday. Should you wish to take advantage of this, please complete the form and return to school by Tuesday. Unfortunately any forms returned after this time, will not be eligible for the free session, but details will still be passed onto Presto.
Chinese New Year
The children remember this very well from last year and on Thursday, they get the chance to be waited on by Foundation Stage children, when they attend their Chinese restaurant to celebrate Chinese New Year. I am sure they will have a great time and are looking forward to Mrs Latham’s favourite cuisine.
Reading diaries
We have noticed over the past few weeks, that the number of parents making comments in their children’s diaries has reduced. Please do try to make at least one comment per week in the diary, as the children who read consistently at home, make rapid progress.
In order to support you with this, I will be sending home some questions which you can ask your child when reading with them. By keeping these questions with your child’s reading book, it will develop their comprehension skills, which, in conjunction with their ability to decode the words, will enable them to move on more quickly in their reading. Many thanks for your support with this.
I think that's all for this week!
Year 1 team xx
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