Literacy
We began our work on Traditional tales last week and the children thoroughly enjoyed them. We certainly have some budding thespians in our midst!
This week we move on from being able to sequence the events in order, to investigating the characters in the stories. We will be comparing stories and drawing out typical features: beginnings and endings, story language, characters and plots.
They will continue to re-enact many of the stories using pictures, puppets or props.When we are investigating the characters, we will asking the children to do something called ‘HOT SEATING’. This means that the children will have to pretend to be a character from a story and the rest of the group will pose questions to them. Their answers will have to be from the point of view AS IF THEY WERE THE CHARACTER.
So...
Mr. Wolf, why did you choose to eat Little Red Riding Hood’s grandma?
(Wicked Stepmother) What jobs did you get Cinderella to do? How did you try to prevent her from getting to the ball? Why were you so mean to Cinderella?
Mr Troll, why wouldn’t you let the 3 Billy Goats across your bridge?
By the end of week, the children:
MUST be able to identify the main character in a story
SHOULD be able to use adjectives to describe the main characters in a story
COULD write a character profile of a main character in a story
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/english/story_telling/index.htm this site has online versions of 5 different traditional tales. There are also different activities for you to download (using Word) which practice character, setting and sequencing.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/20050224/English/Keystage1/Writing/tradit~00/introduct/default.htm click onto the main session and then part two to work on adjectives to describe characters.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/are_they_the_same/eng/Introduct/default.htm again, click on main session part one to be able to sort the characters from the traditional tales.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/floppy.shtml choose the correct adjective to complete the sentences
Numeracy
This week we begin our review of numeracy. Many of the children rose to the challenge last week and we are certainly on track! This really is time well spent, as clearing up any misunderstandings now, will mean the children are able to tackle more challenging problems later on. Each day this week, will be spent on a different area of numeracy, but the main focus will remain on their ability to manipulate numbers.
In the next week or so, I shall be assessing the children on their numeracy and will inform you of their new targets to work on over the Easter holidays.
The children have been working on some fantastic games on the interactive whiteboard in school for manipulating numbers and counting in steps of 2,5 and 10. The link for this is http://resources.oswego.org/games/ . It is well worth putting this as one of your favourites!
Addition and Subtraction; missing numbers
Each Friday, we carry out our weekly number bonds challenge. The children are doing well, but are beginning to see just how short an amount of tie 5 minutes really is! Their target for next week’s test is...Remember to always look at the sign – is it + or -?
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=digitmenu great for showing sums which the children should be able to complete using partitioning from last week.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=100square use this to help with counting on
http://www.freewebtown.com/weddell/mw/add_sub/9%20and%2011.swf remember to use the 100 number square to calculate the answers to these problems
http://www.sums.co.uk/playground/n2a/playground.htm add up the total by partitioning and recognising the names on the pinball machine
Money-Doubles and Halves
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/resources/gordon/Hit%20the%20button%20v9.swf by far the best site to use for doubling and halving. This is also a great site to use for developing those times tables skills.
Symmetry
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/maths/greg_morgan_symmetry/index.htm a great way to illustrate to the children how to show reflective symmetry. Remind the children about those paint print pictures that you folded in half when they were younger!
Time
The children were fantastic at being able to read o’clock times, but still need a little practice on the half past times.
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/851/Higher&Lower-Reveal&Orderv4.swf select o’clock and half past, then order the cards in order of time.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger/5_7entry/4.shtml identify the correct hour on the clock and then order in terms of time
http://www.ictgames.com/hickory4.html can you get the mouse to run up the clock to eat the cheese?The children are also working on being able to order the days of the week and the months of the year. Why not use this as an opportunity to work on the spelling of these?
Science
The children LOVED designing their Cinderella dresses this week and were devastated that she wouldn’t be able to go to the ball if it wasn’t made of reflective material! The children are completing the individual portraits this week, which will form part of our Traditional tales display.
A good book to accompany this is Goodnight Owl by Pat Hutchins (Picture Puffin), ISBN 0-14-050121-5.
How was Owl to sleep, with the bees buzzing, the crows creaking, the starlings chittering, the jays screaming -- and all the other inhabitants of the hollow tree pecking, calling or crunching? Owl tried to sleep, but it was impossible.
Pat Hutchins has written a bedtime story with a switch; a surprise ending that will send the youngest child off to sleep laughing.
By the end of this week, the children will be able to:
· state that the Sun is a light source, even when it is behind a cloud;
· describe differences between day/night-time and light/dark.
The children thoroughly enjoyed their science show on Friday on the topic of Light and Sound. See if they are able to remember any of the activities which Adrian Bowden showed them. My favourite was the rainbow on the ceiling of the hall!
Notices
The children are doing a great job in becoming independent and we would like to thank you for your help with this. In order to further support our efforts, we would welcome your support in a few reminders for the children:
· children should come to school with a water bottle each day, even though water is available from the water fountain in school. Please encourage your child to drink as much as possible during the school day and remind them that they can refill their bottles during breaks and lunchtimes
· EVERYTHING which your child brings into school, needs their name written on it, in a prominent place. There are around 120 children in Key Stage 1 and so if someone has lost a jumper, it is much easier to reunite them with if their name is written on it.
· diaries should be brought into school EVERY day and placed in the book box inside the classrooms. Please remind your child to ensure their reading book is placed INSIDE the diary, as we have had a few instances where the wrong colour book has gone home, due to books falling out.
· many of the children have the school book bags and these are more than large enough to hold the equipment which the children need in Years 1. A few children are bringing in quite large rucksack style bags, which can be quite difficult to store in school. If you are considering buying a new bag for your child, please do consider purchasing a book bag for them.
Vouchers
We are collecting Tesco and Sainsbury’s vouchers at the moment, so please send any vouchers into school and encourage your child to place them in the boxes in the area. Many thanks.
Go 4 Gold
Thank you to the parents who have sent in some ‘old gold’ for the benefit of our school. Please remember, that in order for us to be able to accept any donations, you will need to sign the envelope which came home with your child, and list the items you have included.
If you haven’t had the chance to do so already, why not start your Spring clean by having a sort out of your jewellery box. I have done my own and didn’t realise quite how many ‘single’ earrings I had or broken chains!
REMEMBER the closing date is THIS THURSDAY.
Homework
We are currently working on our new school website and would like some feedback as to the kinds of things that you would like available on there.
We have decided to make our weekly homework available to download from the website. We would appreciate your feedback on this and please do let us know of any difficulties you have with this.
I intend to send a letter out before the holidays regarding this, to canvas opinions, but, as you are the first group of parents to ‘trial’ this, please do let me know of any glitches which you may have come across.
Also, we intend to make the links which we put on this blog each week, available on the website. Currently, there are a number of links on there for numeracy and literacy, but other areas will be populated over time.
Again, please do feel free to give any feedback – or if there are any web-wizards out there, I’d love to hear from you!
To access the new website, go to http://www.stvincentsprimary.co.uk/ and click on Year Groups, then Year 1 and follow the menus on the left hand side.
FOSV
There will be a cake sale this Friday after school. The Friends would be grateful of any donations of cakes, which may be sent into school on Friday morning. Many thanks.
Think that’s all for this week!
Year 1 team xx
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