Summer 1 Week 5

English

The children practiced writing expanded noun phrases about Zahra, thinking about adjectives we could use to describe her hair, eyes and clothes. The children thought carefully about what words they could use and tried to make sure they put the adjective BEFORE the noun! They used this to help them write a story about Zahra. 

In phonics we have been assessing the children, during this time the children have practised their spellings and have been sorting out real and nonsense words in preparation for their phonics screening next term.

Maths

In maths we have been comparing and estimating length, height and mass. The children have used 30 cm rulers and 1metre rules to look at classroom objects which has been great fun. They have used the vocabulary 'heavier, lighter, longer, shorter, taller.'

Project 

We finished our project off this week by looking at the environment around us and things that might harm the environment. We went on a walk around the school grounds and noticed there was lots of litter and rubbish that would not help our wildlife! We worked together to create a questionnaire that we could send to other year groups. Finally we made some colourful posters that could encourage people to look after the environment. 

Science

We explored shadows this week, looking at what they are and how they are formed. We made sundials to see where the sun was coming from and we even left them outside to see if the shadows would move to tell the time. We then made shadow puppets and put on a puppet theartre to explore how we can change the size of shadows.

Next term the children will be looking at materials in science and will be doing a DT project called chop, slice and mash. They will start a new book in English called 'Beegu' and will continue to develop their problem solving skills in maths. 

We hope you have a lovely break.

from the Year 1 Team 

Summer 1 Week 4

English

This week we started a new unit called 'Zahra' and watched a short film clip that introduced us to the character Zahra. We explored what the word 'culture' meant, and looked at different books to support our understanding. We wrote down some questions we had for Zahra and created a character profile by looking at her personality, dreams, family life, and responsibilities.

Maths 

We revisited our times tables and practised counting in groups of 2, 5 and 10 to solve calculations. We also looked at dividing numbers by 2, 3 and 5. We then applied our knowledge to solve word problems. 

Project

We continued to look at human and physical features of the environment but did this whilst learning about the difference between a town, city and countryside. We then compared a small area of the UK (Cardiff) to a small area of Brazi (Rio). The children loved noticing how different the two places were. 

Science 

In science we looked at light sources. We discussed natural and man made light sources, and highlighted that the biggest natural light source is the sun! We then made sun catchers using tissue paper, sticky back plastic and a pipe cleaner. 

Year 1 

Summer 1, Week 3

English

This week the children have been learning to write an information text about Bonnie.They visited Miss Pape and Bonnie, and asked lots of questions using technical vocabulary such as 'habitat' and 'diet'. They then wrote their information text, concentrating on using this vocabulary and remembering their capital letters, full stops, finger spaces and conjunctions.

Maths

In maths we have been counting in twos, fives and. tens.The children counted forwards and backwards starting from different numbers up to 100! They then used this knowledge to solve arrays.

Project

The children looked at Scotland in more details and learnt about the significant landmarks in Scotland, including Loch Lomond with the famous. Nessie. The children then revisited London landmarks and the use of maps. Finally, the children ended the week by looking at physical and human features of the school, and then had a go at creating map using the key areas within the school. 

Science

The children continued to look at the weather wind and how we can measure the strength of wind. We spoke about how it affects our lives and then made a wind sock using a plastic bottle, tissue paper and ribbon. 

Next week we will be looking at division in maths, using sharing circles to divide numbers and solve word problems. In English, we will start a new topic based on a film, and will. explore the character in the film through hot seating and character profiles. In science we will start to look at sources of light, including the sun. In project, we will continue to look at physical and human features in the environment. 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Year 1 Team

Summer 1, Week 2

English 

The children started looking at non-fiction information texts this week and identified key features. They then practised writing sentences using the past tense and third person.  They orally rehearsed sentences about the weather and then wrote these down using the conjunctions 'and' or. 'but'.

Maths 

The children had great fun learning about position and direction this week. They used key vocabulary like on top of, underneath, behind, in front, around, near, far to describe where an object is. They also got to give their friend directions using the vocabulary 'whole turn', 'right', 'left', 'quarter turn' and 'half turn'. 

Project

The children continued their new geography based project 'Big Lights, Big City'. They learnt about landmarks and significant places in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. They were lucky to have the lovely Mrs Canty, who is from Wales, talk to them about what it is like to grow up and live in Wales. 

Science

We looked at the weather in more detail this week and focused on wind. We discussed how we know wind is there and how we can measure how strong the wind is. The children made wind spirals using paper plates and went outside to explore how windy it was.  

We hope you have a lovely long bank holiday weekend! 

From the Year 1 team

Summer 1 - Week 1 

English

We have started off the summer term looking at fiction and non-fiction books. The children looked at the features of these and have sorted books into groups depending on whether they have these features or not. They know that fiction books have stories and characters in them, whereas non-fiction books have facts and photographs. 

Maths

The children re-visited doubles and then looked at near-doubles, they learnt that you can solve near double calculations by using a double fact. They also leant that you can add in any order and had a go at writing reverse calculations. 

Project

The children started their new project 'Bright Lights, Big City', we explored London virtually online and then discussed what we knew. We identified the different countries and capitals in the UK. As this is a geography based project we also talked about how we can keep our environment healthy and conducted an investigation to see how we all travel to school. We used this information to make a pictogram. 

Science

We have started our new topic 'Weather Art'. The children looked at the four seasons and then. created art using finger painting to show how the environment and weather changes in each season.  They then create a collage based on the season summer and discussed what they do in summer. We spoke about how the days in the summer are longer and sunnier because the sun is closer to our side of the Earth.

We hope you have a lovely weekend. 

Miss Wasnock and the Year 1 team.