Maths counting
Counting is a daily event in our maths lessons and also at other parts of the day when we have a spare minute or two.
Here are the related counting end of year 1 expectations.
Over the last two weeks, we have been focussing on counting forwards and backwards in 10s and 5s.
Seeing these numbers on a 100 square or a number line can help children to spot the pattern of these counting sequences.
Counting in 10s
The numbers all have a zero at the end.
They are all underneath each other.
There is a pattern – the numbers end in five or zero.
How can you help at home?
Regular counting with your child will help their fluency to recall these counting sequences.
Listen to the Super Movers general counting, counting in 10s and counting in 5s active songs.
Use Paint the squares to highlight the multiples of 10 and 5.
Play ping pong with your child. Choose a number to start from and take it in turns to say a number each in the sequence. The children are familiar with this game.
How will this help my child?
Counting in sequences of 10 and 5 will support your child as they move onto learning times tables from Year 2.
TTRS tournament winners (wb 17 May)
Hello again to all of the Times Tables Rock Stars out there,
Well done for all the engagement with TTRS you’re doing so far – keep it up!
BREAKING NEWS:
The results are in. We have our ROCK STARS OF THE WEEK.
With an outstanding 1675 points, this week’s winners are Y5!
A really close call between Y5 and Y3 this week but Y5 have just managed to hold off Y3 this time! What a great effort!
A massive well done to Y5 for a much improved score and speed with their times tables.
Which class will claim the coveted guitar next time? Will it be your class? There’s only one way to make that happen – go on TTRS!
Remember to give your teacher a nudge as the week goes on if you’ve not yet had a chance to play on TTRS. If you’d like to play at home and would like a reminder of your login details, let your teacher know.
All the best TTRS!
Bean update
Our beans are growing well. This week, the children have written sentences using some scientific vocabulary. They observed the plants carefully using a magnifying glass.
Wow! Look at how tall the stem is!
The plant looks very healthy and the leaves are green.
It is amazing to see the roots spreading out.
The beans are surviving with light and water.
The seeds have split open.
Computing: decomposition
In our computing lessons, we’ve been creating a game using Scratch Jr.
The children had to use decomposition to break the task into smaller more manageable steps . They then worked through each step, using logical reasoning to solve problems and fix bugs.
They were then able to challenge themselves in lots of different ways. For example, by adding different levels, tinkering to make their games the correct difficulty, developing it into a two player game.
Amazing adventures
Are you missing your Y6 child; house feeling empty? Looking at these photos, I don’t think they have time to miss you! Miss Wilson is keeping me updated on a daily basis with all the news; the signal isn’t great but she has managed to send some photos today.
It looks like they’re having an amazing time and the weather looks fantastic. A week may seem a long time for them to be away but they are certainly making the most of every minute.
I’m really proud that we were one of the first schools to make sure the children didn’t miss out on their residential – these photos confirm that it was definitely the right thing to do.
Reading Retrievers
In one of our reading sessions this week, we practised our retrieval skills by completing a draw and label activity.
As a class, we read an extract from ‘Bill’s New Frock’ by Anne Fine.
The children were then given the task to draw the described setting in their books. They used their retrieval skills to scan and take bits of description from the text to use in their drawings.
Then, they labelled each part of the drawing using evidence from the text.
Whilst they were working on their retrieval skills, we listened to some Mozart in the background. Ask your child to see if they can remember any other composers we’ve listened to this year.
Here are some pictures of us hard at work:
Comparative Testing: Which magnet is the strongest?
As you will know, our current topic in science is forces and magnetism. This means that we are learning as physicists. Ask your child to see if they can remember!
In this week’s science lesson, we conducted our own comparative test to answer the question:
Which magnet is the strongest?
As a class, we decided the best way to test this and we came up with two ideas.
- See how many paper clips each magnet can hold.
- See how many pieces of paper each magnet can attract a paper clip through.
Working in teams, we decided which method we wanted to use and got to work.
Here are some of our physicists in action!
To further your child’s learning, see if they can fill in the missing words below.
- A north pole and a south pole of two magnets will ________.
- Two poles that are the same will _______.
- The area around a magnet that attracts and repels magnetic objects is called its ________ _______.
Answers:
- A north pole and a south pole of two magnets will attract.
- Two poles that are the same will repel.
- The area around a magnet that attracts and repels magnetic objects is called its magnetic field.
TTRS tournament winners (wb 10 May)
Hello again to all of the Times Tables Rock Stars out there,
Well done for all the engagement with TTRS you’re doing so far – keep it up!
BREAKING NEWS:
The results are in. We have our ROCK STARS OF THE WEEK.
With an outstanding 1284 points, this week’s winners are Y3!
A really close call between Y3 and Y6 this week but Y3 have just managed to hold off Y6 this time! What a great effort! Y3 are back on top after a few weeks of missing out!
Which class will claim the coveted guitar next time? Will it be your class? There’s only one way to make that happen – go on TTRS!
Remember to give your teacher a nudge as the week goes on if you’ve not yet had a chance to play on TTRS. If you’d like to play at home and would like a reminder of your login details, let your teacher know.
All the best TTRS!
In Reception this week
We said goodbye to the chicks on Thursday. The children have loved watching them hatch and grow. The caterpillars are finally growing and nearly ready to start building their cocoons- I think the cold weather has slowed them down this year!
Literacy
This week we will read the story, ‘Superworm’ by Julia Donaldson. After retelling the story, the children will make their own super minibeast story. We are encouraging the children to write a simple sentence remembering full stops, capital letters and finger spaces.
Phonics
We will begin Phase 4 of the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phonics programme. In this phase children will use the phonemes learnt in Phase 2 and Phase 3 to read and spell words with four phonemes.
Children will continue to practise previously learned graphemes and phonemes and learn how to read and write:
CVCC words: tent, damp, toast, chimp
For example, in the word ‘toast’, t = consonant, oa = vowel, s = consonant, t = consonant
CCVC words: swim, plum, sport, cream, spoon
For example, in the word ‘cream’, c = consonant, r = consonant, ea = vowel, m = consonant
They will be learning more tricky words and continuing to read and write sentences together.
Tricky words
said, so, do, have, like, some, come, were, there, little, one, when, out, what
Please help your child to learn the phonemes from the previous phases.
We will continue to send words and books home which your child will be able to blend. Please make sure your child’s reading book is in their bookbag everyday as we read often.
Maths
This week the children will begin to realise that a group of objects can be changed by taking away. They will solve problems involving addition and subtraction and tell maths stories using the language, first, then and now.
Please keep sending those ‘wow moments’ and any questions to
moortowneyfs@spherefederation.org
Computing
This half term, Year 1 are learning all about computing. Here are the age related expectations we are working on and the vocabulary and definitions that you will have been talking about for homework this week.
Firstly, we tried giving each other instructions (also known as an algorithms) to get from one place to another. We soon realised these algorithms needed to be clear and precise. For example, go forwards – but how far? Turn around – but which direction?
After trying some practical algorithms, we spent some time learning about the words to help us with position and direction including forwards, backwards, quarter turn left and quarter turn right. We started to write algorithms to help the BeeBot move from the start to the finish.
Here, the algorithm didn’t work so we had to debug it to see what had gone wrong. Once the algorithm had been corrected, we could get the BeeBot to the finish.
This rhyme has helped us to understand the meaning of algorithm and debug.
Most recently, the children were excited to use the BlueBot devices to put their algorithm and directional knowledge to the test.
We will be doing lots more practical learning with the BlueBots to test out our programming skills.
Another part of this topic is all about keeping safe online. This forms part of the new statutory Relationships and Health Education curriculum (part of our Living and Learning curriculum) and the relevant age related expectations are listed here.
We have been using stories to help with this learning. Have a listen to these stories again at home.
Please discuss this important e-safety message with your child.