Science: classifying animals
In our current science topic, we have been learning about the different types of animals including: mammals, reptiles, fish, birds, amphibians and invertebrates.
We thought of our own yes/no questions to classify animals based on their characteristics. We called this a classification key.
Test your child’s knowledge of the different types of animals at home – they’re very confident!
Living and Learning: building relationships
In this week’s Living and Learning session, we were learning about attributes that will help us to make friends. We were all given an attribute and children had to decide where to place it on a continuum showing whether it was a positive or negative attribute for building good relationships.
Our perfect performances
Today, we’ve been performing poetry about animals!
We needed to have voices that were expressive and fluent when performing the poem that we had memorised off by heart.
It was also important to project our voices and make sure we were facing the audience.
Numbers to 100
In maths, we’ve been learning lots about numbers t0 100. We’re confindent with tens and ones and know how to represent two digit numbers in different ways.
Colour mixing
We used colour mixing to find out about primary and secondary colours.
Maths with vegetables
In maths, the children have been learning to use the language ‘equal to, more than, less than, fewer and greater than‘ to compare objects.
I know that 5 is less than 7 and 7 is greater than 5.
In our first lesson, the children struggled a little with this concept. So, today, we used some real life objects to help us to compare.
Try this one at home with your child. It may help to draw pictures.
Mrs Freeman has 7 apples in one hand. 
She has fewer apples in the other hand. How many apples could Mrs Freeman have in her other hand?
Our first PE lesson
The children really enjoyed their first PE lesson.
PE is on a Wednesday. Remember to send your child to school in their PE kit. We will try to be outside when possible, so please make sure they have warm clothes and trainers.
Year 1 learning
We have been very impressed with how Year 1 have started the school year even with all the new routines and procedures in place. Thank you for supporting your child at home especially with the fantastic homework we have received.
Here’s a summary of our learning so far.
In maths, we have been learning about numbers to 10 including counting, ordering, counting forwards/backwards and one more/less. Topmarks has some good maths based games to try at home.
We have also had a big emphasis on supporting the children with their number formation and presentation in their new maths books. We start our numbers at the top.
To help at home, count forwards and backwards with your child. Give your child a number (initially up to 20) and see if they can tell you the number one more/one less.
In reading, we have a weekly fluency text. Here is this week’s text.
In class, we read the text every day to develop the children’s fluency. This involves lots of teacher modelling of reading taking account of the punctuation and using expression. On Friday, we answer questions about the text.
Remember, reading books can be changed on a Tuesday and Thursday. Thank you for your patience as the children learn this new routine. We visit the library on Mondays. The children have all had the chance to use Lexia at school. They are becoming quicker at logging on so any practice they can get at home will help with this.
To help at home, read with your child everyday. This can be their book from school or any other book or text you have at home. Asking questions about the text will help with their understanding.
In writing, our learning has been based around what makes a sentence.
- Capital letter at the start
- Full stop (or other punctuation) at the end
- Finger spaces between words
- Does it make sense?
Capital letters have been our initial focus – how we form them and when do we use them. See if your child can remember when we need to use a capital letter. These alphabet videos are a good reminder too.
Another aspect of english we are developing is the children’s oracy. A particular focus we are working on is answering in full sentences.
After carrying out some egg related experiments, we are now learning about living things in science.
Topic learning began with lots of learning about the text After the Fall and for the next three weeks, this will be based on Here we are by Oliver Jeffers.
Well done to all of Year 1 who are working so hard! Keep it up!
PE in the sunshine
In PE today, Year One were learning how to move at different speeds.
We enjoyed moving like different animals, moving at different speeds and moving on the spot. The children could explain how to sprint and jog and they described how their bodies felt whilst doing these activities.
I feel out of breath when I run fast.
My legs get tired.
My heart is beating fast.
I feel very hot.
Running fast is hard work.
Our new class novel…
“I predict it will take place on a farm because all those animals could be found there,” said Moh.
Sami predicted that the boy would go on an adventure and meet the animals along the way.
Sometimes it’s nice to read the reviews of a book but it’s also important to come to your own conclusion. The last review is quite poignant, though!
“The artwork is confusing but I like it,” said Tasha.
Felix mused, “I wonder why the Fox seems to be the only one coloured in?”
Watch this space!