Year 1

In English this week the children have been learning about persuasive writing. We have learnt how to take part in a conscience alley, whereby we have been giving the Fox advice on whether to stay in the den or go and look for the Star. From this we started to write our own persuasive letters to the Fox. We discussed how our letters need to be persuasive to encourage the Fox to either stay in the den or go look for the Star. 

Home Task – Can you write your own persuasive letter to a friend? 

In Maths this week the children have been looking at capacity and measure. The children have been exploring different sized containers and water. We have developed our capacity mathematical vocabulary, including full, half full, nearly empty and empty. From this knowledge, we moved on to comparing capacities. 

Home Task – Can you explore capacity in different containers from around your home?

In Topic this week we have been learning about what effect different liquids have on each other. The children started our experiment by predicting what they thought was going to happen and drawing a diagram of the experiment. As groups, we then tested the experiment, whereby we put food colouring into milk, then used a cotton bud with washing up liquid and used this to put into the milk. The children were amazed to see that the cotton bud with washing up liquid was able to move the food colouring. 

In English this week the children have been learning facts about beetles. We have learnt that some beetles are as big as our hand, some change colour and some can emit gas that can burn their predators. From this we started to write our own riddles about beetles. We discussed how riddles are written in the first person and that riddles are a description of the animal itself. 

Home task: Can you write your own riddle for a different animal?

In Maths this week the children have been studying repeated addition, grouping and arrays. They have been learning how we can group multiple objects in a variety of ways. They developed their understanding of putting objects into groups by looking at arrays. Arrays are an arrangement of objects in either columns or rows which help us to work out repeated addition sums and multiplication.

Home task: Can you group your toys into multiple groups/arrays?

In Topic this week we have been learning the skill to sketch before completing a piece of art work. We have looked at landscapes and what this entails, starting by using our skills to sketch our own landscape. The children were given an option of pencils, paint, pens, crayons and chalk to complete their landscape picture. ​After completing this they were able to add layers to their art work through the use of alternative media. For example, children who used paint were then able to add chalk or pencil on top to give the picture depth and detail.

Dear Diary

This week in Year 1 the children have been developing their empathy towards the Fox and considering the events from his perspective. They have written their own diary entries using the first person, description and their own thoughts and ideas. These have been drafted, edited and then finally published!

At Home Task: Can you write your own diary entry?

In Maths the children have been sharing objects and considering equal and unequal groups. We have been considering dividing and sharing into equal groups.

At Home Task: Can you share an object into equal groups?

In our Topic we have made Elmer collages using a range of media and materials. For Science we have considered our body parts and how they relate to our senses before going on a senses walk. In History we have asked questions about the Romans before finding our answers.

This week the children have been learning about the features of letter writing such as where to put the address and who the letter is to. The children have written persuasive letters pretending to be a crayon who has quit and what Duncan needs to do to make things better. The children wrote letters in role as Duncan begging his crayons to return to him! We then edited our letters before publishing them in our best writing, to help us edit we made a checklist about what the best editing would be. Our list included things such as:

• Checking our spellings are correct
• Using the correct punctuation
• Checking our sentences make sense
• adding in appropriate describing words

At Home Task: Can you write a letter to someone?

In Maths the children have consolidated their learning from the previous term and have moved onto learning about numbers beyond 50. We have begun to look at counting first tens and then ones. We are learning to use different resources, including a number line, to help us count.

At Home Task: Can you divide a number into tens and ones at home?

In our Topic we have looked at Christian beliefs about God and written sentences about what God is to Christians. For History we have sorted objects into the past and present and for DT we have looked at wheels and axels. In PSHE we have made books about our development in our six years and what important milestones we have reached.