Learning Together
Year 3 are quite the performing lot (as I’m sure you’re all aware.) They sang brilliantly at the New Wimbledon Theatre this morning alongside year 4. Perhaps a year 3 and 4 production is in the making. Suggestions on a postcard (or in a comment on the blog!)
When we got back to class, there were more performances of note. As it is storytelling week, the children have made shadow puppets and were performing exerts of Fantastic Mr Fox in science. An excellent day!
The children have been learning the art of persuasion for the past fortnight. Be aware that they may be trying their luck at persuading their parents to do all sorts of things for them now. They have been defending Mr Fox and his questionable actions (stealing) on the basis that what the horrible farmers do is far worse (attempted murder)
Don’t be alarmed by all the chalk outlines in the playground! In science we have seen that the size of shadows changes depending on how close the light source is to an object. We also saw that shadows take the shape of the object that blocks the light (hence the silly poses).
This week we have been comparing traditional and modern fairy tales. Using our core text ‘Into the Forest’ and ‘Shrek’ we have looked at the similarities and differences between traditional stories such as ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and fairy tales that are written today.
Next week we will be writing our own version of a modern fairy tale by retelling the story of ‘Into the Forest’ by Anthony Browne. This week the children have planned their story using a story map to sequence the events.
In science we enjoyed learning about the parts of a plant you can eat, although not everyone was a fan of the radish!
In maths we have been comparing number sentences using the mathematical symbols < > =.
E.g.
13 + 5 > 16 – 4
12 + 3 = 20- 5
On Thursday 13th February we will be making a fairy tale story box. The week commencing Monday 10th February the children will need to bring in a shoe box (or a small box) that can be used to create the fairy tale setting. A few examples are below:
This week’s book recommendation is written by Daisy.
“I am recommending the book ‘Sharing a Shell’ by Julia Donalson. This story is about a shell. A crab wants it, then an anemone comes and stings a big fish on the nose. I like this book because it’s about sharing, if people want the same thing they can share it like if they had a skipping rope then two people can swing the skipping rope and one person can skip over it. That’s sharing.”
Next week it is the turn of Emi, Lily, Kieran and Lizzie for Show and Tell.
We hope you have a restful weekend,
The Year One Team
This week we read the traditional tale ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.
After we had finished the story we were surprised to receive a letter from the King asking for our help. The letter read:
Dear Willow Class,
I am writing to you to ask for your help. As you are aware, Jack has recently found a golden harp and hen which allows him to make golden eggs. This means that Jack has become one of the richest boys in the kingdom. Some people feel that Jack shouldn’t be allowed to keep the golden harp because it is stolen property and now the whole kingdom can’t agree. Please can you help me decide what to do? I look forward to hearing your arguments for and against Jack’s actions and your help in sorting this matter is greatly appreciated.
Yours Faithfully,
King Charles
We had a class discussion debating whether Jack should be allowed to keep the money or if he should be made to pay it back. We then wrote letters to the King explaining our thinking.
In maths we have been using numicon to calculate related addition and subtraction facts.
E.g. If 7+3=10, then 3+7=10, 10-3 =7, and 10-7=3
In science we have been learning about the different parts of a plant. We dissected a plant carefully and looked at the different parts such as root, leaf, petal, pollen and stem.
This week’s book recommendation is written by Lily.
“I am recommending the book ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ by Roald Dahl. I am reading it at home and have enjoyed it so far. In the story George feeds Grandma the medicine and she gets taller and taller and taller and smashes through the house. It is a funny story and will cheer you up when you are feeling sad. ”
We hope you have a restful weekend
The Year One Team
Dear Parents and Carers,
Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break. It has been a busy start to the new term in Phase One with each class starting their new topic.
Attached is a copy of your class’s Curriculum Map which covers their learning for the Spring Term.
Year One ‘Into the Woods’- Curriculum Map Spring
Year Three ‘Invaders and Settlers’ – Curriculum Map Spring final Year 3
Please note that year two’s curriculum map will follow next week.
Wishing you all a restful weekend,
Miss Luetchford 🙂
This week’s blog is written by Lucas and Nelson:
“This week we have started our new book ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ by Roald Dahl. We have written a non-chronological report about one of the characters in the story. I have written about Mr Fox (Nelson). I have also written about Mr Fox (Lucas). We have told the readers about the character’s appearance, habitat, diet and personality. Mr Fox likes to eat chicken and dumplings.
In maths we have been learning about multiplication and division. We have multiplied a 2-digit number by a 1 digit number.
In science we have been learning about light and dark. We tested materials to see if they were reflective or not.
In R.E we have been learning about what it takes to be a good leader.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.”
By Lucas and Nelson
This week we have continued reading our core text ‘Into the Forest’. We noticed that a wolf was hiding behind one of the trees and this got us to thinking about what other fairy tale villains could be lurking in the woods.To help people catch the villains we wrote a wanted poster describing a fairy tale villain. We worked hard to include adjectives to describe their appearance and characteristics.
In maths this week we have been learning how to use a number line to solve a subtraction problem. We counted backwards and used empty number lines to solve a range of subtraction equations. We have also been revising our number bonds to and 20.
In art we have been learning about the artist William Morris.
We will be making our own William Morris inspired painting. This week we focused on sketching leaves and flowers from observation.
In class we have been looking at our favourite stories to read. The children have been invited to share their favourite books with the class by writing down the name of a book that they would recommend to their peers. Each week we will share one of the recommendations with you on our class blog.
This week’s recommendation is written by Miss Luetchford:
I am recommending the book ‘The Dark’ by Lemony Snicket.
This is a story about a young boy called Laszlo who is afraid of the dark. In the story the dark lives in the same house as Laszlo but spends most of his time in the basement. One night, the dark comes upstairs to Laszlo’s room, and Laszlo goes down to the basement.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The story involves overcoming our worries, which we all need to be reminded to do from time to time. The illustrations help bring the story to life. I hope you enjoy reading it too!
In phonics we have been learning the following sounds:
ir (girl, twirl)
oo (zoo, too)
u-e (huge, brute)
Attached is the link to the Spelling Shed for the children to be able to revise these sounds: https://play.edshed.co/login
We hope you have a restful weekend,
The Year One Team.
Welcome back to the Spring Term, we hope you all had a restful Christmas break. Thank you so much for your kind words in our cards and generous gifts, it was very thoughtful of you all.
This week we have started our new topic ‘Into The Woods’. We read the story ‘Into the Forest’ by Anthony Browne. The story is about a young boy who needs to deliver cakes to his grandma. To get to his grandmother’s house he needs to walk through a strange and mysterious forest. Along the way he encounters various fairy tale characters. When we read the story we noticed that there were also fairy tale items hidden throughout the forest. Tomorrow we will be writing a description of this forest in our English books.
In maths we have been learning how to solve an addition equation by counting on. We used number lines to help us in our calculations.
In science we have begun our new topic ‘Plants’. Mrs Warner took us on a plant hunt to observe the different plants we have growing at our school.
We hope you have a lovely weekend,
The Year One Team
With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, it has been a busy week in Phase One.
Year 3 enjoyed a trip with year 4 to the Royal Festival Hall where they listened to and performed various carols with the organ. The children all described the trip with great enthusiasm and even the wet walk back to school couldn’t damper their Christmas spirit.
Year 3 have also been busy producing poems as part of the Young Writers Poetry Competition. The children were asked to write a poem about a monster and I’m thrilled to announce that some of our children’s work has been chosen for publication. Congratulations to : Matilda, Finn, Lily D, Lucas, Erin, Abderlrhman, Ella, Leon, Benedict, Harry, Kallum, Blake, Chris, Nelson and Sofia whose poems will all feature in the book ‘Poetry Monster- Fangtastic Creations’. Well done!
Next Wednesday afternoon (18th December) years 1 and 2 will be having their KS1 Christmas party. The children are invited to bring party clothes in a named bag that they can change into for the afternoon. Outside the classrooms is a sign-up sheet for parents to provide any food or party drinks. Any donations towards this will be greatly appreciated. Please ensure that all food is nut free.
On Thursday 19th December year 3 will be participating in the KS2 Christmas party. The children are invited to bring party clothes in a named bag and food will be provided for by the school. To pay for the party food and drinks, the children are asked to bring in a £1.00 donation.
I hope you have a restful weekend and we would all like to wish Mr Peck a very happy birthday for Saturday.
Miss Luetchford 🙂
This week’s blog is written by Levi and Guy.
This week we have been writing a thank you letter to our parents to say thank you for coming to see our Christmas show. I played a King (Guy) and I was a sheep ‘Baaaa!’ (Levi). You will be receiving these letters next week.
In maths we have been multiplying , adding and subtracting numbers. On Thursday we completed our maths tests to show all of our learning.
In science we have been learning about animals. We have been looking at insects, reptiles and amphibians. My favourite animal is a cheetah which is a mammal (Guy). My favourite animal is also a cheetah because they are really fast (Levi).
In art we have been learning about Vincent Van Gogh. We looked at his paintings called ‘Wheatfield With Crows’, ‘The Starry Night’ and ‘The Yellow House’.
We used pastels and chalk to draw our own version of these paintings.
Next week it is our Christmas party. We are looking forward to wearing our own clothes and dancing in the hall. Our Christmas party is on Wednesday 18th December.
By Guy and Levi