What a fabulous week we have planned for you this week! The children are really in for a treat because the CIRCUS has come to St.Vincent’s!
All of the work we will be covering, will be linked to our Circus theme and by Friday, the children will have produced some fabulous poems, pictures, collages , dances, music and number work! Phew...will we be able to fit it all in?!
Language and Literacy
As a rich task week, the children will be looking at lots of different types of texts, all based around the circus theme. We will be asking the children the kinds of things we might find in a pocket – how useful are they? Do we really need them? Do the things in the pocket change with different occupations? Why are mum’s pockets ALWAYS like Mary Poppins’ handbag?! What about a clown’s pocket? What might you find there? Mmm, this could be an interesting read on Friday!
There will be lots of Speaking and Listening activities this week and the children will each be taking on a different role in the circus. Just to get them in the mood for this topic, click on the link below for some great circus music. (If you are a professional musician, then the quality isn’t the best, but it’s great for giving you an idea!)
http://pages.prodigy.net/area512/circus1.html the pictures on this site may be a bit scary, so please make sure that you are with your child when they first visit it, but the music that you can listen to, will really get you in the mood (and remind you of your childhood visits to the circus!)
We will be continuing with the basics, including high-frequency words and the links below will really help to support your child. It is vitally important that these are practised on a DAILY basis at home; just 5 words a day, for two minutes, can make such a huge difference to your child’s reading and writing skills. Try to stick with the same words for a week, as this will ensure that the words are really embedded into your child’s vocabulary. The aim is that your child is able to read the word instantaneously when reading, without the need to sound out the letters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/hfwords/index.shtml a great site, where you have to match the shape of the HFW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/index.shtml choose any of these activities to help with CVC words (cat, hat, mat etc)
http://www.ictgames.com/dinosaurwordsrepeat.html you need to turn the volume up for this one! Click on the dinosaur egg to hear the word and then click on the written word that matches it.
http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html I love this one! You can either choose from the lists of prepared words, or you can type in the words that your child is working on. You need to click on start to begin ‘look, say, cover, write, check’.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=stickyl drag and drop the letters on the green letter rack at the top of the page and then click on the ‘Send’ button to send it to the word bank.
http://www.ictgames.com/wordreader.html listen to the word and then click on the matching flower
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/airport_xray.html this may bring back memories of your holidays (doesn’t it seem a long time ago?!) Scan the suitcase to find the high frequency words
Numeracy
We were really surprised with the children’s knowledge of 2D and 3D shaped last week, and they were able to sort them into groups according to whether they have curved or straight sides. To keep the momentum going, encourage your child to look for shapes when they are out and about. Can they name the shape? How many sides, edges, faces has it got?
A good ‘cutting and sticking’ activity, is to draw some shapes onto coloured paper and get your child to cut them out. Then use them, to make a 2D shape picture. Which shapes would you need to make a rocket? A caterpillar? A train?
This week, we will be moving onto number work. The children will be looking at one more and more less a given number, moving onto being able to bridge through a 10. This means that, they should be able to COUNT ON from the largest number to find the total. You could help, by pointing out the multiples of ten as they add numbers together – 10, 20, 30...
5 + 9 =.... start with the number 9 and then COUNT ON 5.
By the end of the week, some of the children will be confident enough to add together 3 numbers, remembering to put the largest number first.
Another activity to try, is to roll a dice, and add 10 to that number. You could make it more difficult, by adding together two rolls of the dice and THEN adding 10.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/count_on_me/eng/Introduction/default.htm this will help to support the number bonds to 10
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/snakes.shtml play a game of snakes and ladders to practice counting on skills – this will really help the children to concentrate...just try moving forward too many places and see what happens!
http://www.primaryonline.co.uk/sitetour/pol/findra.html quite an easy game, but good for children who are working on recognising numbers and ordering them.
http://www.ictgames.com/newduckshoot10s.html counting in 10s - beware the missing numbers on the line!
http://www.ictgames.com/rabbit2.html very appropriate at Harvest time! Can you pull the carrots out of the ground?
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog2s_v2.html click on the missing number by counting in 2’s
http://www.ictgames.com/counting_cars_changecars.html this made me giggle! Find the missing number (on the car) and turn the steering wheel in that direction to ‘bump the car!’
http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game11.htm click on the next number on the lily pad to get the frog across the pond.
http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game6.htm colouring by numbers - a lovely activity!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/maths/parkthepods.shtml the children in Year 2 should be able to do this by the end of the week. Make sure you turn the sound up for this as you need to listen to the questions – count back 3 from 22.
http://www.sgdesign.com/af/aflinkjr/con2.swf this is lovely site for children when ordering numbers. If they get it right, they see a great animation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/numbers/ch3.shtml remember COUNT- COUNT-TOGETHER-COUNT
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/test.shtml another game for practising addition
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/gameshoweasy.html a great game to play against your child! See who can finish first!
http://www.letsdiscover.org.uk/shopping.html use this site to show children the practical application of why they are doing addition this week!
By the end of the week, the Year 1 children:
MUST Add a single-digit number to a single- digit number within 10 (at least) e.g. 4+ 5
SHOULD Add a single-digit number to a two-digit number, without crossing the tens boundary.
COULD Add any single digit number to any two-digit number, including ‘teens’ numbers without crossing the 'tens' boundary e.g.62+4.
The Year 2 children:
MUST Add a single-digit number to a two-digit number, without crossing the tens boundary
SHOULD Add any single digit number to any two-digit number, including ‘teens’ numbers without crossing the 'tens' boundary e.g.62+4. Add any single digit number to any two-digit number up to 30, crossing the 'tens' boundary e.g. 16 + 6
COULD Add any pair of two-digit numbers, without crossing a tens boundary. e.g. 33 + 45.
Homework
You should all have received you child’s homework folder last Tuesday, which needs to be handed in on Monday morning. This is to enable the teachers to mark the work and return it to you on Tuesday, with a new set of words and numeracy. We would be grateful if you could sign your child’s homework and write any difficulties or successes which your child has had. The children have been really positive about their homework and it would be great if this was to continue throughout the year.
Diary
On Monday and Tuesday, Mrs Pinto-Edwards will not be in school, and her class will be covered by Mrs Robinson.
On Wednesday, we will be having our Harvest Festival Mass in the hall, celebrated by Father Richard at 2pm. You are most welcome to join us.
On Thursday, the circus comes to St. Vincent’s! Each of the three classes will be having their Circusology workshops. We are so excited at the prospect of being able to juggle – hopefully the children won’t be too lively on Wednesday evening at home?!
Then on Friday, we finish the week with some more fun – the children will be able to come to school dressed as clowns for the day! We really do hope you all enter into the spirit of things, as it would be a real shame if some children had to come to school in uniform. It doesn’t have to be elaborate – all it needs is some colourful materials, a sprinkle of glitter and a cupful of imagination! Face paints are a must!!
To finish the week off, we will be judging our Root Vegetable competition. There will be a winner and a runner up for each class. We hope to put some of the photographs on the blog next week, so we can see just how creative you have all been!
We finish this week’s blog with a request. Lots of parents are making comments in their child’s reading diaries, both to let us know any information and to inform us when you have read with your child and this is fantastic. As your child’s co-educators, we appreciate all the support that you are able to give them and us, in order to make the learning experience as fun and fulfilling as it can possibly be. If you haven’t yet been able to make a comment in the diary, please do aim for at least one comment per week – we would love to read them!
Have a great week!
Year 1/2 team.
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