Well here we are again, hurtling towards the end of another half term - where does the time go? We have a very busy week ahead of us, so without further ado, let's find out what's happening...
SATs
The children have worked so hard over the last few weeks, completing all the tasks and tests for the SATs and this week sees their conclusion. Phew I hear you say? Well, in actual fact, we have lots of lovely comments in the children's diaries, saying how much the children have enjoyed them! I can tell that this group of children are really gearing up for their move into the world of the juniors - and ready for it they are too!
The year ones will also have their progress assessed too this week and the week after the holidays. Many children have already moved onto the next level in the reading, with many children exceeding their targets for the end of the year already - FANTASTIC!
Literacy
The children will be completing their information books this week, which will be assessed as a piece of independent writing. From this, the children will be given their final set of targets to work on in the last half term.
If you fancy having some writing practice over the holidays, have a look back through the blog links from the last couple of weeks. Some children have even brought in some stories that the have printed off - we would love to see more!
Phonics
As always in the last week of a half term, we will be reviewing the letter patterns that we have covered and assessing whether the children are able to blend and segment words using them. You should receive an update on the patterns that your child needs to work on via the diaries this week. Many of the children applying their phonics knowledge superbly when blending unfamiliar words, but a great way to practice this skill, is by highlighting words which contain a particular pattern on a page from your Sunday newspaper! Have a go this weekend and see how many you can find.
CHALLENGE: how many words can they find on a page, where the letter 'e' has changed the sound of the vowel in a word? Maybe you could make a list and use this to add to your swagbag!
http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/index2.php?action=underestand review some of the previous letter patterns we have been working on. By clicking on the sounds, the children will be able to hear the sound the letters make together.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html write 5 words with the au pattern and 5 with the aw pattern and get the children to locate them on the tree. The children could even make their own game up for each other, practising their spelling skills!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html choose ‘enter your own words’ to work on this week’s patterns or choose from the list to review previous sounds
http://www.ictgames.com/hybrid.html click on the au and aw patterns
Numeracy
The children will be completing assessments this week on all the areas of numeracy covered this year. This will enable us to plan the children's learning for the last half term, so that any misunderstandings can be addressed.
Links from previous blogs will really support our numeracy work this week. You also have noticed on the right hand side of this blog, I have added some of our favourite sites for you to look through. Although they are all general sites and they contain resources all the way up to Year 6 and beyond, you have lots to work through!
Topic
We will be completing the work we have been covering this half term on Florence Nightingale and also assessing the children's understanding of our work on plants and animals. Mrs Worrall's class will be completing their writing for display on this topic, so why not pop in and see some of the children's work on Friday? Mrs Pinto-Edwards' class have also produced a beautiful display in the hall, based on their work on Pentecost. Why not pop in and have a look, by going to the Rosary during the week at 8.30am in the school hall?
Beeston
The Year 2 children are getting very excited now about their 'big sleep-over' at Beeston which is rapidly approaching! They may be saying that they will be getting up to all kinds of things, but there will be a meeting THIS WEDNESDAY at 3.15pm in Mrs Malone's room, to inform you of the real timetable for the visit! There will be a creche available for the children and the meeting should last no longer than about 20 minutes. Should you be unable to attend, then please call in to see any member of the 1/2 team, or pop a message in your child's diary.
As it is the last week of the half term and the children are working extremely hard on their assessments in school, there will be no formal homework this week. This will give you the opportunity to spend a little more time on reading with your child and completing some of the phonics activities.
A very busy week, packed into a very short blog! Have a rest over the holidays and come back ready and refreshed for the last half term, which is for some children, their last half term before moving to the juniors!
Take care,
Year 1/2 team.
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Up-levelling
Well what about last week’s weather?! I complained about the lack of Summer and Hey Presto – sunshine and shorts! I’d better not complain this week in case we return to the wintery days of April again!
On the subject of the warm weather, could we remind everyone about the need for children to be protected from the sun, by wearing a hat and applying sun-screen. The children may bring it to school in a named plastic bag at the start of the week and bring it home for the weekend.
We continue with SATs tasks for the Year 2’s this week and the children have really done us proud so far. They have said that it was nothing like they thought it would be and they can’t wait to do more – an opportunity for them to show off all of their knowledge and skills.
Next week sees the Key Stage 2 SATs nationally and our own Year 6 children are eager to show off all their knowledge after 7 years at St.Vincent’s. We wish them all the very best and are sure that they will be fantastic!
Literacy
By the title of this week’s blog, you should be able to gather that we are really pushing the children on to raise the level of their writing this week.
When writing our Information books this week, the children will be ‘up-levelling’ their writing in 4 different ways:
· Vocabulary
· Connectives
· Openers
· Punctuation
VCOP for short!
Have a go with this sentence:
· I walk to school.
Mmm, we can improve this by adding vocabulary to extend the sentence :
· I walked quickly to school this morning.
Then, let’s extend it even more by adding a connective:
· I walked quickly to school this morning SO I was not late for the register.
Getting better! Now, how can we change the opening? Let’s begin our sentence with an ‘ing’ word – the action (verb) in the sentence:
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register...
Oh – when we remember our Think it, Say it, Write it rule, the sentence doesn’t ‘sound’ right. We need to add another ‘bit’ on the end, so...
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my packed lunch, so had to return home anyway.
Much better, but I haven’t got any punctuation!
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register, I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my packed lunch, so had to return home anyway!
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to write 3 simple sentences about their chosen topic
SHOULD be able to write at least 5 extended sentences, including a connective, about their chosen topic
COULD be able to write extended sentences, using VCOP about their chosen topic and ensure they are written as paragraphs.
http://www.sparklebox2.co.uk/literacy/writing/vcop.html a resource we use in school, but if you would like your own colour copy of this to print off at home, then it can be downloaded from this site. Get the children to cut this out and assemble it into an actual pyramid! You may recognise some of the other resources which we regularly send home, as this is a huge favourite of ours!
http://www.kelsall.cheshire.sch.uk/Parents/Parent%20Handouts/VCOP%20Mat.pdf a mat version of the VCOP pyramid
http://www.sutton.lincs.sch.uk/pages/playground/zone/story/start.html ideas for writing your own stories – great to use as opening paragraphs
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/writing_a_story_opening hints on writing a story opening
http://www.midlandit.co.uk/education/writingtips.htm story writing tips
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/kids/writing/storymaker/storymaker.asp create your own story
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/index.html this is great! Enter the information requested and the programme generates a story start.
Phonics
The children have really amazed us with how much they can remember and which phoneme to use for different words. ‘PH’ and ‘WH’ words are now firmly embedded and the children are even giving themselves spelling challenges, seeing how many words they can come up with!
This week, we move onto ‘au’ and ‘aw’ sounds. They will investigate where the ‘au’ and ‘aw’ pattern USUALLY come in a word – beginning, middle or end, and apply this to new words.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to recognise the patterns au and aw in words
SHOULD be able to spell words containing au and aw
COULD be able to include au and aw words learned in a sentence
http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/index2.php?action=underestand review some of the previous letter patterns we have been working on. By clicking on the sounds, the children will be able to hear the sound the letters make together.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html write 5 words with the au pattern and 5 with the aw pattern and get the children to locate them on the tree. The children could even make their own game up for each other, practising their spelling skills!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html choose ‘enter your own words’ to work on this week’s patterns or choose from the list to review previous sounds
http://www.ictgames.com/hybrid.html click on the au and aw patterns
Numeracy
As stated last week, we will be continuing with a review of areas of numeracy where the children need a little more practice.
This week, we will be moving on to partitioning up to 4 digit numbers and using this to support them when adding larger numbers. We will also review missing numbers in a number sentence, looking particularly at the sign in the middle + or -.
One area which we will spend some time on, is reviewing the vocabulary associated with addition and subtraction. Once the children can understand the vocabulary, the number work becomes second nature. For example:
10 – 5 = ?
Or
Find the difference between 10 and 5
Both are exactly the same sum, but the second one is perceived as being more difficult, because of the ‘words’!
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to find the difference between a TU number and a U by counting on a number line
SHOULD be able to find the difference between a TU number and another by counting on a hundred square
COULD be able to use partitioning to help find the difference between numbers up to 4 digits
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/846/Thinkingofanumber-100.swf this really does make you think! Click on all of the clouds to get the clues in order to guess the missing numbers
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SumSense/sumsub.html manipulate the numbers to make up your own number sentence for subtraction. Remember to emphasise the ‘find the difference’ phrase.
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Ghostblasters3/ghostsub2.html blast the ghost which answers the subtraction problem
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/maths/crosstheswamp.shtml choose addition and subtraction, then select which ‘rock’ to land on. Challenge yourself by selecting the higher numbers.
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/maths/big%20sums/big%20sums%20subtract.html we will be using this site in class to teach missing numbers. Try hiding the first number rather than the answer to add some variety!
http://oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/mathssub.html race against the clock to answer these subtraction questions
Science
We are moving towards the end of our topic on plants and this week we are looking at the different types of plants that we can find in and around our neighbourhood.
The children will also look at how animals are suited to the environment in which they live. They will be able to name a number of different habitats and match the animals to them.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to name some habitats and where they might be found
SHOULD be able to match an animal to its habitat
COULD be able to predict suitable habitats for animals according to their features
http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/living_things/index.html a lovely website, which is a one-stop shop for all our objectives this week!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/plants_animals_env.shtml click on the plants and animals that we might find in our local environment. This is a great site, particularly as the children can use this independently.
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/ict/AAA/AAA.html what a lovely database all about animals and their habitats. This is also a really useful resource for the children to use when writing their information texts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/wwww/scottishwoodlands/standard/index.shtml building on who, where, what, why and when questions from last week, this is a fairly simple sites which poses questions about habitats for the children to answer.
Here I Am
We begin our new topic of Building Bridges in our RE curriculum this week. In this important topic the children will focus on their friendships and how they are to be cared for. They also look at how friendships can be spoilt and the importance of putting things right. They will study the Sacrament of Reconciliation and learn about the importance of forgiveness and being forgiven. This topic also enables to link our SEAL curriculum with our Here I Am programme.
By the end of the week, the children will have:
RECOGNISED :that friendships can be spoilt.
REFLECTED: on friendships they have had which were spoilt in some way.
RESPECTED: appreciate the importance of saying sorry and making-up.
This Sunday is also Pentecost Sunday, where we celebrate not only the coming of the Holy Spirit, but the birthday of the Church. We have a task for the children on Sunday...
What colour vestments is Father Richard wearing? Why is he wearing that colour?
PE Kits
The children should have brought their PE kits home over the last week or so to be washed, but there are still a few which haven’t found their way back into our class PE boxes. Please could ensure that you also check your child’s pumps fit, as we hope to embark on our practices for Sports Day – yes we are approaching that time of year again, hard to believe though it is!
Change of Day
For this week only, Golden time and University has been swapped to THURSDAY. This is enable Foundation Stage to go on their visit to Blue Planet Aquarium – I am sure they will all have a ‘splashing’ time! (oh dear!)
Year ½ team
On the subject of the warm weather, could we remind everyone about the need for children to be protected from the sun, by wearing a hat and applying sun-screen. The children may bring it to school in a named plastic bag at the start of the week and bring it home for the weekend.
We continue with SATs tasks for the Year 2’s this week and the children have really done us proud so far. They have said that it was nothing like they thought it would be and they can’t wait to do more – an opportunity for them to show off all of their knowledge and skills.
Next week sees the Key Stage 2 SATs nationally and our own Year 6 children are eager to show off all their knowledge after 7 years at St.Vincent’s. We wish them all the very best and are sure that they will be fantastic!
Literacy
By the title of this week’s blog, you should be able to gather that we are really pushing the children on to raise the level of their writing this week.
When writing our Information books this week, the children will be ‘up-levelling’ their writing in 4 different ways:
· Vocabulary
· Connectives
· Openers
· Punctuation
VCOP for short!
Have a go with this sentence:
· I walk to school.
Mmm, we can improve this by adding vocabulary to extend the sentence :
· I walked quickly to school this morning.
Then, let’s extend it even more by adding a connective:
· I walked quickly to school this morning SO I was not late for the register.
Getting better! Now, how can we change the opening? Let’s begin our sentence with an ‘ing’ word – the action (verb) in the sentence:
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register...
Oh – when we remember our Think it, Say it, Write it rule, the sentence doesn’t ‘sound’ right. We need to add another ‘bit’ on the end, so...
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my packed lunch, so had to return home anyway.
Much better, but I haven’t got any punctuation!
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register, I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my packed lunch, so had to return home anyway!
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to write 3 simple sentences about their chosen topic
SHOULD be able to write at least 5 extended sentences, including a connective, about their chosen topic
COULD be able to write extended sentences, using VCOP about their chosen topic and ensure they are written as paragraphs.
http://www.sparklebox2.co.uk/literacy/writing/vcop.html a resource we use in school, but if you would like your own colour copy of this to print off at home, then it can be downloaded from this site. Get the children to cut this out and assemble it into an actual pyramid! You may recognise some of the other resources which we regularly send home, as this is a huge favourite of ours!
http://www.kelsall.cheshire.sch.uk/Parents/Parent%20Handouts/VCOP%20Mat.pdf a mat version of the VCOP pyramid
http://www.sutton.lincs.sch.uk/pages/playground/zone/story/start.html ideas for writing your own stories – great to use as opening paragraphs
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/writing_a_story_opening hints on writing a story opening
http://www.midlandit.co.uk/education/writingtips.htm story writing tips
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/kids/writing/storymaker/storymaker.asp create your own story
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/index.html this is great! Enter the information requested and the programme generates a story start.
Phonics
The children have really amazed us with how much they can remember and which phoneme to use for different words. ‘PH’ and ‘WH’ words are now firmly embedded and the children are even giving themselves spelling challenges, seeing how many words they can come up with!
This week, we move onto ‘au’ and ‘aw’ sounds. They will investigate where the ‘au’ and ‘aw’ pattern USUALLY come in a word – beginning, middle or end, and apply this to new words.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to recognise the patterns au and aw in words
SHOULD be able to spell words containing au and aw
COULD be able to include au and aw words learned in a sentence
http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/index2.php?action=underestand review some of the previous letter patterns we have been working on. By clicking on the sounds, the children will be able to hear the sound the letters make together.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html write 5 words with the au pattern and 5 with the aw pattern and get the children to locate them on the tree. The children could even make their own game up for each other, practising their spelling skills!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html choose ‘enter your own words’ to work on this week’s patterns or choose from the list to review previous sounds
http://www.ictgames.com/hybrid.html click on the au and aw patterns
Numeracy
As stated last week, we will be continuing with a review of areas of numeracy where the children need a little more practice.
This week, we will be moving on to partitioning up to 4 digit numbers and using this to support them when adding larger numbers. We will also review missing numbers in a number sentence, looking particularly at the sign in the middle + or -.
One area which we will spend some time on, is reviewing the vocabulary associated with addition and subtraction. Once the children can understand the vocabulary, the number work becomes second nature. For example:
10 – 5 = ?
Or
Find the difference between 10 and 5
Both are exactly the same sum, but the second one is perceived as being more difficult, because of the ‘words’!
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to find the difference between a TU number and a U by counting on a number line
SHOULD be able to find the difference between a TU number and another by counting on a hundred square
COULD be able to use partitioning to help find the difference between numbers up to 4 digits
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/846/Thinkingofanumber-100.swf this really does make you think! Click on all of the clouds to get the clues in order to guess the missing numbers
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SumSense/sumsub.html manipulate the numbers to make up your own number sentence for subtraction. Remember to emphasise the ‘find the difference’ phrase.
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Ghostblasters3/ghostsub2.html blast the ghost which answers the subtraction problem
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/maths/crosstheswamp.shtml choose addition and subtraction, then select which ‘rock’ to land on. Challenge yourself by selecting the higher numbers.
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/maths/big%20sums/big%20sums%20subtract.html we will be using this site in class to teach missing numbers. Try hiding the first number rather than the answer to add some variety!
http://oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/mathssub.html race against the clock to answer these subtraction questions
Science
We are moving towards the end of our topic on plants and this week we are looking at the different types of plants that we can find in and around our neighbourhood.
The children will also look at how animals are suited to the environment in which they live. They will be able to name a number of different habitats and match the animals to them.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to name some habitats and where they might be found
SHOULD be able to match an animal to its habitat
COULD be able to predict suitable habitats for animals according to their features
http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/living_things/index.html a lovely website, which is a one-stop shop for all our objectives this week!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/plants_animals_env.shtml click on the plants and animals that we might find in our local environment. This is a great site, particularly as the children can use this independently.
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/ict/AAA/AAA.html what a lovely database all about animals and their habitats. This is also a really useful resource for the children to use when writing their information texts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/wwww/scottishwoodlands/standard/index.shtml building on who, where, what, why and when questions from last week, this is a fairly simple sites which poses questions about habitats for the children to answer.
Here I Am
We begin our new topic of Building Bridges in our RE curriculum this week. In this important topic the children will focus on their friendships and how they are to be cared for. They also look at how friendships can be spoilt and the importance of putting things right. They will study the Sacrament of Reconciliation and learn about the importance of forgiveness and being forgiven. This topic also enables to link our SEAL curriculum with our Here I Am programme.
By the end of the week, the children will have:
RECOGNISED :that friendships can be spoilt.
REFLECTED: on friendships they have had which were spoilt in some way.
RESPECTED: appreciate the importance of saying sorry and making-up.
This Sunday is also Pentecost Sunday, where we celebrate not only the coming of the Holy Spirit, but the birthday of the Church. We have a task for the children on Sunday...
What colour vestments is Father Richard wearing? Why is he wearing that colour?
PE Kits
The children should have brought their PE kits home over the last week or so to be washed, but there are still a few which haven’t found their way back into our class PE boxes. Please could ensure that you also check your child’s pumps fit, as we hope to embark on our practices for Sports Day – yes we are approaching that time of year again, hard to believe though it is!
Change of Day
For this week only, Golden time and University has been swapped to THURSDAY. This is enable Foundation Stage to go on their visit to Blue Planet Aquarium – I am sure they will all have a ‘splashing’ time! (oh dear!)
Year ½ team
Friday, 2 May 2008
5th May 2008
Hi,
We are fantastic! (and that’s official!) We were assessed for our third Basic Skills quality mark on Thursday by Derek Barnes, a senior advisor from the LEA and he praised all the children in our school, saying how amazed he was at the progress they were making in all areas, but particularly literacy and numeracy. A big thank you to all of you too, because of the support which you give the school and your children to help achieve these standards. What a great way to end the week!
So, what’s on our menu this week?
We start our SATs tasks with the Year 2 children this week. Fear not! The children are well versed in the way we conduct assessments in Key Stage 1 and the emphasis is very much on celebrating achievement and success. As discussed at parent’s evening, the children will take part in these tasks in a classroom setting, with their own teacher. Unlike Key Stage 2 SATs, they are not completed in one week, rather spread over about 4 weeks, so it is important that children are in school during these weeks. If there are any issues that staff need to be aware of, or any questions which you may have, please see any member of the Year 1/2 team.
http://www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/curriculum/SATs.htm this site gives some information about the nature and purpose of the SATs in schools. It also explains which tasks will be completed in school.
Curriculum will continue throughout the assessment period for the year 2 children as well as the year 1’s.
Literacy
We continue with the second week of Information texts and the children will be able to choose an area which they would like to write to their text about. They will be gathering all the information they need, using books, the internet and interviewing other pupils and staff, ready to begin their writing next week. Some of the children took digital photos last week to include in their book, which they have chosen to make using Smartboard software on the interactive whiteboard!
They will be using this checklist this week when looking at information books, to see if they have included all the necessary elements. They will then use this same checklist when they come to do their own writing next week:
· My front page is clear (the reader can tell what the book is about)
· I have used questions
· My labels and diagrams are clear
· I used captions to give more information about the illustrations
· I have used full stops and capital letters
· My sentences make sense when I read them out loud
· The information chosen is about the title
· The information can be found using the contents page and index
· I used headings and sub-headings to organise important information
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to identify the key features of an information text
SHOULD be able to list questions they want to find the answers to
COULD use question words to write questions they need answered and use them as headings for their paragraphs of information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/literacy/ a good site to review some of the key areas for literacy
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/english/caerphilly/adjectives/index.htm a site in which children can develop their application of adjectives in their writing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/penguinsonice.shtml
Phonics
The children are working really hard with the patterns we have been learning. This week, we will be consolidating work on the patterns ‘wh’ and ‘ph’. This links in with the question words from their information texts:
who, where, what, why and when
You could support this work at home, by investigating whether they can find words which contain these patterns in reading materials.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/index.shtml escape the maze has some great games on to enable the children to apply their phonic knowledge learned over the past few weeks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/poems/fpoem.shtml for those children working on the long vowel patterns – some great poems!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html click on menu and enter the high frequency words or patterns your child is currently working on. These will be saved for the next time you open the game.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/phaseThreeAS1_v2.html scroll through the sounds on the rainbow and use the letters on the set of cards to make new words. You will need to have the sound turned up for this one!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html a lovely new game which supports children in their reading of high frequency words. You could also enter your own words using the phonemes they are currently working on, and getting the children to practice their blending skills.
Numeracy
For the next few weeks, we will be reviewing different areas of numeracy in order to ensure the children have a firm grasp on them.
This week, we will looking at grouping objects in sets of 2,3 5 and 10 in order to make counting easier. We will be reviewing partitioning three digit numbers into hundreds, tens and units and also rounding numbers less than 100, to the nearest 10.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST: Be able to count a number of objects by grouping in 5’s or 10’s. : begin to add a multiple 10 to a 2-digit number by counting on in 10’s
SHOULD: Be able to begin to partition 3-Digit numbers into hundreds, tens and units.
COULD: Be able to begin to round numbers less than a 100 to the nearest 10 and then move past 100.
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/853/Postsortingv3.swf click on rounding TU to the nearest 10 and then move onto rounding HTU to the nearest 10.
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/850/calcbalancev3.swf click on times tables 2,3,4 and 5 balance
http://nwlg.org/pages/resources/ma_num/swf/y2d4a1.html counting in multiples of 3
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog10s_v2.html counting in multiples of 10. Click on the missing number to complete the row of flowers
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog5s_v2.html
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog3s_v2.html
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog2s_v2.html
http://www.cantcros.bham.sch.uk/maths/main.htm click on addition to see how the children may add 2 two digit number using partitioning
Science
Last week, we assessed the children’s knowledge of plants learned so far and we were thrilled with the information they have not only retained, but how much of their learning, they were able to apply to new situations.
One area that the children did find difficult to explain, was predicting what a plant would look like if it was left to grow in the dark. We will be repeating an experiment to illustrate this, but the children could start to predict WHAT the plant will look like. What colour will it be? Will it be strong and healthy? How tall will it be? Will it grow at all?
We will also be developing the children’s thinking skills in this area of the curriculum this week, by using our ‘Challenge Contracts’ for plants. The children absolutely love these and regularly choose do complete them during wet playtimes (of which there have been far too many lately...mmm... summer?)
Here’s a sample of some of the questions they will be discussing:
· Alternatives – Think of 5 ways to water the garden without a hose
· Different uses – The answer is seagrass. What could be the question?
· Inventions – Invent a machine to tidy the school environment – label and draw it
· Solutions – work out three ways to stop people destroying the rainforest
· What if? – what if trees could grow money? Write 5 ideas
As a parent, I DO like the idea of the last one!!
Why not have a trip to the garden centre this bank holiday and have a look at the plants that are available there. Look at the plants in the shaded area – why are they bending? Have you got any in your garden or house plants that are doing the same?
Think that’s all for this week. Have a great three day weekend!
Year 1/2 team
We are fantastic! (and that’s official!) We were assessed for our third Basic Skills quality mark on Thursday by Derek Barnes, a senior advisor from the LEA and he praised all the children in our school, saying how amazed he was at the progress they were making in all areas, but particularly literacy and numeracy. A big thank you to all of you too, because of the support which you give the school and your children to help achieve these standards. What a great way to end the week!
So, what’s on our menu this week?
We start our SATs tasks with the Year 2 children this week. Fear not! The children are well versed in the way we conduct assessments in Key Stage 1 and the emphasis is very much on celebrating achievement and success. As discussed at parent’s evening, the children will take part in these tasks in a classroom setting, with their own teacher. Unlike Key Stage 2 SATs, they are not completed in one week, rather spread over about 4 weeks, so it is important that children are in school during these weeks. If there are any issues that staff need to be aware of, or any questions which you may have, please see any member of the Year 1/2 team.
http://www.coxhoe.durham.sch.uk/curriculum/SATs.htm this site gives some information about the nature and purpose of the SATs in schools. It also explains which tasks will be completed in school.
Curriculum will continue throughout the assessment period for the year 2 children as well as the year 1’s.
Literacy
We continue with the second week of Information texts and the children will be able to choose an area which they would like to write to their text about. They will be gathering all the information they need, using books, the internet and interviewing other pupils and staff, ready to begin their writing next week. Some of the children took digital photos last week to include in their book, which they have chosen to make using Smartboard software on the interactive whiteboard!
They will be using this checklist this week when looking at information books, to see if they have included all the necessary elements. They will then use this same checklist when they come to do their own writing next week:
· My front page is clear (the reader can tell what the book is about)
· I have used questions
· My labels and diagrams are clear
· I used captions to give more information about the illustrations
· I have used full stops and capital letters
· My sentences make sense when I read them out loud
· The information chosen is about the title
· The information can be found using the contents page and index
· I used headings and sub-headings to organise important information
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to identify the key features of an information text
SHOULD be able to list questions they want to find the answers to
COULD use question words to write questions they need answered and use them as headings for their paragraphs of information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/literacy/ a good site to review some of the key areas for literacy
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/english/caerphilly/adjectives/index.htm a site in which children can develop their application of adjectives in their writing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/penguinsonice.shtml
Phonics
The children are working really hard with the patterns we have been learning. This week, we will be consolidating work on the patterns ‘wh’ and ‘ph’. This links in with the question words from their information texts:
who, where, what, why and when
You could support this work at home, by investigating whether they can find words which contain these patterns in reading materials.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/index.shtml escape the maze has some great games on to enable the children to apply their phonic knowledge learned over the past few weeks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/longvow/poems/fpoem.shtml for those children working on the long vowel patterns – some great poems!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html click on menu and enter the high frequency words or patterns your child is currently working on. These will be saved for the next time you open the game.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/phaseThreeAS1_v2.html scroll through the sounds on the rainbow and use the letters on the set of cards to make new words. You will need to have the sound turned up for this one!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html a lovely new game which supports children in their reading of high frequency words. You could also enter your own words using the phonemes they are currently working on, and getting the children to practice their blending skills.
Numeracy
For the next few weeks, we will be reviewing different areas of numeracy in order to ensure the children have a firm grasp on them.
This week, we will looking at grouping objects in sets of 2,3 5 and 10 in order to make counting easier. We will be reviewing partitioning three digit numbers into hundreds, tens and units and also rounding numbers less than 100, to the nearest 10.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST: Be able to count a number of objects by grouping in 5’s or 10’s. : begin to add a multiple 10 to a 2-digit number by counting on in 10’s
SHOULD: Be able to begin to partition 3-Digit numbers into hundreds, tens and units.
COULD: Be able to begin to round numbers less than a 100 to the nearest 10 and then move past 100.
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/853/Postsortingv3.swf click on rounding TU to the nearest 10 and then move onto rounding HTU to the nearest 10.
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/850/calcbalancev3.swf click on times tables 2,3,4 and 5 balance
http://nwlg.org/pages/resources/ma_num/swf/y2d4a1.html counting in multiples of 3
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog10s_v2.html counting in multiples of 10. Click on the missing number to complete the row of flowers
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog5s_v2.html
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog3s_v2.html
http://www.ictgames.com/fairyfog2s_v2.html
http://www.cantcros.bham.sch.uk/maths/main.htm click on addition to see how the children may add 2 two digit number using partitioning
Science
Last week, we assessed the children’s knowledge of plants learned so far and we were thrilled with the information they have not only retained, but how much of their learning, they were able to apply to new situations.
One area that the children did find difficult to explain, was predicting what a plant would look like if it was left to grow in the dark. We will be repeating an experiment to illustrate this, but the children could start to predict WHAT the plant will look like. What colour will it be? Will it be strong and healthy? How tall will it be? Will it grow at all?
We will also be developing the children’s thinking skills in this area of the curriculum this week, by using our ‘Challenge Contracts’ for plants. The children absolutely love these and regularly choose do complete them during wet playtimes (of which there have been far too many lately...mmm... summer?)
Here’s a sample of some of the questions they will be discussing:
· Alternatives – Think of 5 ways to water the garden without a hose
· Different uses – The answer is seagrass. What could be the question?
· Inventions – Invent a machine to tidy the school environment – label and draw it
· Solutions – work out three ways to stop people destroying the rainforest
· What if? – what if trees could grow money? Write 5 ideas
As a parent, I DO like the idea of the last one!!
Why not have a trip to the garden centre this bank holiday and have a look at the plants that are available there. Look at the plants in the shaded area – why are they bending? Have you got any in your garden or house plants that are doing the same?
Think that’s all for this week. Have a great three day weekend!
Year 1/2 team
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