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