Welcome to the last
half term of the year, which for some of you, will be the last few weeks in the
infants!
In this week’s blog, we will let you know all the fantastic things which we
intend to ‘shoehorn’ into the short time we have available.
Literacy
We begin one of my favourites this week – poetry! The children will hear, read
and respond to poems, each using particular patterns of rhythm and rhyme. Some
of them will make sense, whilst we will have great fun looking at ‘Nonsense
rhymes’ – remember The Ning Nang Nong?? We will also be looking at different
poems on the theme of Growing up, which will help them with the idea of moving
onto the next class.
What can you do at home to
help?
There are lots of games to play, many of which can be played in the car
(and have been tried and tested over many miles my myself over the holidays!)
Alliterative poems - tongue-twisters
Make a list of possible subjects for the alliterative sentences, e.g. a
pear, an aardvark, a dog, a table, a camera.
Demonstrate how to select a subject (e.g. a pear) and think of an adjective
with the same sound (e.g. a prickly pear). Then try to find a verb and extend
the sentence using the same sound as often as possible, e.g.
A prickly
pear perched on a purple plate
An awful aardvark arriving at the airport
A dull dog digging in a ditch
Riddles
Think about who or what might be the focus for the riddle.
Think about possible subjects for riddles, e.g. sun, moon, lock, glasses,
hands, candle, etc. Select one as a
focus - a familiar object such as a banana. Brainstorm a list of things that
they know about the object -
thinking about its shape, its function, its colour, its taste, what people do
with it, what it looks like, e.g. a banana
Banana
Boomerang
Unwrapped present
Rhino horn
Monkeys
A bunch of fingers
You unzip it
Some are spotted
Demonstrate how to take the brainstorm and extend ideas into poetic
lines, which act as clues but do not give the subject away, e.g.
What am I?
I am a yellow boomerang
An unwrapped present waiting to be opened
Shaped like a rhino horn
But loved by monkeys...
The children will LOVE doing this and it will help them extend their
vocabulary. They will also be expected to use specific vocabulary when
describing the poems they hear and read; syllable, nonsense, poem, verse,
tongue-twister and alliteration. The children are more than capable of this, as
they were in fact using some of these words in Foundation Stage, so I can’t
wait to read some of their own ideas by the end of next week!
http://www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/Infant_activities/riddles2.htm
match the riddle to the picture of the animals in the top screen
http://www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/Infant_activities/riddles1.htm
guess the object and match it to the description
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/wwww/living/kids.shtml
a lovely website, not particularly aimed at riddles, but is good at extended
vocabulary
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/20050415/English/Keystage1/Rhymingwords/Canyourhymeit/Introduction/default.htm
investigating words that rhyme. Click on starter activity for those who need a
reminder of traditional rhymes with rhyming words. The main activity is great
for those who want to move onto their own poems, but be sure to click the
orange juice in the fridge for this one!
http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/literacy/lit_site/html/fiction/my_monster/index.htm
make up your own monster poem
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/english/spacespins.shtml
a great game which develops alliteration patterns
http://www.whiteheadm.co.uk/html/poem_index.htm
a lovely collection of easy to read poems for children. This site also has many
other links to poetry sites for you to explore.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/literacy/rhyme/index.shtml
an old favourite!
http://www.rhymezone.com/ a great site
which can help out even the most prolific poet when struggling for a rhyming
word!
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/Phase2delivery/Wales/Literacy/Keystage2/Poetry/Usingverbsinpoe/Introduction/default.htm
more challenging, but a great way of bringing poems to life using verbs
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/year4/limerick.htm
although this is aimed at Year 4, many of our children will be able to access
it – and get the jokes!
Phonics
We begin with a review of last half term’s phonic patterns and ensure that any
gaps are addressed before we move on. The children are doing really well with
linking their learning in this area when writing independently. We will be
having a real push on the high frequency words this half term, as they really
are the ‘word glue’ which holds every piece of text they will ever read or
write, together. By not having to think about these words, it will really help
their writing to not only flow more easily, but it will enable them to concentrate
on the content of their writing. We will also be working on the Phonics
Screening checks in Year 1, so it is vital that children are in school every
day.
Numeracy
All the children have now been assessed for their end of year
checks, and what a fantastic lot they are too! We know now that we are going to
be able to move the children on much more quickly next year, as many of them
have exceeded their end of year targets!
We are going to spend the next few weeks, consolidating a few areas where the
children would benefit from a little more practice, to enable them to really
hit the ground running in September.
If you would like to support the children in beginning to learn
times tables in preparation for Year 3, then that would be fantastic. Year 3
have a weekly times tables champion test – wouldn’t it be fantastic if they
could have some children achieving the bronze award in September?
Year 1 children could also move onto practicing their number
bonds to 20 now and even pairs to 100! Imagine how quickly we are going to be
able to move on with our curriculum in September if the children are confident
with these before the end of the
year?
High frequency words
The children are doing really well with these for reading. When
they are assessed in school, please remember that since they are sight words,
the children are expected to be able to say them as soon as they are seen,
rather than blending the sounds together to read the word. We aim to have a
real push on these for the remainder of the term, as once they are known,
children really do gain confidence with their reading ability.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/hfwords/index.shtml
http://www.ictgames.co.uk/ click on
literacy games and then scroll down for the pirate ship and lots of other games
to develop HFW and phonics
Science
Our new topic is all about Planting and Growing and we are
asking the key question of 'Why do we grow food? It has been on the news
recently about some secondary pupils not knowing where cheese comes from! So,
it is important that children know how the food got from the farm to their
plate.
Transition
I know for many of you, you are beginning to think about our
little ones crossing the hall in a few weeks time, to become juniors. Fear not!
We have been privy to many conversations with the children and the atmosphere
of ‘excitement’ more than describes how they are feeling. I myself have experienced
the Year 2/3 transition as a parent and the children do take it in their
stride. Honestly!
As part of a transition project, we are going to begin some
writing with the children, which they will then complete during the induction
time in September. The Year 3 teachers will be coming to work with us for a
couple of sessions for this and we will arrange for the Year 2 children to
spend some time in the juniors before September.
If you do have any questions or anxieties, then please do feel
free to pop in and see any member of the 1/2 team.
Request
The outdoor play equipment (outside Foundation Stage) is a fantastic place for
the children to play and learn during the school day and the children all love
using it. Could we please ask though, that children refrain from using any of
the equipment before school starts. The area has to be set of before school each
morning for Foundation Stage lessons, as it is an essential part of their
curriculum and an extension of their classroom. Many thanks for your
co-operation with this.
Also, there have been a number of children arriving in the school grounds
before 8.15am. The children should not arrive in the playground before 8.30am
as whilst there are some members of staff around, they are unavailable to
supervise children on the playground before school.
Both of these requests are for your children’s safety. Many thanks in
anticipation of your support with these.
Sun cream
And finally, I am delighted to be able to
request that children bring in a hat and sun cream into school for the rest of
the term! The weather has been absolutely beautiful and I am optimistic that it
will continue, so it is important that our little ones are protected from the
sun.
If you apply a layer before they come to
school in the morning, this will last until lunchtime. It is also important
that they are able to apply it themselves.
Have a wonderful first week back.
Year 1/2 team
