10th June 2013

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.

Here are just a few websites that you can visit in preparation for this new topic. Of course, there is nothing better than a visit to a supermarket, or even better, a farm shop!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/plants_grow.shtml
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/factors_plant_growth/eng/Introduction/default.htm http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=5584&subject=Science&topic=Life%20-%20Plants click on the cress picture to download a great powerpoint which explains how you can help plants grow well.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/factors_plant_growth/eng/Introduction/default.htm this is actually a KS2 site, but I think the children will be able to access the ‘main session part 2’ section. Ask them what ‘hypothesising’ means!
http://www.walkers-crisps.co.uk/flavours.html click on the GB potatoes link at the top and then ‘from field to crisp.’ This is a really interesting site!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/growing_plants.shtml can you find the right conditions for the plant to grow? http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/plants_grow.shtml a little more challenging http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?item_ID=5584&subject=Science&topic=Life%20-%20Plants this is a really useful powerpoint to download and keep for the whole of the topic. It is aimed at Year 3, but we really do need to push the children on, as their knowledge on this subject is very good already. http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/science/plants/index.htm click on the seed growth leaf for a great animation of what a seed needs to grow. http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=plantlabelmx a very simple resource to drag and drop the labels onto the right part of the plant. As you move through this site though, you will be expected to explain the functions of each part. This is also really useful in supporting the literacy for this week. http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/plantmotion/earlygrowth/germination/germ.html how fascinating! You will need to sit with your child for this, but the use of stop motion photography is fantastic. Just click on the sunflower germination – it’s really interesting! The movies for flowers are also beautiful!

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