This week marks the end of spring 1 and your child’s halfway point in year 1. We have been busy this week, learning about puppets, subtraction and riddles.

The children have been using their number facts to 10 to figure out subtraction problems. We used the part whole model to find our answers, a few of us got a bit confused because we have previously used part whole models to add but we got there in the end! Some of us were even able to record a number sentences!

We have written our own riddles for English. We first had to choose a toy that we like and then wrote a riddle that included adjectives, a question, and an exclamatory sentence. The children had fun reading it to one another and guessing what the toy was.

For DT this week the children explored at the best way to join the felt to make their puppets. They could glue, staple, sellotape and sew their bits of felt together. Lots of the children thought either the staples or the stitching would be best way to make their puppet stay together.

After half term:

Maths – The children will be exploring money. They will be sorting it into different amounts and looking what each coin is worth.

English – The children will be bug detectives, searching for bugs around the school grounds before using adjectives to describe what it looks like. We will also be looking at plurals and learning that we need to add an s or es to the end of words when there is more than one.

What can I do to help my child at home?

Over the half term please try to find the time to complete the phonics home learning that has been sent home. Each group have a specific task to support them in closing any phonics gaps they may have. If your child is struggling with any sounds please make sure you recap them and encourage your child to use them as much as possible.
Keep practising number recognition to 100, children should be confident in identifying numbers to 50 and then to 100.

Have a good half term break. Stay safe and we will see you on 28th February.

We started off the week with children’s mental health week and we learnt about the importance of keeping our minds and emotions healthy. We know it is important to make sure we keep our body healthy by eating veg and exercising, so it’s important we keep our mind healthy too. The children designed a balloon and then wrote the grown ups who help them to grow and who they turn too when they feel a bit upset or worried.

Later in the week it was internet safety day so the children thought about how they could safe online. We were very pleased to see that many children asked their grown up before going online or downloading any new apps or games!

Next week:

Maths – Children will be learning about subtraction. They will subtract a single digit number away from 10. Using the part whole model to work out the answer.

English – Every child will be writing a riddle! They will choose a toy and create their own what am I? by using adjectives to describe the toy they have chosen.

What can I do at home to help my child?

Children have now partitioned numbers from 2-9, so should be confident to find part of these numbers, ask your child to find all the ways to make these numbers.

We have had a look at every child’s phonics this week and have noticed some gaps in some of the children’s leaning. Every child has learnt phase 3 at least 3 times. If your child is still finding these sounds (particularly air, ure, igh, ear, er) please practise them daily. In addition, if your child has started to learn phase 5 sounds please use the sound mat to check their understanding of each sound and talk about words you may find the sounds in.

The children started the week learning about mass. They held the toys and tried to decipher which ones they thought were heavy toys and which ones were light.

The children then progressed on to using scales and compared toys. Using the language heavier and lighter.

For English we looked at a character’s feeling (from Toys in Space) and thought about how we would feel if someone had taken our toy and kept it. We then interviewed each other to understand how each of us would feel.

This week we did a science experiment! We tested how far a car would travel on different services. The children had great fun!

Finally we saw the week out with celebrating Chinese New Year and made our very own Chinese dragon puppets!

Next week:

Maths – We are going to be partitioning numbers 7-9 next week. Finding all the different ways that we can make the numbers. We will use a part whole model to help us and record our findings in a number sentence.

English- For English we will be writing a letter to hoctopize asking for our toys back! Our letter will include questions, feelings and a exclamatory sentence.

Computing – On the 8th February it is internet safety day. We will be discussing how to keep safe online and when playing games on our tablets, computers or phones. Take time at home to talk to your child about what they are doing online and to let you know if they see something that makes them feel sad or uncomfortable.

How can you help your child?
When writing at home encourage your child to use capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. A lot of children are forgetting these features when writing at school.

If your child likes to write number sentences ensure that they are writing them correctly and know what they mean. For example, 2+5=7 can be explained as 5 add 2 is equal to 7.