Year 1 Weekly News: 11.11.23

Another amazing week of learning has passed in Year 1. We have all been working hard and improving in so many ways.

In Phonics this week, we recapped all of our sounds and even practiced reading some tricky red words. We read a range of RWI books to improve our blending and fluency.

In English, we continued to use the story of Old Bear to inspire our ideas in writing. This week, we focused more closely on the text. We thought about the writer's knowledge, including full stops, capital letters, and using the conjunction "and." We highlighted key parts of the text. We also spent time throughout the week improving our sentence accuracy. Next week, we will focus on planning and writing our new message. We also spent time perfecting our handwriting this week. We have brand new books and pencils to help us, and some brilliant formation was on display!

In Maths, we continued to build our knowledge of addition. We used number lines to count on and thought about the relationship of a number sentence, always considering the part-part-whole concept. We worked together to answer a range of Power Maths questions and practiced drawing lots of part-whole models too! We also spent time in our mastering numbers, looking at how the number five is hidden in many numbers. This helped us quickly build number bonds, for example, 2 + 5 = 7 or 3 + 5 = 8. Well done, team!

In R.E, we continued our unit about Harvest. This week, we explored a different faith and the way people from different cultures celebrate harvest. We learned about Judaism and the significance of Sukkot. We discovered the importance of this time for Jews and how they celebrate the harvest. We wrote sentences about what Jews use a Sukkot for. Well done!

In Science, we continued to learn about materials, focusing on investigating their properties this week. We conducted a science investigation using different materials, concentrating on transparency and bendiness. You were all brilliant at testing materials to assess these qualities.

In P.E, we continued to build upon our fundamental movements. This week, we focused on jumping and balancing, expanding on our Jack in the Beanstalk-style game. We had to hop from one end of the hall to the other using foot mats, freezing in specific positions to enhance our balance. Well done! On Monday, we focused on our mental health and engaged in calming P.E activities, one of which involved mirroring our partner's movements!

In Computing, we continued our investigation of "What is Technology." This week, we learned about the importance of staying safe online and discussed the various uses of technology. We played a game called Interland, which helped us understand how spreading hate online can impact others.

We had an exciting music lesson this week. We moved and sang along to a song entitled, 'We Talk to Animals.' We encountered numerous animals as we found the beat to this song and even acted out the movements of some of them. We then played a memory game, repeating a sequence of animals. It was tricky at first, but as we progressed, we became more confident and showcased our brilliant memory skills!

During our wellbeing time, we considered what tends to "bug" us. We discussed the phrase's meaning and listened to each other speak about what upsets us and the steps we can take to prevent it.

In Geography, we continued to focus on our local area. This week, we used the playground to map out certain areas. Using our field skills was a great way to develop our Geography knowledge.

Throughout the week, we also had plenty of provision time. During this time, we enjoyed the garden, explored the provision areas in the classroom, and engaged in role play games with our friends. It was great to see the construction and mud kitchen areas in full use once again.

What a brilliant week!

Enjoy your Sunday,

Mr. Dale