Literacy - The Tiger who came to tea

In Literacy this week we have been looking at the story 'The Tiger who came to tea'. We have explored the characters, the settings and began looking at alliterative phrases to make our own story titles - we came up with some great ideas! I came out to see one group had done some super work outside with Mrs Gibson - they had to search the peaceful patch for the animals! 

Science - Investigators!

In our topic work we have been looking at trains, how they have changed over time, and even which trains our grandparents and great-grandparents might have used when they were younger! We then investigated how to make a toy train move faster, and thought about what we would have to do to test our ideas. We tried lots of things, and found out that the more bricks we put under our slope the faster the trains went. 

Literacy - Phonics workshop

On Friday afternoon we had our first phonics workshop where the children can choose from a range of activities to develop their reading and spelling.

Picnic preparations..!

On Thursday afternoon we are having a teddy bears picnic! We have been busy thinking about the things we might need, and today in our literacy time we wrote invitations to the children in reception. 

We have also been learning the teddy bears picnic song. We have used sign language and a 'song-map' to help us remember the verses. Here is a picture of the map and the words if anybody would like to practise at home...! 

Meeting our year six reading partners...

Today we met our year six reading partners for the first time. Every Monday afternoon we are going to meet up with our partner and share our library book with them.

Journeys......

This term we are thinking about 'Journeys' in our topic time. On Friday afternoon we talked about what journeys we have been o,n and the different types of journeys we could go on. Then we thought about what we already know about journeys and what sorts of things we would like to learn. 

We spent some time exploring different elements of journeys and came up with some brilliant questions! We wrote our questions on footprints and have put them all on our topic wall!

Our class charter....

We thought about the rights we have at school and decided the three most important were to be safe, to be happy and to learn. We then discussed what responsibilities we needed to have to respect these rights. We all printed our handprint onto a jigsaw piece to show we all have to work together and agree to follow our class charter. 

Reading, reading, reading!

Hello all,

We are currently in the process of hearing all the children read, and will be reassessing their reading levels as soon as possible. When we have heard your child read we will advise you which band of reading book you should choose, with your child, from the boxes in the corridor.  We will also be sending out the high frequency words your child needs to practise as soon as possible.  

In the meantime, please continue to read with your child daily. I cannot emphasise enough the benefits this will have on your child's learning across the curriculum! 

Please remember, reading needs to be FUN, and the children need to be reading a wide range of reading material - not just story books! Sharing non-fiction books is really important too as it will reinforce that books can be a source of information, which will be very useful in finding out about their interests! 

What reading opportunities do we have in year one? 

A reading workshop every morning where the children have a guided group reading session with me, with a 'post reading' activity based on the book the following week focusing on comprehension. 

Letters and Sounds every day for 30 minutes which focuses on the mechanics of reading, including a phonics workshop on Friday where the children choose from a range of fun phonic activities. 

We have a fantastic library at Blandford St Mary which the children visit weekly. They each choose a book on a Wednesday and this is then shared with their year 6 reading partner on a Monday afternoon. 

This is all in addition to their literacy lessons, and the reading incorporated in their topic work and across the curriculum. 

Having a lovely time outside with Mrs Gibson painting our portraits! We worked really carefully looking in the mirror and mixing the paints to make the right colours.

Having fun outside during Golden time.

Making our bears and getting to know Mr Osborne. 

Welcome back

Welcome back Yr 1

The summer holidays are nearly over and it is nearly time to come back to school. I hope all of you are as excited as I am about moving into year one!  

I hope you have all been busy collecting your holiday treasures in your special bag - I have and I can't wait to tell you all about them. I am looking forward to seeing what your favourite book is too! 

Here are some helpful tips to help you, and your mums and dads, on your first day back at school:

• When you come in find your peg and hang your things up - your wellies can go above your peg
• Put your lunch box on the trolley outside the classroom
• Put your book bag in our book bag box
• Change your shoes ready for active time - there is a special place for you to keep your school shoes or trainers by the door
• Sign in with your name card
• Find a job to do at a table 
• Remember to give mum or dad a hug and then come and sit on the carpet

 See you all on Thursday!

Miss Burge