With that in mind, our focus this week has been on random acts of kindness - things we can do that are over and above our normal, day to day routine that bring a bit of happiness to someone else's life. If anyone does a random act of kindness this weekend we would love to hear about it in school.
This week in English we have continued focusing on firework poetry. The children have looked at descriptive words and phrases that they might like to use in their own firework poem. They then sorted these words/phrases under the headings:
Sight
Smell
Sound
Feeling
We discussed poets painting a picture in the listener's mind, and so it is important to use interesting descriptions which draw on the senses in order to get a clear picture.
Have a look at these words and phrases with your child, can you use them to come up with a 4 line firework poem?
Here is our English working wall, ask your child to tell you something about what is displayed.
Next, we did some shared writing as a class. The children worked with their learning partner to come up with a line for our class poem. The children were told the line needed to start with the word 'Firework' and paint a clear picture in the reader's mind.
We discussed the difference between poems and stories. The children identified that the lines in a poem are much shorter than the lines in a story. This is because a poem is more like a song as it has a rhythm.
Here is our shared writing poem. You might like to ask your child to perform it to you at home.
Then, the children worked with a friend to write their own firework poem. We suggested that each line started with the word 'Firework'but told the children that it was their poem, and if they wanted to write it in their own way, they could.
Finally, once the children had written their poem together, the children were able to write their poems up in 'best' in their Learning Book. The children focused on using their cursive handwriting that they have been learning. We told the children they were allowed to edit their poem if they chose to, but edits must improve their work, rather than just change it. You will be able to see the children's firework poems in their books when you come in for consultations next week.
Maths this week has seen us exploring the properties of 3D shapes and identifying the differences and similarities between them. We discussed the names of each of the shapes and then in groups discussed which words we could use to describe them. The children were introduced to the idea of describing the properties of shapes in out touch and feel shape bag game and had to describe each shape without looking for their friends to guess. During the week we have explored a range of activities including sorting shapes into coloured hoops by their properties, going on a shape hunt around the school and completing challenges in our books using our maths pots.
If you are out and about this weekend then why not go on a shape hunt to see how many 2D and 3D shapes you can find in your local area. You could take a photo or encourage your child to draw a picture of their favourite.
Science this week has been all about everyday objects and their materials. We have been discussing the materials that we know and identifying their names and defining properties.
The children have been mind mapping some descriptive words about the materials and sorting the into groups of hard, soft, rigid, flexible, smooth and rough.
We were challenged during our science lessons to think about the materials that we would use to design particular items such as an umbrella and then the children were tasked with designing and making a boat to help Duplo man across the water tray using items of junk modelling.
We worked in teams and planned, designed, made, tested and then evaluated our boats and discuss which junk modelling materials worked best.
We ended our week with a science CHIL where we focused on describing, sorting, identifying and using a range of different materials.
At home this weekend you might want to make a list of the different materials you find around the house and try to create words to describe them or make a junk modelling object that you flaot in the bath.
Many thanks
The year one team.
