This week in English we were looking at how to write instructions. On Monday we discussed key features on instructions: a title, bossy verbs, numbered instructions and keeping them short. We looked at examples of instructions to help us identify these features and talked about why they were important. We played Simon Says to help us identify bossy verbs and discussed the different instructions we could give. You could play Simon Says with your child at home and practice giving instructions using bossy verbs.
Next, we worked as a class to create a set of instructions. We decided to write instructions for making flapjacks as the ones we made last week were delicious. We worked really hard to think of bossy verbs to help us write our instructions as a class.
Finally, we independently wrote instructions on how to make flapjacks. We magpied from the instructions we made as a class. We though about how to make our instructions really clear and why this was important. The end results were excellent and we are very proud of how hard we all worked. Now we feel like expert flapjack makers!
Have a look at these instructions at home. You might like to try the activities they give instructions for. After that, your child could have a go at writing their own version of the instructions you followed.
Also, ask your child to tell you how they know they are instructions rather than stories or poems.
In Maths this week we have been looking at comparing numbers and finding the number that is one more and one less than the one that we started with. We explored how many tens and ones different numbers have and were able to build them in a range of resources to identify the link between the numbers increasing or decreasing and the way they are represented in the place value grid.
we discussed these concepts and used the language of greater than, fewer than, less than and equal to to establish the comparison between the numbers we looked at.
The children were set a range of challenges including sequencing and ordering number cards to fifty both forwards and backwards using our number lines to support them.
One of the games we played this week was a dice rolling game that uses a simple tens and ones place value grid with tens on one side of the page and ones written on the other. Player one rolls a dice and chooses where to put the number. player two does the same and then play passes back to player one and then player two. At the end of two dice rolls each both players will have a number in the tens column and a number in the ones column. The player with the bigger number wins. you can even play the game with the target being to get the smallest number to vary it up. Have a try at home and let us know how you got on.
In school we watched this video about comparing numbers using the > (greater than), < (less than) and = (equal to) symbols. You might like to watch it at home and compare numbers up to 50.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9zbPcqXBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka9zbPcqXBI
As part of our Geography lessons this week we took a Trip to Batford springs nature reserve to look at and record the different types of habitats and Geographical features present. The children were split into groups and used map templates on clipboards to record their findings.
We were able to enjoy the open countryside and used this to discuss which features we thought were natural and which were human features and people made.
On return to school we used this field study to then create our own maps of the area and list down the types of habitats we has seen. We then recounted some key elements of the trip and wrote down some key learning points and observations into our learning books. Year one would like to thank the parent helpers who accompanied us on the trip for being such fun, enthusiastic and knowledgeable group leaders. The trip was a huge success and all the hard work and organisation put into the trip by Miss Auckett and the year one team really paid of as it was a fantastic learning experience for the children to see a natural habitat in their local area.
Have a lovely weekend,
The Year One Team
