In English we looked at the story of Room on the broom by Julia Donaldson. On Monday we read the story in class and made a mind map of the Characters, main events, objects and then looked at some of the repeated phrases from the story. We then completed an activity in our books based around matching pictures of the characters to their descriptions. We extended the activity by thinking of our own descriptions and using our three step writing process to put each description into our books.
On Tuesday we were able to re-tell each other the story and draw our own illustrated story maps to help us remember the order of events, the repeated phrases and the Characters from the story and what they say. We shared our ideas about the story and made actions to help us re-tell it in our own words.
On Wednesday we used the story maps that we had made on Tuesday to help us act out and 'step' the story to improve our knowledge of the text and to increase our understanding of the meanings of the words from the text. We began by using two words to describe each bubble on our story map to tell the story as we stepped our way across the classroom, and then increased this until we were using longer descriptive sentences to re-tell the story.
We enjoyed a CHIL session with a range of activities based around the story including, word searches, making a cartoon strip and art and colouring activity sheets and we finished our weeks exploration of Room on the broom with a lesson all about writing character speech using pictures and speech bubbles.
Activities to try at home:
Watch the video of Room on the broom on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uQulEnxsRo
Talk to your child about the parts they like best and who is their favourite character and why.
Ask your child to draw out the characters and then cut them out to use to tell the story in a puppet show.
Using the spell worksheet attached as a guide, ask your child to create their own magic spell using the most amazing and exciting ingredients they can think of.
Ask your child to draw a picture of the magnificent broom and label the parts they have created for each character.
In Maths this week we have been looking at the concept of finding one more and one less than a given number and then finding the position of the numbers on a number line. We used Numicon to compare values and represent one more and one less of a range of numbers. On Monday we used the dice to generate numbers and identify the numbers that go either side of the number rolled. We used a range of drawings and mathematical methods to show our understanding on white boards and then discussed the language of one more than and one less than in regards to each number. On Tuesday we shared ideas on what we could remember about the numbers and discussed which way the numbers move on the number line as they get bigger. We discovered that numbers go from the smallest on the left to the largest on the right and that we can use this to estimate one more and one less for any given number. So for example if my number was 5 I would be able to predict that the number to the right would be one more which is 6. We then completed some maths challenges where we had to represent a given number
in our books using pictures, numerals and words and record the numbers than were one more and one less.
During our last lesson we used counters and tend frames to order and sequence numbers from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest and discussed the relationships between the numbers. We used mathematical language to describe and evidence our thinking and used a range of methods to share ideas on the most effective way to group and sequence the numbers.
Activities to try at home around finding one more and one less:
Using counters or buttons (around 20), roll a six sided dice and then challenge your child to find and count on the number that is one more or one less than the number you have rolled.
Ask your child to draw a number line from 0-10 in order and then 10-0. Talk to your child about the way in which the numbers appear and which way they move when they get bigger or smaller. Ask your child to place a counter on 0 and then give them a number between 1-10. Ask your child to place their counter on the number that is one more or one less than the number you gave them.
On a sheet of paper draw three columns. Mark the left hand column one less, the middle column number and the right column one more. Roll a dice and then ask your child to draw the correct number of dots to show one more and one less than that number in the correct column.
In school we are celebrating Black History Month by exploring some key figures who have had an important influence in changing the way that society operates. This week we focused on Rosa Parks and next week we will be focusing on Mae Jemmison. At home, you might like to discuss these influential figures further. You might even like to research some additional important black people from history e.g. Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Mary Seacole, Martin Luther King, Sir Lenny Henry (when we talk about history, we consider living history as well).
In geography this week we looked at map making and using our knowledge of physical and human features to add our key and use the positional and compass language. We drew the maps with the key features that we saw around school and then used them to plan and travel a route in the outdoor learning area using our map to guide us.
Activities to try at home to extend learning:
Go for a walk in your local area and talk about the physical and human features that you see on your travels. Discuss what your child thinks different objects might be made from and how old they think the objects might be.
At home ask your child to think about the walk and the route that you took and then encourage them to draw a map of the walk, marking the features that you saw on the way.
If you have time on another day, go for a walk but using the map to guide you on your route. Discuss if the map made was accurate and helped you to find your way and ask your child what they might change if they could draw the map again.
In computing this week we looked at the skill of clicking and dragging in order to move objects, images and icons around the page and to change they size of them on our screens. We also talked about e safety and how to be safe when using our computers.
In P.E. this week we completed a skipping challenge. We were able to practice the skills needed to complete a skip using the rope and then had thirty seconds to complete as many skips as we could.
We then added each person's skip score to together and divided it by the number of children taking part to get our overall class score. It was lots of fun and we discussed which muscles we were using by skipping and what benefit our bodies get from exercising regularly.
Over the week we have be looking at the sounds 'ee' 'or' and 'igh' in our phonics. we explored the sounds in each word and used our robot arms to segment them before blending and pronouncing them. We looked at the sounds in each word and where they sit and then created a silly sentence using the sound of the day which we then wrote on our whiteboards, remembering our capital letters, full stops. fingers spaces and letters on the line.
Have a lovely weekend,
The Year One Team
