Friday 27 October 2017

Gymnasts at Work and Even More Shapes

PE: Gymnasts at Work






Even More Shapes!

Look at all the different types of 
cuboids we have found. 




To round up our week, we all worked together to find and make 3D models in our classroom. We discussed the number of faces and vertices on each shape. 


There were quite a few large 3D shapes which didn't fit our labels. 



This shape has 12 faces made of identical pentagons and it is called a dodecahedron


We finally made it to Friday and things got a bit strange when Mrs Page took the register this morning...







It's been a busy half term! Have an enjoyable holiday!

Mrs Page and Mrs Woolley xx

Friday 20 October 2017

What is phonics? Great websites for parents and children

What is phonics?

There has been a huge shift in the past few year in how we teach reading in UK schools. This is having a big impact and helping many children learn to read and spell. Phonics is recommended as the first strategy that children should be taught in helping them learn to read. It runs alongside other teaching methods such as Guided Reading and Shared Reading to help children develop all the other vital reading skills and hopefully give them a real love of reading.

So, what exactly is phonics?

Words are made up from small units of sound called phonemes. Phonics teaches children to be able to listen carefully and identify the phonemes that make up each word. This helps children to learn to read words and to spell words
In phonics lessons children are taught three main things:
GPCs
They are taught GPCs. This stands for grapheme phoneme correspondences. This simply means that they are taught all the phonemes in the English language and ways of writing them down. These sounds are taught in a particular order. The first sounds to be taught are s, a, t, p.
Blending
Children are taught to be able to blend. This is when children say the sounds that make up a word and are able to merge the sounds together until they can hear what the word is. This skill is vital in learning to read.
Segmenting
Children are also taught to segment. This is the opposite of blending. Children are able to say a word and then break it up into the phonemes that make it up. This skill is vital in being able to spell words.

What makes phonics tricky?

In some languages learning phonics is easy because each phoneme has just one grapheme to represent it. The English language is a bit more complicated than this. This is largely because England has been invaded so many times throughout its history. Each set of invaders brought new words and new sounds with them. As a result, English only has around 44 phonemes but there are around 120 graphemes or ways of writing down those 44 phonemes. Obviously we only have 26 letters in the alphabet so some graphemes are made up from more than one letter.
ch th oo ay (these are all digraphs - graphemes with two letters)
There are other graphemes that are trigraphs (made up of 3 letters) and even a few made from 4 letters.
Another slightly sticky problem is that some graphemes can represent more than one phoneme. For example ch makes very different sounds in these three words: chip, school, chef.

So why bother learning phonics?

In the past people argued that because the English language is so tricky, there was no point teaching children phonics. Now, most people agree that these tricky bits mean that it is even more important that we teach phonics and children learn it clearly and systematically. A written language is basically a kind of a code. Teaching phonics is just teaching children to crack that code. Children learn the simple bits first and then easily progress to get the hang of the trickier bits.

How is phonics taught?

Some people worry that phonics is taught to children when they are too young. However, those people might be surprised if they stepped into a phonics lesson. Phonics sessions are entirely made up from games, songs and actions and these sessions only last for 15-20 minutes per day. In my experience, (when phonics is taught well) children generally enjoy phonics so much that they beg their teachers to play phonics games with them at other times of the day.

Great Phonics Websites for Parents 


Investigators at Work!

Shape Investigators at Work! 

We have enjoyed investigating the 3D shapes in the classroom environment, discussing the properties of 3D shapes and constructing our own models. 

Can you name the shapes we have made? 




Time Detectives

In History we have discussed images and descriptions of the Gunpowder Plot. 
We worked together to match the images to the descriptions. 

Remember, remember!
The Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

English Folk Verse (c.1870)





Friday 13 October 2017

We're Going on a Bear Hunt!


We're going on a bear hunt,
We're going to catch a big one,
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared. 


Our Year 1 detectives have been searching high and low for teddy bears in order to solve the mystery of the hibernating
Big Brown Bear. Where could he be?



The detective work didn't stop there! 
We used our 5 senses in Science 
to work our which teddy bear fits a lost bear description. 




Our search continued during Guided Reading as each group took turns to find the tricky words stuck in the sand and place them in alphabetical order. 



We have finally reached home time and 
the Big Brown Bear was found. 
I wonder what he does when we've all gone home? 









Friday 6 October 2017

Listen, listen...

A poem by Class 1P

Listen, listen, children singing,
Listen, listen, pencils writing, 
Listen, listen, gymnasts balancing, 
Listen, listen, plotters whispering, 
Listen, listen, teachers teaching,
Listen, listen, birds squawking. 



See, see, paintbrush swirling,

See, see leaves twirling, 
See, see harvest assembly,
See, see, lots of food,
See, see, tins of beans,
See, see, fresh vegetables,
See, see, shiny conkers.



Feel, feel, prickly pinecones,

Feel, feel, delicate seashells,
Feel, feel, smooth acorns,
Feel, feel, the cold wind,
Feel, feel, the warm sun. 

We have been working on our fine motor skills by taking part in Funky Finger activities to build the strength and flexibility in our hands. 



Our handwriting practice this week is improving and we have been working on the following types of letters each morning:





In History we have been learning more about Guy Fawkes and the famous Gunpowder Plot. Our historians thought about what it was like to be a plotter working with Robert Catesby, trying to blow up the Parliament with King James in it. We also heard from King James I and his supporters who shared their view of the events.


We can use dictionaries! 




It's as easy as A,B,C, 1, 2, 3...

Speaking of numbers, we have been learning how to count up in twos and fives. 
This song has been stuck in Mrs Page's head all week. 
Ask us to sing it to you!



Have a great weekend.