Another of our favourite activities this week was the Kapla workshop that we took part in on Wednesday. When we visited the hall at the end of the day on Thursday we were blown away by the big build - it had grown so much since our session!
Other activities that made up part of Shelford STEM week included two investigations that we carried out in the classrom. We tried different ways to speed up the melting of ice to free some trapped toys and we tested different materials to find out which would be the most suitable for making an umbrella.
As well as taking part in these activities we also continued with all of our usual lessons too. In phonics we learnt: ear /ur/, wr /r/, st and sc /s/. We also learnt to read words with a schwa. In our writing lessons we finished our stories and in maths we measuring and comparing the length of different objects.
In our D+T lessons we recalled what we had learnt about puppets last week and in our toys workshop before designing and making our own glove puppets.
Spring 2 - Week 3
In our phonics lessons this week we have been learning: a /or/ and /o/ and ere and ear /air/. We continue to lean to read and spell tricky words too.
In our writing lessons we finished writing 'Knuffle Bunny' and planned new lost toy stories with our own special toys in them.
In maths we continued to work with numbers to 50. We applied our previous learning about number lines and one more and one less to help us with a variety of activities.
We enjoyed learning about different types of puppets in D+T - some of us spent the whole morning putting on shows and entertaining our friends.
Spring 2 - Week 2
A highlight of our week this week was World Book Day. You can see our costumes below. During the day we enjoyed taking part in the parade, a whole school assembly and lots of time for reading and enjoying stories. We had lots of fun asking different adults to read 'The Book with No Pictures' to us.
In our phonics lessons this week we have been learning: tch /ch/, ture /ch/, al /ar/ and a /ar/. We also learnt to read and write the tricky words because and eye.
Our writing lessons this week have been based on the story 'Knuffle Bunny'. At the end of the unit we are looking forward to writing our own lost toy stories.
In maths we have continued our work on place value. We have use the Base 10 to represent numbers to 50 and used the words tens and ones to talk about them. We have also been reading number words to 50 and beginning to spell them.
We got creative in our art lesson, responding to some unusual prompts such as ' make something which contains the secret to everlasting happiness', 'make something small enough to fit in your palm' or 'make something which stands on three points'. We used a range of materials and experimented with different ways of shaping and joining them.
Spring 2 - Week 1
In phonics this week we have learnt or /ur/, u and oul /oo/, are /air/ and au, aur and oor /or/. We also learnt the tricky words once and laugh.
We have continued our addition and subtraction unit in Maths. We are getting more confident with recalling addition and subtraction facts and are able to represent these in a variety of ways. By applying the strategies we have learnt for solving addition and subtraction problems we were also able to find the missing numbers in equations e.g. 12 - = 4
In our history lessons we have been learning about toys from the past and comparing them to the toys we play with today.
Spring 1 - Week 4
In our phonics lessons this week we have learnt ou, o, o_e /u/, se /z/, se, ze /s/ and ey /ee/. We also learnt the tricky words thought, through, friend and work.
In maths we have continued working with numbers to 20. We have developed skills including ordering and comparing numbers.
In our art lessons we listened to some more advice from Emma Burleigh about techniques for painting with watercolour. You can see some of our painting below. We also painted some Arctic landscapes, inspired by our research about the Arctic earlier this term.
In our PE lesson we took part in the 'Throw and Catch Challenge.' We found lots of different ways to challenge ourselves and develop our skills. Some of us worked with a partner and while some of us chose independent challenges such as counting how many times we could clap between throwing and catching a ball or bean bag.
We have enjoyed learning about windmills in our D and T lessons this week. After learning the names for the main parts of the windmill we set about designing a windmill for a mouse. Throughout the week we worked with great determination and resilience, as not everything went to plan. Below you can see our completed windmills.
In our phonics lessons we have learnt the GPCS le, al, c /s/ and ve as well as the tricky words school, call and different. We have shown great focus during phonics sessions and have been continuing to apply what we have learnt in read and writing lessons.
We have continued to write the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood' in our writing lessons. In these lessons we have been thinking carefully about the vocabulary that we use, discussing this before writing each sentence.
In maths we have been developing our understanding of place value within 20, including using number lines. We used what we know about numbers between 10 and 20 to place them on a number line - this really got us thinking!
In RE we have listened to the story of 'The Lost Son'. We talked about what Christians can learn about God from this story.
In art we continued to explore watercolour, looking carefully at work by Paul Klee and Emma Burleigh.
Autumn 2 - Week 4
In phonics this week we have been learning some more GPCs - e_e, ew, ie /ee/, aw, and the tricky words house, mouse, water and want.
In maths we have been finding 1 or 2 more or less. We enjoyed playing a game with a partner, but had to look carefully to check if we needed to add or subtract. Some of us even took on an extra challenge - we were given the answer and had to write the question ourselves!
We are already beginning to spot lots of signs that Christmas is coming and this provided a great starting point for our RE unit. We listened to the Christmas story and thought about many of the things that families do to prepare for a new baby and compared this to Jesus being born in a stable in Bethlehem. We also stuck pictures in order to help us to retell the story ourselves.
This week all took part in a Kindness Workshop. We played games, danced and recorded ideas about how we can show kindness to others. During our Forest Friday session we were set a 'Kindness Challenge'. As we drank our hot chocolate at the end of the session we enjoyed sharing some of the kind things we had noticed others doing during the morning.
Autumn 2 - Week 3
In phonics this week we have been learning some split-digraphs - a_e, i_e, o_e and u_e, and the tricky words could, would should and our.
In our writing lessons we finished our Poppies unit. We wrote independently about what the rabbits did after being reunited as a family. We have also been thinking carefully about letter formation when writing our names, taking time to rehearse any letters that we are not yet forming correctly.
In maths we have been working out 'how many are left?' as we continued our subtraction unit.
As it has been Kindness Week across the school we have had a PSHE focus throughout the week. We have been thinking about how we are all different and that this is a good thing. We have read lots of stories to help us to think about what it would feel like to be bullied and how we can help others.
Autumn 2 - Week 2
This week in phonics we have learnt some new GPCs - o /oa/, i /igh/, a /ai/ and e /ee/ and the tricky words Mr, Mrs, Ms and ask.
In our maths lessons we have been learning to find a missing part and applying this when solving subtraction problems.
Before heading out for our Forest Friday session this week we learnt a little bit about hedgehogs, including how they prepare to hibernate. We used clay and sticks to make our own hedgehogs and some of us even built homes for the hedgehogs.
On Friday afternoon we were delighted to have our families join us for the Year 1 Class Assembly. We enjoyed sharing stories before preforming 'Glad I'm Me' in Celebration Assembly.
Autumn 2 - Week 1
This week in phonics we revisited our learning about reading words ending -s or -es.
The highlight of our week was our trip to Pizza Express. Take a look at the pictures (including some of our writing) below to find out more.
Our History lessons have focused on Remembrance this week. We began the week by recalling some of our own special memories and creating symbols linked to these. We then learnt about why people wear poppies and how Remembrance Day is marked across the country. As a class we made a poppy wreath. We will share this as part of the school Remembrance Service on Monday.
During our Forest Friday session we learnt to use a hammer safely to create prints on bunting. You can see our bunting hanging in the Year 1 garden. During the afternoon we continued learning about printing. Thisi time we used Autumn colours and explored different ways of printing with our hands. Once the paint is dry we will cut out leaf shapes to go on the tree in our classroom.
Autumn 1 - Week 8
This week in phonics we reviewed words with the -ed suffix, reminding ourselves of the different ways of pronouncing this.
In maths we have continued our work on addition. We have been learning to work systematically to help us find all of the solutions to a problem, e.g. all the pairs of numbers that add together to make 5. We also enjoyed playing an addition game. Some of us have learnt many addition facts within 10, and we have also learnt strategies such as count on or using a number line to help us.
Our main focus this week has been our DT project. We began the week by identifying and grouping fruits and vegetables. Then we tasted a variety of fruits, describing their taste and thinking about which ones we liked and which we didn't. Then we made a design for a healthy snack that we could share with a Reception buddy. We carefully cut and prepared our 'fruit faces' before sharing them. Finally we evaluated our work.
At Forest School we listened to the story 'Fletcher and the Falling Leaves' before making leaf crowns.
Autumn 1 - Week 7
This week in phonics we have learnt four new digaraphs - ie, ir, ue and u and the tricky words people, oh, their and your.
In maths lessons we explored 'parts' and the 'whole' as we started our addition and subtraction unit. We learnt to record this information on part-whole models using counters or numerals. Once we were confident with this we learnt about fact families and had a go at recording the 4 addition equations that correspond with the part-whole model.
In RE lessons we thought back to the Harvest Festival. We identified some of the ways that Christians show they are thankful to God as well as thinking of things that we are thankful for. We also wrote harvest prayers.
We continued working on our spirals project in art. This week we took our line drawings of shells and added colour using water colour paints. We had to be carefully not to add too much water as this made the ink from our pens run and smudge.
Autumn 1 - Week 6
In phonics this week we have been consolidating our learning of the new GPCs from last week. We are also continuing to work on learning all of the tricky words we have been taught.
Ourwriting lessons we finished our 'Everybody Counts' writing. You can find out a little bit about each of us by reading our work.
In maths lessons we have been ordering objects and numbers as well as becoming familiar with number lines.
The harvest service helped us to think more about how Christians show that they are thankful to God. This will help us with our RE activities next week.
At Forest School we read the story 'The Leaf Thief'. Afterwards we enjoyed collecting leaves and discussing the changes that are happening around us now that Autumn is here.
Autumn 1 - Week 5
In phonics this week we have learnt some new GPCs: ay, ou, oy and ea. In our phonics lessons we have been learning to read and write words containing these digraphs. We have also continued to practice reading and writing tricky words.
In our maths lesson we have been comparing numbers. We used the words 'more than', 'less than' and 'equal to' to compare numbers before being introduced to the comparison symbols: <, > and =.
We have used the book 'Everybody Counts' to help us with our writing this week. In each lesson we have shared ideas and vocabulary before starting our writing. Each sentence we have written this week has been personal to us, including a sentence to describe how we look and one about our favourite foods!
On our village walk we identified a range of buildings in Great Shelford and compared different types of houses. We thought about the people who work in some of the places we saw.
Throughout the week we have shared a non-fiction text all about animals. This has helped us to learn about different ways that animals can be grouped. We have learnt about mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians and birds as well as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.
At Forest School this week we made our own stickmen. We learnt how to use a peeler safely to take the outer coating off a stick. This allowed us to draw a face on our stickman. Then we took our stickmen on adventures around the wildlife garden. Next week we will write about the adventures our stickmen went on.
Autumn 1 - Week 4
In phonics this week we havecontinued to consolidate our learning. Next week we will begin to learn new GPCs.
Our maths lessons have continued to include lots of practical activities, as well as some tasks that required us to record our learning. We have been finding one more and one less than numbers to 10 and using the words 'fewer, more or the same' to compare amounts. Some of the problem solving questions really got us thinking this week!
After finishing our 'Rainbow Fish' unit we thought about what could happen next if the story continued. We shared our ideas with each other before writing them independently. There was lots of determination and creativity in our class.
In art we have used chalk and pastels to create snail artwork.
We have enjoyed listening to stories about growing this week. Together we have identified lots of ways that we have changed since we were babies. A group of children also began to teach us 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes' in Spanish.
Autumn 1 - Week 3
In phonics this week we have been applying what we have learnt so that we can read longer words. 'Chunking' words into smaller parts has helped us with this.
In maths we have been doing both practical activities and written activities. We continue to work with numbers to 10, counting on from any number and finding 'one more'. There have also been lots of questions where we have had to apply our learning to solve problems.
We began a writing unit linked to 'The Rainbow Fish' this week. With the help of 'Grandma Fantastic' we have been trying to include new vocabularly in our writing, as well as remembering capital letters, full stops and finger spaces.
There has been lots of creativity in Year 1 this week. We continued our work on spirals, creating snail artwork. Our Forest Friday started with a story - Stanley's Stick. We then found our own sticks which became magic wands, trumpets and many other things.
Autumn 1 - Week 2
In phonics we have continued to review our prior learning. This week we have been practicing our tricky words lots!
In maths we have been consolidating our understanding of numbers to 10, using a range of representations. It is important that we have a good understanding of the value of number as we will apply this throughout the year. Below you can see some of the extra challenges we have been set - we have applied our knowledge of number when working on these problems.
We have been learning about the Christian story of Creation in RE lessons, sequencing pictures to retell the story and creating our own creation artwork to put on the front of our folders.
In art lessons we have been drawing spirals, exploring different drawing tools and surfaces. We particularly enjoyed working together to make a HUGE spiral on the playground!
Our Forest Friday challenge this week was to make a story stick, it was great to be able to help our friends and work together on this activity.