Year 1 Class Moles
Welcome to Year 1 Class - Moles!
Class Teacher: Mrs Robinson
TA : Mrs Kakoullis
Our topics for this year are:
Autumn 1 - Houses and Homes
Autumn 2 - The Dark
Spring 1 - Toys
Spring 2 - Growing
Summer 1 - The Sea
Summer 2 - Ourselves
This half term PE is on Wednesdays and Fridays. On Wednesday the children will be preparing for Sport's Day, then taking part in athletics with our sports coach. On Friday they will be learning 'Dance.'
PE: Please ensure that your child comes to school in their PE kit on this day. If your child is unable to tie laces they should wear velcro trainers. Earrings should be removed and long hair tied back.
Library: The children will visit the school Library on a Wednesday. All children will be able to choose a book from the Library to take home and share. Please do ensure this book is kept in your child's bookbag.
Reading books: It is important that all children read to an adult on a daily basis and that a parent/adult signs their child's reading records to acknowledge that they have read to them. We kindly ask that reading books and records are stored in bookbags at all times to ensure that they can be changed regularly.
Homework: Please continue to support your child with their spelling and math's challenges. They can access additional reading material on Reading Eggs and maths activities on Maths Seeds.
An Important Visitor
Today we had a very important visitor in Year 1. Michael Almond is an ambassador for the Queen and he came to share a book and to talk to us about the Queen and her Platinum Jubilee. He shared the book 'Little Elizabeth' with us and asked/answered questions about the Queen. Mr Almond looked very important in his uniform and had lots of medals which he told us about. We loved sharing the story and talking with him about the Queen. Mr Arnold later sent an email commending us on our behaviour and attentiveness.
Teddy Bear Festival: Year 1 brought their teddy bears to school for an afternoon of fun sporting activities organsied and run by Mrs Barton and her Year 9 helpers from Billericay School. The teddies were thrown, bounced, balanced and used in a variety of other ways as they helped the children participate in races and activites. The children had a fabulous time (and the teddies less so!)
Drama 4 All - We took part in a drama lesson about reducing, reusing and recycling waste.
Father's Day - The children had a great time choosing a present for their Dad for Father's Day.
Our Amazing Learning - Summer 2
Design Technology - We revisited healthy eating and foods which are healthy/unhealthy. The children then tasted a variety of fruits to see if they liked or disliked them to prepare for designing and making a fruit kebab.
The children had great fun designing and making their fruit kebabs and they thoroughly enjoyed eating them! They will evaluate their work to complete this block of learning.
Science - Humans: The children have been naming parts of the body. Here they challenged one another to find particular parts of the body, which they then marked with a Post it note.
Science - The Senses: We explored our senses using a variety of objects. We investigated different tastes and smells, making predictions of what they might be. It was great fun!
RE - We have been learning about Judaism and the New Year celebration of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We looked at some some artefacts that are important to Jews when they celebrate this festival, such as candles and Challah bread. We learnt lots of information about how this festival is celebrated and how important it is to Jews.
PE - In PE we have started practising for sports day.
PSHE - We have been learning about changes. We used a baby photo of ourselves to think about how we have changed since we were born. We discussed how we might continue to grow in the future.
Our Amazing Learning - Summer 1
Our School Trip to Southend on Sea
Computing - What is technology? We learnt what technology is and hunted for examples of technology around school. We sorted pictures into 'technology/not technology. We discussed how technology makes our lives easier (when it works) and can be fun, but sometimes can have negative connotations too.
Computing - E Safety/sending an email: The children revisited our SMART internet safety rules and talked about how to stay safe online. We discussed the purpose of an avatar and all the children created one of their own, remembering that it should not look like them. They then learnt how to send safe emails and wrote and sent an email to a storybook character.
Science - Animal classification: We revisited the way in which animals are classified.
We then looked at sea creatures and classified these, looking closely at the structure of the animals to see what made them fit that classification group.
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Design Technology - We designed, made and evaluated 'Under the sea boxes.' We were able to use skills that we have previously learnt such as springs and sliding mechanisms.
Clay - We made fish out of clay. We used different tools and learnt about 'slip' and how we can use it to join pieces of clay.
PE - Tennis: We have been learning different skills for playing tennis.
RE - Judaism: We learnt about Shabbat - the Sabbath.
Music
History - We have been learning how seaside holidays have changed over time. Did you know ice-creams used to be called 'Hokey Pokeys?'
We had great fun buying presents for Mother's Day!
Our amazing learning - Spring 2
Computing - We learnt about algorithms. We followed simple algorithms, debugged them when they had mistakes and made some simple algorithms of our own.
Science - We have been learning about growth. We dissected a daffodil to help us learn the parts of a plant.
We read the story of 'Oliver's vegetables' and using a PowerPoint, named a wide variety of different fruits and vegetables. We discussed which parts of the plants we eat, then classified pictures of fruit and vegetables by the parts that we eat, e.g. roots, stems, flowers, fruit, leaves and seeds. Some of us added further ideas of our own.
PSHE: Healthy Me - We have been learning about how to stay healthy. We listed as many ways as we could to stay healthy and acted out some healthy sums. We taught Jigsaw Jack how to keep himself clean as he was not very good at this.
Design Technology - We have learnt about the mechanisms sliders and levers and learnt what a pivot is on a lever mechanism. We applied what we learnt to make moving pictures. We used tools such as scissors and hole punches and joined materials with split pins.
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PE: Mutiskills - We have been learning a variety of different skills. Here we were learning to dribble a ball using different parts of our foot and to use toe taps.
Here we are applying the skills we have learnt in a game of handball.
Maths: Measures - We have been learning to measure. We compared measures and used the language of length/height, then measured objects using non standard units such as cubes/counters, etc. Then we learnt to use a ruler and measure using centimetres.
Maths: Measures (weight/mass) - We have been comparing weights and using language related to measure and weight/mass. We have measured the weight of objects using non-standard units on-standard units.
Art: Drawing - We have been learning about the elements line. tone, pattern and texture. We used wool to explore different lines and learnt about different grades of pencils and the tones they create. We have learnt to use techniques such as shading, contouring and cross hatching. We learnt about observational drawing and applied the skills we have learnt.
RE - We have been learning about the Christian celebration of Easter. We thought about special people in our lives and then why Jesus was special to Christians. We learnt how Palm Sunday is significant to Christians and how people acted when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. We made our own palm leaves that show how people acted. We sequenced the Easter story. We had great fun making chocolate nests.
Music - Today we became composers. We composed our own music using 2Beat. We thought of our own compositions and changed instruments and learnt how important it was to leave spaces in our musical notation or else you just get a lot of noise and no rhythm. We had great fun!
Here are some of our compositions.
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We got to stroke the chicks.
Our Amazing Learning! Spring 1
History - we looked at toys from the past and classified them. We made a timeline of toys from the past to the present.
DT - We made a variety of different toys from card/paper. Some of them were toys that would have been used in the past like the spinners.
Science - We looked at the properties of the materials used in toys. We classified toys, choosing our own way to record. We investigated how stretchy different toys were.
RE - In RE we learnt about 'Creation.' We created things, reflecting how it felt to create things successfully and how we felt when things did not go well. We looked at things that are created in the world, such as grass, plants, trees, etc. We learnt about the Christian creation story, discussing this is how Christians believe the world was created.
Computing - In computing we learnt about animations. We created pictures with moving images and sounds.
PSHE - Our unit of learning was called Dreams and Goals. We talked about how to work towards these dreams and goals, our feelings and ways to succeed. We used stepping stones to talk about how we had worked towards a particular goal that we had succeeded at. We also talked about managing our feelings and storing our successes in our mind in a treasure chest of memories.
PE - We learnt basketball skills, such as dribbling, passing and shooting.
Multicultural/Arts Week - China
