Year 1 - Puffins
Summer Term 2012.
Book Buddies
To encourage the children across the school to read more, many classes have paired up with a class in the opposite Key Stage to share books together. The Puffins and Guillemots have paired up and get together most Friday afternoons. They have a book buddy who they read with each week. The older children talk to them about the book they are reading and listen to them read. After they have read they choose a book for their Guillemot to read to them. The children are building up good relationships with their partner and look forward to book buddy time each week.
Burton Art Gallery Bunting
This summer the Burton Art Gallery are attempting to break the world record for the longest string of bunting. They have asked all the local schools to help them with this record attempt. Because we have been learning about shapes we decided to use 2D shapes to make patterns on our bunting. We coloured these with oil pastels and then used Brusho, a water based paint that repels the oil pastels, for our background colour. Look out for it around the Burton Art Gallery over the summer months!!
Learning in Mathematics
In Puffins’ we have been learning all about shapes in our Maths lessons. We have learnt the names of 2D shapes, especially pentagons, hexagons and octagons as they were new shapes to us! We then learnt the names of 3D shapes and some of their properties. We have used 2D shapes to make pictures and patterns and sorted shapes according to different criteria.
History – The Titanic
As part of learning about famous people the children have learnt about Captain Edward John Smith and the sinking of the Titanic. They have been excited by their learning and often going home telling their parents about all they have learnt. At the end of the topic they made the Titanic out of junk materials. Some children even made their own version at home.
Spring Term 2012
Year 1 Wedding
The culmination of our RE topic ‘Celebrations’ was a Year 1 wedding at St Mary’s Church, Bideford. The children learnt about a variety of celebrations such as birthdays, christenings, baptisms and weddings. We learnt about the religious significance and the promises made during each of the celebrations. They used what they had learnt to plan a wedding, deciding on who the main people involved were, designing cakes, making flowers and confetti, writing prayers, talking about the promises made. After a lot of planning we went to St Mary’s Church where the Reverend Claire Rose-Casemore performed the wedding ceremony with two of the children. After throwing confetti and posing for photographs outside the church they went back to the school for a party! The children thoroughly enjoyed their day and the opportunity to dress up smartly.
World Book Day - India
During World Book Day the Puffins’ decided to look at stories from India. The children came to school dressed in Indian clothes and looked at two traditional stories, ‘The Intelligent Hare’ and ‘The Princess and Two Snakes’. They made craft animals from the stories in the morning and spent the afternoon making sand, lentil and chalk Rangoli Patterns.
Arsenal Soccer School.
Before half term the children were selected to take part in the Arsenal Soccer School taster session. Despite the cold weather the children were very excited about learning some football skills. The coaches got the children warmed up and raring to go and then played some football training games. They played different games against each other and were encouraged to noisily support their team!!! The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and made great progress during the session. Their dribbling skills improved from times when they had practised this skill in PE lessons. They were then invited to attend the Soccer School during the half term holidays.
Science – Finding Local Plants and Flowers
We are starting to learn about plants and flowers in Science. To introduce the topic we went on a plant hunt around the school, seeing how many different plants we could find and name. We found daffodils, daisies, nettles, brambles and a number of other plants. After this we made 3D maps of our environmental area, making sure we looked after the environment, only using objects/plants that were not living or had fallen from trees and flowers.
Indian Food Tasting
As part of our Geography topic on India the children sampled some authentic Indian food. The children were excited to taste the food but when they saw the prepared dishes were not all so keen!! They had the option to taste naan bread, pakora, dahl, mutter paneer, saag aloo and chana masala. Some of the children thoroughly enjoyed the tasting and wanted to go back for more. Others won’t be visiting India in a hurry!
Space Odyssey
This term we have had the amazing opportunity to have the indoor planetarium ‘Space Odyssey’ visit us. The children were very excited in the lead up to our visit and were not disappointed! They learnt about flying to the moon, what they would need to take to the moon if they visited and different star patterns in the sky. The children thoroughly enjoyed their visit and I think all want to be astronauts now!!
Geography – Map Skills
We have been learning about Bideford and comparing it to other localities around the world. We started off with map skills and used maps of the school grounds to navigate around a specific route. When back in the classroom we used objects around the room to show the route that we had travelled.
Buddy’s Big Workout
Our charity we are collecting for this term is the NSPCC. As part of that the children undertook a sponsored workout to raise money for the charity. There was a carousel of activities composed of star jumps, step ups, shuttle runs, hoola hooping and running up and down a ladder. The children enthusiastically joined in and all children completed all of the activities successfully.
Mickey Mouse
In our topic time we have been learning about the USA. Making use of Mrs Sweeney ,who visits the USA regularly, we have spent time looking at Disney Land. To link with our topic we have been using a Mickey Mouse DVD as a stimulus for story writing. The children used play dough and scrap materials to make Mickey Mouse characters.
Mickey Mouse Clay Models
To continue our learning about America through Art the children made some clay models of Mickey, Pluto and Donald Duck. The children experimented with the clay and tried making all kinds of different shapes with their hands. They were then allowed to use tools to see the variety of marks they could make with them. After looking at some clay models of Mickey Mouse on the internet they had a go themselves.
English Recount
The first block of work we looked at this year was a Christmas recount which taught the children to think about the past tense. We remembered events and activities that happened to us and put them into a timeline so we could write about them in chronological order.
Non-Fiction
To link in with our topic of Italy we are going to be writing a non-fiction text. The children will use what they have learnt about Italy and put their writing into sections under an appropriate heading. Some children will use sub-headings as a part of their text. They will also look at captions, labels and pictures.
Maths
Place Value
In Place Value we have focused on understanding that 2 digit numbers consist of blocks of ten and units that we can’t put into a ten. We have been learning to recognise two digit numbers, count on and back in ones and tens from a 2 digit number and how to sequence them.
Addition and Subtraction
In our addition and subtraction block we will be learning the basics that underpin many other areas of Mathematics. We will learn simple methods to add and subtract numbers and the difference between the two. We will start to explore the different equipment we can use to support both operations. The children will then progress to using their addition and subtraction skills to solve simple problems.
Data Handling
We will use the Big School’s Birdwatch to support our block on Data Handling. After looking at a variety of ways of collecting and presenting data, we will choose the most effective way to present our results from our bird watch survey.
Science – Humans and Other Animals
In Science this term we have been studying a range of species (including the human race) and finding out about all the things we need to survive and grow. We have also being learning about the main, external parts of the body (for humans and other animals.)
Geography, D and T, Art and Music
We are discovering ways that Bideford is different to other places in the world. We will do this by ‘visiting’ other countries for a fortnight each throughout the term. We will be tasting food which has originated from this country. We will be doing this by persuading children in year 1 to try some of the school dinners (Italian lasagne + garlic bread, pizza, burgers, curry etc) and then testing some of the more classroom friendly food in the afternoons.
The places that we are going to explore are:
America
We will be listening to country and western music, tasting burgers and studying Walt Disney’s art
Bideford
We have been thinking about maps and using symbols as we will be following a map around Bideford at the end of term.
Italy
We will start off looking at the geographical aspect of Italy, locating it on a map alongside England and Bideford. The children will then research different aspects of Italian life using books, the internet and other computer based resources. We will look at different foods Italians eat and which of these we eat in England too. We will then look at Opera, using the story of Hansel and Gretel as a stimulus. To conclude our studies of Italy the children will look at some of the art of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo and produce their own work in the styles of these artists.
India
We will be listening to traditional Indian music and tasting some foods which were brought back from India in October. We will learn about the brightness of Indian Art and make some Rangoli patterns of our own.
Autumn 2011
For this terms curriculum overview, please click here.
RE - Myself
The children have been making shields all about themselves. They have been specifically thinking about their favourite season, a special person, their special place, favourite stories and a special object. We then linked that with what is special to Jews and Christians and made a class shield to show this.
Christmas Activities
During the final week of term the children took part in many Christmas activities including making reindeer, Christmas maths, colouring, making Christmas cards, stained glass windows and Christmas cooking. Below you can see some stained glass windows and the children enjoying cooking Christmas shape cookies. They then decorated the biscuits with Mrs Dark and took them home to enjoy.
Christingle
We also had our Christingle service where we sung some carols, listened to the story of Christmas and the children lit their own Christingle orange. It was a lovely way to finish the Autumn term.
18th November
RE
The children in Puffins spent the day looking at the story of Zacchaeus. This was linking with RE but also preparing for the St Mary's church service celebrating 400 years of the King James Bible. They got busy making a 3-Dimensional representation of the story using lollipop sticks, felt, tissue paper and lots of glue and sellotape!! As well as having a fantastic day, they produced some wonderful artwork. This is being displayed in St MaryÂ’s Church for the next two weeks.
3rd November.
Science and Music Learning
The children have thoroughly enjoyed spending time exploring instruments in Science, Music and D and T. They started off by looking at a range of percussion instruments (and their bodies!!!) to investigate the sounds they could make and different ways of playing them. After this they spent some time looking at how sounds are made, using plastic cup telephones, rice on drums, plastic bottles filled with water and elastic bands on boxes.
Their favourite part was looking at junk bands and using objects around the classroom to make their own junk band, playing different rhythms.
Their final piece of work was in Design and Technology where they designed and made their own instruments.
European Day of Languages.
On Friday 30th September we visited France to celebrate European Day of Languages. Before we were allowed to travel we made passports and then moved through the Euro Tunnel to France. We learnt some of the language such as how to greet each other and count up to 10. We sampled some local food but were very pleased not to have to try snails!! After travelling back through the tunnel we made French flags to remember our day.
Maths
This term the children will be covering all of the main elements of Mathematics, focusing on properties of number and the number system. They will look at shapes and measures using practical resources and activities to encourage this learning. Amongst all of this there will be a focus on problem solving using the four operations, time, measures, shape and money. There is going to be a greater focus of practical maths during our teaching sessions and the imagery that we use in all Maths lessons. We are also using the Essex Maths programme at the start of each lesson to support and improve children’s knowledge of the number system
Science
During the first half term we will be looking at sound travel and production, carrying out experiments to show what happens as you get further away from a sound, and finding out how sound travels. In the second half term we will look at ‘Light and Dark’, linking with our English story topic
Music
We are going to be linking our Music, Science and Design & Technology together by looking at ‘Exploring sounds’. We will explore various instruments, the way they are played and the sounds they make in Music whilst experimenting with sound travel and production in Science. We will use all we have learnt in Science and Music to design and make a musical instrument in Design and Technology.
Design and Tchenology
In Design and Technology we will be using our learning from Science and Music to design and make a musical instrument. The children will identify a target group to make their instrument for, practise the skills needed and then design and make their own instrument.
ICT
We try and use our ICT time to tie in with what we are doing in other areas of the curriculum. For example, we might use it for researching about the sound or light in Science or practising Maths work using interactive Maths games. Through this, we also practise key skills such as typing, getting used to different computer programmes and using multi-media applications on the computer.
RE
In this terms unit ‘Myself’ children will have opportunity to both think about what is important to them and what is important in religion. It will introduce the children to special people, objects, stories, places, music, celebration and seasons, both in their own lives and within the lives of Christians and Jews.