Grange Valley Primary & Nursery School

Welcome to Year 1 - Miss Daniels's Class 2019-20

Spring 1 2020

It has been another very busy half term in Year 1!

This term the children have worked incredibly hard and have been continually trying their best to strive to meet their personal targets.

In English we started the term off learning about written and verbal instructions and how to write a set of instructions. The children wrote different instructions to give to the reception children to help teach them how to wash their hands and brush their teeth correctly. The children had great fun making their own jam sandwiches and then writing a detailed set of instructions using time adverbs, imperative verbs and conjunctions. Our focus text this half term was The Lion Inside, which is all about a mouse who wanted to be able to roar! We discussed how the mouse in the story was very brave as he ventured to ask the lion for help, were we found out that the lion was in fact scared of mice! Our favourite quote from the story was 'if you want to see change, you first thing you need to change is you." We had that as our class motto for the rest of the term. The children then wrote their own versions of the story, picking two opposite characters and describing them and were they live. They also thought of their own problems and solutions for their stories. It was lovely to read their finished pieces. Later in the term we have also be concentrating on improving our phonics knowledge. We spent some time looking at split digraphs and how we can use these to write and write words with this grapheme.

In Maths the children have been exploring shapes, measures of length and height and money. We looked at naming 2d and 3d shapes and the properties of these shapes. The children completed problems solving activities and continuing patterns using the 3d shapes. Following on from this we have been learning all about money. The children recognised and ordered coins according to their value, shape, colour. We have also been using coins to make given amounts.

In our History lessons we have been learning about the Kings and the Queens of the past. The children really enjoyed learning about Queen Elizabeth II and previous kings such as Henry VIII, they were fascinated to learn that he had 6 wives, ans chopped two of their heads off! The children created a drama to re-enact the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This topic has definitely been a class favourite this term.

In Science, the children explored and investigated with different materials, looking at the properties of them and learning lots of new vocabulary such as transparent, opaque, waterproof and absorbent. We conducted our own experiment to test which objects were bendy, transparent or waterproof.

In Religious Education, we learnt about the Islamic faith. Our enquiry question was "Where is God?" We learnt that Muslims call their god, Allah, and that he has 99 other names. Muslims believe that Allah created all living things in this world, and god is present in all of them. This is why we should respect all living things, animals, plants and people.

Our focused Artist for this term was Piet Mondrian. We learnt that he was a dutch artist born in 1807. We used our History timeline to see how long ago this was. Piet Mondrian liked to use the primary colours in his work and straight lines. The children documented their ideas and experimented with different media in their sketch books, before creating their own version of a Mondrian piece.

In computing, we have learnt about online safety. We discovered safesearchkids.com which will allow us to safely research subjects on the internet, we also discussed that we should never give our personal information out to a stranger on the computer. We celebrated Safer Internet Day on the 8th February, were the children created their own avatars, to show the children that people can appear different online to who they are in reallife.

The children finished off the term with a well deserved Valentines disco. We have some fantastic dancers in Year 1! Have a great break everyone! See you all when we come back for another busy term.

Autumn 2 2019

Year 1 have had a fantastic half term that has been very busy but fun. Our theme for the half term has been Toys. We have explored this through Writing, Research, History and Art. This half term we have had a great focus on the vocabulary the children are using in their writing and the enjoyment of reading.

In Maths, we have explored numbers to 20, place value of 2-digit numbers to 20 and addition and subtraction operations. The children are becoming more confident in problem solving and their ability to use different strategies they have learnt to solve problems.

In Science, our topic was all about animals. We have learnt about the different characteristics between types of animals, what we call animals with different diets, discussed how we keep our bodies healthy and named different parts of the human body. The children used scientific enquiry, measuring and recording skills in simple investigations on senses and diets types.

Of course, we can’t forget all the Christmas celebrations in class and as a whole school. The enjoyment on the children’s faces was so lovely to see on the Christmas jumper day, Christmas dinner day, Christmas fair, Christmas disco and the Christmas activities, crafts and when playing in the class role play Santa’s Grotto.

I am looking forward to another exciting term to start 2020!

Autumn 1 2019

We are extremely proud of how well the children have settled into Year 1. The transition from Reception to Key Stage 1 is the biggest to make and our class have taken it in their stride, adapting to the new routine and lesson structure.

In English we read two of my favourite stories 'The Gruffalo' and 'Whatever Next'. For The Gruffalo, the children retold the story and created their own versions of the story which are on display in our reading corner. When we read Whatever Next, the children pretended to be the character and flew to the moon in role play sessions, they wrote lists of what they would take to the moon and labelled pictures of Space. The children have been trying so hard to improve their handwriting and phonics in their writing. They are doing this by using our independent writing table in class during continuous provision.

During Singapore Maths sessions this term we have been concentrating on numbers to 10 including writing and ordering the numbers and solving addition and subtraction problems. The children have been working together to learn new skills, discuss their opinions and solve problems together.

In our Geography and Science sessions we have been learning about weather and the seasons. The children have been on an Autumn walk and collected and observed signs of Autumn. We have discussed the special times that happen during the Autumn period such as bonfire night and some of the children have birthdays. The children were intrigued to learn that the days become shorter in Autumn and Winter, explaining why it goes dark earlier. We also looked at how animals adapt in the Winter, through hibernation and migration. They then wrote counting poems and created beautiful autumnal art work. Alongside this we have been learning about weather symbols and how the weather changes across Autumn and Winter. To demonstrate all their knowledge about the weather the children became weather forecasters and recorded their own weather forecasts for the class. We also enjoyed making their own rain gauges to measure the rain fall over the course of a week. This allowed the children to work collaboratively, make predictions, develop their mathematical language, collect and record data.

Our RE sessions the children have been learning about the Hindu festival of light, Diwali. They have listened to the story of Rama and Sita and created a short role play. They have been experimenting with their drawings and sketching by creating their own Mehndi and Rangoli patterns in their sketch books. We also created our own Diva lamps to hold a tea light candle to celebrate Diwali at home.

In Computing this term, the children have had opportunities to explore with the computers and iPads, using them safely and appropriately. We have learnt how to turn on the computers and log on to our Year 1 desktop. We have also explored with Education City, created pictures in paint and learnt how to save them in our own folders.

Finally, in Music this half term, we have been learning to recognise a pulse and a rhythm in music. We have learnt to keep a beat with our hands whilst singing a song and incorporating instruments.

We are looking forward to another fun and busy half term!