Spring 2 Learning

Maths

In Maths we have been learning about mass, length, and height, and how to record their measurements We talked about different units of measurement such as grams (g) for mass or cm's and meters for length and height.

We had a fantastic lesson outside in the stunning weather learning about positions and directions.  We learned about whole turns and half turns.

We developed our knowledge further with other directions such as forwards and backwards; left and right and also up and down.  Ask your child about top, middle and bottom.  See if they can show you their new knowledge by placing items on a shelf either on the top, middle or bottom.

This week we have been learning to tell the time.  We have been looking at the minute hand and the hour hands on the clock and have learned that when the minute hand is on twelve this means o'clock and when it is pointing to six it means half past the hour. We did this practically with our own clocks aswell as drawing missing hands on clocks and reading the time.

English

It has been an exciting week learning about 'Supertato!' and his adventures overcoming the terrible acts of Evil Pea. We have been reading the story in class and have invented our own moves to help tell the story.  Watch the video at the bottom of the page.

We have also been looking at following instructions and have been writing our own instructions.  First we went onto the yard and teamed up into pairs to practice giving each other instructions i.e. deferent arm movements, jump up and down.

We were outside again the next day to pair up, but this time we were sat back to back.  One child had a picture while the other child had a pen and whiteboard but could not see the picture.  Their teammate had to give instructions of how to draw the picture and their friend how to draw it.  They had a brilliant time laughing at some of the drawings we made from the instructions given.

As part of our instruction writing, outcome one was to write a set of instructions for making a fruit kebab. Before we could start writing these we had to make them for ourselves. The children loved making them and their instructions were written step by step. The children used a variety of time words and bossy verbs in their instructions. 

Then we did outcome two which was writing instructions for making a Easter chick in our Extened write session (this is independent writing). First we made a chick by using paper, paint and other materials.  Ask your child what other materials they used.  Afterwards, they wrote instructions on how to make the chick for the children in EYFS to try. 

Theme

Our Topic this half term is Growth and Green Fingers. It is a Science and Design Technology based topic.

For Science we  looked at naming and identifying the basic structure of plants, including trees (roots, stem, flower, petal, leaf, branch, trunk), naming a variety of flowering plants, observing change and growth over time, and exploring seasonal changes and weather.

For Design Technology we were identifying a variety of fruit and vegetables and begin to understand healthy foods, exploring the importance of hygiene with food prep and we will be developing some knife skills (bridge and claw grip). We will also be making fruit kebabs linked in with our English lerning of instructions.

Our Key Questions are:

How are plants the same and different?

How are trees the same and different?

Can we eat everything grown on plants?

What is the weather like in different seasons?

Where does some food come from?

This week we have been planting our own beans.  We have discussed what the beans will need to help them grow i.e. water, sunlight, etc.

We have also been out in the sun to plant seeds in the small garden areas in the schoolyard.  The children will take responsibility for these flowers and we are very excited to see the various plants that will grow and what wildlife they will bring. 

It was results day for the beans we planted.  Some plants were succesful and grew mighty tall while others failed to get to started (dont worry extra were planted so everyone got one to take home) Either way, the children had great fun looking after the plants.  Some grew really tall just look at the pictures below.

Trashion Week!

We have been looking at the many ways we can look after our environment.  We have learned about recycling, which was perfect because this week was Trashion week! The children loved working in groups to design different clothing and accessories i.e. bags, jewelry, and dresses., before showing off their creations in an amazing catwalk.

World Book Day

For this year's World Book Day Year 1 completed some fantastic activities based on the book The Day the Crayon's Quit.  We enjoyed a brilliant day writing a letter to an upset glue stick, painting a house for the coloured crayons and making their own coloured crayons. 

We also came to school as our favourite characters from all the books we read.  Take a look at some of the impressive 'Book in the Jar' the children made at home. Well done everyone! 

Fruit Kebabs

What a day!

This week we were making fruit kebabs.  We talked about different fruits (lemon, straberries, mangos etc.) and how exciting it is to try new foods.  We discussed and drew our designs for our own kebabs before we got to taste test lots of amazing fruits. The mango's and melons went down a treat!

Finally, we were shown how to carefully cut the fruit before we made our own fruit kebabs. They did an incredible job and of course the day finished with the children eating their own fruit kebabs.  Yummy! 

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