WHAT ARE WE LEARNING ABOUT?
English
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We start the first half term of Spring reading and working with the classic text We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen which introduces our topic theme of explorers. The children will begin by retelling the story orally and joining in with repeated words and phrases before identifying the characters and settings. We will use drama to ignite their imaginations as we ask them to come up with new 'obstacles' that their characters could meet along the way and describe these new settings using adventurous adjectives. They will then write their own versions of We're Going on a Bear Hunt with these new obstacles!
The next text that we will be using is a wonderfully illustrated book with a heart-warming plot called Field Trip to the Moon by John Hare. This book links to the work we will be doing on the famous explorer Neil Armstrong and deals with the concepts of difference and belonging. The children will again investigate the characters, setting and plot of the story before 'visiting' their own moon and maybe even finding a hidden alien! This will inspire them to write a retelling of their journey to the 'moon', what they found there and how it made them feel.
We will finish the half term by working on a short piece of performance poetry about Christopher Columbus. The children will learn about the way that they can use their voices to convey emotion and and emphasise certain parts, as well as how to incorporate actions. Group performance is a great way to build confidence and is also a fun way to work as a team. We can't wait to see how they get on!
We continue to have daily phonics sessions which develop the children's reading, spelling and handwriting skills and build upon the work done in Reception. Please support your child by reading regularly and looking back at completed pages of the Floppy's Phonics Workbook. |
Maths
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In maths this half term, we will continue to develop the children's knowledge of place value so that they are confident reading, writing and working with numbers to 50. We start the half term with a unit of work counting in 2s and 5s within 50. Please help your children count forwards and backwards in 2s and 5s upto 50 and in 10s to 100.
The children will then be introduced to all the different coins and notes we use in our monetary system. They will become very familiar with each coins look and be able to recognise the value and how much each coin is worth. We will start to exchange coins to reinforce that each coin has its own value and use our new knowledge of counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to help us count coins of these values. We will continue our money learning journey to add coins of different values and giving change within 20p reinforcing and applying our growing addition and subtraction skills.
Finally we will complete a unit of work on time starting with using everyday language including days of the week and the months of the year. We will learn to read analogue clock faces to the hour and half past and then learn to draw the hands on clock faces to the O'clock and half past. Please help your child by drawing attention to these times as you go about your daily life.
We continue to have a daily Ambitious Arithmetic lesson where the children practise their mental maths skills.
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Topic
| This term Year 1 are learning how to be explorers! They have all been given their own explorer buddy to take on journeys and to teach about some famous explorers from the past as they try to answer the question: How can we be great explorers? We will be learning about and comparing the journeys of Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, and discussing what we can learn from their expeditions. As well as discussing the legacy they have left behind, we will also consider what kind of people we think they were and how our own journeys in the local area will differ.
Our key research questions are:
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Science
| Over the year the children will learn about changes over the 4 seasons. We will observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and investigate how day length varies.
This half term we will continue to be finding out about animals. We will identify, name and classify animals into the categories: birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and fish. We will also use the key vocabulary carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. We will compare different animals and look for and talk about animals in our local environment.
Through all of our scientific work, we will develop the skill of working like a scientist. This involves asking simple questions about the world around us, performing simple tests, observing closely and using simple equipment. We will also begin to use our observations and ideas to answer questions. |
