What a lovely and festive half term we have had. The children were amazing in our KS1 nativity, they took part in the Rudolph Run, they wore Christmas jumpers on our schools Christmas dinner day and finally they had so much fun at their Christmas party.
I hope you all have a lovely and relaxing Christmas!
Literacy
We read Where the Wild Things are and drew a story map to help us retell the story. Our final outcome was to write a retell but instead of the character being Max, it was us and we used ‘I’ which is one of our tricky red words. We used adjectives in our writing to describe and we tried really hard to ensure our all of our sentences had capital letters, finger spaces and full stops.
Towards the end of the half term we got into the Christmas spirit in Literacy through our first poetry topic. We looked at writing our own ‘What am I? poem where we described an object linked to Christmas.We explored questions and some of us used these in our poems. We ensured our poems were descriptive by using suitable adjectives and nouns to help the reader identify the Christmas object.
Maths
We started to explore multiplication this half term. We learnt about different methods to help us solve multiplication problems such as arrays, equal groups and repeated addition. We found arrays the trickiest method.
We then moved onto finding half of an object, shape and quantity. We know that a half is 1 of 2 equal parts. We know that halves need to be fair and equal. We know that some shapes and objects can be split in half in more than one way.
We learnt the days of the week and the months of the year and we attempted to spell these independently. We really enjoyed signing the days of the week song.
Before we broke up for the Christmas holidays we identified UK money. We looked at both coins and notes and identifying the value of each. We know that coins are different colours and so are notes. We understand the difference in value between pound and pence.
Topic
Our topic this half term had a DT focus where we focused on resistant materials. We received a letter from Santa asking for our help with making some wooden pop up Christmas toys. Santa also sent us a Santa Cam to put up in class so that he could check on our progress. We researched wooden pop-up toys on the iPads and laptops and then came up with our own designs which had to meet the design brief. We learnt about permanent fixings and then used wood glue to join materials. We measured and marked out a wooden dowel to a required length before cutting it using a junior hacksaw. We used a hole punch to make a hole. We ensured our toy had a high quality finish by using coloured pencils and paints.
Science
We have continued to explore animals including humans in science this half term. We have looked at what basic needs animals need to survive and what animals need. We can distinguish between a need and a want.
RSHE
We have continued to look at our Physical Well-being this half term. We have explored what a healthy diet is and wrote a days menu to reflect a healthy diet. We have looked at why physical activity is important and explored how much time we spend on devices as opposed to being physically active. We learnt about dental care and how we can keep our teeth healthy.
RE
Our key question in RE this half term has been, ‘why are some places special?’ We have discussed where our special place is and why it is special and how it makes us feel. We then learnt about a Christian and Jewish special place. We know that Jerusalem is a very special place to Jews.
PE
This half term we have developed our basketball skills in PE lessons. We have developed our throwing and catching skills as well as our team work skills.
Computing
In Computing this half term we have continued to look at technology around us. We have discussed how to stay on line. We have explored the different uses of computers such as typing, painting and playing games. We know that we can use technology to talk to people through face time, video cameras and emails.
Spring 1
Literacy
Our first literacy topic will be to gather the skills required to help us write a recount of our trip.
Maths
We will be interpreting mathematical statements when we arrive back to school in January. We will show our understanding of the following symbols + - =
Topic
Our topic next half term will have a Geography focus. We will be going on a trip at the start of the next half term to enhance our learning during topic.
RE
We will continue with our current learning before moving onto our next key question, which is ‘why are some times special?’
Science
We will continue with our learning on Animals including humans.
PE
In PE we will be exploring movement through gymnastics.
PD & RSHE
We will continue wit( our current learning before moving onto looking at Respecting close positive relationships by exploring families and friendships.
Computing
We will continue with exploring technology around us and developing our computing skills.