Mrs Harvey is our teacher and Mrs Mulholland is our teaching assistant.
USEFUL LINKS
Spring 2
RE
Easter
We have been reflecting on the Easter story and what happened to Jesus on Good Friday. We thought about how the sadness of Good Friday is followed by joy on Easter Sunday when Jesus was resurrected. We also thought about (and enjoyed eating) one of the symbols of Good Friday- Hot Cross Buns which are symbolic of this significant day in the Christian faith when Jesus was crucified.
We made a beautiful wreath of the Easter Story. We coloured and cut out each part of the story from Palm Sunday to Pentecost and arranged them in the correct sequence. We enjoyed retelling the story of Palm Sunday in our assembly.
The last week of term has been so busy, crammed in lots of Easter-related activities from our Palm Sunday collective worship, to taking part in the stations of the cross and a beautiful mass on Friday. We’ve also had lots of fun this week making Easter crafts. We made colourful Easter cards. We also made chocolate Easter nests and placed them in our baskets.
St Joseph’s Day
We celebrated the feast of St Joseph (March 19th). We learned about the significance of St Joseph. We reflected on his role of being Jesus’ foster father and how much he loved and cared for his family. We wrote about these special qualities and made beautiful lilies.
St Patrick’s Day
To celebrate our class saint, St Patrick we have learnt all about St Patrick’s life and how St Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world. We coloured shamrocks to represent the holy trinity. In the afternoon we made some traditional Irish soda bread and tried our hand at some Irish dancing.
Miracles
We acted out the story of The Good Samaritan. When a man is robbed by bandits, several people fail to stop and help him. Finally, a Samaritan (who didn’t get along with the Jews) comes by, and he helps the injured man, in an act of mercy and compassion. Jesus taught us this story to explain that people should love everyone, including their enemies.
We listened to the bible story of the miraculous catch of fish where Jesus chooses his first apostles. Luke 5:1-11, After performing this miracle Peter, the fisherman, knew Jesus was special and fell to his knees before Him. Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow Him and he’d make them fishers of men.
Maths
We have been looking at subtraction as finding the difference, comparing two numbers and dobles as near doubles. We used lots of practical resources to help us, these have included using counters, part-whole model and number lines.
We have been learning about direction, we are trying to remember our left and right. We practised our quarter-turns half-turns and three quarter-turns by moving around the classroom. To help us with this in ICT we had great fun getting the bee bots out and programming them to move forwards, backwards, left and right. We also used the bee bot app on the iPads.
English
World Book Day and Reading Week
We really enjoyed our visit to Otley Library on Wednesday. Kate the librarian read to us, played a game and told us all about the different types of books and audiobooks on loan. We loved exploring the children’s section and have been given some books to read in class.
For WBD, we wrote our own book reviews about our character or word and why we had chosen this. We found silly places to read books, made bookmarks, listened to mystery readers and sang songs.
We have started a new book called Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency. Emily Brown, and Matilda the elephant are busy going on adventures, but every time they get to a particularly exciting part . . . Ring! Ring! goes the Emergency Telephone. Taking words from the book we have been expanding our vocabulary by using a thesaurus and using appropriate and effective synonyms.
We have been thinking about the features of a diary- writing in first person, chronological order and writing using the simple past tense. We wrote our own diary entries about an exciting adventure that we went in with Matilda and Stanley from our class book, Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency. Next we edited our diaries, checking our sentences have the correct punctuation and trying to improve them by adding conjunctions and where appropriate, adjectives.
Art
Our last colour creations lessob was inspired by the work of Wassily Kandinsky the Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstraction in Western art and we enjoyed looking at some of his work. His painting known as Colour Study Squares and Circles was our inspiration for our own concentric circle art.
Science
We started our new learning about about plants by thiking about germination. We looked at a selection of seeds and had a think about the sorts of plants they might grow in to. We wrote out instructions of how to plant our own sunflower seeds as we will be making observations of how they grow over the next few weeks.
History
We have started our new topic in History this week, People Who Have Made a Difference and have been learning about the life of Florence Nightingale, who is famous for her nursing of wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. We completed a sorting activity to distinguish old hospitals compared with modern.
Geography
We concluded our topic Where do I Live by looking at our houses and describing where we live.We used Google Earth to find our houses too by using our address and postcodes.
PSHE
The children have a super understanding of how to look after a dog and the things not to do too, thanks to a visit form The Dogs Trust.
ICT
The children in Year 1 have loved programming th Beebots and following algorithms.
Spring 1
Chinese New Year
To celebrate Chinese New Year, Y1 learned how the animals of the Chinese Zodiac decided on who would have each year named after them. We know that some of our class are roosters and some are monkeys We enjoyed making Chinese rabbit fans and loved tasting Chinese food!
Year 1 Assembly
Well done to year one for their fantastic assembly about number day. The children sang fun number songs, descrbed where numbers can be found around the world and in the Bible and explained why we have number day to support the NSPCC.
Geography
We have been learning about the United Kingdom, which is made up of four different countries. Each of these countries has its own capital city and flag. The combination of the crosses on these flags make up the Union Jack, the national flag of the United Kingdom. We learned about the flower and animal associated with each country as well as lots of features and places to visit.
RE
Lent
Year 1 children made Lent promises and thought of daily acts of kindness to do for others during Lent.
In RE, we have been thinking about Jesus as the light of the world. We reflected on the qualities that Jesus would expect us to have and share with others such as: kindness, respect, patience, generosity and loyalty. Inspired by the Radiant Light series of paintings by Elizabeth Wang, Y1 produced their own artwork depicting Jesus as the Light of the World using an array of colours using water colours. We also wrote our own prayers with this as our premise.
We learned about how God revealed his Son’s identity to Anna and Simeon when baby Jesus was taken to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord. We reflected on how Simeon allowed the Holy Spirit to guide and control his steps as God’s promise was fulfilled.
We’ve been learning about Baptism in RE. We enjoyed sharing some of the symbolic items we wore or were given at our own baptism (thanks to parents for these, they were wonderful). We reflected on why Catholics and other Christians are baptised (to welcome them into God’s family and to show that they belong to Christ).
Maths
This half term we have used lots of practical resources again to represent two-digit numbers, these have included: tens frames, number beads, base ten, dice and the rekenrek counting frame. For Number Day we enjoyed a range of number related activities and problem solving. We have been learning how to use the number line, which is a useful way to represent number in maths. We have been looking at one more than and one less than on the number line and estimating where to place numbers on empty number lines.
We began a new unit in Maths this week- capacity, which is the amount something can hold. We can use capacity to describe when something is full, half full and empty. We enjoyed a practical based lesson by filling different sized containers with water and discussing their capacity.
We also learned about mass and weight. We have learnt that when each side of a balance scale is the same height, the mass on each side is equal. When one end is tipped lower the mass of that object is heavier and vice versa. We practised placing objects on the balance scale to see which objects were heavier or lighter.
English
We made predictions about our new book using clues and listening to sounds. Our new book Meerkat Mail was then unveiled which is all about Sunny the Meerkat and his adventures. Sunny has written us a letter and is hoping to visit Otley soon. We thought about all the fun things Sunny could do during his visit and have been writing a letter back to him in the Kalahari Desert. In English this week, we have been writing a recount of all the things Sunny did when he went to visit his family. He had a very busy week which included: eating scorpions, getting covered in itchy termites and eating plenty of eggs.
We continued with our story about the Robin in Coming Home in English and thought of lots of adjectives to describe the main character. We have also been story mapping the main events, ensuring we have ordered them correctly. In English we have been learning all about Robins. We have learnt about their habitat, diet and lots of interesting facts such as being Britain’s favourite bird. We used these facts to write our own fact file of information.
PSHE
In PSHE, with the help of a friendly dinosaur called Pantosaurus we discussed PANTS. This is a simple and clever acronym which helps to teach children the underwear rule: privates are private; always remember your body belongs to you; no means no; talk about secrets that upset you and speak up, someone can help. We enjoyed singing ‘The Pants Song.’
Science
In Science, we have been matching the properties of materials and trying to understand why certain properties are so useful. We know for example that windows have to be made from glass due to their transparency and durability but an object like a chair could be made from plastic, wood or metal. We have learnt some very sophisticated scientific vocabulary: transparent, flexible, rigid and opaque. We made booklets to show our understanding of the various properties of wood, glass and wool.
Art
We have started a new unit in Art called Colour Creations. We have been using lots of different types of magazines to create a collage of colours. We thought about how many different shades of a particular colour we could see and compared and contrasted these.
We learned all about primary colours and cretared art work inspired by Piet Mondrian using either paints and masking tape or cardboard shapes.
We finished our printing work inspired by the Cubist and Surrealist artist Paul Klee. Using a mixture of bold and pastel colours using sponges and hand prints for our hall display. n Art, we have come to the end of our unit on mark making. Using lots of different media to print with (with a variety of textures-sponges, bubble wrap and Lego). We created lots of interesting designs.
ICT
In ICT, we have been using the laptops to log on and use the Paintz program. This week we have been familiarising ourselves with the keyboard and have practised typing our names in a text box and experimenting with different fonts, colours and text size.
French
We have been learning how to name colours in French. We sang a song and practised moving around the classroom when a new colour was called out.
Autumn 2
Christmas
Year 1 enjoying the Christmas party
Year 1 singing at the Christmas tree festival
RE
The Christmas Story and Nativity
As well as singing and performing the Nativity for our production, we’ve also been writing about it in our RE lessons. We reflected on the thoughts and feelings of those present at Christ’s birth.
Advent
We ave been thinking about Advent, it’s meaning and its symbolism: the Advent wreath- an evergreen circle which is a symbol of eternal life and the candles which recall the weeks that pass until Christmas. We thought about the meaning of different advent symbols. We made our own Advent Wreaths and wrote about how we hope to do something nice for our Advent Angels. We wrote about the different ways that we prepare for Christmas at home, school and in church.
The Annunciation
We learned about the Annunciation and eflected on the Hail Mary- the prayer that Archangel Gabriel said to Our Lady. We thought about the reasons why God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus.
Noah’s Ark
We started the half term, reflecting on the thoughts and feelings of Noah after God had asked him to build the ark: scared, worried apprehensive? We also wondered how Noah may have felt once the dove returned bearing an olive branch: relief, joy confusion.
Science
Trip to Ledston Hall
Our trip to Ledston Hall was a fantastic day out. We learned all about the countryside code; that we should leave footprints, take photographs and make memories. The elf taught us about the things that we should not do in the countryside too. It was fun learning all about the ferrets, dogs and birds that we find in the UK. We made a brd feeder to hang in or gardens. Learning about deer and riendeer included observing deer skulls and antlers as well as practising rutting. We also made clay baubles and an advent calendar from things that we would fing in the countryside. The day concludd with a scavenger hunt to find signs of Winter. The staff complimented Y1 on their wonderful behaviour and manners.
Materials
We have been learning about materials and where they can be found. We went on a materials hunt and labelled the outdoor area according to whether it was comprised of glass, wood, plastic or metal we thought about the suitability of these materials.
We have been investigating the properties of materials and their suitability as everyday objects. We carried out an investigation to see which material allowed the teddy bear to get wet. We made predictions about this and considered what would happen if we used a different material instead?
Autumn
We found signs of Autumn on our autumn walk.
English
Trip Recount
We have been writing a recount in English about our fabulous trip to Ledston Hall. We thought about the order of the day and how to use time conjunctions to help us explain when each event happened. We tried to use the simple past tense in our writing.
Letter to Father Christmas
We wrote a letter to somebody very special and have been thinking about what we would like from Father Christmas this year. We’re confident that he will be visiting us as we’ve been good! We thought about the structure of our letter: how to write our introduction then the main body of our letter and finally our ending. We will be posting these on Friday. Year 1 were very excited to receive a letter back from Father Christmas!
Making Porridge
After reading The Truly Magic Porridge Pot, we wrote instructions for the perfect bowl of porridge. We thought about our ingredients, utensils and the steps required to make the porridge. We started each instruction with a bossy verb (imperative). On Wednesday we made our own porridge. We followed our own instructions and it tasted delicious.
Nursery Rhyme Day
To celebrate Nursery Rhyme Day on Friday, we have been learning the nursery rhyme: It’s Raining, It’s Pouring (fairly appropriate for this week!). We practised reciting this in preparation for assembly on Friday where we performed this for the school.
Little Red
Year 1 were introduced to some clues: a little red cape, some furry ears and a tree. We had a think about what traditional tales these clues may be referring to? We made some predictions in our English books about characters and setting. We thought about the characteristics of Little Red Riding Hood. We thought about her feelings towards the wolf and how somebody may describe her appearance. We then retold the story using story maps and actions.
Maths
Measurement
We have been measuring in centimetres (cm). We have been examining our class rulers and how we use them. We know that we have to begin our measuring by starting at 0. We enjoyed putting this into practice and measuring small objects around the classroom. We measured objects with various items such as paper clips, plastic cubes and whiteboards pens. We have been using these resources to help us when adding these amounts together with simple addition problems.
Number Bonds
We have been learning about Number Bonds. A Number bonds lets us split numbers in useful ways. They show how numbers join together, and how they break down into component parts.
Addition
We have also been focusing on addition. We were introduced to the addition symbol + and we have begun to use this in our number sentences. We have used counters to visually represent addition in a variety of formats: bar model, in a number line and in a part-whole model. We dveeloped our understanding of numbers before and after, one more and one less.
Art and DT
Christmas Crafts
In Art & DT, we have been putting the finishing touches on some of our Christmas crafts. We have made Nativity cards and calendars. We also made beautiful, snow-globe baubles for the tree. We enjoyed putting our decorations on the tree in the hall they look beautiful.
Eating Healthy Fruit and Vegetable Salads
After collating data about our favourite fruit and vegetables, we thought about healthy eating and tasted some fruit and vegetables. We wrote about how they tasted, smelt, looked, and felt like these included: pomegranate, pineapple, celery, and red pepper. Next we designed a fruit or vegetable salad and followed the steps to make it. Finally we evaluated our creations.
Mark Making
In Art, we were thinking about celebrations in Divali (the festival of light) and Bonfire Night. On black card and using fine tipped paint brushes we made repeated patterns to make beautiful rangoli art and bright exploding fireworks. We continued our mark making unit by looking at textures and compleed rubbings.
PSHE
Staying Safe
On Thursday we had a visit from Police Community Officer Jacqui, who spoke to us about Road safety and the importance of being seen in the dark. We also had a chat about the emergency services and when to call each one.
Racism Red Card Day
PE
Lion KIng Dance
We have really enjoyed our PE lessons this term and this week we put the finishing touches to our dance performance. We became animals from the Lion King- monkeys, crocodiles and elephants. Using beats of 8 we created our own dance to the music: I Just Can’t wait to be King.
Playground Games
In PE/Topic, we had the last lesson of our unit on toys from the past. We thought about the traditional games that children played during playtime in the past. This included: Dusty Bluebells, Duck, Duck Goose, What’s the Time Mr Wolf and Double This, Double That.
ICT
In ICT, we have been learning how to log onto the laptops. We used a website called studio.code to practise using the track pad on the laptop to drag and drop images in jigsaws, this helps to familiarise us with these functions. If you want to help your child to practise at home the website is ncee.io/drag