Y1 OWLS 2020-2021

Tuesday 13th July

Our final week of this academic year is upon us.  It's been a rollercoaster of a year, but as always the children have flourished and shown resilience, perseverance and determination throughout!  We are very proud of them all.  This week has been busy so far.  Yesterday, we had our Forest school session which was amazing.  The children had to make a picture frame with sticks and if they wanted to, challenge themselves to tie it together with materials.  They used the natural resources to make a picture of their choice, and their ideas were very creative!  The children have also learnt how to play the gameshow 'Countdown'.  They loved it, and could make lots of three and four letter words... even some five letter words.  We played bingo, reinforcing our knowledge of tens and ones, and they wanted to keep going until ALL of the bingo balls were out of the machine!  Maybe these two activities would be popular family things to do during the summer holidays?  Here are some photos of Forest school...

Friday 9th July

Today we enjoyed a trip to the British seaside! We made sandcastles, explored the rock pool, played beach games, visited the cafe and ice cream parlour, watched a Punch and Judy show, relaxed on the beach with friends, made boats and finished the day with ice lollies in the sun. A few of us even had a funny photo taken! A non stop day but lots of fun had by all and so lovely to hear the children say how much they enjoyed it. 

We hope you like the photos and video! 

Wednesday 7th July

Over the past few weeks we have been observing the growth of our class sunflowers, Hotshot, Sunny and Rosie.  During our science lessons the children have been recording the measurements of each sunflower, and working out how much they have grown.  The sunflowers are now planted outside and are growing rapidly!  I have posted two short videos on our class stream which explains our work.  Enjoy!

We also saw the flypast of the RAF Puma 50th Anniversary Flypast today.  The children were super excited to see and hear them.  The link to the RAF website which explains more is : https://www.military-airshows.co.uk/press21/maps/puma50ann-070721.htm?fbclid=IwAR12i8VHnCSLTqceDed-x-DvXc5GVRaIEaQeYAid-XD-yx_SYZzSVoCvQUc

I have posted a video of this on our class stream.

Tuesday 6th July

We had our first taste of Forest school yesterday afternoon with Mrs. Finn our Forest School Leader.  It was an amazing experience!  All of the children were immersed in the atmosphere and learning all about Jordans flora and fauna.  We gathered around base camp and discussed some of the trees and wildlife we would expect to see and hear, then the children chose what they wanted to investigate and experience according to their interests.  Some children made a den and a shelter, others enjoyed arts and crafts using the bark of the trees and crayons.  Children made bug hotels and a bug 'dining room', and others hunted for bugs, observing them and identifying them using the identification cards.  If we could have bottled their excitement it would priceless! At the end of the session we discussed ideas and interests for next session, so we all can't wait until next Monday afternoon!  Thank you Mrs. Finn from everyone in Owl class.  Here are some photos for you to enjoy...

Friday 2nd July 

What a busy few days we've had!

Yesterday in English, the children used dictionaries to find the meaning of various words. We were really impressed with how they applied their knowledge of the alphabet and were able to find the words with their partner. Next week we will be looking at glossaries and the children will be writing their own 'seaside' themed glossary. 

In Topic we shared our knowledge of British seaside resorts and thought about what we might see if we were looking out from the gallery deck of a lighthouse. The children then used measuring, cutting and drawing skills to create their own lighthouse picture. 

Today was Sports Day! The children all participated with enthusiasm, determination and encouragement for their team mates. There were lots of happy children who said they loved the morning's events. In the afternoon we learnt about the Paralympics and everyone had a go at sitting volleyball and goalball (a game for blind or impartially sighted athletes). 

Next week's tricky words: July, August, September

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'ch'

Tuesday 29th June

We have had an exciting afternoon learning about and discussing the Euro 2020 football competition.  The children have had fun doing some football crafts and loved making an England flag.  We are learning about time in maths, and the children worked out they would have to wait 2 hours until the match kicked off, from the time they left school.  Fingers crossed we beat Germany tonight!  

Friday 25th June

It's been a busy week in Owl Class!

We've thoroughly enjoyed reading The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch over the past few weeks. All the drama activities, re-telling the story, drawing story maps and describing the characters has led to some fantastic writing! Did you know we found Fred the seagull's diary in our outdoor area? Only problem was there were pages missing! We thought it would be a great idea to pretend we were Fred and write our own diaries based on the story! We've not finished yet, but have a look at the start of some of our diaries below.

We've also been learning about the different layers of the ocean and have created some lovely artwork based on this. The classroom is looking lovely and bright at the moment and definitely helping us all feel cheerful and ready for the Summer!

Next week's tricky words: April, May, June

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'c' & 'g'

STEM Day

Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths

The children had lots of fun working together to research, plan, create prototypes, make modifications, create and evaluate their own marble runs.

Friday 18th June

Another busy end to the week! The children enjoyed writing a list for what they would choose to pack in a picnic. There was a real range of choices across the class including carrot sticks, meatballs, pesto pasta and many different biscuits. Today we found Fred the seagull's diary in the outdoor area but sadly it had some pages missing. This gave us the idea to write diaries next week as if we are Fred. In preparation for this the children all had to imagine they were Fred and answer questions based on the events of the book. They had lots of fun with this and really got into role!

In Topic we continued our learning about lighthouses and looked at the names and functions of different parts. 

Next week's tricky words: January, February, March

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'ey' 

Tuesday 15th June

It's been a hot week so far!  This week we are learning about halving shapes, objects and quantities.  The children have been discussing where to half an object and explain their reasoning and thinking.  It's been interesting when they have been looking at irregular shapes, as well as shapes that can be halved many ways!

We are continuing with our text The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch, and will continue to do so for the rest of the week.  The children were 'in character' today as either the seagulls, Mr. Grinling or Mrs. Grinling, and thought of questions to pose to each other.  They worked in small groups and came up with some ingenious questions!

In science we are looking at the ocean, and some creatures that live in rock pools.  We talked about a rocky shore and looked at the difference between that and a sandy beach.  Some of the children have been rock pooling, and told us they found small crabs and some limpets! 

Friday 10th June

Owls have had a great first week back! We've loved reading The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch in English lessons. We've discussed the characters giving evidence from the text, written some fantastic sentences using alternative words for 'said' and even had a go at using speech marks. Owls are always up for a challenge which we love! We also made some super cute paper plate seagulls! 

We have started our 'Lighthouse Lookout' topic sharing our knowledge of lighthouses and learning about where they are located and their purpose. There were also lots of interesting questions which we will hopefully answer throughout this next half term.

Tricky words & Phonics - next week we will be revising sounds and words already taught. 

Monday 7th June

It's been a great start to the last half term of school today.  The children came in with their maths homework this morning, and we spent a lot of time discussing what they had found out about prices of items in shops as well as the cost of items such as houses, fridges, motorbikes and toys.  Prices ranged from a 50p orange to a £400,000,000 aeroplane!  Thank you for your support with the homework.  They worked in groups to set up their own shop, checking the price of items against the price list, and making the price tags, ready to sell to each other during this week.

This afternoon we discussed more about slugs and snails.  The children are fascinated with our minibeast habitat and found more slugs and snails today to put in amongst the leaves and twigs.  We spent time making a clay slug and snail, then made the slime trail behind it using chalk and hand sanitiser.  We talked about what else we could use to make the trail more 'life like', so perhaps they could try out some of their ideas at home? 

Friday 28th May

What a fantastic half term we've had in Owl Class! The children have absolutely loved our dinosaur topic. They have been so enthusiastic to share their knowledge and research, which has led to some amazing pieces of writing. 

This week we decided to explore Jordans Village and create a map to see if we could find a suitable place to release the dinosaur once he hatched. We had lots of different views where the best place would be and eventually decided we think it would be best to keep it for a while in school. We wrote some very persuasive letters to Mrs Swain giving reasons why we should be allowed to keep it as a class pet rather than release it. Luckily she agreed! 

Finally, our baby dinosaur hatched this morning after many weeks of waiting and checking! It's a Stegosaurus and after a whole class vote we have named him Steggy!

We hope you all have a lovely half term break! If anyone is visiting the British seaside this week then please can you send Owl Class a postcard showing where you are! Or if you have any family or friends living there, maybe you could ask them to send us one. This is in preparation for our seaside topic next half term. Thank you!

Monday 24th May

What an amazing Monday!  We completed our Science investigation today, predicting, and observing which habitat our minibeast would prefer.  The children were so excited and loved this activity.  We learnt that our prediction does not have to be correct, we just have to be able to explain why we think the minibeast would prefer a certain habitat.  The children have brought their habitat boxes home with them, and we have talked about using them to put other minibeast in to observe which habitats they prefer.  Here are some photos of their investigation.

Friday 21st May

What a productive few days we've had in Owl Class! The children produced some amazing writing, imagining they were Tom from our current text. They re-told his adventure to the Island of Dinosaurs using a range of sentence openers and adjectives. Today they had a go at re-reading and editing their work, which is a tricky task but they were certainly 'Go for it Gorillas'! We are really proud of them all!

In yesterday's topic lesson we looked at the features of maps and created our own maps of the classroom. Have a look at the pictures below to see how well the children did.

Next week's tricky words: different, who, through

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'ou' & 'ch'

Wednesday 19th May

This week is going so fast, and we have been extremely busy!  Monday, we started to make our minibeast habitats which we will use next Monday in Science.  We have continued with place value work in maths, and the children are becoming very confident at partitioning numbers and explaining their thinking when problem solving.  We are still immersed in 'Tom and the Island of Dinosaurs', and will be editing some of our written work later in the week.  There are a couple of homework tasks to be handed in next Monday (24th), so please remember to check Google Classroom for the details.

Friday 14th May

We've had another great few days in Owl Class! The children have loved reading 'Tom and the Island of Dinosaurs'. They came up with some amazing adjectives while playing with the dinosaur small world and watching a volcanic eruption. They used these to describe what they might see, hear, feel, taste and smell if they were on the island. Next week they will be imagining they are Tom and writing about their adventures.

In Topic the children learnt about the life and discoveries of the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. They made their own fossils using salt dough which hopefully made it safely home to you today! Sadly it is not possible to visit a museum or have anyone visit us in school, however we were very lucky to have our own budding paleontologist share her fossil collection with us. The children were really enthusiastic to see the different fossils and were so respectful and polite when handling them. 

Finally, we think we may have heard some movement from the box housing the suspected dinosaur egg and are hoping it may hatch soon!

Next week's tricky words: ask, again, water

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'ea' & 'er'

Wednesday 12th May

A very busy week so far.  The children have been developing their learning of place value within the 100 range in maths, and have been working extremely hard.  They have grown their brains in lots of ways, explaining their thoughts and drawing different diagrams to represent various numbers.  Their mathematical language is very impressive.  

In English we started a text called 'Tom and the Island of Dinosaurs'.  It's a lovely book, and has captured the interest of everyone!  The children took part in role play this morning, playing two of the main characters, who were being interviewed.  They most certainly got into character!

We are growing three sunflowers and the children named them on Monday.  Their names are very creative.....Sunny, Rosie and Hotshot!!  We will be looking to see which sunflower grows the tallest over time!

Friday 7th May

Another week has flown by in Owl Class! The children are loving our dinosaur topic and have written some fantastic poems. They particularly enjoyed creating their own dinosaur raps yesterday and today. They'll continue to practise these over the next few weeks and even include some instrumental backing!

Next week's tricky words: Mr, Mrs, Miss

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'ow' & 'ie'

Friday 30th April

What a busy but productive few days we've had in Owl Class! In English the children used their research from earlier in the week to create their own information posters. Their posters needed to include a title, introduction, picture, caption, labels and facts. Such a lot to remember but they all did amazingly and we are really proud of all the children. They make a lovely new display in our classroom!

In Maths, we have continued our work on arrays. The children have been discussing and solving problems using their learning from earlier in the week. There have been some great explanations and many 'slinky linky snakes' in the class. 

Next week's tricky words: please, work, mouse

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'o' & 'u'

Wednesday 28th April

It's been a whirlwind of a week so far.  We have been researching dinosaurs in English, and finding out lots of interesting facts.  We will be continuing with this work for the rest of the week, and no doubt find out lots more!  In maths we have been building and drawing arrays.  We have also been using our knowledge of arrays to solve problems and explain our thoughts which has been challenging as well as fun!  In science we are looking at the seasons.  We have been discussing the number of hours of daylight as well as the temperature.  I have put some more information about this on our class stream.  We have enjoyed exploring outside this week too.  Here are some photos of our week so far...   

Friday 23rd April

What an exciting week we've had back at school!

Did you hear we found what we think is a dinosaur egg in the Year 1 outdoor area? After lots of discussion we decided to bring it in so predators don't get to it. We used non-fiction books to research the best way to look after it and it's now safely tucked in a box with leaves, twigs and a blanket to keep it warm. Some of us were a little concerned about leaving it over the weekend and decided the best thing was for Mrs Banks to take it to Mrs Taaffe's house to look after it. BUT Mrs Taaffe hasn't been in our lessons to know how to look after it, so we wrote some amazing instructions for her! Have a look at some of them below. 

This afternoon we created dinosaur skeletons out of art straws, making comparisons to the human skeleton. They look amazing displayed in the classroom!

Thank you so much for the items you have kindly purchased from our Amazon wish list, we really do appreciate it. They will be so useful for this half term's 'Dinosaur Discovery' topic!

Next week's tricky words: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Next week's phonics: alternative pronunciation 'i' & 'e'

Wednesday 21st April 2021

It's been a great first week back so far after the Easter holidays.  The children have all come back refreshed and raring to go!  We are looking at multiplication in maths, sharing into equal groups, representing equal groups and repeated addition.  They have worked very hard and concentrated so well.  In English we are working on the text called 'How to wash a woolly mammoth', it's very funny and the children love it.  We are learning more about giving and following instructions, so we will continue with this work.  The children have loved working and playing outside.  We are so fortunate with our surroundings at Jordans school, and the weather is so lovely we have been taking every opportunity to work outside!

Wednesday 31st March

It's been an exciting week in school!  We have talked about the meaning of Easter and the significance of the egg.  Of course the children loved telling each other what their favourite chocolate egg is, but they also have learnt that the egg is the symbol of new life.  Today the children went on a 'chick hunt' in our Bluebell woods.  They were beyond excited and went off to search for their individual chick they had made.  They were very good at supporting and helping each other, and were 'persevering parrots' if they didn't manage to find theirs easily!  We are so proud of them all.  Here are a few photos...

Friday 26th March

Another few days have flown by! The children have really impressed us with their Spring poems in English lessons. They worked with a partner, using the ideas generated earlier in the week, to write their own poem similar to the given example. We are really proud of what they have achieved and hope you enjoy the ones attached below.

In Maths, we have been putting all the learning from earlier in the week together and have continued to use language related to direction and position. We have also been using this is PE and Topic lessons! 

In Topic, we continued with our travels within the United Kingdom and learnt that each of the four countries have their own flag which together make the Union Jack.

Next week's tricky words: out, laugh, laughed

Next week's phonics: alternative spelling /ear/

Wednesday 24th March

It's been such a bright sunny week, the children have had a spring in their step!  We have been learning about position and direction in maths this week.  The children have been describing a route to get from one position to another using language such as up, down, forwards, backwards, right and left.  They have also been following instructions to get to the 'end' square on a grid we drew with chalk.  In addition to this they have been describing the position of objects in relation to each other, as well as practising making a whole turn, half turn and three-quarter turn.  We added in another step to this and they were asked to turn to the right or left...there was definitely lots of 'brain growing' happening!  

In English we started to look at a Spring poem, and we brainstormed ideas about Spring.  They created some wonderful picture boards using their ideas and illustrated it with beautiful pictures.  They will use this work for the rest of the week to help them with their poetry.

We hope you have seen the posts on Google Classroom over the last couple of days.  It's a great way of communicating about some things that have been done during the day.

Friday 19th March

What a great few days we have had! We have continued with estimating and measuring the capacity of containers using sand and water in our outdoor area; written some great sentences to describe the gingerbread men we designed earlier in the week and learnt about the four countries which make up the UK. We also enjoyed a fun PE lesson and lots of outdoor play in the sun today!

The children really have settled back amazingly and we certainly have a class full of little superstars!

Next week's tricky words: what, call, called

Next week's phonics: alternative spelling /air/

Wednesday 17th March

The second week back has been just as 'jam packed' as last week.  The children are now used to sitting in rows, (they adapt to change better than some of us adults do)! We decided to mix it up a little today, and everyone changed their seat.  They were very excited about this and it means they can spend some time getting to know someone else in the class a bit better.  We will continue to do this regularly so it keeps things fresh and interesting.  In maths we have been learning about capacity and volume.  The children have learnt the difference between the capacity of a container and it's volume, which can be quite tricky to remember!  In English we have been learning about The Gingerbread Man story and will continue to do so this week.  There has been lots of exploring, inside and outside as the weather has been on the whole kind to us this week.  We played a whole class game of 'Bingo' too where each child marked six bingo cards at the same time.  The children were so focused and the atmosphere towards the end was electric as everyone was willing their number to pop out of the machine!  

Friday 12th March

It's been great to have all of Owl Class back together this week! Their smiley faces walking through the playground yesterday morning was so lovely to see and they have continued to smile since. 

There's been lots of fun times both inside and outside the classroom. Hopefully there'll be lots of children laying in tomorrow morning!

Here's a few photos of the last few days for you to enjoy...

Wednesday 10th March 2021

It's been amazing to see the children return to school this week.  They have all grown so much!  They have come back all excited and are loving playing with their friends and exploring the new classroom layout.  The week so far has been a mixture of lessons, wellbeing activities and play, which has been a joy to watch!  In maths we have continued with our learning of length.  The children have practised measuring objects using a ruler and measured in centimetres.  They have also drawn lines of a certain length, and shapes too.  They concentrated so hard and we are very proud of them all.  In English we have continued with Traditional tales, and we scored top marks in a Traditional Tales quiz too! It's been a busy week so far, and no doubt will continue to be just as busy!  

Thursday 17th December

What a great last day of term we have had in Owl Class! This morning, the children used their threading skills to create lovely Christmas trees. They were definitely concentrating crocodiles and persevering parrots during this activity! This afternoon, the children made melting snowman biscuits and enjoyed eating them whilst chatting with their friends. Mrs Banks and Mrs Sambucci couldn't resist making them too! They were delicious! Have a look at the photos below.

We can't believe we've reached the end of the first term in Year 1, it has flown by! The children have adapted so well to all the new routines and we are so proud of everything they have achieved so far. Every day they show so much enthusiasm and enjoyment towards their learning. Thank you to all the parents for your continued support and for the items you have purchased from the Amazon wish list! We are very much looking forward to the Spring Term and starting our 'Wonderful World' topic where we will be travelling to each continent throughout the term. As we know, there are children and their families who have lived at times in other countries. If you have any photos or anything you can share with us as a class, then please drop us an email to the Owl Class email address. 

Finally, thank you all so much for your generous and thoughtful gifts. They are very much appreciated by the Owl Class team. We hope you all have a lovely Christmas and we look forward to seeing you in 2021!

Wednesday 16th December

Christmas week has been amazing.  The children have had lots of fun and really shown their creative talents in many ways.  Each winter scene in a shoebox was very individual and every child took so much pride in making it.  They loved talking about it and showing their friends.  The snow globes were a great success too, and the children were excited to shake them to watch the snow falling inside!  Amongst everything else, we played party games and recorded our Christmas song, so we hope you all enjoy it, and all children will no doubt sing it to you when it comes on the radio!

Here are a few picture of this week so far...

Friday 11th December

It's not often you are invited to a medieval banquet, hosted by the King! The children had a great time learning about foods eaten during Medieval times and comparing to the foods we eat today. They were treated to entertainment by jesters, musicians and dancers. They even had a go at jousting! 

Wednesday 9th December

We have continued with our learning about instructions this week in English, and the children have produced some amazing work so far.  They are beginning each instruction with an adverb of time, (first, next, then, after that or finally, and using an imperative verb in each sentence.  We are very proud of them!

In maths we have been learning about mass and weight, and they have used their homework in lessons too.  They took great pride in sharing their work with each other and it really helped them to 'kickstart' the topic this week.  Thank you for your support with this.

We are preparing for Christmas week, and are really excited and looking forward to a week of celebrations and crafts!  Thank you for your generous contributions.

Friday 4th December

What a busy few days we've had!

In English, we have been identifying the features of instruction texts and in Topic we have followed instructions to make our own shields! We came up with our own individual designs last week and we think we've done a fantastic job with our finished products! Have a look at the gallery below. 

Next week's common exception words: come, some

Next week we are revisiting the following sounds: a_e, e_e, i_e, o_e, u_e

Wednesday 2nd December

So far this week in maths the children have been comparing teen numbers using dienes.  We have explored how many tens in a teen number and how many ones, and compared them to establish which is larger or smaller and by how many.  They have also used this knowledge to solve missing number patterns.

In English we are discussing and writing instructions.  The children have been identifying the imperative verb, (otherwise known as the 'bossy' verb), in sentences, and using them in their writing.  

We are exploring in more detail the change of seasons. Tuesday was the start of winter, so the children were busy trying to finish off making their Autumn collage.  They are really enjoying being creative and collaborating in small groups sharing their ideas of what to include and draw.

One of the children spotted a beautiful butterfly in school, which is unusual to see butterflies at this time of year.  We put it in a safe place to hopefully fly off!

Friday 27th November

We've made it to the end of another week and what a great week it's been! The children have impressed us so much with their writing, retelling the story of 'The Dragon and the Knight'. They remembered to use story language from the book and added in adjectives to make their writing even more interesting. That's all on top of remembering to use finger spaces, capital letters and full stops! They have all made so much progress since the start of Year 1.

We've also learnt about Heraldry and have designed our own shields thinking about which colours, patterns and symbols best represent us. We are looking forward to using our designs to make shields next week!

Next week's common exception words: there, where

Next week's sounds: oy & ey

Wednesday 25th November

A highly productive week so far, and an exciting pantomime to liven things up even more!  The children loved the Wizard of Oz and we engrossed in the performance for the whole time, joining in with the actions and mood of the scenes!  

The children conducted a science investigation to explore which material was most suitable to make a castle roof.  They carried out a fair test observing the properties of plastic, cardboard and a tile when they were soaked with water.  All three materials prevented the water from dripping inside the castle but the children observed how the materials had changed when they were wet.  They concluded that the tile was the most suitable material.

The children's Diwali lanterns were very well made.  They were colourful and they took great pride in making them.  We are very proud of their efforts and have enjoyed learning and celebrating Diwali.

Here are a few photos of the week so far...

Friday 20th November

What a busy week! We've loved reading the book 'The Knight and the Dragon'. We've shared our knowledge of knights and dragons, used role play to explore the character's feelings and written sentences to describe what happened at various points in the story. We also helped Mrs Banks grown her brain to draw a story map! Next week we'll be writing sentences to re-tell the story, so make sure you ask us over the weekend to re-tell it to you. They could use the story map below to help. 

In Topic yesterday, we learnt about the life of William the Conqueror and his role in the building of castles. We read the book 'Will's Dream' and acted it out as a class. Have a look at the pictures below! Some children asked to share this book at home so please look in the 'resources' section above to find a PDF copy of the text.

The children have been busy during continuous provision practising their phonics & tricky words, extending their learning of shape, completing tasks to help their fine motor skills and using up energy completing Mrs Banks' exercise challenge! They also enjoyed recreating famous London landmarks using various resources, including left over flooring & ends of skirting board and architrave! If anyone ever finds they have such materials we are always happy to receive them! 

Next week's common exception words: by, my, here, love

Next week's sounds: ir & ou

Wednesday 18th November

Another super start to the week.  The children have shared their maths shape homework with each other and we explored more about 3D and 2D shapes this week.  We grouped shapes and talked about the difference between 3D and 2D shapes.  They loved going on a shape walk around school too!  

In English we are reading The Knight and Dragon.  It's been lovely to hear their predictions as to who may have won the fight and why.  They enjoyed playing the role of either the knight, dragon or reporter which helped them identify how the characters may have been feeling at various points in the book.

We are in the process of making paper lanterns as we have learnt about Diwali.  They will bring these home next week as they are engrossed in making them very colourful!

There was lots of excitement in our outdoor area today when they discovered that some knights and their horses were trapped inside some balls of ice.  Their challenge was to free them from the ice without damaging them.  They had to think about what implements were best to get them out and use them safely.  After a while they were delighted when their efforts paid off!

**A maths newsletter has been added into the icon 'Maths Newsletters'**

**Maths homework has been set on weight and mass.  The hand in date is Wednesday 2nd December**

Here is the week in pictures so far... 

Friday 13th November

What a busy few days in Owl class!

Yesterday we used all the ideas we gathered earlier in the week to create a class acrostic poem about castles. We are very proud poets! We've learnt how castles have changed over time and have applied our subtraction/addition knowledge to solve and explain a variety of problems.

Again it has been lovely to see the children choosing to write during continuous provision. Please keep practising writing the Year 1 common exception words at home, as this really helps their confidence when writing in class. A 'spelling activities' resource has been added to the Phonics/Spelling section at the top of the page. These are some alternative ways the children can practise the common exception words each week.  

Next week's common exception words: no, so, go

Next week's sounds: aw & au

Wednesday 11th November

This week is flying by!  The children were extremely interested when learning about Remembrance Day and they created some amazing poppies.  They took such pride in making them and I'm sure you'll agree they look fabulous.  In class today we live streamed the Remembrance Day service held in Westminster Abbey shown by the BBC.  The children watched the events a few minutes before we observed the two minute silence. 

We have been consolidating our learning of addition and subtraction in maths this week.  The children have revisited some concepts to build on their prior knowledge and have been finding addition and subtraction number fact families.  A useful website to practise this  is https://www.topmarks.co.uk/number-facts/number-fact-families .

In science we have continued learning about materials and their properties.  The children enjoyed sorting various objects into groups according to their different properties, and we had some great discussions about why objects were placed in a certain place.  

In English we have been looking at poetry.  We have investigated rhyme and started to create a word bank of nouns on the theme of castles in preparation for writing our own poem.  We have also started handwriting practise with the lead-in.  The children have learnt how to form the letters 'l' and 't' so far.  We use a handwriting scheme which has specific paper to practise all of the letters.  The sheets for these two letters are in the resources section, so please feel free to practise at home.

Here are some photos of the week so far...

Friday 6th November

What a great first week back we've had in Owl Class! We started our 'Curious about Castles' topic by sharing what we already know and questions we have. We loved playing with the model castles and learning the names and purpose of the main parts. 

The children have created some amazing firework art, performed dance shows to their friends, written stories in mini jotters and enjoyed playing in the post office role play area. It's great to see the children choosing to write independently during continuous provision and that they are so keen to read their writing aloud to the class. 

Next week's common exception words: he, me, she, we, be

Next week's sounds: wh & ph

Wednesday 4th November

What a great start to the new half term.  The children came back with a smile and settled straight back into their learning.  They are very familiar with the school routines now, and were looking forward to having hot lunches back.  They were excited to sit in the hall again, chatting and enjoying their meal within their class bubble. 

This week in maths, we have been looking at various methods of subtraction, including removing objects, crossing out, counting back using a number line, as well as the part-whole model.  The children have practised and applied all of these methods successfully to solve subtraction number sentences and word problems.  Some children wrote their own word problem and solved it showing a variety of these methods.  We are very proud of them all!

In science we have been looking at what objects are made from.  The children selected various objects from around the classroom and we discussed if they were made from wood, plastic, fabric, metal, glass or rock.  We talked about how we knew what it was made from and what to look for when identifying this.  It would be beneficial if you could also talk about some objects at home and perhaps group them according to what they are made from.

In English we have been exploring what the children already know about castles, and what would they like to find out.  We will use their ideas as a basis for this topic this half term.  They have been very excited to explore the model castles we have in our classroom, and it's been great listening into their imaginative play!

We learnt more about The Gunpowder Plot this week.  The children were shocked to find out that Guy Fawkes paid for his crimes in such a severe way.  They could all retell the story and enjoyed sequencing pictures to retell it.  We discussed the importance of keeping ourselves and our pets safe during fireworks evenings, but also recognised that this year it won't be possible to go to an organised fireworks display.

Look out for our further update at the end of the week.

Harvest Festival 2020

Click the link below to enjoy our Jordans School Harvest Festival:

Friday 23rd October 

We've had another fantastic week in Owl Class! The children have shown so much enthusiasm during our Space topic over the past three weeks. It's been lovely seeing the photos of them extending their learning and home and sharing this with their peers. Hopefully your children have already told you they have passed their astronaut training and the ESA will keep them in mind for the future! The training tasks included: researching planets & creating a fact book, carrying out a scientific investigation, exploring what it would be like to go into Space including tasting space food, attempting to write upside down and moon walking on giant sponges! We also had to complete a fitness test, design and make moon buggies, design a rocket using 2D shapes and write about a recent mission.  Sounds exhausting doesn't it! We've had lots of fun and learnt so much in the process! Have a look at the slideshow of photos below.

Today we learnt about the journey of the banana and really enjoyed making and eating banana owls this afternoon. I'm sure the children would love to show you how to do this at home. It will also really help them practise spreading and cutting, which some found a little tricky. 

Finally we would like to say how proud we are of all the children in Owl Class. They have settled into the new routines so well, shown kindness and courage and grown their brains every day! Thank you for your support this half term. We are very much looking forward to seeing the children back in school next half term for our 'Curious about Castles' topic! Have a good break. 

Wednesday 21st October

It's been a busy final week of the end of half term.  The children have been tasting space food during their English lessons, as well as tasting food in Science lessons to determine if it tasted salty, sweet, bitter or sour.  They have been completing tasks all week as part of their astronaut training and having lots of fun experiencing what it may be like to be in space!  

In maths we have been adding numbers.  The children have used part-whole frames and number lines to solve word problems where they have had to identify if the question is asking them to find a 'part' or the 'whole'.  They have worked very hard at this and in some cases the end product was to record their findings in the form of a number sentence.  Throughout the lessons there was some great use of mathematical language and the discussion between the children was a delight to listen to.  

The children enjoyed the spider web activity we set out for them in our library area.  They had to use tweezers to collect various objects and add them together.  They made up their own games involving adding and counting, and some of the rules they made up were very interesting indeed!

The weather was unkind to us to day, but the children played an exercise game inside, where they had to choose from two objects on the screen and stand to that side of the tape that was on the floor.  An exercise was then shown and they had to follow the person on screen completing that exercise.  They didn't want it to finish but unfortunately we had to get back to lesson time.  

We watched a video/song about the planets this afternoon that was kindly sent in to us.  We wanted to share it with you so you can watch it at home too if you would like to.  Here is the link...

https://youtu.be/BLviNdpQh8U

Here is a collection of photos of this week so far...

**Please note:

Maths homework has been added to the icon at the top of our page.

A new document has been added to the phonics icon at the top of our page.

The maths newsletter has been reloaded in PDF format as some parents could not open Publisher.

Friday 16th October

Owl class had some great news on Monday morning...our applications to train to be future astronauts were successful and all of us were invited to commence astronaut training straightaway! The first two tasks included: researching planets & creating a fact book and carrying out a scientific investigation. We're looking forward to next week's tasks already!  

Next week's common exception words: were, was, is

Next week's sounds: ew & u_e

Wednesday 14th October

The children have had an amazing week so far.  They have been exploring how to make number bonds in maths, as well as working systematically to find all possible number bond combinations for a particular number.  They recorded their findings systematically too so perhaps ask them to show you how they did it!  Here are some photos of the children in action...

Over the past couple of days the children have been explaining how their space hoover works.  They were all courageous and presented their finished design at the front of the class.  They gave a detailed explanation of how it catches space junk, and what each part of the hoover was used for.  Here are their fantastic creations.  We are so proud of them all.

Monday 12th October

The children have had a very exciting afternoon making their space hoovers.  They were all discussing their design with each other as they were making it, and explaining how it worked!  The discussion was amazing to listen to, and their enthusiasm was a delight to see.  Tomorrow the children will have the opportunity to demonstrate how they work and talk us through why they chose their specific design.  Thank you for supporting us with this project.  Here are some photos of the children at work...

Friday 9th October

It's been an exceptionally busy week in Owl Class.  The children have been concentrating so hard and have grown their brains in lots of different areas! 

In English we have been reading the book 'The Darkest Dark'.  The children have been predicting what happens in the story, thought about how the astronaut, Chris, felt in certain parts of the book.  They have been writing sentences to explain these feelings. 

Yesterday we came across an advert from the European Space Agency, who are looking to recruit future astronauts. Having read the qualities which are needed to be an astronaut, we decided to apply! We're hoping to hear back from the ESA soon to see if we have been successful with our applications! Finger crossed! 

We will be continuing with the topic of Space for the next two weeks. If the children have a book related to the topic they may bring this in to show the class. The children have said they are keen to build rockets and space stations at home! If they do, please take a photo and email it our class email so we can share it with the children. We love to see them extending their learning at home. 

Next week's common exception words: his, has, I

Next week's sounds: oe & o_e