Have a look at what we’ve been learning…
Jubilee Acrostic Poetry
In Year 1, we wrote acrostic poems about the Platinum Jubilee. Click the following link for some examples of the children’s work:
Fruit Salad
In Design and Technology, this half term Year 1 children have been looking closely at fruits, the countries that they are grown in and how they are grown. They have sorted fruits and vegetables and designed their own yummy fruit salad. They then had the chance to cut the fruits and make their own fruit salad before tasting it.
Wild Flower Walk
In Science, we are learning about plants. We went on a walk round the village to see what wild plants we could find in our local area. We found buttercups, daisies, bluebells, cow parsley, wild garlic, clover and crane’s bill, as well as many others. The children enjoyed looking at the different colours and shapes of the flowers they found.
We also called in to the flower festival at the local church to view the beautiful flower arrangements. The children particularly liked the river display and the Weardale railway display.
The children were so well behaved during their walk, that they were allowed a short playtime in Wolsingham Park.
Measuring Maths
This week in Maths, Year 1 have been measuring the weight or mass of objects. We started by using balance scales to compare the mass of two objects to see whether objects were lighter or heavier than each other.
Then we moved on to measuring the mass of objects using cubes are the unit of measurement. The children placed an object in one bucket of the balance scales, then placed cubes in the other bucket until the two buckets were level and balanced. The children counted how many cubes were needed to balance each item. They worked well in groups, taking turns and listening to each other.
Measuring Mass Investigation
The children finished their week of measuring mass by measuring the weight of objects in grams. They put the object in one bucket of the balancing scale and then used 5g, 10g, and 20g weights in the other side until the buckets were balanced. They needed to add the 20g, 10g and 5g weights together to find the total mass so it was good use of their adding skills too.
Music
Year 1 had great fun playing the tuned percussion instruments in Music this week. They used xylophones, glockenspiels, chime bars and boom whackers to play the notes C and D to accompany a piece of music. They enjoyed experimenting with the instruments and getting them to make different sounds.
Making Pizzas
The Year 1 children each made a pizza and have written instructions to tell someone else how to make one. They included a list of what you need at the start and then tried to use ‘bossy verbs’ at the start of each instruction. Here are some examples of their work.
RJ instructions
HN instructions
RC instructions
Growing Sunflowers update
When we checked our sunflower seeds, we were excited to see that some children have shoots poking through the soil already. The seed case was hanging on to the shoot in some cases. Hopefully in the next few days, the rest of the class will see a shoot appearing too.
Jam Sandwiches
Year 1 children made jam sandwiches. They got two slices of spread. They spread butter and jam on the bread. Then, they put the bits of bread together and cut them in half. Finally, they got to eat them up. Then, the children wrote instructions to tell someone else how to make a jam sandwich. They tried really hard to set their work out correctly and to include some ‘bossy’ verbs. Have a read of some of their work below:
BA jam sandwich instructions
RC jam sandwich instructions
RJ jam sandwich instructions
ZB jam sandwich instructions
Sunflower Seeds
In English we are learning about instruction texts. Today we read some instructions on how to grow a sunflower. We followed the instructions and planted sunflower seeds. We are excited to watch them grow over the next few weeks.
History Walk
Year 1 have started a new History unit called “How have houses changed in my local area?” We went for a walk around the village to look at the different houses. We found some old houses with dates above their door.
We stood at different places in the village and looked at what we could see, compared to some old photographs of the same place.
Easter Egg Competition
The Year 1 children had lots of fun decorating eggs for the Easter competition. There was lots of excellent drawing, cutting and sticking going on, as well as plenty of sequins and glitter. Well done to all the children for their fantastic creations.
Spring Poetry
In English this week, we have been working on poetry. We looked at some examples of spring poems and then the children wrote their own poems about spring. Here are some examples of their work.
RC spring poem
CC spring poem
CS spring poem
DG spring poem
MA spring poem
MS spring poem
Adam Bushnell Visit
The Year 1 children had a fantastic morning working with the author Adam Bushnell. They created a troll family, thought about what naughty things the trolls might do at school and made troll traps from sticks and rocks.
The children will use these ideas to write a story later this week.
They were also excited to meet Adam’s pet tortoise and asked lots of interesting questions.
Panda Morfo Booth
In Year 1, we have been learning lots of facts about pandas. The children wrote sentences and then recorded them using Morfo Booth. You can watch the panda Morfos they have produced by clicking here.
Red Nose Day
We enjoyed dressing up as superheroes for Comic Relief this year. We also enjoyed participating in all of the games that the School Council helped run.
Division
This week in maths, the Year 1 children have been introduced to the concept of division as sharing. They learnt that 9÷3 means 9 objects shared into 3 equal groups. The children chose a division calculation and counted how many objects they needed. Then they shared them into equal groups.
Big Bad Wolf Morfos
The children wrote a letter of apology from the Big Bad Wolf to say sorry for all the horrible things he did in the story. The children then used the Morfo Booth App to make a Morfo of the Big Bad Wolf and recorded themselves reading the letters. Click here to see their videos.
Three Little Pigs
This week in English, Year 1 have been doing work on the traditional tale ‘The Three Little Pigs’. It is a story they know very well so they retold the story in their own words. They used Puppet Pals to make a puppet show of the story and included lots of story-telling language. Click here to see their videos.
Weaving
In Art this half term, Year 1 are learning all about the concept of weaving. This afternoon they went outside, and practised weaving paper and bin liners through looms. They practised the technique of over, under and really enjoyed admiring their finished product.
Place Value
This week, Year 1 have been doing lots of work relating to number and place value. The children are getting very confident working with 2-digit numbers and are beginning to explore place value in 3-digit numbers.
On Friday, we were ordering numbers from least to most or most to least. The children had to choose 3 or 4 numbers and put them in order. This is a simple activity that you could try at home with them.
World Book Day
It has been lovely to celebrate World Book Day this year. A huge thank you to all those costumes that have been made and the effort that the parents and children have gone to to create their outfits!
Same but different
We played a game where if you like or have the thing which the teacher says aloud then you stand up and change places with someone else who has stood up.
Mrs Crowe read out;
If you like the colour blue, like football, playing on Numbots, like the colour pink, like to ride your bike, you can do a forward roll, if you like pizza.
Lots of children moved places, some more than others. We talked about how it is okay to like different things.
“We can like anything we want,” said Willow.
Batman Investigation
Year 1 received an exciting letter and package this week. It was from Batman and he needed their help. He asked them to investigate which materials were good at blocking out light as he needed some new curtains for his bat cave.
The children worked in groups to test the different materials and to see if they were opaque or transparent. They then wrote letters to Batman to tell him which materials he should use.
Visit to the Locomotion Museum
Year 1 had a fantastic time when they visited Locomotion railway museum. In history they are learning about the development of the railways. They enjoyed looking at the different engines and carriages. They were fascinated by the royal train and how luxurious it was. They learnt lots of interesting facts about steam trains and how they work, which will help them with their history work in school over the next few weeks.
Letters to Santa
The Year 1 children wrote letters to Santa. They asked Santa some questions, told him what they wanted and explained why they should be on the good list. The children also made a special wish for people who aren’t as lucky as they are. They used the Spark Video app on the iPads to perform and record their work. We hope you enjoy watching the videos.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Earlier this term, Year 1 read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They used the Puppet Pals app on the iPads to retell the story in their own words. You can watch their videos here.
Halloween Fun
Key Stage 1 made the most of the last day of term on Thursday by having lots of spooky fun. All dressed up in their best costumes they spent the morning doing spooky quizzes, making bat biscuits and solving Halloween puzzles. Then, on the afternoon, it was great to be able to party the afternoon away playing all their favourite party games and having a good dance.
Autumn Walk
Year 1 had a lovely time on their autumn walk this week. They found lots of colourful leaves, berries and conkers. It was great fun squelching through the muddy puddles.
Weardale Outdoor Adventure Centre
The Year 1 children had an amazing time during their visit to Weardale House Outdoor Adventure Centre. They completed a scavenger hunt, did some nature art, built bug hotels, tackled obstacle courses and whizzed down zip lines. They ended the day by sitting round a camp fire singing songs and drinking hot chocolate. Here are some photos to show all the fun they had.
Outdoor Maths
Year 1 have been learning to use the words “is more than” and “is less than” to compare two amounts. They chose 2 numbers and used the plastic bricks to build towers for each amount. Then they chose the correct phrase to compare the two amounts. Well done Year 1, you enjoyed doing your maths work outdoors
I wish I had a monster
The Year 1 children have been very busy in their English lessons over the last two weeks. We read a story called ‘I wish I had a monster’ and we talked a lot about the describing words the author had used.
The children then painted their own monsters and wrote some fantastic sentences to describe them. Next they used green screen technology to perform some of their sentences in front of an image of their monster.
Well done Year 1. You used some fantastic describing words and had lots of great ideas. You can watch our videos here.
