This week we have had a great start to the Summer term. We have been exploring our outdoor learning environment, which is currently being updated and improved. We worked together to create an obstacle course, and talked about keeping ourselves safe, managing risks and solving problems.
We also started our new topic ‘Animal Safari’, and did some animal themed yoga in PE.
We have been exploring ways to join materials and make our structures sturdy and strong. We planned and made some models using recyclable materials, and tested them to make sure they didn’t break or fall over.
It was quite a challenge but we didn’t give up! We worked together to help each other out, shared resources and then displayed our creations for others to see.
Today we did lots of activities for World Maths Day. In English we looked at some counting and number stories, then made our own number books.
In Maths, we explored money and set up a class shop, writing our own price tags and then buying things with real money.
In Art we found out about the artist Paul Klee, who created abstract art using colour and shape. We then made our own ‘Castle and Sun’ art work.
We also played the game ‘Toyshop Money’ on TopMarks Maths on the iPads. We had a great day and really enjoyed linking maths to all areas of the curriculum.
Counting Books
Paul Klee ‘Castle and Sun’ art
Writing price tags for our class shop
This week we have been carrying out scientific jobs in class as part of science week. We explored ‘connections’ by matching animal faces to make sure they made a complete face, and we made our own butter!
We investigated how the liquid cream changes into solid butter by being shaken in a jar. It was amazing as we watched and heard the cream turning into a solid!
After we made the butter we all tasted it on some bread, and agreed that it was yummy!
This half term Hollies and Acorns are looking at the topic Maze Explorers. They have used a variety of technology to create algorithms including the BeeBots, Purple Mash and the iPads. This week they helped design a simple track and tried using the arrows to explore which direction the BeeBots needed to go. They also completed a number of Maze Explorer tasks using Purple Mash. We found the second maze a little tricky but we got there in the end!
This week in Acorns we have been thinking about our new topic – Ready, Steady, Grow.
We will be learning about where our food comes from, finding out about farms, exploring plants and animals and how they grow and change, and hopefully doing some food preparation and tasting!
‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ by Vivian French.
We explored some of the vegetables in the story using touch, sight, smell and taste.
Where does food come from?
We look forward to finding out answers to our questions and learning lots of new things!
Book Swap
Exploring insects and matching to the small world minibeasts. We looked closely using magnifying glasses, and counted how many legs each creature had. We also looked at how they were similar to or different from each other.
Year 1 retold some Bible stories in RE. We read the story about Jesus feeding the five thousand, and then discussed why Jesus is so important to Christians.
Investigating length in Maths. We found objects that were short, long and of equal length, making sure we used the correct mathematical vocabulary when talking about what we had done.
Our ‘Long Ago’ topic timeline, showing how toys have changed from the 1970’s to now. Our grown-ups from home and adults in school sent in pictures and information about their favourite toys when they were children.
In Acorns we read ‘The Invisible String’, and thought about the ways that we are connected to people we love, even if we can’t always see them.
We drew ourselves, and the people we are connected to by ‘invisible strings’.
We have been finding out how to stay safe online. We read the story ‘Hanni and the Magic Window’ and discussed what we could do if we saw something online or elsewhere that made us feel upset or worried. Then we drew things that we would like to see if we had our own magic window.
In English we read the story ‘Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge’ by Mem Fox. This is a lovely story about a little boy who helps an elderly lady to find her lost memories. We then shared some of our own favourite memories with the class.
Our grown ups have been helping us with our topic work. We gave them a task of telling us about their favourite toys when they were children. We are going to put this information onto a timeline to show how toys have changed over time.
