YEAR 1
In English we have been reading a story called How to Catch a Star about a boy who wants his very own star. We have answered questions about the story and thought about how we would catch a star. Many of us suggested flying up to the stars in a rocket or plane to take one or even climbing a very high tower and trying to reach a star from that. We have been practicing our sentence writing skills again by writing what happens in the story. We have particularly focused on using full stops to make new sentences and to use words such as ‘and’ and ‘but’ to join sentences together.
In Maths, we have been making amounts using coins and adding coins together to make a total. Finally we did some revision of areas we have covered in Maths over the last few weeks.
In Science we have been investigating the terms ‘waterproof’ and ‘absorbent’ by trying to find out which would be the best material to make an umbrella from. From our investigation we decided plastic would be good as it is strong and waterproof. We have also looked at materials that are flexible or stretchy. We tested objects such as socks, rubber bands, straws, paper and plasticine to see if they were flexible, stretchy or both.
In Topic we have looked at the Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans. We were interested to know that many ships have sunk into the Atlantic Ocean and that the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean.
YEAR 2
So, this week we have delved deeper into our new units and finished off any outstanding English assessments. In short, it’s been very productive! Obviously, it was also great to chat to parents and relay all of the amazing work and progress Year 2 have made since September.
In Science, we recounted our findings (including other examples) from our visit to the local park by looking at various garden and wild flowers, as well as a plethora of trees. We labelled flowers and trees; in addition, we recorded our seed germination hypotheses.
In Topic, we looked at the four seasons and the months that occupy them. In particular, we discussed how the seasons can be identified by weather, clothing, travel and even colour. We also spent the week recording the weather using a record sheet and using the relevant symbols. The children recorded the weather for three different times of the day.
In English, aside from assessments, we focused on learning about exclamation marks, full stops and question marks. Some also tackled comprehension activities on the life cycles of bean plants and all delved deeply into the tricky exception words of the Year 2 syllabus. In Maths, we tackled 2-digit subtractions and the use of number lines; they are a great tool for counting up to find the answers. One child even managed 5 digit subtractions using this method.
Finally, in ICT we trialed the new Minecraft Education package, which allowed our children to learn coding and build their own immersive worlds. The children were able to dip in and out of each other’s worlds!
Well done, again!
ART
Book Week is a great event for children to celebrate their love of reading, characters and authors. With Year 1 this week we were Reading Dr. Seuss’s “The Cat in the Hat”. After reading the book children created their own illustration of the famous cat.
MUSIC
Years 1 and 2 have practiced the accompaniment for the ‘Slippery fish’ song. They can play the melody on the piano and xylophone confidently. The students like to play on the instruments in unison and especially individually.
