Spring 2

Date: 20th Feb 2016 @ 7:43pm

Hello, I hope you are all enjoying the half term holidays and that you are looking forward to an exciting half term. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your adventures. I hope you have had time to use your story sacks. Don't forget to return them on Friday and take out another one.

This half term are topic will be 'Pirates and Princesses'. We will be transforming ourselves into our fearsome, swashbuckling pirates and beautiful, elegant princesses. To kick start our topic we will be having a pirates and princess day on Thursday. Please come to school dressed as either a pirate or a princess.

In Year 1 we will be writing instruction texts for the first 2 weeks based on how to be a pirate/princess. We will then be writing stories based on Michael Rosen's book 'We're going on a bear hunt.' We will be changing it into 'We're going on a pirate/princess hunt.' We are going to be setting the children a spelling challenge. Can they spell the days of the week? Can they spell all the numbers to 20 in words? Please could you help them to learn these at home. In maths we will be continuing to problem solve using numbers to 100, we will be learning the properties of 2D and 3D shapes and we will be introducing factions for the first time. Why not go on Mathletics and try some activities linked to our maths units. As scientists we will be continuing to learn all about different materials. We will use our knowledge of materials in our art work when we look at how to use materials for weaving. We will use our weavings to create pictures linked to the sea. In P.E. we will be completing a dance unit around a mystery box, thinking about moving like the items we find hidden inside. In our topic work we will be thinking about the first ships and pirates as well as looking at creating simple maps which we can follow. In our computing lessons we will become film makers by creating green screen films based on our stories we write in English.

In Reception we will be reading the poem Mrs Pirate by Nick Sharratt. We will be learning to recite this poem and will have a go at retelling it in our play. We will be focusing on the rhyming words in this poem and we will have a go at writing our own rhyming books. We will also try to re-write our own versions of the poem. This half term we will have a real focus on our writing skills. We will be looking for the children to write labels, lists and captions. We will also be teaching the children how to write sentences through daily super sentence writing sessions. In maths we will be practicing writing numbers to 20 (please practice this at home), learning about measurement and weight and we will also be thinking about capacity. We will try answering the following question: How much water can a pirate ship hold before it sinks? We will be hoping for lots of good weather so that we can get outside more. We are going to be making princess homes and pirate ships outside. We are also going to be focusing on the health and self care part of the curriculum. We will be thinking about what pirates and princesses do to stay fit and healthy and how we can keep ourselves fit and healthy. We will try lots of healthy foods and learn about making good food choices. We will also be challenging oursleves to complete a 'golden mile' around the school grounds.

We really appreciate all the support we can get from parents. Below is some ways you can help:

1. Read every day with your child. Talk about books, read signs when on car journeys, let your child read the shopping list at the super market etc. Please record in your child's reading record every time you hear them read.
2. Practice counting to 20 (reception) and 100 (year 1). Count anything and everything.
3. Practice writing/spelling the days of the week and the numbers to 20 in words (year 1).
4. Practice learning (reading, writing and spelling) your child's tricky words and high frequency words. A list of the words is attached. Please ask if you are unsure which words your child is working on. This is a really key job as it is hugely important to your child's early reading and writing skills. The more confident they are at using these words, the more confident they will be when reading and writing! It would be really useful to practice these on a daily basis. Start with being able to read them before writing and spelling them.
5. Practice number/letter formation/handwriting. Please see school if you would like an example of how each letter is formed.
6. Go on Mathletics and complete the online activities. Your child's log in should be in their reading record.
7. Check the website regularly to keep up to date with all the exciting things we have been doing. Use this as a talking point with your child.

If you need to know any more information then please don't hesitate to get in touch. Hopefully we will see lots of you at our Friday stay and play sessions.

Hope to see you all bright and early on Monday,

Miss Keegan and all the Class 1 team