Autumn
Communication now and in the past
Over the last few weeks, we have been studying the different ways in which we communicate with others every day. We know that people can communicate through speech, sign language, braille, body language, drawings, writing, computers, telephones and mobile phones, to mention a few. We then looked at how people communicated a very, very long time ago. We studied cave paintings and examined pictures of Ancient Egyptians, looking for clues as to how they might have communicated with each other. We noticed that instead of letters they used symbols which are known as hieroglyphs. Then we had a go at writing our names using these symbols. Some were very tricky to draw but we had lots of fun trying! After studying one of the earliest writing systems, we then learned about William Caxton who brought the printing press to England in the 15th century. We know that the printing press was such a wonderful invention as it allowed books to be accessible for many in society. This week we enjoyed printing with numbers, letters and shapes using paint and we loved arranging letters back to front as they would have been on the printing press machine.
Children in Need
Today was Children in Need and Year 1 were certainly ready to help out by spending the day in non-uniform or other Pudsey-related clothing to raise money for this wonderful cause! We talked about why there is a special day each year to raise money for children in the UK and beyond - lots of thoughtful ideas were shared and discussed. Throughout the day, we also made time for Pudsey-related activities.
Anti-Bullying Week 13th-17th November
‘Make a Noise about Bullying’
This week we have learned lots about bullying and how we can try to prevent it, ensuring that ourselves and others are able to speak up if we feel it is happening. Anti-bullying week is an important event each year but we know that we should be mindful that this may happen at any time in our lives and the lives of our friends and loved ones. We have talked about super powers like courage we can use or help others to find in themselves if things are difficult. We joined the Anti-Bullying Alliance organisation and Andy Day from CBeebies in wearing odd socks to show our stand against bullying.
Remembrance Day
This week we have been learning about the importance of Remembrance Sunday and why it is important to commemorate this day each year. We know that poppies are worn to honour armed forces members who died in the line of duty during the First World War. As as class, we decided to make our own poppies and display them in our classroom and our corridor to remember those who lost their lives.
Using programmable toys
In our computing lesson we explored programming the bee-bots. We programmed the bee-bots to move forwards and backwards to reach a point on a map. We used the bee-bot app on the iPads to give it directions.
Hibernating Hedgehogs
We had so much fun this week at Scotswood Natural Community Garden learning all about hedgehogs! We know that hedgehogs are mammals that are warm-blooded and we know that in the colder months they will hibernate. We carried out a scientific experiment to see if we could maintain a warm temperature for our 'hedgehogs' in a hibernation nest. We also went on a hedgehog treasure trail to see if we could find some hedgehog treasure which they would love to eat. We then found out some amazing facts about hedgehogs. Do you know that they weigh about the same as a small bag of flour and that an adult hedgehog can have between 5,000 and 7,000 spines on its body to help to protect it from predators? Wow!
World Mental Health Day
Today we learned about the importance of our mental health as well as our physical health. We know that our actions can have a positive impact on our mental health and the mental health of others around us. We talked about the importance of using kind hands and kind words in the classroom, around school, in the playground and at home with our families. We made a display of our kind hands in our classroom. It was great fun painting our hands and printing onto paper!
We love working with numbers!
We have been counting forwards and backwards within 10, counting groups of objects or pictures accurately, comparing groups of objects or pictures using mathematical language like 'more', 'less', 'smallest' and 'greatest' and we have also learned to use the '<', '>' and '=' symbols with a little help. We are enjoying consolidating our knowledge of numbers to 10 and showing off our mathematical skills.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
We have enjoyed learning about our senses this week while writing in the first person as the tiger from the story of 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea' by Judith Kerr. What might the Tiger see, hear, smell, taste or feel while he was in Sophie's house? What other delicious foods could he taste if he ate with the family in the cafe that night? We designed our own menus for The Moonlight Cafe which we really enjoyed. Our work is proudly displayed in our book corner and the entrance to our classroom.
We are unique!
Over the last few weeks, we have completed lots of fun activities around our family and the people who are important to us. We have been learning about ourselves as humans and we have identified similarities and differences between ourselves and other animals. We have been talking about the different groups to which we belong, what we like doing and the things which make us the wonderful, unique human beings that we are. We have created self-portraits using mirrors to study our facial features and we have talked about where each facial feature is in relation to others. We know who is important to us and how they help to look after us. We have written our ideas in speech bubbles and displayed them proudly in our classroom with our artwork.
Our first week in Year 1
We have enjoyed exploring the games and resources in Year 1 with our friends this week and catching up on everyone's news. We know all about the wonderful things our class got up to over the long summer break and we have chosen a special memory from our own holiday to write about for Mrs Howse and Miss Luke. We love our new classroom and we are super excited to get started on all of the new things we will be learning throughout the year.
