Topic

Our Topic for the Summer Term is ...

The Seaside

We had a very busy and exciting start to our topic - some might say stunning!

Each classroom in KS1 had a different seaside activity take a look at what we were doing...

In Mrs Walton's classroom we created the Blackpool Tower. Our challenge was to create the tallest Blackpool Tower using art straws and sellotape which could stand alone.  We worked in Kagan groups – team work was needed for this epic contest! When it was completed we added a light to illuminate our towers and compared the height of our Blackpool Towers.  

In Mrs Unsworth-Scott's classroom the children designed the front covers for their topic books we created collages of the seaside for our front covers. We used blue paper and plastic for the sky. We used yellow paper, sand and glitter to create the sand. We then made a sun umbrella using 4 coloured triangles and an art straw. Our final front covers look amazing!

Mrs Peacock took our class outside we played with the sand and water. We also played beach games using the parachute which we loved! We listened to seaside stories whilst making waves and played parachute tag, colours and popcorn.

Literacy

This half term we will be learning how to write a recount starting with our visit to Tatton Park. 

We will focus on using the five Ws: when, where, who, what and why to make sure we include all the information and the recount will be exciting to read. We will continue to use a variety of punctuation choosing the most appropriate for our writing and revisit the use of ‘ed’ for the past tense.

Following on from recounts the class will be reading non-fiction texts about creatures living under the sea, using an index and contents to locate information using alphabetical order.  We will look for key features of the text in preparation for writing our own fact sheets culminating in our own non-fiction text. 

Our focus for this term is:

• To leave spaces between words
• Use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences
• Use a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark at the end of sentences
• Capital letters for names and pronoun, I
• Write simple sentences
• Use the past tense by adding the suffix -ed
• Use and to join clauses and words

We have been developing our alphabetical knowledge to enable us to use the index in a non-fiction text. We found information about different sea creatures appearance, habitat and diet.

Mathematics

This term we are deepening our understanding of repeated addition, that it can be looked at as 'how many groups of' developing the process into multiplication using arrays. 

We shall be practising counting in 2s, 5s and 10s and using our knowledge of multiples for solving multiplication problems. 

Then we will be working on sharing and division, using our knowledge of 2s, 5s and 10s times tables so keep practising at home!

History

We will becoming historians and using artefacts and photographs to gain information about the past and learn about the seaside and changes which have occurred over time.

We will sort artefacts and compare clothing and entertainment at the seaside into past and present. 

We will conduct our own research to find information abut a historical landmark - the Blackpool Tower using a range of tools such as the internet, books and hopefully a site visit!

Geography

In geography we will be consolidating our knowledge of the country we live in and working on our map skills by locating and naming the 4 countries of the United Kingdom. Identifying the capital cities of the United Kingdom, Manchester and Blackpool location on a map of the UK. 

We will use geographical vocabulary to describe different places visited for example: port, village, coast, island, cliffs, town, city, countryside, seaside.

We will be finding out facts about our nearest seaside resort - Blackpool and identifying features of a seaside resort sorting physical and human features

We will complete a simple sketch map of Blackpool identifying a famous landmark located there and identifying reasons for its location. 

Art

We will be looking at the work of local artist LS Lowry comparing his urban pictures to his seaside landscapes.

We will be creating our own pieces of artwork in the style of Lowry using watercolours. 

Science

We are investigating different categories of living creatures and classifying them into groups.

We will be studying habitats and how animals adapt to their habitat to survive.

During PE week we will be looking at the importance of a healthy and varied diet and exercise.

RE

We will be comparing ceremonies such as weddings and christenings between different faiths and the importance to some people of having beliefs and faith within a religion. 

ICT

We will use software to classify and present information creating a spreadsheet and editing our work.

We will develop our understanding of how to use the internet safely. 

Music

We will listen to a piece of music and respond to what we hear and how it makes us feel.  We will learn to sing in harmony developing pitch and timbre. To complete our musical topic we will create our own composition using instruments with control and perform our piece of music to the class. 

PE

We will be developing our key movement skills:

using a skipping rope.

jumping in a variety of ways and for height.

bouncing and travelling with a ball showing control.

receiving and trapping a ball.

passing a ball accurately.

catching consistently.

Superheroes

Our topic for this Spring term is superheroes!

The children are really looking forward to learning about the different Superheroes - real life and fantasy.

Literacy

This half term we are reading a traditional tale called 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.

We will use drama, hot seating and role play to inspire the children's writing and to develop vocabulary. We will learn how to use question marks and exclamation marks and revisit the use of ‘ed’ for the past tense. Finally we will retell the whole story!

Our focus for this term is:

• To leave spaces between words
• Use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences
• Use a full stop at the end of sentences
• Capital letters for noun and pronoun, I
• Write simple sentences
• Use question marks and exclamation marks
• Use and to join clauses and words

Our class had lots of ideas, but as a class we came to the conclusion it was probably a magic bean! We decided we needed to plant it to see what would happen.

The next challenge was to guess which book we would be reading next...

We looked at a range of books with seeds or beans in their title and all made a prediction. 

Then the story suitcase was brought out. Clues were inside which eventually revealed the book! 

It was Jack and the Beanstalk.

Literacy

We are reading a book called ‘Supertato’, by Sue Hendra. To start, we will write predictions about what might happen in the story.

We will use drama, hot seating and role play to inspire the children's writing and to develop vocabulary. We will learn how to use exclamation marks and start to use ‘ed’ for the past tense. Finally we will retell the story of Supertato!

Our focus for this term is:

• To leave spaces between words
• Use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences
• Use a full stop at the end of sentences
• Capital letters for noun and pronoun, I
• Write simple sentences
• Use question marks and exclamation marks
• Use and to join clauses and words
• To use the past tense by adding the suffix -ed

Maths

In Maths we are learning the months of the year and how to order them.

Our focus this half term is addition and subtraction. We will be learning our number bonds to 10 and 20 learning to add by counting on. We will practise counting on and back from any given number to 50 and practise subtracting by counting back.

Music

In Music, we will be learning how to play the ukulele! This will be a 10 week project which will culminate in a concert to which the parents will be invited.

History

In History we will be learning about 'real life' superheroes: Florence Nightingale, Neil Armstrong and Rosa Parks. We will explore different types of evidence to find out about the past and learn about how these people have impacted on our lives today.

Science

We will be learning about plants and what they need to grow. The different parts of a plant and their purpose. We will become gardeners and plant our own bulbs, seeds and tubers to watch them grow!

Art

We will be studying the Marvel comic artist Stephen Ditko - illustrator of Spiderman, Dr, Octopus, Sandman and the Green Goblin. We will looking at his techniques to  develop our sketching skills using Marvel Comics as our inspiration.

Design and Technology

We will design, create and evaluate our own superhero vehicles using wheels and axles to create moving mechanisms.

Geography

We will be working on our map skills to create and follow a map to the woods!

PE

As well as our weekly run, we will be doing Gymnastics on a Wednesday and Dance on a Friday.

RE

We will be learning about sacred places, in particular where Christians and Jewish people worship.

PSHE

We will learn the difference between right and wrong. We will learn about who to tell when things are not right; and that we don't always have to keep secrets. We will learn about bad and good touches, and to recognise and talk about feelings.

Our topic this term is India. We will start each topic with a Big Question and a WOW moment to capture the children’s interests.

Our Big Question during the Autumn Term is

Where in the world?

If you have an expert knowledge or would like to be involved in our learning in any way please let us know, we would love to have you in our classroom. 

Our stunning start...

The children started the topic experiencing aspects of Indian culture.

We tasted some Indian food, poppadums, onion bajjis and mango chutney dip. They were delicious, the children kept going back for more - especially the poppadums!

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In Maths we will be continuing with our calculation skills. 

To help with subtraction and addition we aim to be confident counting forwards and backwards in 1s from any given number. We also have to be able to count carefully with one to one correspondence to make sure our answers are correct!

We will be using a whole part model and a number line to add and subtract numbers and beginning to write simple number sentences. 

We worked together to solve an addition problem... 

On a farm there were hens and sheep.

Altogether there were 8 heads and 22 feet.

How many hens were there?

Ask your children - how did you solve it? They were amazing, grouping and drawing pictures to help.

Literacy

Our focus this term continues to be: 

• To leave spaces between words
• Use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences
• Use a full stop at the end of sentences
• Write simple sentences.

We will be challenging the children to use question marks and exclamation marks as well as a full stop. 

Editing our own work continues to be important, making sure they can read their own work back, adding in any missed capital letters or full stop and realising if it doesn't make sense have any words been missed out and correcting the structure of the sentence or caption

The text we will be reading this term and linking to the key topic question is: -

The Wise Man and the Tiger by Andrew Fusek Peters; developing the children's prediction skills. understanding of characters and comprehension.  

We have been working a lot on inference skills and the children were able to deduce that the tiger was very clever and a good actor to be able to trick the wise man. 

We have made tiger masks and banyan trees to help  us imagine what the characters would be saying to write speech bubbles. We acted out being the characters  changing our voices accordingly - this helped us realise where a question mark or exclamation mark should be used! 

PHSE

The children will be looking at Economic Well Being by investigating the following questions:  How do people earn money? Why do we need money? How we can look after money? How does earning money make me feel? 

Geography 

Our big question is Where in the World are we? We will learn where the United Kingdom is located in the world and the 4 countries which make up the UK. We will compare its location to India learning the names and  position of the continents using globes and atlases. We will understand what human and physical features of a country are sorting and classifying pictures into category and location - India or England. We will compare the Indian village of Chembakolli to Timperley. 

Design and Technology

We will be learning the origins of different food groups their nutritional value and why we need to eat a varied diet. We will identify and use equipment to chop, grate and peel vegetables learning to use them safely. We will choose ingredients, vegetables and spices to create our own samosas. 

Science

• To identify, name, and order the seasons and describe seasonal changes including changes in nature, temperature and weather. 
• To ask questions and conduct investigations to answer questions we have raised. 

To understand how day length varies across different seasons and look at how the position of the Earth in relation to the sun affects the day length.  

ICT

The children will be creating a presentation about India using Power Point. We will learn how to use an search engine to generate images, copy and save to a folder and then paste into our presentation. We will add text and present our work to the class. 

RE

We will be learning about Judaism and comparing celebrations, beliefs and places of worship to Christianity. We will be listening to the story of Rama and Sita and the Nativity. 

We will start each topic with a Big Question and a WOW moment to capture the children’s interests.

Our Big Question during the Autumn Term is

Who Did It?

If you have an expert knowledge or would like to be involved in our learning in any way please let us know, we would love to have you in our classroom. 

Our stunning start...

The children came into school on Monday morning to find a crime scene. Someone had made a mess in the KS1 corridor and stolen Miss Unsworth's lunch box. Clues were left on the scene and the children investigated, examining clues, asking questions, identifying suspects and finally exposing the culprit.

In Maths we will be consolidating our counting skills. 

We aim to be confident counting forwards and backwards in 1s from any given number. Matching objects to numeral counting carefully with one to one correspondence. 

We will be using a number line to order and sequence numbers, finding one more or one less than any given number to 30 and beginning simple addition and subtraction. 

Literacy

Our focus this term will be: 

• To leave spaces between words
• Use a capital letter at the beginning of sentences
• Use a full stop at the end of sentences
• Write simple sentences.

The texts we will be reading this term and linking to the key topic question are: -

What the Ladybird Heard and What the Ladybird Heard Next by Julia Donaldson; developing the children's prediction skills. understanding of characters and comprehension.  

We have made ladybird hats and become the ladybird in order to make a prediction about what the ladybird could have heard as a hook to enthuse the children.

PHSE

The children will be looking at how we are all similar but different in appearance, character, families and talents and that it is important to value ourselves, each other and celebrate our differences.

History 

Robert Peel will be our famous historical figure this term. We will be investigating police artefacts, classifying into past and present, finding out about Robert Peel's achievements and the impact he has had on current day life. 

This will culminate in a visit from the local community police officers. 

Art

We will be looking at the work of Judith Ann Braun the famous New York artist. We will investigate the medium and technique used and create a piece of art in her style.

Science

• To identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense.
• To find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air).

We will be learning how to plan a scientific investigation - creating an equipment list, developing a method, predicting the outcome and finally analysing our results to draw a conclusion. 

ICT

The children will be using the internet to receive and send an email. The children will learn about the importance of staying safe on-line.

Music

We will be listening to the Pink Panther music theme, creating a score to reflect the dynamics of the music. Identifying musical instruments we can hear in the piece of music.