I hope you are all having a good week. I am currently getting to know all the children and establishing reading routines at the moment. Please do not be alarmed if your child moves groups or is given a reading book which you think is too easy for them. I am currently getting to know the class as readers through; working with reading groups, learning, developing and practising reading skills, and completing reading assessments. Therefore, book levels and groups could change over the next few weeks. I have started all children on the next book from where they finished in March. Also, please be aware that the reading we are doing is not just about decoding the words on the page, I am also focusing on developing reading skills and comprehension. So, if a book appears to be “too easy” for your child to read, please be assured that we are developing other skills using the books. If you have questions or comments please add them in your child’s purple reading jotter.
Today we are sending home reading books with every child. Please share the book with your child and return the book to school each day so that they are available to work with, as we will use them for tasks in class. Books will be collected in each Thursday with new book(s) handed out the following Monday.
Have a look at the document below for some ideas about how to share and enjoy reading with your child at home. A copy of this will be sent home today with your child’s reading book.
An adult will read with children in their reading groups regularly throughout the week. However, the days that your child reads aloud to an adult may vary from week to week.
Spelling:
All children are working on correctly spelling Block 1 and 2 tricky words.
P2s are revising the sounds ai/ay for example rain, brain, day, may.
P3s are working on initial consonant blends. Here is their list of words- they have chosen in class whether to work on the core or challenge list. The list is in case you would like to practise at home.
Core word list
twig
swing
tweed
thrush
street
screen
strong
Challenge word list
swinging
splashing
sweeping
swimmer
springy
stronger
sweetest
The P3 tricky words this week are: here, there, go, so no
To help us build words, we are continuing to think about the sound that the two consonants at the beginning of a word make. We also have five common words to revise / learn this week. Please work on the list that you chose to work on in class.
twig swing tweed thrush street screen strong here there go so no
Challenge Words
swinging splashing sweeping swimmer springy stronger sweetest here there go so no
On Monday afternoon P3C will have access to the Loose Parts equipment in the woodland area of our playground. This is a great opportunity to develop exploration through imaginative play.
Loose parts are open ended resources for play, which can be put together, taken apart, moved and coordinated in various ways, and which allow the freedom of motivation to play, which is child led, imaginative and creative. Loose Parts play allows the opportunity to identify and assess risks within resources and various types of play. It allows experience of problem solving, teamwork, negotiation and co-operation, all while nurturing the development of self-confidence and physical skills like agility, balance and co-ordination.
It is likely that children will get muddy whilst using this equipment – especially if it rains over the weekend or on Monday. It may be best if your child comes to school in older clothes on Monday which you don’t mind getting muddy.
New words will be posted on Monday. Practise spelling your words at home in preparation for your dictation on Friday.
Parents / Carers: Please note that your child has chosen which spelling list to work on. We guide pupils / make suggestions based on what we see in the dictations from the previous week, but pupils choose the level of difficulty themselves.
Reading
Please complete the reading assigned to your group. We will be working on our summarising, comprehension and prediction skills in class over the coming weeks as well as our fluency.
Parents / Carers: You will notice that your child’s reading record states the date and title of the book. Unless stated otherwise, pupils should read the whole book over the course of the week. As well as helping your child to read any tricky words, please help your child to develop their reading skills by asking them questions about what they think might happen next or to retell the key events of the story in their own words. You could also ask your child questions about what is happening in the story or how they think the characters are feeling. It is important that your child works on understanding the text as well as being able to read the words.
Numeracy
Counting in Sequences
We have been practising counting in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s. Practise these sequences at home using the following songs to help.
If you can count confidently in these sequences, have a go at some of the trickier number sequences in this game:
This week we have continued to practise skip counting in 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and 10’s. 3’s and 4’s are definitely more difficult! Make sure you keep practising skip counting to help you feel more confident.
We have been learning about place value, looking at hundreds, tens and units (and some of us thousands!) We have been adding and subtracting by looking at numbers then working out: 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less, 100 more, 100 less.
We have also been looking at pictograms as ways of showing information and tried creating pictograms of our own.
Things to do at home:
Practise skip counting as you are walking or going up or down stairs
Have a look at the topmarks.co.uk website – there are place value games to play
Literacy
We have all had new reading books this week. Please ensure that your child has their reading folder with them every day. The skills we have been focusing on are prediction and answering questions.
We looked at images and discussed what we thought was happening and what would happen next then created cartoons and stories about our predictions.
For spelling we have been looking at consonant blends, completing a range of activities and dictation today.
Things to do at home:
Make predictions about what you think is going to happen in different books (or TV programmes) at home
Ask questions about different books at home
Choose a way to practise your spelling words
Outdoor Learning
In PE we have continued to work on our fitness, playing games and completing circuits. As well as doing stretching to warm up and warm down. Please remember to wear PE kit on a Tuesday and Thursday.
Music: We have been learning a song about a Bog Baby and singing in the rain (literally!)
RME
The class discussed what religion is and what we know already. We watched two stories from the Muslim religion and talked about the terms: Allah, prophet, Quran.
Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Monday 😊
The Lion’s have had another fantastic week in Primary 1! We have had lots of fun playing with our friends and exploring new areas of the playground. Please ensure that all children have a waterproof jacket, so we can go outside to play in all weathers.
The Primary 1s have done so well at learning our daily routines and they are beginning to do more without support. I am so proud of them for trying and working really hard in school!
Literacy
This week we continued to read some of the Oxford Reading Tree stories. We learned more about the main characters and continued to answer questions which connected the stories to our own lives.
We also finished hearing about everyone’s memory boxes! This has been such a lovely way to get to know a little bit more about the other pupils in the class! Well done to all the Lions for being brave and sharing their favourite and special things with the class!
This week we have also been practising our sounds with Miss McGillivray and Ms Leach! We are very excited to start teaching the sounds from next week.
Numeracy
This week we have continued to use our number fans to help us with our counting. We have been playing lots of maths games as a class on the smart board, which have helped us to develop our number recognition and counting skills up to 10 and beyond. We also have been practising our knowledge of ordering numbers by using a washing line to sort the numbers into the correct order.
Other Areas
P1 has also been having lots of fun playing outside in the playground. In P.E we practised listening to instructions by playing games, getting into groups of a particular number and working on our spatial awareness when running around the playground.
This week we also did a mini Bear topic! We learned about Brown Bears, Black Bears, Polar Bears and Panda Bears! We also linked the topic into our Outdoor Learning! In pairs the children had to look in the playground and find natural materials to create a picture. We also had lots of fun drawing Pandas! Here is our artwork from this week!
We have had lots of fun developing our social skills by playing with our peers in the classroom. We have lots of fun drawing pictures and making crafts, playing in the home corner and reading in the book corner. We also have lots of fun building castles and towers with the construction blocks. Every Friday we draw our favourite moment from the week in our Reflective Friday Journals and an adult will scribe what their drawing is about.
Things to Try at Home
We would love it if the P1s could continue to practice their independence skills. These have improved greatly over the week but could still be quicker and smoother. Try and practice: Changing shoes (fastening buckles and Velcro themselves, making sure they are on the right foot), putting on, zipping up jackets (and turning sleeves the correct way round), opening snacks themselves and tidying up after play.
Ask your child to give you X amount of various things. For example sticks, leaves, stones. Whatever you can find. This will help with our counting skills.
Practice recognising their name and practice writing their name with playdough, sand and other natural materials you can find. They could also use these materials to practice writing numbers.
P1 Lion’s Favourite Things of the Week!
“I enjoyed playing in the brick corner.” – Kieran
“I enjoyed playing Police station in the home corner.” – Logan
“I enjoyed playing with my friends and having fun.” – Isla
“I enjoyed learning about different types of bears.” – Alex
“I enjoyed drawing my Panda.” – Georgie
Happy Weekend!
Next week Ms Leach will be teaching the class on Monday.
P.E will be on Mondays and Thursdays – please come dressed and ready for P.E.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Monday!
