Grammar in Year One – Verbs and Tenses
This week, Year One has been learning about verbs and how they change with tense. We found out that adding ‘-ed’ turns some verbs into the past tense. We talked about how not all verbs follow this rule and had fun exploring tricky examples.
We have also been spotting verbs in sentences from our current class novel, How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson.
We also played Verb Charades, acting out actions while friends guessed the verb. It was a fun way to learn and helped us remember how verbs work.
Help at Home
- Verb Hunt: Spot action words in daily life. Are they past or present?
- Story Time: Change story verbs to past or present.
- Charades: Act out verbs and guess the action.
Food Technology – bruschetta
We’ve really enjoyed making bruschetta this week and we hope you have enjoyed tasting them at home!
Hopefully this will become a firm favourite on your family menu; see the recipe below to make more to share with friends and family.
Trying Vegetables!
This week, we have been enjoying reading ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ by Vivian French.
We have been thinking about the vegetables in the book; painting them using the appropriate colours.
We also had a taste of some of the vegetables and thought of some words to describe what they tasted like.
“The carrot is crunchy.” Eliott
“Peas taste soft.” Oria
“The carrot tastes hard.” Wyatt
There are other books in the Oliver series about healthy eating. Why not check them out?
Help at home: Can your child remember the story? Have a go at drawing some of the vegetables you have at home.
Jack and The Beanstalk
This week’s book has been Jack and the Beanstalk.
It has inspired us to plant our own seeds so we can observe them over time.
We’ve also written some instructions for what we did.
First we put in the soil.
Then we put in the seed.
Next we covered it.
Finally water it.
Maths
This week we have started looking at the number 7 and the different parts it can be split into. We used the stem sentence “7 is made of 5 and 2; 2 and 5 make 7.”
Help at home: by practising partitioning 7. You can do this using pasta, teddies or anything else that you can find at home that you have 7 of.
Thank you to all of those that came to the stay and learn this week.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
Bikeabilty
Bikeability was lots of fun this week for our Year 5 children. Your child will be bringing home a certificate today as reward for their efforts.
Why not enjoy a bike ride this weekend?
Sunshine and Rugby!
This week in PE, Year One had a fantastic time outside in the sunshine, practising their rugby skills! The children have been working on their dodging, throwing and catching. All skills that will help them in many different sports!
They also focused on how to hold the ball correctly and the importance of a wide stance when trying to block an opponent. Everyone showed great determination and teamwork—well done Year One!
Maths – Division by sharing
In maths, we’ve been learning to divide.
This week, we’ve used the idea of sharing to help us to divide. When dividing by sharing equally, you’re calculating how much (or how many) each person (group) gets.
When dividing by sharing, it’s important to ask some key questions:
- How many are there altogether?
- How many groups are there?
We can use these questions to write our division equation.
The children really impressed me with their learning. We practised division by sharing using counters, saying these stem sentences to show our understanding:
Help at home by practising some division by sharing. We love this game.
Beanstalks
It is with great excitement (and some relief) that our beans are growing! They seem to be shooting up superfast now and the children are so eager to check on their progress each day.
They will be coming home with the children for the Easter holidays. The pots are bio degradable so can be planted straight into the ground. They may need a cane to support them as they grow, the children have high hopes of visiting the giant and bringing back some golden eggs.
Number 3!
We have loved learning all about the number 3 and the parts that make 3. See if they can tell you them at home.
Building Finger Strength
We always have a challenge out that helps to build our finger strength and fine motor skills. This week we had loom bands and a board. There are so many activities like this you can do at home.
Next week we’ll be looking at positional language in our maths. Using words such as “above,” “below,” “next to,” “in front of,” and “behind.”
Help at Home: Can you give your child an instruction including some positional language? For example, “put the teddy in front of the cushion.” Then let them be the teacher and give you the instructions.
David and Goliath
Year 3 have been learning about David and Goliath – a well known Bible story. Here’s a quick synopsis of the story:
Goliath is big, very big! He had a big voice, too.
“I dare any of you to battle me!” he bellowed. “Win, and we will be your slaves. Lose, and you must work for us.”
David was smaller than Goliath, and this made him a little angry. David went to see the king. “I want to battle Goliath”, he said. The king did not hold much faith in David as he was small, and Goliath was tremendously big. The king offered David his armour, but David refused as it wouldn’t fit and was too heavy. Instead, he gathered some small stones and a sling and set on his way.
David lured Goliath to a valley and struck him on the head with a stone from his sling. Goliath fell with a big thud to the ground.
David later became king – one of the greatest kings God’s people ever had.
We thought about this story and how it may link to our school vision:
St James is a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe.
Here’s what the children came up with:
We then discussed how the story may link to our Christian Values, and how we may use these messages in our daily lives to help us grow.
Help at home:
Our 6 Christian values are: honesty, perseverance, peace, compassion, forgiveness and courage. Talk with your child about how they may use these values in and out of school. Can they give an example of one used this week?
Circle Time
During circle time, we reflected on our personal experiences of perseverance—those moments when we kept going even when things felt difficult. We thought about times when we were learning something new and how it made us feel. As we shared our experiences with our peers, we realised that many of us had similar emotions.
- “I felt shy and nervous when I had to perform on stage but afterward, I was really proud of myself because I did it!”
- “Moving up to Stage 5 in swimming was scary because the big pool was so deep. But I kept trying and in the end, I felt really happy with myself.”
- “At the park, I wanted to go down the big slide but I needed some help from my grown-up. I felt excited but also a little nervous.”
- “When I first started learning to read in Reception I felt frustrated but I kept going and now I love reading!”
We then explored our Christian values and discussed how the emotions we experience when learning something new link to perseverance and courage.
Help at home: Talk about a time when you learned something new. How did it make you feel?