Weekly Update
w/b 5th December 2016
The children have had a fantastic week with lots of lovely activities. They have been well behaved throughout the Christmas concerts and the Christmas party. Da iawn Dosbarth Moel Siabod!
Language
This week we looked closely at the Kevin the Carrot Aldi advert. We decided that Kevin needed some help getting around the Christmas table. First we went outside and had a go at getting around a ‘Christmas dinner table’. We built our own Christmas dinner using lots of imagination! After directing each other around it we came back inside to write down some instructions. We decided that ordering words would be important and bossy verbs.
Maths
In maths this week we completed work that we had started last week based on money. The children really enjoyed a problem solving activity where they had to find all the ways that they could make 5p/10p/20p. On Friday we moved on to look at temperature. The children were very good at describing the temperature of different items and comparing them using descriptive language. The Year 2 children moved on to reading scales on thermometers and matching them temperature cards.
In our rare quiet moments this week the children have created snowflakes to put on their Christmas trees at home and have also started creating Christmas trees on 2paint on the laptops. They also enjoyed working in Santa's Workshop as little elves!
w/b 28th November 2016
Christmas has arrived! We have been very busy all week practising for the concert. We have learnt lots of songs and made sure that all our costumes are ready for next week's performances. We have managed to do some 'normal' lessons as well!
Language
This week we had a go at changing the story of Stick Man to include some of our ideas about what could happen to Stick Man. The children were very imaginative and came up with some fantastic ideas! After discussing our ideas we recorded them in our best books. In phonics we looked at the oi/oy sound and practised spelling oy words.
Maths
Our maths topic this week was money. We learnt how to count amounts up to 10p/20p/£1, and also practised paying for items in Mrs Stanton's toy shop. We went on to a problem solving activity where we had to find all the different ways to make 10p or 20p. Not all of the children managed to finish this so we'll carry on next week.
w/b 21st November 2016
Language
This week we have been writing letters to Father Christmas. We looked at Miss Cooper’s letter first and decided that it wasn’t very good and that we needed to improve it! The children came up with their own top tips for writing a letter to Father Christmas and then got straight to work! The children produced some lovely writing and next week we will be sending them in the post.
In phonics we looked at the alternative spellings for the ai sound. We focussed on ay and a_e.
Maths
Our focus for this week has been counting in sets, repeated addition (year 1) and multiplication (year 2). The children are very good at counting in 2s and 10s now. A few need some more practise with counting in 5s. On Friday the Year 1 children looked at a story called ‘Hilda’s Cakes’ from the Boo Zoo pack. They all loved the story and had some lovely mathematical discussions about Hilda’s problem with sharing her cake. The year 2 children practised different ways of answering multiplication problems and began to memorise the 2 times table.
In the afternoons this week we have been very busy singing Christmas songs in preparation for the school Christmas concert. Some of the children have been chosen to have speaking parts and their lines are being sent home today (Friday).
Our topic focus for the week was floating and sinking, as poor Stick Man gets taken to play ‘Pooh Sticks’ with in our class text. We decided to find out what pooh sticks is, as some of the children had some strange ideas! After watching a video clip of the game, we played it in our water tray and we also carried out a floating and sinking investigation.
In PE this week we played some team problem solving games and learnt a new shape in gymnastics called ‘foxes’.
w/b 14th November 2016
Language
This week we have been looking carefully at our outdoor learning areas and discussing how we could improve them. The children came up with some lovely ideas and were not shy about telling us what they didn’t like! We decided to write letters to local businesses to see if they could donate any items or volunteer their time to help us. Photographs of some of the letters can be found on the photographs page.
Maths
This week we completed some outstanding work about ordering and comparing numbers. We worked really hard to mentally recall one more/less of any numbers to 20 (year 1) or 100 (year 2). The children found this quite tricky and need lots of practise. On Friday we moved on to addition and subtraction. We learned how to use a number line to help us to solve these problems.
During the afternoons this week we have been very busy! On Monday we took part in funky groups. The forest school groups practised counting sets of objects carefully. On Tuesday we did PE in the hall and learned how to do a frog hop. We put frog hops in to sequences. On Wednesday we planned a science investigation to see how we could help Stick Man get away from the dog that was chasing him. We decided that he needed a getaway car and ramp to help him get as far away as possible. On Thursday we carried out our investigation and found that the higher the ramp, the further Stick Man’s car went. Some of the children then put their investigation results in to a bar graph on j2e. On Friday we planned and filmed short Welsh role plays, and then decorated biscuits for Children in Need Day! We have also begun to practise our songs for the Christmas concert and have been singing every day!
w/b 7th November 2016
Language
We continued working on using capital letters and full stops this week, as last week we found this really tricky! On Monday we focused on full stops and looked at some sentences without punctuation and decided where the full stops should be. We enjoyed using our purple polishing pens! On Thursday we focused on capital letters. We found out that capital letters are used to start sentences and for the names of people, pets and places. We practised using them correctly. We then moved on to exclamation marks and we had lots of fun learning some new 'Kung Fu Punctuation' moves. 
In phonics (Wednesday) we looked at the correct formation of the upper case letters J, K, L and M.
Maths
In maths we have been learning about place value. On Tuesday we practised using the sticks of ten and unit blocks to build 2 digit numbers. We went on to look at partitioning numbers (splitting a two digit number in to tens and units). On Friday we used what we had learned about place value to compare numbers to choose the largest and smallest from a pair. Some children worked with numbers up to 20, and some worked up to 100. We were really good at this! We went on to order numbers using place value to help us. E.g. ordering the numbers 16, 72, 53, 99 and 24.
The afternoons this week have been very busy! We have discussed our families and how they are all different. We spent a long time discussing the terminology, such as cousins, stepmum, etc. We also looked at Remembrance Day and painted poppies to make a display. Some children also completed a comprehension activity about the history of Remembrance Day. In PE we tried some yoga and the children were fantastic! If the children want to have a go at home search for 'Cosmic Kids Yoga' on YouTube. We also continued with our bar graphs on j2e.
w/b 1st November 2016
Welcome back after the holidays! This week we have started our new focus text for the half term. It is called 'Stick Man' by Julia Donaldson.
Language
Last term I noticed that most of the children had some difficulty with capital letters and full stops in sentences. This week we did lots of practical activities to learn when and where we should use them. The children may have told you about 'Kung Fu Punctuation'. This is a practical activity where different punctuation marks are given actions and the children have to listen carefully to sentences and then add the appropriate actions. The whole class enjoyed this activity! We also wrote rainbow sentences where the children had to use a new colour for each sentences, remembering to start with a capital letter and finish with a full stop. In phonics we looked at the ck sound and practised spelling ck words.
Maths
Our maths focus for the week was data handling. On Tuesday we learned how to sort items in to Venn diagrams. We worked outside to sort leaves and had to decide our own sorting criteria. On Friday we collected data about our favourite activities and recorded what we found out in a tally chart. We then moved on to creating bar graphs on the iPads using j2e on Hwb. We will continue these bar graphs next week.
In the afternoons this week we listened to the story of Stick Man and discussed what we would like to learn about from the story. We also created a story map to help us tell the story of Stick Man. We had a Personal Development and Relationships Education lesson on Wednesday where we learned the names of body parts and discussed how girls and boys are different. We also discussed appropriate and inappropriate touching. On Thursday we created bonfire and firework dances in PE and in Welsh we made balloon faces using the Welsh names for facial features. On Friday afternoon we read the story of the Gunpowder Plot and worked with Mrs Harvey to create top tips for staying safe videos. In Golden Time we created firework pictures with paint and glitter.
w/b 17th October 2016
This week we have focussed on the Hindu celebration of Diwali. Some of the children in our class celebrate Diwali at home and they were able to tell us lots about it!
On Monday afternoon we went on a walk to Bodelwyddan Castle to explore the woodland area. We spotted lots of squirrels and minibeasts. We really enjoyed playing with the leaves and playing on the adventure playground!
Language
We completed our work on Little Red Riding Hood in language lessons this week. We finished by writing our own instructions for 'How to Trap a Wolf'. The children were able to use the language they had learnt whilst reading instructions for 'How to Trap a Dragon'.
We also looked at the formation of the upper case letters F, G, H and I.
Maths
In maths lessons we completed our work on measuring length using standard and non standard measures. In our problem solving lesson we had lots of fun using clues to help us match colours to numbered doors. The children had to use their knowledge of odd and even numbers, addition and smaller/larger numbers.
We've really enjoyed looking at Diwali this week. We took part in lots of activities including:
- Reading the story of Rama and Sita
- Creating clay diva lamps
- Designing mendhi patterns
- Making chalk rangoli patterns
- Bollywood dancing
w/b 10th October 2016
This week the children attended the annual Jamboree. They all had a fantastic time singing and dancing to Welsh songs!
Language
Our focus for this week was developing debating skills. We decided to have a debate about whether Jess (from our topic story, 'The Wild Woods') should take a squirrel home as a pet or not. We had to practise giving reasons for both sides of the arguments and explaining our ideas. By Thursday we had had lots of practise and put the skills developed to good use by having real debates in the school hall. All the children were fantastic and really shocked me at how good they were for their first attempt! In phonics we looked at double consonants that only make one sound, such as in the word 'rabbit'. We've decided to call them friendly letters. In handwriting we learnt to form the cursive r and n.
Maths
This week we have been learning to measure length using standard and non standard measures. On Wednesday we went out to forest schools and collected leaves to measure using rulers and cubes. When we got back to class we continued to practise making sure that we were lining up the rulers/cubes carefully to get an accurate measurement. On Friday we continued with the measuring theme, but this time measuring in metres or with sticks. We had to throw a bean bag and then measure how far we had thrown it.
In funky groups on Monday afternoon, two of the groups joined together to make Gruffalo Crumble. The children had to read the recipe cards and measure all of the ingredients themselves. It was delicious!
In the afternoons this week we have been looking at what animals need to be happy and healthy (after debating whether Jess should keep a squirrel as a pet or not). On Tuesday we discussed the needs of different types of animals, including where they sleep, what they eat, what they enjoy to do, etc. After this we looked at pictures of different animals and sorted them to show if they would make good pets or not. E.g. we decided that a cow wouldn't make a good pet as it wouldn't be very happy living in our bedrooms! At the end of the afternoon we also looked at some pictures of some unhappy animals that had been tangled up in litter. On Wednesday afternoon we decided to make sure that our school grounds would be safe for any wildlife that would like to visit, so we went on a litter pick.
In PE this week we created Autumn dances where we moved liked falling leaves. I was very impressed by the children's listening skills! In PSD we discussed emotions and feelings. We talked about different scenarios and how we can calm down if we are feeling angry or upset. In Welsh we learnt the names of different items of clothes and answered the question 'Beth wyt ti'n wisgo?' (What are you wearing?) In ICT we continued our coding challenge using j2code on Hwb.
A very busy week!
w/b 3rd October 2016
Language
This week we continued and completed the story of Little Red Riding Hood. We finished our story writing and all of the children did very well! We continued cursive handwriting and looked at the letters y and j. Many of the children struggled with these letters and needed reminders about where to place the letters on the line. In phonics we also looked at the upper case letters A, B, C, D and E. We focused on the formation of these letters.
Maths
Our maths focus this week was counting in 2s, 5s and 10s to 100. We did lots of practical activities, including chanting and ordering number cards. We also completed missing number sequences. Our problem solving activity this week was called 'Robot Walk'. We had to apply what we had learned about counting in 2s to helping the robots get through the maze.
In the afternoons this week our main focus was Autumn. We went outside to spot signs of Autumn and collected Autumn leaves. We also watched some videos about harvest and found out how different foods were harvested. On Wednesday we decided to make a yummy vegetable soup by following a recipe. It was delicious! In PE we carried on with the theme of seasons and moved creatively to 'The Seasons' by Vivaldi.
We also looked at human changes this week. We spent a lesson discussing how people change from when they are babies until they are elderly. We went on to order pictures of Miss Cooper during her life and created human changes timelines. In Welsh we continued practising for the Jambori and made some lovely party hats to wear next Tuesday. In RE we discussed special celebrations that our different families might have and watched a video clip about Wesak (a Buddhist celebration).
w/b 26th September 2016
Language
We started the week by doing some acting outside! We had to pretend that we were the different characters from Little Red Riding Hood. We though about how they would move and what they might see in the forest. We then went back to class and wrote recounts of Little Red Riding Hood's journey using time connectives, e.g. first, next. On Thursday we went in to service and performed Little Red Riding Hood for the whole school! All the children were fantastic and if you would like to see the video, I have added it to our class page. When we got back to class we started to write the story in to our best work books. We will continue with this next week. We also spent some time recording a selection of the children telling the story individually to show how much they have progressed in just the four weeks that they have been back at school. I was astounded by how much they have learnt and I'm very proud of all of them! In phonics we looked at the ee sound and practised writing ee words. We continued with cursive handwriting, learning the letter u.
Maths
Our focus this week was counting in 2s to 100 and identifying odd and even numbers. On Tuesday we did lots of chanting to start with and then played some games to help us remember odd and even numbers. We even learnt a song to help us! On Wednesday we completed an investigation based on the number bonds of 10. We had to find all the ways we could split 10 'sweets' in to 2 bags and record our findings (making sure that we didn't repeat any!) On Friday we completed some outstanding work based on counting in 2s (from even numbers and odd numbers) and then had the chance to show what we had learnt individually.
In the afternoons this week we focussed on hibernation. We read a story called 'Bear Snores On' and then found out about other animals that hibernate. We recorded what we had found out in lists. We completed our paintings for the Gruffalo display and it looks fantastic! In PE we played kickball and we're now really good at following the rules! In Welsh we practised asking and responding to the question 'Beth wyt ti'n eisiau?' We even got to try some yummy fruit! During circle time we discussed what we can do if we encounter a problem in the classroom and role played some different scenarios. Finally, we continued to practise our Welsh songs for the Jambori. We are all really excited!
w/b 19th September 2016
Language
This week we have focussed on speech bubbles and thought bubbles. We started by looking at some pictures from Disney cartoons and adding in speech and thoughts for the characters. We then had to write in to speech and thought bubbles for the characters from Little Red Riding Hood. In handwriting we looked at the cursive l and t. In phonics we learned the letter names and started to practise how to form upper case letters correctly. We also continued with our storytelling project and visited Miss Pritchard-Jones' class to preform to the Nursery and Reception children!
Maths
Our maths focus for the week was subtraction. On Tuesday we looked at different strategies for working out subtraction problems, such as using cubes or a number square. On Friday we moved on to finding the difference between two numbers. During the week we also completed a problem solving activity where we had to work out how many sheep and chickens there were in a farmyard by following some clues.
In the afternoons this week we had lots of fun trying to find a material to make a new coat out of, for Grandpa from our story. We had to make predictions about which material would work best and then we carried out an investigation in the water tray to find out! This week the forest school groups went on a hunt to find rhyming words to make silly soup! In PE we played kickball and the children were much better at following the rules this time. In Welsh we asked each other 'Sut wyt ti?' and practised different responses. In ICT we continued to make our class Wiki page on Hwb+. Finally, we began to set up our Gruffalo Café role play area and painted the story characters to go on a classroom display.
w/b 12th September 2016
Language
In language lessons this week we have been getting to know the story of Little Red Riding Hood. On Monday we had to put pictures from the story in to the correct order in our books and we also acted out the story in small groups. As part of our storytelling project we have been telling the story every day and we are getting really good at remembering it all! On Thursday we wrote descriptions of Little Red Riding Hood using adjectives. We had to describe her personality and her appearance. I have added pictures of some of the best work on the photographs page. In phonics we recapped on the th, ch and sh sounds. We also started to learn cursive handwriting. We looked at the letter I for this week.
Maths
Our focus this week was addition. Some children practised adding two sets of objects together and recording the addition story underneath and some children moved on to adding two numbers mentally. On Friday we all had a go at adding single digit numbers to ten or multiples of 10, e.g. 10 + 5 = 15. We discussed the different words that we might hear that mean 'add'. We started to look at place value (tens and units) and spent time building numbers using the Cuisenaire rods. We also carried out a maths investigation where we had to decorate balloons for a clown using a limited amount of colours and finding all the different combinations that the clown could have.
In the afternoons this week we continued our Woodland Wonderland topic. On Monday, this terms forest school groups went on a Gruffalo hunt and then created some natural art outdoors. On Tuesday we sorted animals by their habitats and discussed why they are suited to their environments. On Wednesday we wrote about animals that you can find in the woods in Wales. We also painted Little Red Riding Hood characters. On Thursday we had our first PE lessons. We played a simple version of kickball on the field. In Welsh we watched Fflic a Fflac and learned a Welsh rap! On Friday we had lots of fun building bridges using biscuits and icing sugar to help Grandad (from 'The Wild Woods') to cross a river.
What a busy week!
w/b 5th September 2016
We had a very busy first week back! Our topic for this term is 'Woodland Wonderland' and our focus text is 'The Wild Woods' by Simon James.
Language
In language lessons we started by writing all about our holiday news. The children had lots to tell us! Later in the week we moved on to our storytelling project. This half term our focus text is Little Red Riding Hood. We started by adding actions to the story, drawing a story map and having a go at writing the story without any help.
Maths
Our objectives for this week including recognising and writing numbers to 20/100 with correct formation and orientation, and counting objects accurately. We practised finding missing numbers in number sequences and looking for the number that comes before, after and between given numbers. The children spent time outside playing a game with water spray bottles to identify given numbers, and also practising correct formation with a variety of media (e.g. chalks). We also played a bingo game where we had to match numbers to their names. On Friday we came up with our own top tips for counting carefully and put these in to practise.
In the afternoons this week the children have all had the opportunity to read to me individually and we have also assessed their knowledge of high frequency words. We started our 'Woodland Wonderland' topic with a problem solving activity using our focus topic text. We have also spent some time teaching the rules and routines of the classroom.