Where in the world?
For the past three weeks, we have had a mini topic of “Where in the world?”.
The children have been learning all about the world around them: which town they live in, which country their town is in and the names and locations of the continents and oceans.
They have enjoyed listening to a song about the continents to help learn their names and a song about the oceans, too. Today, we put all of that knowledge together and labelled both the continents and the oceans.
This lesson linked in with our homework – “I know some Where in the World facts”. Here are some facts that we knew.
- Eliza – ‘I learnt how to say hello in Spanish “Ola”.’
- Ellie – ‘I learnt the 5 oceans – the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Southern and the Artic.’
- Jack – ‘I learnt how to say good afternoon in different languages – Buenas tardes (Spanish) boa tarde (Portuguese) bonne après-midi (French) guten nachmittag (German).’
- Daisy and Emilija – ‘We learnt the names of the different continents – Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, Antarctica, North America and South America.’
Living and Learning: I can take a safe risk and be responsible
In our Living and Learning session, we talked about taking safe risks and taking responsibility for your own learning. We discussed what responsibility is and decided that when you are responsible for something it is up to you to make sure it happens.
Jack told us that it is the children’s own responsibility to make sure that they take their things to school, not their mum’s responsibility. Louie told us that each child is responsible for their writing – we discussed this and decided that children are responsible for making their writing neat and making sure they write enough. Leah told us each child is responsible for bringing their PE Kit. When asked about homework, Ava said when the teacher asks you to do it you have to do it. We decided together that when the teacher gives you homework it is your responsibility to make sure you do it.
We talked about risks and what kind of risks are safe and what kind of risks are not safe. We decided as a class that it is safe to put your hand up in class and have a go at answering a question. We also decided it is safe to try new activities and to try to read a book that looks tricky. Talking about doing work you are not sure you can do Willow told us, “If you don’t know how to do it, you can try it and take a risk.”
Fantastic Creative Homework
This week, year 1 and 2 were given the creative homework task: I can show what I know about a country. They could choose any country they wished and present this in any way. Here are a few of our creative homework with a wide variety of countries represented.
Living and Learning: to be ready and to respond
This week our living and learning statement is “I can I am ready to learn and I can respond to feedback“.
We talked about how we can show we are ready to learn.
Jack said, “We need to look at the teacher, have your book out and get a pencil ready.”
Dexter said, “We follow instructions.”
Willow said, “We are ready by listening, looking at the teacher and doing whatever they ask you to do.”
We talked about feedback and how we use it to know what we did well and how to improve. The things that help us improve are our next steps in our books.
Library Visit
Today, your child has brought home a book from our school library.
Each week, we will visit the library and the children have an opportunity to take home a book each week. Books will be changed each week at school – this will usually be on a Tuesday.
Have a look at our excited faces at being able to take a book of our choice home!
Living and Learning: I can greet someone politely
This Living and Learning statement is the first of the half-term. It launches our theme of friendship, which is one of the Christian values.
‘A friend loves at all times.’ (Proverbs 17:17)
We talked about how to greet someone politely and the different things we could say. We discussed how our tone of voice and body language can influence our greetings. We turned to the person next to us and greeted them.
Here are some of our greetings:
- Hello, I hope you have a nice day.
- How are you today?
- Are you having a nice day?
- Hello, what are you called?
Living and Learning: I can reflect and look ahead.
This week, our living and learning statement is “I can reflect and look ahead”. We talked about what things had gone well this year and what we would like to improve next year.
Here are a few of our comments and ideas:
Nicholas: “Reading has gone well for me this year. Next year, I will try to read a chapter book.”
Jack: “This year I have found it difficult to count in 2’s. Next year, I will get better at counting in 2’s”.
Jacob: “I have got better at maths this year and have answered a lot of maths questions. Next year, I will try to get better at handwriting”.
Joe: “I’ve improved my English – sometimes I can write lots of lines. Next year, I will make my learning better by listening to Mr Mills and Mrs Richardson.”
Noah: “I didn’t always bring my homework in this year. I will bring it in all the time next year.”
Ellie: “I have got better at writing this year. It was rubbish but it’s better now. I will keep trying in year 2.”
Willow: “At the start of year 1, my writing was not on the line and now it is. Next year, I will keep practising my joined up writing and get it as good as the teacher”.
Mikey: “One time, I didn’t get warnings. Next year, I am going to try harder not to get warnings by not being mean to people.”
Brooklyn: “This year, I have too many warnings. Next year, I will be good and be kind to each other.”
Living and Learning: I cope with change
In today’s living and learning session, we talked about changes that have happened to us in the last year or changes that we are expecting to happen. We talked about how some of these might be positive or more challenging and the different strategies we have to cope with these changes.
Here are some of the changes that the children are facing and how they are feeling.
“Hannah is going to have a baby, it’s going to be a girl and we’re going to have an extension at daddy’s house. This is an exciting change”
“This year I’ll be 7 and I’ll be going to Brownies. I feel nervous but it is an exciting change.”
“I didn’t use to fight with my sister but now we fight a lot. This is a bad change that I want to fix.”
“I have a baby sister now. I feel happy.”
“I’m going to play football in September. I’m nervous but I feel good about it.”
“It’s an exciting one. I’ve got a new room. I’ve got a new bed and it’s a big one.”
“I’ve got my own bedroom now and it’s in a new house.”
The day the classroom quit!
This fortnight, we have been reading The Day the Crayons Quit.
In this story, Duncan comes into the classroom and discovers his crayons have quit for various reasons. Red Crayon is tired of colouring strawberries, Santas and fire engines; Orange Crayon and Yellow Crayon are fighting over who is the true colour of the sun; Blue Crayon is used too much so it short and stubby and Grey Crayon is fed up of colour such big animals like Hippos and Whales.
This week, we have written our own stories pretending to be different items from the classroom that quit. The children came up with some really imaginative ideas as to why each item might quit. Here is a few examples of our letters to Duncan.
Living and Learning: I tell the truth and say sorry if I need to.
Today, we read the story “Tiddler”. Tiddler the fish makes up stories about why he is late for school, every day. No-one ever believes these stories. One day, Tiddler is VERY late for school because he has been captured in a fishing net and got lost. Nobody believes his reason for being late to school.
We talked about how if you tell lies nobody will believe you when you tell the truth.
Lilly : “It’s like the boy who cried wolf”.
We also spoke about when we might need to say sorry.
Evie – “If I tell a lie”.
Everybody makes mistakes that might affect or hurt somebody else and it is best to tell the truth and say sorry.
Fleur – “I’d say I did it … I’d say sorry.”
Jemima – “It’s best if you tell the truth and say sorry”
