Stay, play and learn was a fabulous way to the end the term! Hopefully everyone managed to sample some of our activities in class.
This term in numeracy and maths we have been learning how important it is to stretch our brains and have a positive attitude towards numeracy. If we don’t get something correct first time, this is not a failure but an opportunity to grow our brains and stretch our learning. We start each maths lesson with a positive message, today we showcased one of the songs we have been learning, have a watch and I guarantee you will be singing it all evening.
In our number talks we have been learning to discuss the strategies of finding out how many there are and then sharing how we could see it and work it out. Over the course of the term we have used concrete material such as the cubes and counting beads to start a number talk, and then we moved onto using our interactive whiteboard with the Rekenrek (this was on show today at Stay, Play and Learn).
In our numeracy work we have been looking at numbers to 100, counting to 100 in 1s and 10s. We have been partitioning numbers to allow us to understand the place value of tens and units (sometimes called ones). The children have all built double digit numbers using sticks of ten cubes and single cubes for units, they have then progressed onto being able to draw a simple picture of this, try it out at home by drawing a double digit number like this (Blue = 23 Pink = 15)
We have also began work on finding the number (one/two) before and after up to 100 and next term we will progress onto using the less than and greater than symbols to compare the value of numbers.
In addition and subtraction we are using number stories (calculations) up to 20. Again we have been using a combination of counting beads, number lines, cubes and our fingers to help us. Some of us can now see a number line in our heads and work out answers this way. Using the game Hit The Button and Sumdog are good ways of engaging with addition and subtraction calculations.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
In our literacy work we have been using good questioning to engage with the texts we are reading. Everyone has now got a bookmark with some questions on it to lead discussions at home to help deepen our comprehension of what we are reading. If anyone has lost their book mark, please dojo to request a new one. And in class we are using the Blooms Button questions to guide our discussions. These questions ask us to use creative thinking, apply our knowledge, remember and understand and also evaluate and analyse what we are reading.
In our talking and listening, we have been using a no hands up rule in class to allow everyone an equal chance of sharing ideas; we use lolly sticks with our names on it to see who will answer/contribute. We understand the value of listening to others as we can learn from each other and we have been given a lot of opportunities for think/pair/share with a partner.
We are continuing to use our vowel house to deepen our understanding of phonics and spelling. Each vowel sound forms part of the story and we are learning that there is more than one way to make a vowel sound for example oi and oy (sometimes there are rules that can help us know which one to use). We are also learning key words in class, a lot of these words don’t follow our spelling rules and so we call then our photograph words (sight words). Here are some of the ways we have been learning how to remember the spellings; THE = Tired Hungry Elephants, SAID = Sally Anne Is Dancing, WAS = Worms And Snakes. You can even make up your own!
In our writing we have been trying to extend our writing by using the conjunctions and/because. We have also learned some ordering opening words for our sentences to help the reader know when or what order things happened in. Some examples are One day, Later, Next, First, After…
Our main focus for our topic work has been Hot and Cold Climates and Scotland. We have now learned where Scotland is on a world map and now know that the capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh. Next term we will be focusing our interdisciplinary learning on science and enterprise, very exciting things to come.
It has been a really busy term, enjoy the holiday.
