Welcome to Year One
Staff in Year One: Mrs Sunderland & Mr Fellender
PE Day : Thursday ( Children to attend school in full PE kits & remain in these all day)
Please see welcome video below for other useful information
Below is an overview of the intended learning throughout this year -
Here are the 'rules' that the children chose for our Class Mission Statement:
Our first topic is 'Brainwaves'.
For our Entry point we talked about our brain and what it controlled. We discussed what an amazing organ it actually is!
We watched a short film explaining the parts of the brain and what each section controlled.
We then all examined a brain....well, a jelly brain!
On Thursday we received a parcel through the post from Professor Sparks!
It was a puzzle!
We had to use the Professor's clues to figure out what he wanted us to do. We worked as a team and looked at all the clues. We worked out that he wanted us to create an obstacle course!
This is because both solving puzzles and exercise are good for our brains!
Before we could build and complete the final challenge, we decided to write some instructions of how to stay safe and also what we needed to do to complete
our obstacle course successfully.
We had lots of fun completing our Obstacle Course! Some of the tasks were easy and some were challenging, but the children
showed lots of resilience and kept trying!
For our Brainwaves Exit Point, we had a morning of 'Puzzles Galore!'
The children had a variety of puzzles to choose from and had lots of fun trying to solve them!
Our next Topic is 'The Magic Toymaker'.
For our Entry Point we received a parcel from the Magic Toymaker, with a challenge inside.
The Toymaker wanted us to work in teams to make our own toys!
We had lots of great ideas and displayed super teamwork!
The finished items were: a speedboat, a lighthouse, a doll's house, a train station & a chocolate coin making machine!
See if you can spot which team built which toy?
For our Knowledge Harvest we worked in teams to answer the following questions:
- What is a toy?
- Why are toys important?
- What toys do you like to play with?
- What toys did you like to play with when you were younger?
In Science we looked at the 'properties' of a variety of toys & then sorted them by these.
We looked closely at soft and hard toys & discussed what materials these were made from & why we thought these materials were more suitable than others.
We then sorted the toys by wood and plastic, and again discussed why these were the best choice.
The children then chose which categories they wanted to draw and drew three toys in each group.
In Art this week, we looked closely at the painting ' The Toyshop Window' by Peter Blake.
We discussed what we could see in the painting and why we thought Peter Blake had chosen to create this work.
We then painted our own 'Toyshop Windows' by painting our favourite toys in each window pane.
In PE we have been working on throwing & catching, and target games. We began using beanbags to throw & catch, then to 'throw, clap , catch'!
When we thought that we had developed this skill with beanbags, we challenged ourselves by repeating the tasks with a sponge ball. This proved a little trickier!
We have been practising under arm throw too.
For Black History Month we have talked about Dr Maya Angelou, an author, poet & civil rights activist.
We discussed her life and her inspirational observations of human nature.
Our favourite quote from her was -Be the rainbow in someone else's cloud.
We discussed what Maya Angelou meant by this and the children were very good at breaking it down to
"just being kind to everyone all of the time, but especially if someone is feeling sad!"
We then went on to listen to one of her poems and the children closed their eyes to visualise what the poem triggered in their own imaginations.
The children then used pastel crayons to re-create their ideas. See if you can spot the 'lions on the loose', 'shadows on the wall' or 'the dragons breathing flame'.
For our Magic Toymaker Exit Point we firstly designed our own puppets, labelling the different parts of our design.
Then we created our designs & had lots of fun playing with our new toys!
Our next topic is FREEZE IT!
For our Entry Point we learned all about the 'Three States of Matter': liquid, solid & gas.
We talked about the atoms within these and how they moved.
We then went into the hall to be atoms!
Can you see when the children are being a gas, liquid or solid?
After our lesson, some children decided they wanted to draw some solids, liquids and gases & label them!
Fantastic!
For our Knowledge Harvest, we all had the opportunity to closely examine some large blocks of ice. The children were asked to consider the following three questions about ice and water :
- What does it look like?
- What does it feel like?
- What can we do with it?
The children then all completed a worksheet with their answers.
In Science this week we learned how to read a scale on a thermometer and then conducted an experiment to see at what
temperature water (a liquid) becomes ice (a solid).
We recorded our findings.
In Geography this week we learned about the 5 oceans of the World.
We learned lots of facts including that the Pacific is the largest and that the Southern (AKA Antarctic ocean) is the coldest!
We also were shocked to learn that the World is covered by 70% water!
This week we have read the book Lost & Found by Oliver Jeffers.
The children were tasked with re-writing the events of the story in their own words. They did an amazing job!
Some children also chose to independently create story maps to support their work.
Below is just a sample of some of the super work the children produced.
In Art we have spent some time looking closely at frosty cobwebs and the amazing natural patterns that spiders make.
We then went on to paint some frosty cobwebs of our own.
We all enjoyed playing in the snow today!
The children had so much fun!
It's that time of year again! We had a lovely afternoon listening to Christmas songs & decorating our tree.
Today we all took part in a Charity Reindeer Run for Wakefield Hospice. Santa even popped in to lead the way!
The Exit Point for our topic was split into two halves.
Exit Point 1 involved the children choosing what flavour ice-lolly they would like to make, what colour handle to have and pouring the chosen liquid into the lolly-maker.
Exit Point 2 was much more fun! This involved the children eating their creations! Yum yum!
We are in full Christmas mode in class now and the children have all written
super independent letters to Santa, with some fantastic illustrations!
It was lovely to read their wishes for Christmas, what they will leave Santa
on Christmas Eve, but particularly their honesty about whether
they have been good all year!
Christmas Jumper Day!
10th December 2021
Happy New Year!
Our new topic for this half-term is All Dressed Up!
For our Entry Point the children all brought their favourite teddy into class and they designed an outfit for them.
We had some fantastic designs & super labelling work!
For our Knowledge Harvest we worked in teams to answer some questions about what we already knew about clothes.
This week we have been doing lots of work around the tradition tale The Elves & the Shoemaker.
We began by re-telling the story, in two parts to help us remember all the important parts of the plot.
Below are some examples of the children's independent work.
Then we worked in teams to act out the story.
We really enjoy doing Drama!
We also wrote our own stories based loosely on the text.
Some children chose to be shoemakers, hat makers or dress makers. We even had a football kit designer!
Below are just a few examples of the exciting and interesting stories the children created.
In Art we looked closely at tartan fabric , discussing the patterns and many colours this design comes in.
We watched a video on how it was made.
We then learned how to use a ruler to draw straight lines and began designing our very own tartan patterns on paper.
Our fantastic designs -
When we were happy with our design, we drew them onto felt fabric using felt tips & a ruler.
Here are our finished pieces -
This week we have been looking at clothes from the past.
We began with the Tudor Period and moved through history all the way to the 2000s.
The children were fascinated by the changes in fashion, especially how the length of a woman's dress hem varied from the Victorian period to the 1960's !
"Oh wow, you can see all her legs!" Exclaimed Florence, when seeing a picture of a lady in a mini-skirt!
Today we were very lucky to have a special visitor who could share her amazing collection of replica historical costumes!
Miss Nicoll is a very talented seamstress and came to explain to the children about the many parts of the costumes worn in some of our historical periods.
The children learned about 'bum pads' and 'false rumps' amongst other things!
The photographs below show just how much the children engaged with this special learning experience.
In Science this week we conducted some experiments to see which fabrics were waterproof.
We talked about what things we could name that were waterproof. We also discussed what this term meant, and it's opposite - permeable.
We discussed what the term 'fair testing' means in Scientific work and why it is important.
We all examined the fabric samples and discussed our predictions before we began.
We also learned how to use a pipette!
When conducting our experiments we observed closely to monitor events.
We also decided to monitor any changes that might take place throughout the day with our fabrics.
For our Exit Point, we all designed our own hat and then created it!
We discussed the importance of using the design stage to really consider what resources will be needed and
also how we want the finished item to look. The children wrote lists and/or labelled their plans so that
when the 'Hat Factory' opened today, they knew exactly what they needed to make their hat.
As you can see, the children did an amazing job of not only sticking to their designs, but also actually creating
some fantastic headwear!!
Our new Topic is OUR WORLD
This morning we began our new topic with our Entry Point.
This was a Treasure Hunt!
The children had to work in teams to locate where a selection of letters were hidden, using abstract photographs of different aspects of our local environment as clues.
They had to collect all 8 letters then arrange them into two words.
They loved tearing around the playground and surrounding areas, hunting for the treasure!
There were lots of cries of : ' We need to find dark green leaves' , ' I can see bricks and wood!' and 'We're looking for concrete I think!'
World Book Day 2022
We have had such a busy and amazing day!
This morning a Superhero interrupted our school assembly to ask for our help!
Bookman had lost his superpower - knowing every book ever written - and needed the children to help him to remember all the amazing books there are!
Year One were the first class to help him & we had a super time using Bookman's props to recall lots of stories &
then working in teams to create human sculptures of story props such as a broomstick, a crown, a bowl & spoon and also a chocolate machine!
The children all looked amazing today in their World Book Day t-shirts!
We have been very fortunate to enjoy a super visit to Ledston Country Estate, to support our current topic.
The children really enjoyed the whole experience, from travelling on the coach to building houses in the woods for their 'pebble people'!
Our day began with learning about how trees change throughout the seasons, including how seeds travel & grow, followed by a treasure hunt outside to find things that come from trees.
Did you know that ping-ping balls are made from trees?
We also learned how to be 'Worm Charmers' by stamping our feet to encourage worms to appear!
We then played 'Cyril the Squirrel & the hungry mice' before tucking into our lunch.
After lunch we looked at how the shapes of leaves can help us to identify the many different types of trees and also the animals who inhabit trees and woodlands.
We then explored the woodlands looking for clues of who lived where.
We also built houses in the woods for our 'pebble people'. Some children worked in teams whilst others chose to build alone.
The teamwork and language the children used during this was superb & I was very proud of them!
We finally enjoyed a story before returning to school.
The listening skills, participation, answers given and behaviour throughout the day from all the children was amazing & they were a credit to our school!
On Tuesday we watched a video on how to make a re-cycled bird feeder. We then all wrote a list of instructions for how to make one of our own.
Here is a sample of our instructional writing -
On Wednesday we rolled up our sleeves and all got a little bit messy making our own bird feeders!
We have had a super day today showing our supporting for Ukraine.
We all looked amazing in our yellow & blue clothes and it really felt like spring had arrived when the children all came in in their many shades of yellow!
We painted sunflowers too, and they looked fantastic displayed on the window!
For the past few weeks in Maths we have been measurement mad!
We have been putting ourselves in height order, measuring classroom objects with paperclips, cubes and centimetres, and also weighing everything we can fit on the scales!
Our daily morning challenge has been based all around this, for example asking the children to list 3 things in our classroom lighter and longer than a ruler, or heavier than a table.
The children have amazed me every day with their accurate predications and explanations for their ideas!
In Science this week we conducted an experiment to see which material was the best for growing seeds.
We conducted a 'fair test' by only changing one element of our experiment - the sand/soil/pebbles and bark. we used the same seed type. a broad bean seed, the same plant pots and added the same amount of water.
We then made our predictions of which material would be the most successful - nearly all the children opted for the soil!
We have placed the pots on our classroom windowsill and are regularly observing them for any changes.
At the beginning of our Art lesson today we went on a nature walk around our local environment to look closely at what trees actually look like!
We quickly realised that trees are not a brown rectangle with a green cloud sat on the top! Nor are they all the same shape and colour!
We then came in to class to put our newly realised observations on paper!
The results were amazing!
For our topic Exit Point we created a ' Promise Tree'.
We began by making leaf shapes by drawing around our hands and cutting them out.
We then all wrote our own promise to help conserve and protect our planet based on the 4R's we had learned about previously : reduce, repair, re-use & recycle.
Our new topic is The Circus is coming to town!
For our Entry Point the children watched some footage from Cirque du Soleil. We then talked about what we had seen and how we felt when we watched it.
Below are a few photos of their faces & also some examples of their written work afterwards.
We recently had a 'Big Top Challenge'.
The children all designed their own Big Top, after discussing the important necessities, i.e. a waterproof sloping roof.
They then, as homework, had the challenge of actually building a successful tent, where a teddy would stay dry over night & the structure would remain in place.
The children were absolutely amazing & very creative with their ideas!
We also had lots of successful creations!
We have been learning about the history of clowns and also about the 3 different varieties of clown.
The white-faced clown is the oldest type, with black face paint used to emphasise their features and with bright red lips.
The Auguste clown is the most popular, recognised by their signature red nose and baggy clothes.
The third type is a hobo/tramp clown, identified by a sad mouth and torn baggy clothes.
The children chose one to write about one type and then paint them. Can you spot which type they chose?
Our Circus Topic is now coming to an end, however, we couldn't finish it without having our own 'Circus School' PE lesson!
Today's subjects were juggling and walking the tightrope!
We began by having one beanbag and throwing it up into the air making a rainbow shape, then catching it. We practiced this until we felt confident to introduce a second beanbag! There was a lot of chanting of 'up and pass' amongst the children!
Those children who felt confident with two beanbags then progressed to trying to juggle with 2 sponge balls, but as these move much quicker than beanbags, this still needs quite a bit of practice!!
Finally, we tackled walking along a thin beam, using our upper body and arms to help us to balance. This was not as easy as it might look and we showed super resilience in trying to master this skill!
The most important thing was that we all had lots of fun!
We had lots of fun celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
We had lots of different Jubilee challenges in class.
We all made a commemorative coaster and a union jack flag too.
Year One's chosen decade of the queen's reign was the 1960's and we learned the song 'It's A Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong
We looked at fashion, films, TV and events of the 60's, before looking more closely at Pop Art by Andy Warhol.
We created our own artwork based on his style.
We also had lots of fun playing a variety of games on the school field, hosted by Mr. Wynne & his Sports Leaders from Woodkirk.
Our final topic this year is MARVELLOUS ME!
In Music this week we began our All About Me theme.
We learned about how music has a pulse and a rhythm.
We clapped the rhythm of our names and also our favourite foods.
We also listened for and tried to join in clapping with the pulse of the nursery rhyme, The Grand old Duke of York.
In Literacy this week we read the lovely book WHAT MAKES ME A ME? where a little boy compares his personality to a variety of people and things, but then also looks at the differences too.
The children enjoyed completing some narrative writing based on this idea, and some of their ideas were really super!
Below are just a few examples of their amazing pieces of work.
In Geography we have begun learning all about the United Kingdom.
Today we learned what an Atlas is and how to use an index to find what we are looking for in non-fiction books.
We looked at a variety of maps and learned how to identify the UK on these.
In Literacy this morning we read then discussed the book Only One You by Linda Kranz
Based on this text, the children then designed colourful posters full of their own positive phrases.
(I hope you love these as much as I do!)
In Science we have been learning all about the human body.
Last week we discussed and named the parts of our bodies, learning the Skeleton Bones song and also looking at the importance of organs such as the heart and lungs.
This week we conducted investigations by completing surveys regarding the hair colour, eye colour, height and body part length of our classmates.
When we had completed our surveys, we then had to study our own findings, to see if there were any patterns or interesting results.
We then recorded our observations in written form on the bottom of our surveys.
The children thoroughly enjoyed their investigations, particularly using the metre stick to measure each other & the adults!
This week we were very fortunate to have a visitor in class, Dave from D-Side.
Dave came to talk to us about how to stay healthy and look after our bodies.
He brought an alien with him, who had lots of questions about how the human body worked and how we looked after it.
The children loved answering all of his questions!
In Science this week we have been conducting experiments to see how easy it is to use only one sense at a time!
We had 5 'Senses Stations' & had to record what we thought we had smelled, tasted, seen, heard & touched.
We then discussed how tricky it can be to be without all of your senses when investigating things!
The majority of children voted that the Tasting Station was their favourite section, I wonder if that had anything to do with the chocolate?!
On Monday we had a 'DT Day!'
This was based all around Fruit & Vegetables.
We began the day by having a little quiz about what we already knew. Then we discussed the difference between fruit and vegetables. We then examined a selection of foods, to look for the telltale seeds which means that the food is a fruit!
We added our food item to either the fruit or vegetable sorting sheet and then double-checked we had all made the right choices!
We then went on to discuss where fruit and vegetables come from, and completed a task by cutting out a selection of pictures of fruit and veg and placing them in trees/on vines/plants, just above the ground or below the ground.
We spotted that fruit grows on vines, plants and trees, whilst vegetables grow near or below the ground.
We also talked about which parts of certain fruits/vegetables we actually eat, i.e. the stalk, the fruit or the root.
In the afternoon we began to think about making our smoothies. We all sampled one Mrs Sunderland had made and tried to guess the ingredients.
The next task involved us sampling a selection of fruits & vegetables to see which ones we liked for our smoothies.
Once we had chosen the ingredients, we helped Mr Fellender to prepare the items and make our smoothies.
Some were nice, whilst others...not so nice!
On Tuesday our writing task involved creating step-by-step instructions for how to make a smoothie.
Here are a few examples of our super work!
In PE this half-term we have been learning how to do Yoga.
This has included not only how to form & maintain the pose, but how to concentrate and focus on our breathing, stretching our muscles to become more flexible and also
how to use visualization techniques for relaxation & winding down.
The children are loving it & are very good!
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