Year 1 - Rainbow Fish & Elmer

Elmer & Rainbow Fish

Year 1 Autumn 2

Reading:

Our class book this half term is ‘The Naughty Bus’. We are going to explore the story using our detective skills to make predictions about what might happen next. We will use clues from the front cover and illustrations to help us think about the characters and events in the story.

We are also going to continue developing our reading skills through the Read Write Inc. phonics scheme. The children have been reassessed and are now settled into their new phonics groups. Parents can expect to receive a copy of the reading book their child is currently working on in their phonics group, alongside a 'Book Bag' book to support reading at home.

Writing:

We are going to explore the story of The Naughty Bus and use it as inspiration for our own writing. We will practise sequencing events from the story using time adverbials such as ‘first, next’ and ‘finally’. We are also going to explore how to make our writing more exciting by choosing interesting adjectives and using prepositions such as ‘under, on top’ and ‘next to’ to describe where things are.

Building on our geography learning about London landmarks, we are going to explore newspaper reports and use the adventures of the Naughty Bus to inspire our own. The children will imagine that the Naughty Bus has caused mischief by destroying a popular London landmark and will write a report explaining what has happened.

Key vocabulary: punctuation, prepositions, adjectives, nouns.

Maths:

We are going to explore different methods of addition, including using part-whole models and bar models to help us understand how numbers can be combined. We will use a range of practical resources, such as Multilink, counters and Numicon, to support our learning and develop our mathematical understanding.

We are also going to explore number bonds within and to 10, building our confidence in recognising and recalling different number combinations. Alongside this, we will develop our problem-solving skills by exploring different ways to solve addition calculations.

We will then move on to subtraction, exploring how we can use part-whole models, bar models and number lines to help us take away and find the difference between numbers.

Key vocabulary: add, plus, more, less, partition, equals, take-away, subtract, minus, fact families, number bonds.

Science:

We are going to explore everyday materials and investigate the difference between an object and the material it is made from. We will discover the properties of different materials and explore how we can sort and group them according to their characteristics.

We are also going to explore how different objects can be made from the same material and consider why certain materials are more suitable for particular purposes. To develop our scientific understanding, we will investigate a range of materials to find out which would be most suitable for making an umbrella or a raincoat.

Through practical investigations, we are going to explore how absorbent, waterproof, stretchy or rigid different materials are. We will use our observations to help us make our house and record our findings scientifically.

Key vocabulary: wood, metal, plastic, rock, brick, glass, paper, waterproof, absorbent, stretchy, hard, soft, bendy, rigid, shiny, dull.

Topic: Geography:

We are going to explore the famous landmarks of London as part of our cross-curricular learning linked to ‘The Naughty Bus’. We will discover some of the capital's most recognisable landmarks and develop our understanding of where they are located.

We are also going to explore directional language and build on our previous learning about Our Local Area. Using this knowledge, the children will have the opportunity to programme Bee-Bots to travel around a map of London, following directions to visit different landmarks.

Key vocabulary: London, landmarks, forward, back, north, south, east, west, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Buckingham Palace.

Topic: History:

We are going to explore toys from the past and present, looking at how toys have changed over time. We will discover what toys were like during the Victorian era and compare these with the toys children play with today.

We are also going to explore the similarities and differences between old and new toys, thinking about the materials they are made from and how they have changed over the years.

To bring our learning to life, we will explore how to make a traditional Victorian toy: a cup and ball catcher. The children will use their understanding of toys from the past to write their own instructions explaining how to make one.

Key vocabulary: same, different, compare, old, new, vintage, decade, century, material, object.