Welcome to Newt Class! 

Phonics

Thank you for all your support at home with Phonics and Reading. Enabling your child to regularly practise their phonics has a huge impact on their self-confidence and reading. 

Please continue to revisit all the phonics cards your child has in their reading folder to ensure that they know the phoneme (sound) and practise reading the tricky word cards they have too. We are now beginning to learn alternative sounds so when you hold up a sound card, your child might say 2 different sounds. Eg /ie/ can say /igh/ as in pie or /ee/ as in field.

Each week we will continue to send home a phonics letter, informing you about the sounds we have covered, some of the words we have been practising reading and spelling and the sentences we have read for fluency.  

As we approach the Phonics Screening, your child will also be sent home with a QR code with to access additional phonics resources as preparation. These activities are intended to used often for only a few minutes at a time and can have a huge impact on their confidence. 

Reading

Please can we ask that you send Reading folders into school everyday. We also ask that you ensure your child's reading books are kept in their plastic folders to help prevent damage. Thank you! 

Please remember to practise the inside front cover of your child's reading book. This provides them with the opportunity to practise sounds and words which can be found in the book. This will help your child to develop their automaticity as they read. 

It is really important to write in your child's reading record book when you hear your child read. Supporting your child at home to practise their phonics and reading books makes a huge difference to their learning. Your child will have practised their book 3 times at school before they bring it home. Therefore, your child should be able to read their book fluently and you might notice some prosody* emerging in their reading. This will help to make reading an enjoyable experience at home. 

It is important to share other books at home to develop a sense of reading for pleasure. This will help to extend your child's vocabulary, understanding of stories and in turn will support their writing. Of course it doesn't have to be fiction books that are read, many children love to learn something new from a non-fiction book! Magazines, comics, recipes and instructions are all great things to read together as well! 

*Prosody = reading with expression – with the appropriate rhythm, tone, pitch, pauses, and stresses for the text

Writing

In class we have been exploring the concept of sequencing using time connectives such as first, next, then, after and finally. The children have done some fantastic work ordering our morning routine at school and will be writing about our local walk using time connectives. Please support them at home by encouraging the use of time connectives when completing activities at home. This could be done for making breakfast or dinner, getting ready for school or when going out somewhere for the day.

Maths 

In Maths, we have been exploring measures including length/height, mass, capacity and volume.

We have:

• Explored lengths and heights
• Compared length/height using the vocabulary taller/longer than and shorter than
• Measured items using objects (cubes)
• Measured items in cm using rulers
• Explored mass using the vocabulary heavy/heavier and light/lighter
• Used balance scales to determine which items are heavier/lighter
• Measured mass using cubes
• Explored containers using the terms full, empty and half full
• Discussed the difference between capacity and volume
• Ordered volumes using picture representations
• Measured capacity and volume using cups

Please see the links below for useful measure resources:

Comparing mass - KS1 Maths - Year 1 - BBC Bitesize

Ordering by length and height - KS1 Maths resources for Year 1 - BBC Bitesize

Comparing lengths and heights - KS1 Maths resources for Year 1 - BBC Bitesize

Coming up

Soon we will be moving onto multiplication and division. Please support your child at home by counting with them in steps of 2, 10 and 5. Using physical objects help children understand the concept of ‘lots of’ – anything can be used, for example, pencils, pasta, teddies and Lego.  Once your child has an understanding of counting in groups, sharing objects equally will aid their understanding of division. For example, sharing 20 sweets into 4 groups. We will also be revisiting the concept of doubles and halves which the children would have been introduced to in Reception.

2 times table - KS1 Maths - BBC Bitesize

KS1 Maths: The 10 Times Table with Webster the Spider - BBC Teach

KS1 Maths: The 5 Times Table - BBC Teach