What a fun week!!!

I don't know about you but I feel like this week has flown by!!! Must have been all the fun things we've been learning about.

On Monday we had a great day with our teddies. They made sure we were on our best behaviour, because did you know? Teddies don't know how to behave at school. They've never been before and certainly not into Year One. So we showed them how it's done. 

Maths

In maths we've been going of what makes up numbers. What does 23 actually stand for. Now we know that the 2 is in the tens column and it doesn't mean 2 at all. It stands for 20. or 2 ten sticks if we're using base 10. The 3 is in the ones column or the units column (It means the same thing). The 3 is worth 3 cubes if we're using base 10. We also know this is a 2-digit number, made up of 2 digits to make 1 number. 

We're also learning that if you switch the digits over, it makes a completely different number. so if we mean twenty-three, we must write it as a 2 then a 3, like this 23.

Here are some numbers we made using base 10. Can you guess what numbers these are?

We showed the value of numbers by representing 10 as a block and units as dots to make numbers under 50.

We started comparing numbers today. Which numbers are big or great numbers, which are small or less numbers. We watched a funky and catchy song about the number gator to help us learn a new concept.

The number gator  likes to eat the greater number 12 < 48

So we had a go at playing a game of number gators.

In pairs each person rolled a die and wrote it on their whiteboard. Then they had to compare the two numbers to decide which was greater. After that, they could make a gator symbol to gobble up the larger number.

Sometimes there was a conundrum to be solved as both people rolled the same number! What are the odds!!! But these 2 girls knew just what to do, they made an equal symbol to say that the numbers were equal to each other, they were the same, so one couldn't be greater or less than the other.

 AGAIN? You're pulling my leg, surely.

Here's a fun comparing game I found, learning how to use the < > symbols.

Computing
On Friday afternoons, we've been thinking about how to use the internet safely, by going over the SMART rules.

So far we have learnt to be weary of what we accept on the internet such as, 

• friend requests from people we don't know. 
• emails from people we don't know.
• attachments we haven't asked for.
• terms and conditions we haven't read....

We know that we should delete things we're unsure off, kiss goodbye webpages we don't like the look of and ask adults for help about anything we aren't sure of.

This week we learnt about reliable sources of information. Miss Morris had her wires crossed and believed that the moon was made of cheese. Boy was I wrong. We used 3 websites to double check the theory. Then just to be sure, we borrowed some non-fiction space books from Miss Pratchett to see if books could teach us about the moon so we could find out the true about its material.

We found out that Mr Sherwood doesn't have a secret identity as Mr Smith by asking him to tell us the truth about his name. So it's good to double, maybe even triple check your information using a variety of sources.

Then afterwards we played on prodigy. Don't they look like a bunch of hamsters all packed into the reading corner together. Bit of a contradiction there.

Happy New Year!

It's 2018, a fresh start and what a great first day! The children were beautifully behaved, in a zombie-ish quiet kind of way. I Think some fingers have been dying to wrap themselves around a pencil because they all did some great writing using capital letters and full stops.

It's great to be back, but this wasn't the main reason why I'm updating the blog. It was more of a heads up about a few upcoming events.

This half term, we will be learning about Kings and Queens. 

I wanted to mold it towards the children's interests. No point in learning about beheadings when really they wanted to learn about the family tree. So I've asked them to go home and have a think this weekend, maybe do a bit of pre-research about Kings and Queens and things associated with this era.

Things we have already come up with are:

• The Current Queen and her family
• Tales of Dragons and Knights
• Coats of arms
• Shields, helmets and swords
• Maybe even host a banquet/dress up day at the end of the half term, with mead (apple juice).

Have a little think about it and write a few bullet points of what you would like to learn about, maybe something you have found in a book, or some research you have found out using search engines.

Lois has already done some research into the Queen's corgis. She found out names of her previous dogs but was left wanting more. What are the names of her Corgis now? 
Then Mrs Ivory had an amazing idea... Why not write to the Queen and ask her? Let's do that!!!

English

In English next week we will be reading a story about a girl who loses her teddy whilst helping Dad with some chores in town. So that we can recreate our own lost teddy story the week after. On Monday I'd like the children to bring in a soft toy of their own so that it can feature on the front cover of their story. We will be talking in pairs about our teddy; why we chose to bring this one in, where did we get it from, what it feels like, what is our soft toy called, what adventures have you been on together.

Miss Morris will also be bringing in a teddy of her own and will tell the story of the time she left it on the bus. 

PE kits

Not sure if the message has got around to everyone, but tomorrow is Friday and therefore is PE day. We will no longer be doing yoga as a regular weekly thing anymore, instead this slot will be our gymnastics time, where the children will work towards their Bronze and maybe even their Silver badge award. So get practicing those forward rolls and tuck jumps.

Maths

In maths this very short week we've been recapping about place value. We have played on a game called pop the penguin as a class. "It's sooo fun" says Eesah. Have a little try of this at the weekend if you like. We've mostly been focusing on 2 digit numbers, with the odd dabble of 3 digit numbers. There is a mini game however where you have to do addition with regrouping, I've been completing that round for them because it's kind of tricky. see how you go.