Year OneAutumn 2 Curriculum Overview

Our topics this half term are:‘After Dark’ and Christmas

We hope this letter gives you an overview of what we will be covering, so that you can continue any learning at home if you wish to.

Guided ReadingWe are starting a new three week cycle of reading. During the first week, your child will read their chosen colour band book to an adult on a 1:1 basis and a comment will be written in their reading diaries. During the second and third week, a chosen text will be read and looked at by the whole class. Your child will complete a range of reading activities based on the text, for example predicting what might happen next or think about how a character is feeling. The cycle will then start again.

Reading at homePlease continue to read with your child at home as much as possible and tick off the Reading Challenge. Don’t forget to use Bug Club!

PhonicsWe have phonics sessions every day and we will be learning new Phase 5 sounds. Phase 5 consists of alternative sounds e.g. the digraph ‘ay’ for clay instead of using ‘ai’. It also includes split digraphs e.g. a_e for cake instead of using ‘ai’ or ‘ay’ for caik / cayk. The sounds are:

WritingOur focus this half term is creating an information text known as a non-chronological report about a chosen nocturnal animal. We will learn about the key features of an information report for example headings and sub-headings. We will be practising writing sentences focusing on using capital letters, word spaces and full stops. We will be continuing to focus on using adjectives to describe as well as challenging children to use a conjunction, for example ‘and’, ‘because’ or ‘so’.

HandwritingWe will be practising forming our lower case letter shapes, which look like this: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w

x y zWe will be learning the ‘curly caterpillar’ family and the letters are:

a c e d f g o q sWe will be learning the ‘zig zag monster’ family and the letters are:

v w x zWe will continue to learn the different families the letters belong as well as the letter rhymes as it helps to remember how to correctly form each letter shape.

Dory Wavy Words Every week, your child will receive a set of three ‘Dory Wavy Words’ to learn to spell. If your child can spell these three words correctly throughout their work, they will be able to move onto the next set. If your child comes home with the same words as the previous week, they need more practise spelling those words correctly and consistently. Please support your child spelling these words at home.

Word AwareThroughout the topic we will be teaching the below space related vocabulary in an interactive way. ‘Anchor Words’ being the easiest through to ‘Rigging Words’ being the most challenging. Please discuss the meanings of these words with your children and how you might use them verbally.

Anchor Words Sailing Words Rigging Wordsdarklight

animalfireworkbonfire

nocturnalGuy Fawkes

habitatpredator

prey

Protestant Catholic

omnivoreherbivorecarnivore

MathsWe will be learning all about money including recognising the different coins and notes. We will also be measuring different heights and lengths in lots of practical contexts. We will also be learning how to write number sums using the addition +, subtraction – and equal = signs.

ScienceWe will be learning about living things and their habitats. We will understand that animals hunt for their food and are either predators or

prey. We will understand whether animals are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. We will also compare two animal habitats.

HistoryWe will be learning about The Gunpowder Plot, the significance of the event and why it is still remembered today. We will learn about Guy Fawkes and why he wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James 1st.

ArtWe will be learning how to create a clay sculpture of a nocturnal animal using different techniques including pinching and rolling.

P.E.We will be working with Mrs Gardiner, an external P.E. specialist on Wednesday. We will be developing our movement to music skills by moving to a beat, copying a dance pattern and linking dance movements together.

ComputingWe will be learning how to use a search engine on the internet to find information about nocturnal animals. We will also be using the iPads to record our voices on an app and make a picture move.

Crew ChallengesThere are now three Crew Challenges for the children to complete every week during their independent learning Discovery Time. These challenges consolidate previous learning and are differentiated to your child’s ability. These will be explained on a Monday and the children have to show their completed challenges by Friday. Please encourage your children to complete a Crew Challenge every day and the challenge posters are displayed on each classroom window.

Water Bottles and Healthy SnacksPlease make sure that your child brings in a water bottle every day to school, ensuring that this is clearly named. We provide a healthy snack every day for your child which is either a piece of fruit or vegetable.

Home LearningHome learning will focus on activities linked to our topic for you and your child to enjoy together throughout the half term. The pink home learning book will go out on a Thursday and should be returned the following Tuesday. We make sure that we mark and celebrate your child’s work.

Christmas PerformancesThis year the four classes have been split into two groups consisting of two classes per group, so that the children have more of an opportunity to ‘shine’ on stage. Please find the relevant information below: Octopus and Lobsters: Tuesday 10th December at 9:30am or 2:15pmSeahorses and Turtles: Thursday 12th December at 9:30am or 2:15pm

Please come and speak to your child’s class teacher if you have any queries or questions.

Thank you,The Year One Team