Rabbits blog 7
Date: 15th Oct 2023 @ 9:05am
I know it's autumn but all these wet plays...really?! Let's hope this next week is less soggy. We've certainly got a lot to do. The phonics assessments are almost done. These are Little Wandle assessments based on the revision we've been doing this half term and the new y1 digraphs we've learnt (ay, oy, ea, ou). The whole of Y1 phonics is about rapid recall of alternative GPCs. That means they know 'sheep in a jeep' is 'ee' and now I will teach them it could be : ea (treat), y (Penny), ie (Ollie), e-e (these). There are a lot! But Little Wandle is very good at introducing then doing lots of practice. I will send home your own copy of our 'Grow the Code' with ideas of what to use it for and for you to see how amazing your child's brain is! I will need your help to make sure they recognise these alternate GPCs (ea, ie, y, e-e etc) and are able to keep up with the rigorous schedule. It is already having a positive effect on the Y2 children who did this last year, not only in their reading but in their spelling.
We will also be doing a lot of writing this week. We will finish reading our book, Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. I am using all our stories as a way of teaching in-depth comprehension and vocabulary. We were looking at feelings last week and considering words such as delighted, confused, disappointed. We used the story to work out why these were good word choices and how we can tell. I am using 'disappointed is part of the sad feeling family and it means ....' . Vocab is SO important in a child's academic development and you'll be amazed how many words they don't really know. (This is one of my reasons for not liking David Walliams as an author- he uses a wide range of vocab and does to some extent use the context to help explain it but if children are reading these books independently and not seeking help to understand so many words, they are not learning from them. The discussions you can have around Author's Choice of words is huge in growing their brain - at any level of literature. #KeepReadingToYourChild). This week the children will be re-writing the story. They will each have a few pictures from the story and a word mat and each day I will model how to write each little section of the story using the pictures and the word mat. They will then write the first sentence with me and go to their tables to copy that sentence and write the rest of the paragraph. This is a different procedure to how they have done end of half term writing before as they often had 1:1 or very small group work whilst the others were playing. Year 1 now though and they are ready. They are fab!
Have you booked your pupil progress meeting appoinment? On my last check 20 of you had- thanks. I will talk about what you want to talk about but my notes are about how they present in school - socially, emotionally and academically. I will give you an idea of how on track they are to meet end of year 1 expectations (not set in stone!) and give you an idea of their short term targets for autumn 2 in reading, writing and maths. We have 10mins and I apologise now if we get cut off before we've really finished. If you have concerns, I'll give you a chance to raise them at the beginning of our conversation as that will be priority. The first few appointments will be in school then I will dash home to complete the rest. I'm looking forward to our chat- I have so much positive to say about your child! As part of his course requirements Mr Webster would like to listen in on the first few appointments on Monday and Thursday. Please let me know if you are uncomfortable with that as I can get him to make us a hot drink and do some prep outside of the classroom.
No blog next week- I'll be up to my eyes with assessments and prep for the new half term. I did have a parent mention that some Christmas present ideas that are fun and educational might go down well so I'll start making a list and put that in a future blog. In the meantime here's a game to play (we've done it in class so they should be able to tell you how to play it).
Get 20 counters/bits of pasta/lego. Take it in turns to take 1 or 2 of the 'stuff' until there is 1 left over. The person who is left having to take the last bit loses that game. Repeat. (We have found it a little challenging to lose to be honest. But the more you play, the more you start to see a strategy and hopefully realise that losing helps you learn and the more you play...) . If they are getting that, you can start to challenge them with taking 1, 2 or 3 bits. Enjoy!
Mrs H
