Autumn 1
Hello and welcome.
We are so excited to begin our journey in Year 1!
Here is a helpful guide to what we will be learning this half-term.
Our topic this term is….
'Tell me a story'
We will be focusing on practising telling stories verbally. Children will practise retelling familiar stories and then also make up their own stories too. In English, all of our work will be around storytelling, in D&T we will create our own character puppets and in Music we will learn about timbre and rhythm through fairy tales! It would be helpful for your child to reread traditional tales at home to support them with this topic.
English – The Enormous Turnip
The model text that our first unit will be based on is ‘The Enormous Turnip’. We will practice verbally retelling the story and have opportunities to act it out to deepen our understanding of the events and key vocabulary in it. We will then write our own version of the story, using the story ‘Pattan’s Pumpkin’ by Chitra Sounder as inspiration. We will be focusing on using descriptive language and developing our settings.
Key vocabulary: describe, settings, retell, long ago, one fine day, sow, turnip, ripened, pulled, heaved, tugged, yanked, so, fetch, suddenly, still, but, crooked, overgrown, old woman, old man, character, event, order, big, brown, white, black, speckled.
Maths - Place value within 10
We will practise sorting objects into groups, counting objects, using tens frames to represent numbers, recognise numbers as words, count on, find 1 more, count backwards within 10, find 1 less, compare groups, learn about less than, more than and equal to, compare numbers, order numbers and use a number line.
Key vocabulary: sort, group, count, object, tens frame, represent, numeral, words, 1 more, 1 less, count on, count backwards, compare, less than, more than, equal to, compare, order, number line.
Math - Add and subtract within 10
We will learn and consolidate number bonds to 10, add numbers within 10, learn parts and whole, subtract parts, work on fact families, practising taking away (subtracting), use a number line to subtract and add or subtract 1 or 2.
Key vocabulary: add, subtract, take away, minus, number line, fact families, part, whole.
Science - The Human Body
In Science we will be learning all about 'The Human Body'. Children will name, identify, draw and label parts of the human body as well as learning about the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch and smell).
Key vocabulary: eye, hair, ear, nose, teeth, mouth, neck, elbow, arm, hand, leg, knee, feet, light, dark, blind, hear, loud, quiet, noisy, sweet, savory, salty, sour, bitter, skin, rough, smooth, hard, soft, scent, sniff, stench.
Science – Seasonal changes - Autumn
We will also learn about the changes in Autumn and collect and record data of the amount of rainfall within this season.
Key vocabulary: season, Autumn, daylight, night, weather, rainfall, rain gauge
Computing - Computing systems and networks - improving mouse skills
Children will learn how to log in and navigate around a computer, develop mouse skills, learn how to drag, drop, click and control a cursor to create works of art inspired by Kandinsky and self-portraits.
Key vocabulary: log in, log out/off, mouse pointer, keyboard, password, software, ctrl, right click, layers, drag, digital photograph, login, mouse, click, screen, account, duplicate, tools, menu, username, drag and drop, undo, cursor
Religion and Worldview - How did the world begin?
We will explore a range of creation stories in imaginative ways, children will then present their own ideas using art and language. We will consider how creation stories help some people understand what God is like.
Key vocabulary: belief, Bible, Brahma, create, Christian, creation, creator, Genesis, God, Hindu, Jewish, love, man-made, natural, personality, proof, proud, respect, Shiva, true, talent, Torah, Vishnu.
Design and Technology - Puppets
We will explore methods of joining fabric, design and make a character-based hand puppet using a preferred joining technique, before decorating.
Key vocabulary: decorate, fabric, design, glue, model, hand puppet, safety pin, staple, stencil, template
Music - Timbre and rhythmic patterns (fairytales)
Through fairy tales, children are introduced to the concept of timbre; learning that different sounds can represent characters and key moments in a story. They explore clapping along to the syllables of words and phrases before creating rhythmic patterns to tell a familiar fairy tale.
Key vocabulary: timbre, pulse, rhythm, syllables, strings, timpani, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, flute
Geography - What is it like here?
Children will locate where they live on an aerial photograph and recognise features within a local context. We will create maps using classroom objects before drawing simple maps of the school grounds. We will follow simple routes around the school grounds and carry out an enquiry as to how our playground could be improved.
Key vocabulary: aerial photograph, aerial view, atlas, city, country, directional language, distance, features, globe, improve, key, land, locate, location, map, north, place, questionnaire, sea, survey, town, village
Outdoor PE: Playground games
We will practise and play playground games such as skipping, hopscotch, duck goose, what’s the time Mr Wolf? This will help the children to learn and use rules and work in groups.
Key vocabulary: skip, hop, wait, turn, rules, run, walk, group
Indoor PE: Multi-skills
We will focus on the skills of throwing, catching, jumping and running. Children will learn how to move in a forwards, backwards and curved pathway whilst moving in a variety of ways such as hopping, crawling, galloping. We will balance with control on more than one body part simultaneously, throw objects underarm, kick a ball towards a target and catch a ball whilst stationary.
Key vocabulary: throw, run, catch, jump, pathway, forwards, backwards, hop, crawl, gallop, side step, control, balance, underarm, target, stationary
PSHE - Family and relationships
We will explore how families can be different, learn about the characteristics and impact of positive friendships. We will discuss and learn that issues can be overcome, people show feelings differently and that stereotyping is unfair.
Key vocabulary: behaviour, care, emotions, family, feelings, friend, friendly, problem, stereotype
Important dates:
Teacher training days – Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th September 2024.
Term begins – Thursday 5th September 2024.
Term ends - Friday 25th October 2024.