Year 1 & 2 - Monday 20th July

Dear Parents

Here is our final blog for the strangest of academic years. I hope you have made it through the weeks and months largely intact and I would like to extend all of you our deepest respect, love and eternal gratitude for all you have done - be it work related or just being there for your children when we could not.

We have made a little presentation of possible ideas you can do during the holidays if you so desire. All of these things are optional but if you are at a loss as to what to do at any point in the summer maybe it will be of some help.





The last page of the slide details the creation of a memory project regarding lockdown:





We intend to use these creations in September as a means of "reconnecting" the children with each other and bridging the long gap in which we have been apart. Even a very small, simple thing, such as a photo or picture, will help your child share their experience with their class mates.

A reminder about the information regarding staggered starts shared on the website last week. Remember - your child will return to the same class as they were in in March.




This shows the time your child arrives and leaves school. If they have a brother or sister in another class, they both arrive and leave at the earliest of the 2 times.

Example - if you have children in Opal and Amethyst, they would both arrive and go into class at 8:45am and both be picked up at 3:10pm.

We wish you all a truly wonderful summer holidays and we are all very much looking forward to welcoming all our children back in September! If you have any questions or concerns at anytime, please contact us on our email:

ks1@downhallprimary.com

Mr Jude, Mrs Yuille & Miss Langley

Year 1 & 2 - Friday 17th July

Friday Science Fix!

Wow, we have arrived at the last Friday blog before the holidays!  Today's science is experiment based so grab your laboratory coats and get ready! 😉

Given that the rainbow has come to symbolise so much throughout this strange time we have all had, let's take a closer look... how and why does a rainbow just appear?  Have a chat to find out what your learner knows.  If you want a discussion starter then look again at the fabulous slide show from the Guinness Art World Record that we took part in.  Can you see your own drawing or that of someone you know?  Why IS there a rainbow sitting above the whale?

Art World Record with Rob Biddulph

Now try this:

Mmm... so what exactly is happening?

This is a super simple experiment and there are plenty more to choose from.  Whether it's a vinegar volcano, a tornado in a bottle or making your own lava lamp that takes your fancy, you will definitely not be bored today!  

                   

https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments.html

There are over 40 different experiments to choose from on this page of the science kids website and most things needed to do them are everyday items that can be found in your kitchen.  So, be brave and get busy with some science exploration - you can do it!  Do send us in any photos of your fabulous creations and experiments as we love to look at what you've been up to.

There will be one more blog on Monday to sign off, so even though there will not be daily work set, please DO check this as it may include important information. 

As always, best wishes for a great weekend from the KS1 Team.

Year 1 & 2 - Thursday 16th July

Good morning and welcome to Thursday!  Today's planned blog is below, before that something different!  If you haven't already then please head over to the PTA Facebook page to see Miss Langley's post about her very exciting news!  Beautiful baby Hallie arrived safely earlier this week weighing 7lbs 12oz, she is just adorable.  Your first task today is to make a congratulations card or note for Miss Langley. You can take a picture of it and send it to us on the KS1 email and we will make sure she gets it, or just pop it through the door at school and we will pass it on.  Remember you can use any of your creative skills and techniques you have learnt; drawing, collage, etc.

Now here is the planned blog where you can get creative making some healthy snacks in the kitchen!

Why not make more than one and then carry out a taste test to score your snacks!  Wishing you lots of fun this Thursday with these creative activities.

Best wishes

KS1 Team

Year 1 & 2 - Wednesday 15th July

Thank you all for joining us here on this final Wednesday!

English - Fables: New Version

So with our plans in hand we are ready for one final push! Our "At The Seaside: Hare & The Tortoise!"

Year 1's

It can be easier to look at the text from an existing version of "The Tortoise and The Hare" and identify what needs to be changed. You could highlight or underline what aspects need to change in this simple re-telling of the story.



Then above this, you could write what you would change that to. In my example, the race will be across the beach between a crab and a limpet. The crab has a snooze by a sandcastle and loses the race.



If you want to write this out for your own story, fine - otherwise, good job!

Year 2's

You could do just the same as above - I appreciate you might be burnt out from all this home learning (children & parents!). If you are up for a challenge, use the above structure for your own independent writing. Remember to draw upon all the areas of our writing that we have looked at this term - capital letters, full stops,adjectives and conjunctions (and, but, so, because) - even maybe adverbs (-ly words).

Enjoy your new fable creations!


Maths - Writing The Time

We have been practising reading time, now we are ready to try writing times on blank clocks. The approach to this is the same as reading. Start with the minute hand (remember this must touch the number).

• If the time is o'clock: draw the minute hand to the 12;
• If the time is half past: draw the minute hand to the 6;
• If the time is quarter past: draw the minute hand to the 3;
• If the time is; quarter to: draw the minute hand to the 9.

Next the hour hand:

• If the time is o'clock: draw the hour hand pointing at the number;
• If the time is half past: draw the hour hand pointing past the number;
• If the time is quarter past: draw the hour hand pointing just past the number;
• If the time is quarter to: draw the hour hand going towards the number.

Let's give it a go! This game on Top Marks will give us some times to write:

http://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/hickoryDickory/index.html

From the menu choose Level One but only choose the times that suit your child.




We then get a time:





We can write these on to a blank clock:






Happy days! If you are still struggling with time, consider teaching the following phrase: "Siri, what's the time?"
KS1 Team

Year 1 & 2 - Tuesday 14th July

A warm welcome to Tuesday! Before we get started, Miss Sharman has added up all the scores for our School Sports Week Extravaganza and (after being verified by Mrs Hurley) we can reveal the results from the week:

1st - Deepdene

2nd - Hambro

3rd - Teignmouth

4th - Brooklyn

Well done to all of you who got involved and helped their house team!

English - Fables: New Version

After our work on reading Fables last time, we are now going to try to create our own version of a fable. Again, the easiest way to achieve this as we have before is by changing the fable's setting.

As a model, we will try to set the fable "The Hare & The Tortoise" in a setting more in keeping with our project "At The Seaside." We could set this race under the sea or across the beach. This first planning sheet should help us decided upon a setting:




In the first, bigger box we need to draw a picture of where our new setting will be. In the smaller second box, we will put in some words that might come in handy when we are writing - animals and features of the setting.

For example: Under The Sea - shark, jellyfish, turtle, octopus, lobster, shipwreck, seaweed, sand, coral.
At The Beach - crab, limpet, gull, sandcastle, rock pool, marram grass, shore.

Once this is completed we can turn our attention to the finer points of our new story:




Here we need to choose 2 animals to replace the hare and the tortoise. As it says in the boxes, the first character needs to be slow and the second, fast. Don't worry about this too scientifically, just so long as comparatively there is one quicker than the other.

The final, bottom box needs to show why the fast character loses the race. This could be because they fall asleep (in a rock pool, on some seaweed) or you could go for a more original idea (they get stuck in a sandcastle/shipwreck/treasure chest).

Have fun planning!

Maths - Reading Times

We dipped our toe in the reading of times yesterday and today we will look at some more. The main learning points when reading the time are as follows:

There are 2 hands that tell us the time. 
The 2 hands tell us 2 different things which we put together to know what the time is.

The longer hand is called the minute hand - it tells us which type of time it is (o'clock, half past etc).
The shorter hand is called the hour hand - it gives us the number part of the time.

An aside to hands. Firstly, do not even mention the second hand! Secondly, I try to not use short and long hand on its own too much. Try to call them by minute and hour hand. The minute hand is long and touches the numbers; the hour hand is shorter and does not quite reach the numbers.

When reading the time, first look at the minute hand; if it points at the:

• 12 - It is ___o'clock.
• 6 - It is half past ___.
• 3 - It is quarter past ___.
• 9 - It is quarter to ___.

Once you know what type of time it is, look at the hour hand to fill in the missing number.

If the time is:

• O'clock, quarter past, half past - look at the number the hour hand is pointing at or just past.
• Quarter to - look at the number the hour hand is going towards.

Let's give it a go:

Year 1 - End of Year Expectations: Read to the half hour

Year 2 - End of Year Expectation: Read to the quarter hour

Year 2 - Greater Depth (Super Hard Black Belt Challenge): Read time to 5 minutes

Only try this last one if your child is feeling super confident. In order to read to 5 minutes you need to count round the clock in 5's to where the minute hand is (up to half past) and count back round the clock (after half past).

This gives you how many minutes past or how many minutes to the hour we are. The hour hand needs to be read in the same way - past - what it has gone past; to - what is going towards.

I hope you brain has not melted.We are with you (metaphorically) every step of the way:)

KS1 Team

Year 1 & 2 - Monday 13th July

Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody to what is the last official full week of blogs. There will be a special task for next week to bring us to the end of term but this is the last week of Monday-Friday blogs from Key Stage 1.

I really hope you have been able to take something from the blogs (all 70 of them) and it has helped you in the unenviable task of homeschooling which, in my opinion, you have all done so well.

Although we will all be back to normal in September, we will still hope to continue the blogs, albeit less regularly than everyday! Send us an email to let us know what kind of information you would find helpful to be shared in these blogs and we will see what we can do to best serve everybody.

English - Fables

We mentioned Fables waaay back in the Spring Term and we story mapped some of these. This week, we will look at some more fables to do more formal work in this genre.

First, we can read some fables on MyOn. Go to this site:

www.myon.co.uk

Then click to log in - you need to type in Down Hall but then select our school from the drop down menu (it won't work if you only type it in) and enter your user name and password. If you cannot remember these, just email us and we can send you a reminder.



From here, click on the Search tab and look for different fables. All these fables below are available to choose from:

• The Ant and The Grasshopper
• Belling The Cat
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf
• The Country Mouse and The City Mouse
• The Crow and The Pitcher
• The Donkey In The Lion's Skin
• The Dog and The Wolf
• The Fox and The Grapes
• The Lion and The Mouse
• The Tortoise and The Hare

We will use this last one to create our own versions of a fable over the next two days but for now read (or get MyOn to read to you!) a selection of the fables to get a feel for their style.

If you wish to extend this learning you can use the table below to analyse the selection of fables you chose.

Maths - Reading Time

Time is one of the most divisive elements we teach in maths - children tend to "get it" or "don't get it." I still remember as a 7 year old, I fell into the latter group! Let's watch this ultra serious video to get us started:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zhk82hv/articles/zcmdwxs

We can practice reading the time using the game on this website:

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/117/telling_the_time_in_words#

From the menu screen, choose the level that your child feels most comfortable with - build up slowly. End of year expectations ask for Year 1's to read the time to the hour and half hour, Year 2's add quarter to and quarter past to this with reading to 5 minute increments representing Greater Depth level of understanding.




If you want to change the level, click on the button with three lines in the top right corner to return to the menu.

Try some of these out and see how you go!
KS1 Team

Year 1 & 2 - Friday Sports

Good morning and welcome to the finale of Sports Week!





We wish you all well!
KS1 Team

Year 1 & 2 - Friday 10th July

Friday Science Fix

Today for our science we will look a little more closely at the type of pollution that ends up on beaches and in oceans and exactly how it gets there!

Slide show - Seaside Litter

First open up the slide show, look at slides 1 and 2 together and have a chat about where litter and pollution comes from and how it travels.  Slide 3 is a beach litter picture.  If you are able to print this out it can be used as a colouring activity.  (If you are not printing do not worry, the activities below can still be done looking at the screen)

Materials and Properties

Ask your learner to colour the litter and as they are doing so, to think about the materials that each one is made from, for example; metal, plastic, paper/card, wood, rubber, glass etc.  

Have a chat about whether these materials are found naturally in the environment or whether they are man made and if you can, find some similar items in the kitchen or around the house to look at.  Ask your learner to describe the properties of the materials, here are some words to help you:

    hard        soft        bendy/ flexible        strong

    fragile        dull        transparent        opaque

    waterproof            absorbent        shiny

Data Collection and Presentation

Maths and science have strong links, and maths skills are very important for gathering evidence for scientific study.  Every year the Marine Conservation Society organise the Beachwatch Big Weekend where thousands of volunteers clean up hundreds of beaches and survey the types of litter found, so let's see if we can follow this same process looking at slide 3, or your finished coloured picture!

First you will need to make a tally chart like this.  

It's a good idea to draw a line through each piece of litter in your picture as you enter it on to the tally chart, so that you get accurate results!

Now that you have collected your data, can you show the information in a bar chart?  If you don't have squared paper do not worry, you can draw a simple chart like the one below, or even cut up squares of coloured paper to stick in a line to represent each bar.  In fact this might be more fun, you could use different colours or material to represent each one, for example, silver foil for metal because it is shiny! Just remember to leave enough room for your tallest bar and give your chart the most important things; a title and clear labels!

   

However far you get with this activity, we would love to see any of your fabulous work; pictures, tally charts or bar charts.  If you want more you could investigate other ways of representing data such as pictograms.  There is an excellent interactive resource here on Topmarks if this takes your fancy.

If taking part in an organised beach clean is something that you would like to do then you can find out about the Marine Conservation Society events here on the 'beach clean events' tab.  If there isn't one set up in our area then you can even organise your own, with their help!

Remember you can always contact us via the email, ks1@downhallprimary.com, we do love to hear from you!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Best wishes

KS1 Team

Year 1 & 2 - Thursday Sports

Good morning everybody!

In between craft activities today, here is your Sports Day Challenge:




Good luck!
KS1 Team

Years 1 & 2 - Thursday 9th July

Hello,

We hope you are all having a lovely week. As many of the children will have finished their lovely under the sea collages, today is a selection of art activities showing different techniques for how to make fish. At school the children would have been learning how to sew their own fish, although we appreciate many of you will not have the resources to do this at home. Therefore below are a range of fun activities everyone should be able to enjoy!

Hand puppet fish 

What you need:

• Card
• Pencil
• Lolly stick
• Glue or tape
• Decorations of your choice 

Instructions: https://www.gluedtomycraftsblog.com/2015/08/handprint-fish-puppets-kid-craft.html

Moving Paper fish

What you will need: 

• coloured card for body
• coloured paper for fins and tail
• white paper for eyes 
• black pen
• scissors
• glue

Instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l0tT9PVadQ

Paper Mache Nemo

What you will need: 

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 cups of water
• Bowl
• Newspaper
• Balloon
• Paint brush
• Orange paint
• Black paint
• White paint 
• Tape
• Card board
• A image of Nemo (use this as a reference)

Instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZRppiG1mmU

Paper weaving fish

What you need:

• Scrap paper
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Pen or eye stickers for details
• Paper cutter (optional) 

Instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0BKcMrKGAU

Salt dough fish

What you will need: 

• 1 cup of plain flour 
• Half a cup of salt 
• Half a cup of water
• Fish cutter or knife 

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and stir until it comes together into a ball.

3. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and shape into your chosen fish model.

4. Put your finished items on the lined baking sheet and bake for 3 hrs or until solid.

5. Leave to cool and then paint.

3D Paper fish 

What you need: 

• Colourful paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• String for hanging
• Pens for details

Instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB8P57JWUdo

Felt shark

What you need: 

• Craft Felt
• Embroidery Floss
• Stuffing 
• Needle
• Pen
• Scissors

Instructions: https://activity-mom.com/2020/06/sew-a-felt-shark/

We look forward to seeing your wonderful fish designs! 

The KS1 Team :) 

Year 1 & 2 - Wednesday 8th July

Welcome to Wednesday everybody - I hope you are all well. Here is today's Sports Day Activity. Thank you to those who have already let us know your scores from yesterday.



Miss Sharman has asked me also to encourage you all to fill in an Active Lives Survey that she has been sent. In order to do this, click on the following links - the Year 1 survey is designed to be completed by the parent whereas the Year 2 one is designed to be answered by the child:

Year 1 link -   https://ipsos.uk/WAZFE  

Year 2 link -  https://ipsos.uk/PKZUI

The surveys will be active up until Friday - thank you very much for your help in this!

English - Grace Darling

Hopefully by now we have a better understanding of the story of Grace Darling and her involvement in the heroic rescue of the people from the "Forfarshire". Using the video from last time, we can sequence the story of that night using our story sequencing sheets we have used before.

Here is the link to her story again:


https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015gmjd


And here are the sequencing sheets (choose if you wish to use pictures or sentences):







If I were to sequence the events, I might choose this order (feel free to disagree however!):

1. One night there was a terrible storm.
2. The paddle steamer "Forfarshire" crashed on the rocks and split in two!
3. Grace saw the ship wrecked upon the rocks.
4. Grace and her father rowed out to the wreck in their small rowing boat.
5. William pulled survivors into the boat while Grace kept the boat steady, away from the rocks.
6. Grace rowed the 9 survivors safely back to shore.

These pictures might help:



(Order 2, 1, 6, 5, 4, 3 - there is a copy on the web page - sorry it was not there from Sunday but I only made it today!)

It is worth spending a bit of thinking time as well as to Grace Darling's legacy. Sadly, Grace died only 4 years after her heroic rescue, at the age of 26, of tuberculosis. But she is still remembered today, especially by the RNLI who have a museum to her and state that "Grace exhibited the same values as our crews do today."

https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/museums/grace-darling-in-10-objects




(It is worth noting that the website that the Grace Darling video is from also has some excellent other real life stories that you might want to explore in future weeks with your child - I strongly recommend the Rosa Parks one).

Maths - Division as the Inverse of Multiplication

Before we get into the above concept, it is worth noting that this is not an idea I would present to Year 1's usually so unless your child is particularly mathematically inclined, Year 1's please try out our game below:




A hundred square might help in this.
Find the number first, then go down to +10 or up to -10.
Have a go!




Now, Year 2's, we have talked about the inverse before when covering addition and subtraction - it just means the opposite:

6 + 4 = 10 so 10 - 4 = 6.

We looked at them as triangles - well, we can do the same for division and multiplication:




So in the above example we know that:

6 x 2 = 12 and the inverse (other way)

12 ÷ 2 = 6

Of course if we go the other way:

2 x 6 = 12 and the inverse

12 ÷ 6 = 2

Just like before, note how the largest number always starts a divide calculation and ends a multiplication calculation.

Have a go at this first one, even if you only find 1 multiplication and 1 divide calculation for each:




If the number is missing at the top of the triangle use your knowledge of arrays from last week to help solve the multiplication.

If the number is missing at the bottom think: "How many times do I need to count in 5's to get to 40?"

If you want a super black belt super hard challenge try this one:



This idea can help us when the practical sharing approach to solving division is not very efficient. Take this example from the above sheet:

40 ÷ 5 = ?

It is not very practical to get 40 objects and share as this could lead to little errors. Let's use the inverse:

40 ÷ 5 = ?  so;
? x 5 = 40.

How many times do I need to count in 5's until I get to 40?

These ideas are right at the top end of the things we cover in Year 2, so don't be worried if it seems tricky. Well done for just still being here!

Take care & much love,
KS1 Team