Mars Class KS1
Welcome to Mars Class
On this page you can find out more about what your child is learning this half term at school. For more detailed information about the day to day learning please look at your child's class dojo page.
PE will continue to be on a Monday and Wednesday.
Homework
For the Spring Term, the main home tasks are spellings and reading. Spellings are tested every Friday. There are currently five each week but this will increase as the children become more used to doing them. Reading practice carried out at home- from the school given book and any other sources that appeal to your child- will benefit them greatly. Year Two will also bring home maths activities this half term. Reading comprehension activities will begin after half term for Year Two also. I may occasionally also share resources or activities that I feel would benefit the children from both year groups to practise at home. Homework books need to be brought in each Friday please.
English
During the first half of the term, we will produce a story after developing language and ideas from studying the book ‘Stardust’ by Jeanne Willis and Briony May Smith. We will then use the non-fiction book ‘ I am Neil Armstrong’ to learn about writing in a biographical recount style. The second half features a narrative based on Little Red Riding Hood, a recount from a first person point of view and poetry writing.
Guided Reading and Phonics
Year Two will be continuing to work on retrieval and inference skills during guided reading sessions as well as skimming and scanning for information. They will also be continuing to apply phonics understanding to developing knowledge of spelling rules and improving spelling skills.. Year One will continue their phonics learning and we will keep you updated with the focus of this on a weekly basis through Class Dojo. Year One spellings will be taken from the previous week’s phonics learning as usual.
Maths
We will begin by using our understanding of place value in adding and subtracting numbers below 100. Then we will move on to a unit on multiplication and division which focuses heavily on the understanding of equal groups and arrays for Year One before moving on to more formal multiplication and division symbols for Year Two. The term will be completed with a shorter unit on length and height and one on statistics.
Science
This term, we will continue with our long unit about animals including humans. This will include classifying animals into groups, learning about habitats and life cycles, simple food chains and nutrition. The trip to The Natural History Museum at Tring will give us lots of opportunities to apply and develop our learning in this subject.
History
The first half of the spring term is centred around learning about intrepid explorers with a strong focus on Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. The children will learn about their adventures and the impact that these had on our understanding of the world and the things that we use in our everyday lives.
In the second half of the term, we will be learning about communication through time from the messages contained in cave paintings right up to the speedy methods of communication that the internet has given us.
Art
Our art unit is based on printing and covers the following concepts: that we can make a “plate” from which to “print”; that there is a relationship between plate
and print: e.g. negative / positive; that we can use print to create “multiples”; that we can explore line, shape, colour and texture to explore pattern, sequence, symmetry and intention.
Design Technology
The design technology unit this term will be based on free-standing structures. The children will select appropriate tools and techniques to make a very special chair for a certain family of bears.
PSHE
This term will focus on the themes ‘What helps us to stay healthy?’ and ‘What can we do with money?’. We will also be continuing to focus on growth mindset and our learning powers, which are closely linked. We will be thinking about what habits help us to keep ourselves healthy both mentally and physically. During our money work, we will be thinking about how to be responsible with money and what happens when we spend money.
Computing
In Computing, we will be developing our understanding of digital media and creating our own through digital painting and using digital photography. As ever, we will maintain a strong focus on online safety and reinforce these messages whenever possible.
PE
PE will continue to be on Mondays and Wednesdays and will be based outside as much as possible. Please make sure that your child is in the correct PE kit on both days including trainers and has suitable warm clothing. We are going to be working on Multi-Skills and Football taught by Premier Sports before half term and then Bedford Blues Rugby club will be returning to continue their input until Easter.
Music
In music, we are going to be exploring sounds and learning to recognise different sounds. We are going to be thinking about the rhythm and pulse of a range of music pieces and then using what we have learnt to interpret music and create our own performances.
RE
The first unit is entitled ‘Inspiring People’. We will look at the qualities of historical leaders in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths before moving on to study the role of a religious leader in our community today. After half term, we will be learning about how the features of different religions inspire and direct people to care for others.
Ways you can help at home
Alongside the information given in the homework section, please take every opportunity to practice basic skills of reading, writing and maths. Can they have a go at reading signs when they are out and about? Can they write the shopping list or, even better, full sentences in a note for someone? Please take the opportunity to reinforce number understanding as many ways as possible, for example: ‘How many carrots are in this pack? How many will there be if we eat one each?’ They could also help to weigh out ingredients for cooking etc. If you don’t have an analogue clock with clear numbers at home, consider getting one and referring to it often. Many of us only have digital clocks to refer to in our homes which means that developing understanding of telling the time is even harder for the children.
Key Links to useful websites