Spring Term Week 5 30.1.23

In Maths this week, we are beginning to learn about money. We will be recognising different coins and count coins to make amounts. The key vocabulary is:

• coins
• amount
• pence (p), pound (£) and note

In English, we are continuing our story 'The Bear and the Piano'. We will be sequencing the story and planning our own stories. Our key vocabulary is:

• adverbs
• time adverbials: first, next, then, after a while
• strumming
• bowing

In Science, we will be looking at the importance of a healthy diet and the different food groups. Our key vocabulary is:

• balanced diet
• healthy

We will be continuing to think about our question 'What is special about the Americas?' and our chosen country the USA. We will be making a traditional dish from our country and evaluating it.

Spring Term Week 4 23.1.23

In Maths this week, we are consolidating our learning on subtraction with 2-digit numbers and learning how to exchange. We will also learn about 2D and 3D shapes in geometry. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for - : take away, subtract, minus
• exchange
• 2D shapes: vertices, sides, circle, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon
• 3D shapes: vertices, edges, faces, sphere, cylinder, cube, cuboid, pyramid, prism

In English, we learning 'The Bear and the Piano'. We will asking questions about the story and writing sentences using compound conjunctions. Our key vocabulary is:

• and/but/so/or
• performance
• stage
• bow-tie
• lights
• concert
• tail-coat

In Science, we will be looking at what an animal needs to survive. Our key vocabulary is:

• shelter
• food
• water
• oxygen

We will be continuing to think about our question 'What is special about the Americas?' and our chosen country the USA. We will be looking at famous natural landmarks.

Spring Term Week 3 16.1.23

In Maths this week, we are working on subtraction with 2-digit numbers and learning how to exchange. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for - : take away, subtract, minus
• exchange

In English, we are continuing with our story 'The Bear under the Stairs' by Helen Cooper. We will be writing our own versions of the story and creating an information text. Our key vocabulary is:

• creature
• opposite
• fact

In Science, we have an exciting lesson where we will have a visit from an adult and their baby. We will be looking at the different stages of human life and creating a flow diagram of our own changes. Our key vocabulary is:

• offspring
• baby
• child
• adults
• grow

We will be continuing to think about our question 'What is special about the Americas?' and our chosen country the USA. We will be looking at the human and physical features, including famous landmarks.

Spring Term Week 2 9.1.23

Woodpeckers Class have an exciting start to the week as we travel around the Americas, visiting each country that KS1 will be learning about this half term. We will learn where the country is on a world map, how to say hello in each country's language and adding the country's flag to our passports. The key vocabulary will be:

• country
• continent
• passport

In Maths this week, we are working on addition and being introduced to the expanded column method. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for + : add, plus, sum, altogether
• expanded column addition

In English, we are continuing with our story 'The Bear under the Stairs' by Helen Cooper. We will be writing in role as the characters from the story. Our key vocabulary is:

• predict
• role
• lair

In Science, we will be looking how animals have offspring that grow into adults. We will be demonstrating our understanding by creating flow charts. Our key vocabulary is:

• offspring
• adults
• grow

Spring Term Week 1 4.1.23

Welcome back Woodpeckers, we hope you all had a fantastic break and we look forward to another exciting term ahead!

In Maths this week, we are working on addition and being introduced to the column method. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for + : add, plus, sum, altogether
• column addition

In English, we are beginning with a new story 'The Bear under the Stairs' by Helen Cooper. We will be recapping our knowledge of different sentence types and learning about homophones. Our key vocabulary is:

• statement, command, question and exclamation
• homophone
• fear

This week, we will be introduced to our new creative learning focus question 'What is special about the Americas?' We will be brainstorming our prior knowledge and thinking about what we would like to know.

In Science, we will be looking at habitats and focussing on the microhabitat: pond. We will observe and record our findings. Our key vocabulary is:

• habitat
• microhabitat
• pond
• organism

Autumn Term Week 15 19.12.22

We will be celebrating the lead up to Christmas with a party on Monday and lots of festive-themed crafts and activities.

The Woodpeckers Staff wish you all a Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you for another exciting term in January 2023!

Autumn Term Week 14 12.12.22

In Maths this week, we are showing what we have learned this term in maths by completing assessments with our teachers. We will also be discussing our learning and completing Learning Conversations, to discuss what we have done well this term and how to improve.

In English, we are writing winter themed poems, and also completing Learning Conversations.

This week, we will be answering the question 'What is a dinosaur?' to finalise our learning about the cretaceous period.

Autumn Term Week 13 5.12.22

In Maths this week, we are continuing with addition and subtraction. We will work on adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers and 10s. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for + : add, plus, sum, altogether
• Words for - : subtract, take away, minus
• Words for = : equals, equal to, same as
• multiple of 10
• 1-digit number, 2-digit number

In English, we are continuing to read our story 'The Water Protectors' By Carole Lindstrom. We will be writing for different purposes, including a non-chronological report about the River Chess. Our key vocabulary is:

• waterways
• harmful
• harmless

This week, we will be developing our art skills by learning how to collage. We will look at the work of Henri Matisse as inspiration before designing and making our own collage artwork.

Autumn Term Week 12 28.11.22

In Maths this week, we are continuing with addition and subtraction. We will work on using our bonds to 10 to support our addition and subtraction and learning how to exchange 10 ones for a ten. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for + : add, plus, sum, altogether
• Words for - : subtract, take away, minus
• Words for = : equals, equal to, same as
• bonds
• exchange

In English, we are continuing to read our story 'The Water Protectors' By Carole Lindstrom. We will be writing for different purposes, including a non-chronological report as well as in the role of a water protector. Our key vocabulary is:

• brave
• courageous
• strong
• determined
• fearless
• confident
• indigenous
• tribe

This week, we will be developing our Art and DT skills of joining materials together to make Art work. Our key vocabulary is:

• join
• sew
• material

In Science, we will be beginning the topic of plants. We will be planting our own bulbs and thinking about what a bulb needs to survive. The key vocabulary is:

• bulb
• seed
• survive
• condition

Autumn Term Week 11 21.11.22

In Maths this week, we are continuing with addition and subtraction and using related facts to solve other number sentences. We will be adding three 1-digit numbers together and adding to the next 10. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for + : add, plus, sum, altogether
• Words for - : subtract, take away, minus
• Words for = : equals, equal to, same as
• partition 
• <, > and =

In English, we are starting a new story called 'The Water Protecters' By Carole Lindstrom. We will begin to think about how we can look after water, and write to inform with different sentence types. Our key vocabulary is:

• river
• pollution
• environment
• protect
• protector
• cause
• prevent

This week, we will continue to learn about our term's question which is 'What is a dinosaur?' We will be looking at the different dinosaurs that lived during the cretaceous period and measuring how big they were. Some of the dinosaurs include: Minmi, Argentinosaurus and Triceratops.

In Science, we will be learning about materials. We will be testing different materials to find out how some solids shape can be changed by twisting, bending and stretching. The key vocabulary is:

• solid
• bend
• stretch
• squash
• twist
• force

Autumn Term Week 10 14.11.22

In Maths this week, we are starting addition and subtraction and using related facts to solve other number sentences. We will be recapping our bonds to 10 and beginning to look at bonds to 100. The key vocabulary is:

• Words for + : add, plus, sum, altogether
• Words for - : subtract, take away, minus
• Words for = : equals, equal to, same as
• Fact family
• Related facts

In English, we will continue to be reading the story, 'The Journey Home' by Frann Preston-Gannon. We will be writing our own version of the story and writing a letter of persuasion to help endangered animals. Our key vocabulary is:

• setting
• endangered
• persuade

This week, we will continue to learn about our term's question which is 'What is a dinosaur?' We have an exciting lesson where we will be looking at fossils from National History and Tring Museum.

In Science, we will be learning about habitats and visiting areas of the school to find different habitats. Children will be making observations and thinking about seasonal change. The key vocabulary is:

• habitat
• microhabitat
• seasonal change
• weather

Autumn Term Week 9 7.11.22

In Maths this week, we are recapping our knowledge on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. We will also begin counting in 3s. The key vocabulary is:

• groups of
• lots of
• multiply
• multiplication

In English, we will continue to learn about animals through the book 'The Journey Home' by Frann Preston-Gannon. We will be writing command sentences in order to advise characters in the book. The key vocabulary is:

• command
• extinct
• verbs: swim, jump, crawl, hop, fly

This week, we will continue to learn about our term's question which is 'What is a dinosaur?' by looking at the skeletons of dinosaurs and comparing them to animals alive today to discover what type of creatures dinosaurs were. We will also learn about the famous scientist Mary Anning.

In Science, we will be continuing to learn about different materials, testing materials for suitability to be used as a bucket, using the song 'There's a hole in my bucket' as a stimulus.

Autumn Term Week 8 1.11.22

In Maths this week, we are ordering numbers to 100 and using greater than, less than and equal to support this. The key vocabulary is:

• greater than, more than, bigger than
• less than
• most
• least
• equal to

In English, we have discovered mystery footprints in the classroom. We will be asking questions about what kind of creature could have made these footprints. We will be looking at different sentence types. Our key vocabulary is:

• question
• statement
• command
• exclamation

This week, we will begin our new topic which is 'What is a dinosaur?' by hunting in sand for fossils like palaeontologists.

In Science, we will be continuing to learn about different materials, discussing and testing the properties of wood.

Autumn Term Week 7 17.10.22

In Maths this week, we will be learning to compare numbers to 100. The key vocabulary that we will be using is:

• greater than, bigger than, more than
• less than
• equal to

In English, we will continuing learning about the book 'Wolves' by Emily Gravett. We will be researching wolves and then writing our own factfiles about them. We will also publish our work. The key vocabulary will be:

• factfile
• non-chronological
• sub-heading

This week we will be finalising our big question ‘Why is Chesham here?’ by creating clay models of the landmarks of Chesham.

Autumn Term Week 6 10.10.22

In Maths this week, we will be looking at the place value of 100. We will begin to place numbers on a number line. The key vocabulary that we will be using is:

• tens and ones
• part-whole model
• flexibly partition
• estimate

In English, we will be starting a new story 'Wolves'. We will be comparing fiction and non-fiction books, and thinking about character descriptions. The new vocabulary that we will be thinking about are features of non-fiction books:

• Facts
• Heading
• Sub-heading
• Contents
• Glossary

This week we will be continuing to find out more to answering our big question ‘Why is Chesham here?’ by looking at human and physical features of Chesham. We will also have a trip to 'Nashleigh Hill Park' to see if we can spot the different features.

In Science this week we will continuing to look at materials and carry out a test. The new vocabulary we will be using is:

• material
• grip
• bouncy
• waterproof
• tough

Autumn Term Week 5 3.10.22

In Maths this week, we will be looking at the place value of 100. The key vocabulary that we will be using is:

• tens and ones
• part-whole model
• flexibly partition

In English, we will be writing our own Goldilocks style stories. The new vocabulary that we will be thinking about is story language, such as:

• Once upon a time
• One day
• Later that day
• Meanwhile
• Then
• Next

This week we will be continuing to find out more to answering our big question ‘Why is Chesham here?’ by looking at human and physical features of Chesham.

In Science this week we will be looking at materials. The new vocabulary we will be using is:

• material
• object
• wood, paper, metal, plastic, fabric and other materials

Autumn Term Week 4 26.9.22

In Maths this week, we will be looking at the place value of 100. The key vocabulary that we will be using is:

• tens
• ones
• partition

In English, we are continuing to look at the fairy tale Goldilocks and beginning to compare this version to others. We will be reading the story ‘Me and You’ by Anthony Browne. The new vocabulary that we will be thinking about is:

• compare
• contrast

This week we will be continuing to find out more to answering our big question ‘Why is Chesham here?’ by locating Chesham on a world and UK map. We will also begin to think about the human and physical features of Chesham.

In Science this week we will be looking at habitats.

The new vocabulary we will be using is:

• habitats
• micro habitats
• organisms

Autumn Term Week 3 19.9.22

In Maths this week, we will be looking at the place value of 100. The key vocabulary that we will be using is:

• tens

• ones

• ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety, one hundred

In English, we are reading the traditional tale ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. The version we are looking at is by Lauren Childs. The new vocabulary that we will be thinking about is:

• selfish

• impolite

• inconsiderate

We will be starting our creative learning focus this week. The ‘big’ question this half term is Why is Chesham Here? This week we will be starting with our entry activity looking at different landmarks of Chesham and learning their names, such as the Clock Tower, the Elgiva Theatre, Skottowes Pond, the River Chess and Lowndes Park.