Chestnut - Year 1
Welcome to Chestnut - Year 1!
Welcome to Chestnut Class!
We could not feel more proud of the way that Chestnut Class have settled into life in Year 1. The children have had a super start to the term, and have already been learning lots. Well done to everyone!
For the first few weeks in Year 1, our aim is to enable a smooth transition from EYFS (which can sometimes feel very big for some children), and we do this by mirroring some of the elements of school that the children have become so used to, including; outdoor learning, continuous provision, inspiring role play areas and inviting book corners. This approach has already proven to be successful, and the children love having the freedom to make choices about their learning, and spending time building upon their social skills with their new classmates.
The children were VERY surprised to see this week that Jack (the main character from the story ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’) had completely covered our classroom in autumn leaves! This was definitely a WOW moment and a great introduction to our new English topic of Fairy Tales.
Spring Term
Oracy in Chestnut class this term.
Oracy is a term used to describe the ability to express ourselves eloquently in a range of different situations and contexts. In other words, it’s all about being a good communicator: knowing how to structure your thoughts into a way that will make sense to others; and having the vocabulary to say exactly what you want to say. We have been focusing on developing our oracy skills in Year 1 this term. Keep reading to find out the approaches we use to do this…
‘Time To Talk’ is a special part of the week, where a pupil from each class gets to take centre stage and share something they are passionate about, a past experience, or showcase a skill. They then answer questions from their captivated audience.
‘Talk partners’ are a very important part of each of our lessons. Every day, in every lesson, Year 1 are given the opportunity to share their ideas and opinions with a talk partner. The children are learning how to actively listen, and respond to something their talk partner has said.
‘Talk 4 Writing’ is an approach Year 1 children use to develop both reading and writing skills. The children orally perform a story (with a focus on using expression to captivate an audience!) and using actions to help remember the key events, they then create story maps of picture prompts, before entering the writing phase. This term we used T4W to create a newspaper report about the Great Fire of London.
Summer Term
Chestnut class were so excited to have a special visitor on Thursday 18th April. We have been learning about what it is to be an artist. Mrs Samuel came into share the amazing art work that she creates at home. She shared lots of information about acrylic paint pouring and all of the skills involved. Chestnut class were blown away by this and had lots of questions at the end!
