Year 1: 1LS, 1LL, 1NH
Welcome to Year 1
Why teaching your child to read is so important...
Monday 16th. Stories and all that jazz:
We read at least one story a day to our class. But we don't just read to them because the benefits of listening and interacting with a decent story book are H-U-G-E but that they will have long term educational benefits.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO MAKE READING A STORY MORE THAN JUST A STORY:
- Learning new words is a key area in increasing your child's potential to do well at school, particular long term down the line at GCSEs. Honestly! Here are some words from one of the Y2 assessment texts: gathering up/beneath/demanding/jumble sale/acrobats/stetson/fade. How many of these would come up in everyday life except through a wide range of reading material or general conversation? So at school when we read a story, we try never to assume each child understands every word; we are building a culture of asking "What does .... mean?" and it is encouraged, praised and solved
- Tackling understanding of the text. This is so much more than typical questions like Where is the cat now? But more about: Why did the cat choose to run out at that moment and not before/after? Why did the Big, Bad wolf want to eat the pigs? Why didn't he stop after the first one? Goldilocks was hungry and tired - why? These inference questions need to be practised and practised until the guess work becomes more about finding reasons in the text to answer the question.
- Using more than just the text. The pictures can tell us so much, from extending our vocabulary (today we learnt 'oar' which had little to do with the story but turned into a discussion about oar vs paddle, kayak vs rowing boat vs ship vs ferry). Consider why the author has chosen certain words eg: screeched Parrot - what is screeching? can a person screech? When? Why? How is screeching different to screaming/shouting? Can you think of any other words similar to screeching?
Next time you read that bedtime story (every night hopefully), consider stopping and asking a few different (harder) questions, looking a little more intently at the picture to find new words or meaning and make them think about the author's choice of words. Then see their love of reading grow, their progress astound you and their future aspirations develop...
Year 1 Curriculum Evening
Thank you for coming along to our curriculum meeting this week. We hope that you enjoyed the evening and came away with a good understanding of what life is like in Year 1.
If you were unable to attend, please find the Power Point below.
Friday 13th
How are you getting on with Doodle homework this week? If you need help to access Doodle English let us know.
Monday 9th September
Children have taken reading books home today along with their new reading folder. They were also given bookmarks indicating which colour books they are reading. We continue to promote children's independence in changing their book every morning. If you have any questions about your child’s reading level or you would like advice on how to support your child at home please see the class teacher.
Friday 6th September
It has been lovely to welcome the children into Year 1 this week! We have been so impressed with their Muscliff manners and how well they have settled into their new classes already. We have kick-started our topic 'Marvellous me' this week and have enjoyed sharing the "all about me" boxes and getting to know each other.
A few reminders:
- If you haven't already, please send your child's PE kit to school. Our PE days will be Wednesday and Thursday this half term.
- We look forward to seeing you at our curriculum evening on Wednesday 18th September at 6pm.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
The Year 1 team :)
Please check you have updated the Muscliff MySchool App so that you receive Y1 information now!
Go to: menu-settings-notification groups-y1
It's been great to see so many of you doing your DoodleMaths this summer. Don't stop now! And if you've just been too busy getting out and about to find that 5minutes, then maybe now is the time to get back into that routine. We'll put some extras on there for you to be getting on with.
Did any of you find any Secret Books hidden around Throop and Muscliff over the last couple of weeks? Mrs H 'planted' about 12 the other day. Keeeeeeeep reading!
See you on Wednesday. 
The Year 1 team