Summer 1 Paws, Claws and Whiskers

Week Commencing 18th April 2022

This week we started our new topic called ‘Paws, Claws and Whiskers.’ We watched video clips and looked through photos of Balliol staff members and their pets. We also talked to different pet owners at the school. In English, we read a poetry book called ‘Peculiar Pets.’ We then had a go at designing our own animals in poetry form. E.g. It has a trunk like an elephant and ears like a rabbit. It has eyes like a crocodile and teeth like a shark etc. In maths, we worked on our adding up and taking away skills. We also looked at related facts e.g. 4+2=6, 2+4=6, 6-2=4, 6-4=2. In science, we learned all about what animals eat. We sorted them into herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. In art and design, we explored using pencil techniques and painting techniques to draw different animals and their fur, feathers, scales and other features.

Week Commencing 25th April 2022

This week we learned all about traditional tales with animals in. We read Goldilocks and the three bears and we also read the three little pigs. We read different versions and discussed which details stayed the same and which changed. We also had a go at ordering the story events and then retelling the stories. In maths, we started working on early multiplication. We worked on counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. This led onto us discussing repeated addition 2+2+2+2+2=10. We learned that this can then be written as 2x5=10 or 5x2=10. In design and technology, we learned about structures. We went on a walk around school to see what structures we had such as buildings, climbing frames, sheds etc. We spoke about what purposes they had, what key features they had and what made them strong. In science, we learned about collecting data. We explored tally charts, pictograms and bar graphs. We also went on a pretend butterfly hunt to learn all about camouflage. Our teachers hid some nature coloured butterflies and bright coloured butterflies for us to go and find. We then discussed which were easier to find and why camouflage helps to protect animals from being eaten. In science, we also looked at different animals to look at what was the same and different. On Monday, we had a very exciting event. We had a visit from some animals. We got to learn all about them and how to look after them. We also got to touch them.

Week Commencing 2^nd May 2022

This week we read another traditional tale called the three billy goats gruff. We explored the character of the troll and how to describe its features including its appearance, personality, actions etc. We then thought about the key features of a traditional tale and designed our own ones. We made up three good characters in a small, medium and large size, one bad character and a story setting. We then wrote our own traditional tales. In maths, we worked on making equal groups and writing this as repeated addition. E.g. 2+2+2+2+2=10. We then explored how to show this as an array. In design and technology, we explored fixing, joining and strengthening techniques in readiness for designing and making our own mini animal enclosures. In science, we thought about body parts on humans and on big cats. We explored what was similar and different. In art, we made some big cat inspired artwork using paint and collage.

Week Commencing 9^th May 2022

This week we read some books about Percy the park keeper by Nick Butterworth. We thought about how we had met this author before when we read Q Pootle 5 during Moon Zoom. We also had a think about all the animals in the books. We read lots of non-fiction books and had a go at writing some animal reports. In maths, we explored more about multiplication and division. We explored doubling, making equal groups by grouping and making equal groups by sharing. In DT, we designed our animal structures and wrote some design criteria to match. We then had a go at making our structures. In geography, we learned about maps and had a go at making up our own imaginary zoo map. We also learned about the 7 continents and 5 oceans.

Week Commencing 16th  May 2022

This week we read some more books about Percy the park keeper by Nick Butterworth and we also read ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell. We thought about all the animals in the books and researched information about them. We then worked on presenting this information clearly. We also worked really hard on our phonic skills in readiness for the year one phonic screen test after half term. In maths, we explored fractions. We learned about whole, half and quarter. We explored using practical equipment, shapes and pictures. In DT, we evaluated our animal structures to say what went well and what we would do differently another time. In history, we learned about some famous people who learned/are learning lots about animals such as David Attenborough and Beatrix Potter. In science, we made up our own animal by mixing lots of animal parts together. We then thought about what our animal would eat and if it was an omnivore, herbivore or carnivore. We also wrote a fact file all about our animal.

Week Commencing 23rd May 2022

This week we read another traditional tale. We read Little Red Riding Hood. We explored the main features of a traditional tale, we described the main characters and the settings and we also retold the story using our own words.  In maths, we learned more about fractions. We explored how a quarter is one out of four equal parts and three quarters is three out of four equal parts. In art, we thought about our favourite animals and made artwork inspired by this. We explored mixing the primary colours red, yellow and blue to make the secondary colours orange, purple and green. In science, we sorted animals into mammals, bird, fish, insects, reptiles and amphibians. We also learned all about seasonal change and had a special focus on summer. In computing, we finished off our audio book by combining our sound effects with our voice recording of the story. To finish off our topic, we did some animal quizzes to test our knowledge and made pictures of our famous animals. On Wednesday, we went on a local area walk to explore the road signs and learn all about road safety. On Friday, we had a special jubilee morning and a whole school picnic.