For homework over the Easter holiday, I have set some reading games for the children.
Year 1 have a 1 minute reading challenge. Cut out each word card. Set a timer for 1 minute. Segment and blend the words to read them. If it is read correctly, you can keep that card. At the end of 1 minute, count how many words have been read. Next time, challenge yourself to read more words in a minute. Can you keep beating your time?
I’ve given you a table, so you can track your score and hopefully over the 2 weeks, be able to read more and more words within the minute.
Reception children have been given a ‘Reading pop’ game. Cut out the cards and put them into a feely bag. Take it in turns to take a card. Segment and blend the word to read it. If it is read correctly, you can keep the card. If not, put it back into the bag. If you pull out a ‘pop’ card, then any cards you have should go back into the bag. The person with the most cards collected at the end, wins.
If your child has lost a copy of their game, you can print them off below.
Please practice forming the letters that have been written into your homework handwriting book.
Read your home reading book 4 times.
There will be no spellings to learn this week as we aren’t in on Friday to test them.
Follow the link to play ‘shark numbers’. In maths, the children have been learning to identify place value in numbers to 50. They have to count the base 10 blocks to work out the number, then select the correct numeral. https://ictgames.com/sharkNumbers/mobile/index.html
For the children who were in school this Friday, you will now have been given your number/letter formation wipeable mat and whiteboard pen.
Practice j,u and y on your handwriting mat, following the letter formation rhymes. Remember, these letters start at the top and go down.
Practice the phonics sounds- ow (cow), oi (coin) and er (herd), by reading, writing and saying them and then play buried treasure by choosing Phase 3 and then words containing ow/oi/er. Segment and blend the words to read them, then choose whether they are real or fake. https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/buried-treasure
Read your home reading book 4 times.
Practice reading and spelling tricky words: the and to
Year 1:
To read their home reading book 4 times per week.
To do up to 5 minutes of handwriting practice daily, with the letters for this week: j, u and y. Remember, these letters start at the top and go down. Practice the same 3 letters over the course of the week.
To learn these 5 common exception words: where, said, then, her, she (Due to absences this week, we will test last week’s spellings on Monday 21st March)
To play the phonics game buried treasure. Select Phase 5 and then words containing the split digraphs a_e, o_e and e_e. Segment and blend the words to read them, then choose whether they are real or fake. https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/buried-treasure
Any problems, see me on Monday. I hope all of those who have been ill this week, begin to feel better over the weekend and hopefully I will see you on Monday.
The Class 1 homework will now be posted weekly, every Friday, on the Class 1 homework page.
As we are now half-way through the year, it is time to start preparing children for the increase in expectations for next school year. Therefore, homework expectations for the rest of the year will increase slightly, whilst hopefully still not being too time consuming for families.
Homework expectations for the rest of the year for both year groups are as follows:
Reception:
To read their home reading book 4 times per week.
To practice correct letter formation/number formation, of the assigned letters/numbers, on their laminated sheet, daily.
To play Phonics play ‘Buried Treasure’, with words containing the assigned sounds.
To practice reading and writing the previous week’s 2 tricky words.
Year 1:
To read their home reading book 4 times per week.
To do up to 5 minutes of handwriting practice daily.
To learn 5 common exception word spellings, which will be tested the following Friday.
To play the phonics/maths game, which will link to the children’s phonics/maths learning for the week.
All homework will be posted on to the Class 1 homework page. Children have been provided with either a red handwriting book, or a laminated letter formation sheet and whiteboard pen (for reception children, they will receive their laminated sheet on Monday). Both the book and sheet have all the rhymes which we use to help the children write letters with the correct formation. Please use these rhymes with the children when completing the handwriting practice.
Please practice letters l, t and i in your handwriting book for 5 minutes daily. Remember to use a sharp pencil. All of these letters start at the top and go down.
Spellings for this week are: when, what, all, are, they
In maths, the children have been practicing recalling number bonds to 10 and 20. Please play the ‘Hit the button’ game to practice recalling number bonds to both 10 and 20. Recall needs to be instant, so lots of frequent practice will help with learning. I have also linked some sing along videos to help them remember the number facts.
When you receive your laminated sheet, practice l and i. These start at the top and go down. Practice them in whatever way you would like- with felt tip pens, in the mud with a stick, in chalk on the pavement etc.
To play buried treasure selecting Phase 3 and words that contain the phonemes- ar, ur and ow. (You can only select words with one phoneme at a time, so it can be played multiple times with the different phonemes.) https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/2/buried-treasure
Practice reading tricky words- we, me and be
If there are any questions about the homework, please come and see me.
I know that for some parents, the way in which children learn to read in school, can be quite complicated to understand and grasp. Here is a quick run through of how your child is taught to read here at Crudgington. Hopefully you will find some useful ideas and advice on how you can support your child with phonics and reading at home. Don’t forget, that should you ever need advice or whether you have questions about phonics and reading, both myself and Miss Jones will be happy to help.
What is phonics?
Phonics is about knowing how letters link to sounds. From an early stage, children develop an awareness of different sounds in spoken language. They develop an understanding that spoken words are made up of different sounds. i.e. ‘c’ as in cat, ‘ll’ as in bell etc.
Here is a run down of the key terminology you may hear your child mention when talking about their phonics learning:
Phoneme – The smallest unit of sound. There are approximately 44 phonemes in English (it depends on different accents). Phonemes can be put together to make words.
Grapheme – A way of writing down a phoneme. Graphemes can be made up from 1 letter e.g. p, 2 letters e.g. sh, 3 letters e.g. tch or 4 letters e.g ough.
Digraph – A grapheme containing two letters that makes just one sound (phoneme) i.e. ch in chip.
Trigraph – A grapheme containing three letters that makes just one sound (phoneme) i.e. igh in light.
Oral Blending – This involves hearing phonemes and being able to merge them together to make a word. Children need to develop this skill before they will be able to blend written words to read.
Blending– This involves looking at a written word, looking at each grapheme and using their knowledge to work out which phoneme each grapheme represents and then merging these phonemes together to make a word. This is the basis of reading. As a school, we use the ‘Blending arm’, to help children segment the word, then blend the phonemes (sounds) together.
Oral Segmenting – This is the act hearing a whole word and then splitting it up into the phonemes that make it. Children need to develop this skill before they will be able to segment words to spell them. i.e. cat= c-a-t Segmenting – This involves hearing a word, splitting it up into the phonemes that make it, using knowledge to work out which graphemes represent those phonemes and then writing those graphemes down in the right order. This is the basis of spelling.
It is important that children learn the ‘pure’ sounds. Any mispronunciation of a sound can hinder the child’s ability to blend the word to read it. The following video shows you how to say each sound for the 42 letter sounds:
As a school, we help children to remember graphemes and phonemes by linking them to actions (Phase 2) or rhymes (Phase 3 and 4). Learning the actions and rhymes that accompany each grapheme, will help you when it comes to supporting your child at home. Below is a run through of the actions and rhymes we use for each phase:
Not all words can be read by sounding them out phonetically. We call these tricky words. Each phonics phase has its own set of Tricky words, which must be learnt as whole words which can be sight read. There are lots of great songs your child can sing along with to help them learn the tricky words by sight. These are the ones we use in Class 1 and 2.
How to support at home:
There are lots of different ways you can support your child with their phonics skills at home.
Here is a link for the Phonics Play website, where you should be able to access some free phonics games. There is also a parents page, which can give you additional information about phonics.
Supporting your child with phonics and reading is the best way you can help your child to succeed at school. I hope you find this guide useful. Any questions, please come and see myself or Miss Jones.
For your child’s homework this week, I have sent them home with a lollipop stick each. They have been tasked with creating a Christmas decoration for the class Christmas tree, which we will decorate with the designs. Please send your child’s decoration in by next Thursday, with your name on the back of your decoration. There will be a an anonymous vote for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, with prizes to be won. Be as creative as you like! If you are struggling to think of a design, then here is some inspiration for you. You can add other lollipop sticks to it, paint it, add glitter or fabric…let your mind run wild! Please try and encourage the children to be as independent in creating their decoration, as possible.
Have fun! I look forward to seeing what you create.
To help support your child with their reading and writing during these challenging times, we are able to offer support through the use of Clicker 8 software. Information about Clicker can be found by watching the short video below.
During Covid-19, We are able to provide access to both Clicker 8, which can be used on Windows and Mac platforms, and Clicker Writer for iPads and Chrome Books free of charge fo you to access at home.
If you feel Clicker 8 would support the reading and writing development of your child whilst at home, please contact myself (Mrs Turner) by email at crudgington.send@taw.org.uk . I can then ensure that the appropriate licence and access is provided.
If you have any queries regarding the suitability of Clicker, please do contact me for further information using the SEND contact email address crudgington.send@taw.org.uk
It is my aim for all children in Year 1 to achieve their yellow shining star badge in the next few weeks. To achieve this, they need to know number bonds to 20. The children have been introduced to these in maths lessons, but continued practise at home will help them to recall their number facts quickly. Here is a link for the game ‘Hit the button’. Select number bonds and then number bonds to 20. By the end of the week, children should be able to select the matching numbers to make 20.
Due to the chaos of the last week, unfortunately we haven’t had time to change the children’s reading books. Instead have a go at reading books from home, Christmas cards, magazines etc. I know the Christmas holiday is a busy time, so don’t feel the need to record any learning that is done over the holiday in your child’s reading diary. Alternatively, I have given out a Christmas checklist and thought it would be nice for the children to create a collage of photographs/ pictures/ drawings, telling us about all the Christmas traditions they get up to over the holiday.
Have a lovely break, I’m sure the children certainly need it!
Merry Christmas to you and thank you for the generous gifts!
There is no official homework for Class 1 over the half- term.
Year 1s can carry over their spellings from last week, to be tested on them on the first Friday back.
It would be lovely if your child could bring in a photo, drawing or momento from something nice they have done or something they have enjoyed over the holiday.
I hope the children enjoy the rest…I’m sure they need it!
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