English in Years 1 and 2 Our Aim – To provide a rich literate environment which will inspire creativity through reading, speaking and listening and a range of writing opportunities on both paper and screen. LD

Inspirational activities… These have included… Trips – SS Great Britain, Blue Reef Aquarium (Y1) Bristol Zoo and Cardiff Castle Visitors to school WOW moments such as Iron Man visiting Year 2 Explorer Dome for Y2 World Book Day Reading Challenge Bedtime stories LD LD

Writing Our whole school approach provides systematic teaching of skills such as spelling, punctuation, grammar, use of descriptive words and phrases, conjunctions and handwriting. These begin in Reception and are continued and developed during Years 1 and 2. AC

VCOP In years 1 and 2 these skills are presented to the children as Vocabulary, Conjunctions, Openers and Punctuation. ‘Green to be seen’ and ‘Pink to think’ are also used for children to identify skills they are using and those to think about for next time. In KS1 we use a ‘two stars and a wish’ approach. The stars pick out something brilliant in their writing and the ‘wish’ is their area to focus on in the next piece of writing. AC

Spelling In both year groups children are taught to build words for reading and spelling using phonemes or sounds. (A progression again which begins in Reception) In Y1 children have 10 specific words to learn each week. In Y2 the focus throughout term 1 and term 2 is the KS1 common exception words. From term 3 this will switch to topic words and curriculum related vocabulary. The spellings will be in the termly welcome letter and the children will be quizzed each Friday. Please send Y2 spelling books back to school on Mondays. In Year 2 the spelling rules laid out in the National Curriculum will be taught in class alongside weekly teaching. OV

Spelling in Year 1 Our weekly Spelling Quiz focuses on the Year 1 High Frequency Words. Children will then progress onto learning words that include the digraphs and trigraphs we are focusing on in our Phonics lessons. The aim is that children use the spellings they have learnt in their writing! Jade

In Year 1 teaching of spelling runs alongside our daily phonics sessions. Look, cover, write, check. Term 1 – Recapping single sounds. Moving onto diagraphs, trigraphs and split digraphs and sound families. Best Guesses. Rach Y1

Spelling Year 2: Learn to add prefixes and suffixes Learn to spell common exception or tricky words e.g. were, was, said, people Learn new ways of spelling phonemes for which one or more spellings are already known e.g oo (moon, spoon) u-e (June, tune) Apply simple spelling rules Write dictated sentences ov

Handwriting Sitting position Pencil grip Correctly formed and orientated letters and joins – diagonal or horizontal strokes Writing on the lines Consistent size + ascenders and descenders ‘Joined legible script’ See the schools website LD

Reading New Curriculum – Reading Comprehension Listen to and discuss poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently. Link what they hear/read to their own experiences Become very familiar with fairy stories and traditional tales AC

Reading Comprehension continued Children should be taught to: Check that the text makes sense to them as they are reading and correct inaccurate reading. Discuss the significance of the title and events. Make inferences on the basis of what is being said and done. Make predictions on the basis of what has been read so far. AC

Reading Group Reading Small group, usually 6 children, reading with an adult to focus on learning specific skills Reading aloud to others Developing expression and intonation Discussing and answering questions about characters, setting and events. Expressing preferences. Year 1 begin in term 2 and Year 2 start in term 1. ZH

Reading Individual reading Children continue to take home a reading book which they will be choosing for themselves from term 2 in Year 1. The aim is that they should be able to read these independently. Online books also available – Bug Club is used in KS1. Please speak to your child’s teacher if you have any questions. ZH

Reading Bug club books are allocated from your child’s reading level. The book band levels available to us go up to Gold level. Oxford Owl is a good free website of online books and activities. AC

Reading Classrooms contain well stocked book corners which include book collections by favourite authors, a range of fiction, non-fiction & topic books, dual text books, stories from other countries, poetry, puzzle books and in Y2, newspapers. All children use the school library regularly and are taught library skills including an understanding of our basic Dewey system to find specific books. They are able to borrow books from the library to take home. Please ensure library and individual reading books are returned to school so that a new book can be chosen. AC

Reading We make the decision to move a child onto the next level using a range of assessment criteria. We use the PM benchmarking system to assess fluency and comprehension. Comprehension skills move from an understanding of events that are explicit in the text to those which are inferred. Discussion is very important. Most reading books contain skills to focus on in the front cover. Please send reading books to school every day whether they have been read or not, and note in reading record books whether your child has finished it or which page is to be read next. Be enthusiastic about your child’s reading! Reading isn’t a race. Lets fall in love! AC

Speaking and Listening Retelling stories, comprehension skills, identifying with a character, discussing responses to particular events or situations in a story. Drama, role play, hot-seating, acting plays or scenes from a story or real life in person or with puppets. ‘Show and Tell’ (eye contact with audience etc) Class Assemblies (starting soon!) OV

Terminology

Our focus: English across the Curriculum Now using 1 writing book across the curriculum in order to improve standards. Writing not seen as an isolated skill. Children given the best opportunities to engage in writing process. Writing for a purpose with a clear target audience. Transferable skills e.g. problem solving LD

Still to come… Book fair at Parents’ Evenings and during World Book Week. World Book Day fun. Get caught reading competition. Bedtime stories in November. LD

Thank you for coming this evening….

Please read to your child!