Welcome to ‘Meet the Teacher’ Evening Elm, Birch and Chestnut Classes 24th September 2013

Miss Ives- Reading Reading Book colour bands have changed over the Summer. Each child will be heard read at least once a week in school. They will also be heard read in guided reading sessions. Children will move reading levels when they are 100% fluent in the colour band they are reading and have a good understanding of what they have read. They are expected to be 80% fluent when they move to the next colour band. Each class will have a reading box so that the children will start to become responsible for changing their own books. It is expected that children will read every night at home. It is important to support your child by asking them a range of questions and encouraging them to discuss the text with you. A range of texts could be read in addition to the reading scheme books, such as books from home, comics, children’s newspapers, letters and signs, etc.

Letters and Sounds Letters and sounds is the government programme for teaching phonics and high frequency words. The children have 4 letters and sounds sessions a week and our grouped across Foundation Stage and Key Stage One. Letters and Sounds is split into 6 phases. The children learn to read and write sounds, such as ea, a-e, oy and to read and write tricky words, such as was, said, what. They learn to blend sounds to read words and to segment words for spelling. In phase 6 they learn about spelling rules for word endings (suffixes).

Reading Activity ActivityActivity: Choose a book that your child would enjoy. Can you use the hand-out to ask a range of questions about the book? Try to include at least one question from each box.

Spellings Sounds – recognising and saying all 26 letters of the alphabet Spellings – Split into colour groups. Initially the children get 5 spellings, which follow the first 100 words. Encourage the children to put the words into sentences (verbally and in writing) Tested every 7 to 10 days. Expected to get 5/5 as they are high frequency words. From Silver onwards – 10 spellings will be given.

Maths Everyday maths games ideas that can be done at home (handout) These will help your child to apply their learning to everyday situations.

Certificates Counting on in 2s, 5s and 10s. Times tables – 2, 5, 10 3, 4, 8 all others to 12 x 12 Expectation – for each times table the children can answer random questions within 3 seconds.

Times tables test!!

Sample SATs questions Write the total = Sue has these coins in a box How much does she put in the box altogether?

Just some other reminders…

PE days: Birch class – Wednesday and Thursday Elm class – Tuesday and Thursday Chestnut class – Tuesday and Thursday

Educational Trips Why are educational trips so important? A trip can reinforce what a teacher has been teaching in class about a subject and help students understand the topic better. Taking students into a new environment gives them the experience of traveling in a group and teaches them to be respectful of the locations they visit. Children get to visit a place to which they have never been before. This can be particularly beneficial for students who are less fortunate and don't have the opportunity to travel. Getting away from the everyday atmosphere of the classroom gives students (AND TEACHERS!!) an opportunity to spend time with each other in a new environment.

Educational Trips Trips planned for this term: Chestnut – Nature walk through the woods to look at how things are changing now autumn has arrived. Elm/Birch – Do the Gruffalo trail at Thorndon Country Park to enhance the work we will be doing in Literacy about Julia Donaldson, the author of the Gruffalo.

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Thank you so much for coming this evening!