READING WORKSHOPS

This term, we are introducing the children to the Reader's Workshop. The children will be working towards choosing 'Good Fit Books' and will continue to develop their decoding skills when attempting unknown words.

We will be continuing to use the CAFE approach to develop the children's' reading skills. Some of the strategies we will be focusing on this Term include 'Main Idea', 'Back Up and Reread' and identifying the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts.

We will be using library sessions as a chance for children to engage in free reading time, and to choose books that they wish to take home for shared reading time with their family.

WRITING WORKSHOPS

We have enjoyed setting up our Writer's Notebooks this week, particularly decorating the front covers. The Writer's Notebook is a tool for students to use to note down any ideas/inspirations they have for writing. Teachers generally don't look through the Writers Notebook; it is a space for your child to store all their thoughts and isn't expected to look 'polished'.

In addition to building ideas in our Writers Notebooks, this term we will be focusing on using Ambitious Vocabulary to enhance writing. We will be doing a large unit of work on procedural writing, where the children will have the opportunity to write recipes, instructions for games, timetables for a 'Kids Day Out' and instructions for other children to follow.

PHONICS

This term, we are working to consolidate the children's ability to recognise and spell phonograms. We will begin introducing focus rules every fortnight, which will link to the children's spelling homework. The rules we are covering this term are:

- The letter q must always be followed by the letter u

- The letter 'i' can never be at the end of an English word

- When to use ck or k in a word

- When to use oy, oi, ay or ai (Year 1)

- When to use ar, dge and tch (Year 2)

Science