Welcome to Mondrian Class

Our class is named after the artist Piet Mondrian who was born in 1872 in Holland.

At first he painted trees, rivers and windmills.

Later he began painting geometric patterns.  

Can you remember which shapes and colours he used?

He liked to listen to 'swing' music while he painted.

Our Busy Week 17th July

The final week of this school year has arrived and we have been very busy. On Tuesday Mrs Patrick came to help us make chocolate potato cake using the potatoes we had grown. We did a very good job of measuring, mixing and beating the ingredients and the result was a delicious cake we have all enjoyed eating!

Have a look at our photos.

 Mrs Pearson, Mrs Hall, Mrs Turner and Mr Bringlow would like to thank all the children and parents for all the thoughtful thank you presents they received this week.

Have a great holiday and don't forget to complete the Reading Challenge.

Our Busy Week 10th July

We have had lots of exciting events this week.

On Monday Power Down Pete came to talk to us about how to make the world a better place by  recycling. The children were able to tell him about the things they recycle at home; cardboard (Zach), bottles (Holly-Ann), glass (Logan), old clothes (Scott) and tins (Tilly). We also learnt a song to help us remember to save heat and electricity. You can listen to us singing the song here.

On Friday the reception children helped Mr Bringloe dig up the potatoes they have been growing. We are going to bake with them next week with Mrs Patrick. Can you remember what we are going to make?

SPAG Check

Below is a list of what an alien might eat at his picnic lunch All the items are separated by commas with an 'and' between the last two. Can you write a list of what your teddy bear ate at the picnic this week? Don't forget the commas.

The alien ate a sandwich, a rocket fruit, moondust crisps and a Mars bar.

Our Busy Week 3rd July 2017

On Monday and Tuesday all the children spent the morning in the classroom they will be in in September. The children going into Germany class worked hard for Mrs Bramley and the reception children staying with Mrs Pearson welcomed the new children to Italy class.

For the rest of the week, the year 1s have been thinking about minibeasts they found at the Skylark Centre. They have written their own information text about their favourite minibeast.

Our Busy Week 26th June

The highlight of the year 1s week was their visit to Skylark. They had a wonderful time and came back to school full of information about the minibeasts they had found.

'My favourite activity was the minibeast hunt. First we talked about the bugs. Next we went where there were loads of bugs to find minibeasts. After that we caught lots of minibeasts. I am going to tell you what we found - centipede, worm, slugs and snails. ' Louise.

Sophie thought the den building activity was the best. 'First I collected sticks and made a den shape. Next we gathered leaves and put them on the den. After that we sat in it for a while. Finally we went back for lunch.'

The reception children have been reading the story 'Superworm' this week.

They created their own super hero minibeast with special powers and measured hw long our superworms were. Can you show someone how to measure objects at home using another small object e.g. pasta, pens?

Our Busy Week 19th June

This week the reception children visited Eureka in Halifax. We had a fantastic day exploring the different learning zones - all about me, role play in the bank, shop and garage as well as watching a show about a glow worm who couldn't glow. It was so good that the children all asked if they could go back another day! We were very proud of how the children behaved and they were complimented on this by the museum staff. Have a look at the photographs of our day and tell a grown up what you enjoyed doing.

Daisy F "I liked playing hospitals. When I grow up I want to be a vet."

Scott "I liked driving the truck and car."

Daisy R "I liked going in the shop because you get to push the trolley and pay."

Harvey "I liked playing the pipes."

In maths the year 1s have been learning about multiplication. They have made arrays to show different multiplication sentences.

You can practise at home with this game.        https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=multiplication

Our Busy Week 5th June 2017

This week we have started our new 'minibeast' topic.

We began by sorting different things into three categories: 

Alive

Not alive

Never been alive.

Why not use this BBC link to find out more then discuss some items in your home?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zs73r82

The reception children have been reading 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' story. We enjoyed retelling the story and even created a dance.

 You can watched us on this video.

You can see what else we will be learning about minibeasts on our topic plans.

Our Busy Week 15th May 2017

This week we have been writing our own stories based on The Enormous Turnip. We hope lots of our parents and carers can  come to school at 2.30pm next Friday, 26th May, so we can share our work and perform the story.

Try to practise retelling the story using the story map below so you know it really well ready for Friday. It will also help you with your writing next week.

Our Busy Week 8th May 2017

We have worked hard this week to learn the rest of our new Talk for Writing story, 'The Enormous Turnip'. A big thank you to Mrs Webster who supplied us with turnips so that we could see, touch, feel and smell them. It really helped us with our writing.

Year 1 SPAG Check

Can you write a sentence explaining what is happening in this picture?

Can you use a verb with the suffix 'ing' e.g. tugging?

Can you change the sentence to the past tense and use the suffix 'ed' e.g. tugged?

Reception Writing Challenge

Can you write a sentence explaining what is happening in this picture?

Our busy week commencing 24.4.2017

A big thank you and congratulations to all the children who have been practising their spellings during the Easter holiday. We have had some amazing results and had to postpone the end of the competition to get some more prizes! Winners will be announced next week but the improvements are already visible in the children's writing this week. Well done to all.

Year 1 SPAG Challenge

We have been adding s or es to make words plural. Can you remember what plural means? Can you make these vegetables plural and then put them in a sentence?

     carrot                    radish                      pea   

Reception Writing Challenge 

What is the girl doing?

Can you write a sentence starting,  'She is ......'

Our Busy Week 3rd April

What an exciting end to this term we had!

On Friday we all brought a hard boiled egg to school to decorate. It was very hard to choose just one winner as there were so many amazing designs. You can see everyone's ideas below. Well done everyone for trying so hard. Congratulations to Daisy R (Reception) and Sophie (year 1) for coming up with the winning designs.

This week the reception children have been learning about 3D shapes. We are getting very good at naming them and finding them around the classroom. Can you find any cubes, cylinders, cones or spheres at home or when you are playing outside? 

Can you remember any of the properties of 3D shapes?

E.g.

Year 1s, don't forget to practise your spelling list ready for the spelling competition after the holidays.

Happy Easter everyone 

Have a super holiday and we look forward to seeing everyone after the holiday ready to start our new topic about plants and growing.

Our Busy Week 27th March

The Year 1s had an exciting time at Colne Valley Museum on Thursday. A big thank you for the lovely costumes the children were wearing. Please look at the photos with a grown up and talk about the different activities you did. It will help you with your writing next week.

Year  1 SPAG Check

Can you write a sentence about one of the activities you did on the trip? Can you use a joining word in the middle of the sentence?

and     but     or

Reception Writing Challenge

Can  you write a sentence about something you have done or somewhere you have been this weekend?

Our Busy Week 20th March

Today we all came to school dressed in red to celebrate Red Nose Day. Lots of us were wearing funny noses as well! We enjoyed listening to this year's Red Nose Day song and talked about why we have Red Nose Day.

Zach said "We give money to charity."

Hannah added "We are helping people who haven't got things."

In our class assembly this week we talked about technology and using the internet. We started reading a story about Smartie the Penguin who gets a new tablet for his birthday and needs help learning to use it safely. We began to learn a rhyme that Smartie's parents taught him. Can you tell someone what Smartie says?

To hear this story, visit Childnet.com/resources/smartie-the-penguin. Ask your parents or carers to share the story with you again and talk about the story together.

Reception Writing Challenge

Can you write a sentence about what you can see?

'I can see a .....       

You could make it even better by adding where you might see them. 

Year 1 SPAG Check

Which of these words should have a capital letter? Can you explain why?

spain       sunny         monday

Can you write a sentence with them in? Remember to use your best handwriting.

Our Busy Week 13th March

This week the year 1's have been learning to tell the time to the hour and half past on analogue and digital clocks. You can play these games to practise some more. Can you tell someone where the long minute hand points when the clock is saying o 'clock and half past? How do you know it is o'clock on a digital clock?

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/earlymath/on_time_game1.htm

http://www.ictgames.com/hickory4.html

The reception children have been learning double numbers by heart. How quickly can you answer the doubles on these games?              

http://www.ictgames.com/bridgedoubles.html

http://www.ictgames.com/robindoubles.html

Reception Writing Challenge

Can you choose 2 of these pictures and make a 'silly' sentence?

Year 1 SPAG Check

We have been working on adding suffixes.

Add a suffix to the verb play to complete the sentence.

The children play   near the pond in the park.

Our Busy Week 6th March

This week we have started to find out what life was like over 100 years ago. We looked at this picture of a kitchen from the past. Can you tell an adult how you know it isn't a modern kitchen and how it is different from yours?   

Maths Challenges

In maths the reception children have been finding the number 1 more and less than another number.

Why not play these games.

Numbers to 10  https://slp.somerset.org.uk/blogs/primaryedtech/2courses%20and%20presentations/ICT%20in%20the%20EYFS/early%20years%20activities%20Kent%20NGfL/giraffe_v5.swf 

Numbers to 30 https://www.studyladder.com/play/activity/id/3283

Year 1 children have been learning to find 2 numbers which total 10 or 20. You can play these games to practise.

http://mathszone.co.uk/number-facts/number-bonds-to-10/save_the_whale-2-ict-games/

http://mathszone.co.uk/number-facts/number-bonds-to-20/funky-mummy-20-ict-games/

Year 1 SPAG Check

Can you add the suffix 'ed' to these verbs and then write a sentence with one of them in?

       play           jump         shout           mix

Reception Writing Challenge

Can you write a sentence about this picture? Where is the boy going?

Don't forget to use the Magic 5 to help you.

Our Busy Week 27th February

It's been a very busy week for celebrations this week.

It started on Tuesday with Pancake day. We really enjoyed making pancakes and choosing our favourite toppings; chocolate spread was the most popular although the children knew it wasn't the healthiest!

On Friday we all dressed as our favourite book characters to celebrate World Book Day. Do you recognise any of the characters?

Congratulations to Daisy Radcliffe was getting the presentation award this week.

We have begun our new Talk for Writing text this week. We are learning to write instructions. Can you join in with Isaac, Jessica and Lexie as they practise the first part?

In maths the Year 1s have been finding out about odd and even numbers. Play this game to practise what you have been learning. http://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/number/oddandeven/

The reception children have been learning to take away a number of objects and find out how many are left. Can you practise at home? Here is a problem to solve.

Find 5 pairs of socks and hide 4 of them. How many are left? Can you write a number sentence to show what you have done?

Find other objects around your house to count and then take some away.

Year 1 Spag Check

Can you add the suffix 'ing' to one of these verbs and then write a sentence with the new word in?

count          paint           jump

Reception Writing challenge

Can you write a sentence to match the picture? Where is the pig?

Our Busy Week 13th February 2017

This week we have been sharing some fabulous poems by Michael Rosen.

Watch these videos of Michael performing his work and join in at home!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Y7lFwkqg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC_PcatGtrc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X6XFEGmnIs

We have also written and performed our own version of 'Oh Dear!' You can listen to our new verses here.

In maths the year 1s have been estimating groups of objects. Can you explain what estimating is? Why not try this estimating game.

http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/Estimate-and-Count-Marbles-402

The reception children have been investigating repeating and symmetrical patterns. Here are some of the super ones they have made.

Reception Challenge

This week we have been looking for and making patterns.

Can you draw a repeating pattern using shapes?

Say the pattern out loud to yourself.

Can you create a pattern using your body e.g. clap, clap, stamp?

Can you use find something else from home to make a repeating pattern with?

Year 1 SPAG

Add the prefix 'un' to this verb to change the verb to it's opposite.

zip   

Can you write a sentence with the new word in? Bring it into school to share.

Our Busy Week 6th February 2017

This week we have been thinking about winter; the weather, clothes we wear and the changes we see around us.

We investigated and described what happened when we added salt and coloured water to a huge block of ice.

Annabelle said "It's cold. The salt is going green. It's melted. It feels smooth, hard and bumpy. I can see a hole at the bottom of the ice cube."

Finlay added " The salt is melting it. The colour is going inside."

In maths the Year 1s have been learning to count in 5s. Can you say what the missing number in this sequence is?

The reception children have been counting in tens and adding 2 numbers.

Reception Challenge

Can you solve these adding problems?

If you have 5 teddies and 3 more. How many will you have altogether?

There are 4 shoes on the shelf and 2 more shoes in the cupboard. How many are there altogether?

Don't forget to bring your answers to school. Can you write the number sentence e.g. 5+3=

Can your adult think of any more adding problems for you to solve?

 Year 1 SPAG Challenge

Write the plural of one of these words by adding 's' to show there is more than one e.g. sweet - sweets.

dog         cow       shark       parrot

Now put the new word into a sentence and bring it to school to share e.g. I am eating the sweets I got for my birthday.

In maths, the year 1s have been recognising, naming and describing 3D shapes.

Go on a shape hunt around your house. Which shapes can you find? - cube, cuboid, sphere, cone, cylinder or pyramid.

How many edges, vertices and faces does your shape have?

Which shape did you find the most of?

The reception children have been weighing different objects using the vocabulary heavy and light.

Can you take your teddy for a walk around your house. What can you find that is heavier than your teddy? Then try to find things which are lighter.

Our Busy Week 23rd January

This week we have been finding out how people in China celebrate the Chinese New Year. 

2017 is the Year of the Rooster. Can you find out which animal represents the year you and your family were born in?

Can you tell someone why lots of the decorations and clothes are red?

We really enjoyed tasting different foods and eating with chopsticks. They are tricky to use.

Our Busy Week 16th January

We have continued to learn the story the 'The Paper Horse'.

Zach and Lily were very good at the first part. Can you join in with them?

If you practise telling the story using the map, it will help you write your own story next week.

One snowy day there was a boy who sat by a window waiting. The boy’s parents had gone away to work and left him to stay with Nai nai.

When it was time for bed, Nai nai made the boy a red paper horse to hang in the window. The boy drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, the boy awoke. To his surprise the horse had come to life. Together they raced out across the snow.

After a while they saw two shadows under a tree. The boy was afraid. But as they got closer, the boy realised it was his own Mama and Baba. They raced back to Nai nai’s warm home.

When the boy really awoke, his paper horse was hanging in the window and somebody was knocking at the door.

This time it was Baba and Mama for real. What a magical dream he’d had!

This week we have also practised our calligraphy skills like Chinese children. We used brushes and black paint to write characters for numbers.

We'd like to thank Mrs Caine for coming to teach us to say hello, goodbye and to count to 10 in Chinese.

Don't forget to practise your number challenges in the back of your communication book and tell us when you have completed your next target.

Our Busy Week 9th January 2017

This week we have began to learn our new talk for writing text called 'The Paper Horse' about a little Chinese boy who had a magical dream.

Can you tell someone the beginning of the story using the story map?

One snowy day there was a little boy who sat by a window waiting.

The boy's parents had gone away to work and left him to stay with Nai nai.

We have also begun to find out about China: where China is in the world, it's flag and some of it's famous buildings. We enjoyed decorating biscuits like the Chinese flag.

Lots of fun was also had as we worked together in our house teams to make models of the Great Wall of China. It was quite tricky listening to everyone's ideas and deciding which were the best. Here are some photos of our super models.

Happy New Year

It was lovely to see the children again after the Christmas holiday. They were very excited to see their friends again and tell us all their news.

I have attached our topic plans so you can see all the exciting things we are going to learn about this half term. Next week we are going to start learning our new talk for writing text 'The Paper Horse'.

Our Busy Week 12th December

Happy Christmas from all in Mondrian Class!

We had an exciting final week with a great party and 3 fabulous performances of our production 'A Wriggly Nativity'(even though we all look very tired at the end!!)

We also had lots of fun with our year 6 buddies, making Christmas necklaces and decorating gingerbread men. There are lots of other photos on Banksy' page.

All the staff would like to say a big thank you for all your lovely presents. We have put them under the tree to open on Christmas Day.

Our Busy Week 5th December

We had a fabulous time at the pantomime in York where we saw Aladdin.

Can you use our special words 'first, next, after that and finally' to tell someone about our visit?

Our Busy Week 21st November

This week we all attended Goldilocks' birthday party, just like The Jolly Postman did in the story. The year 1s made Goldilocks a birthday card with a picture from a nursery rhyme they knew.

We also designed, decorated and wore a party hat showing a nursery rhyme or traditional tales character from the story. We played games and chose from 3 different kinds of jelly. Here are some photographs of us at the party.

We are going to work on a recount of the party next week using the special words

First    Next    After that    Finally     to help structure our work.

Perhaps at bedtime over the weekend you could recap the day with your grown up using these special words.

Our Busy Week 14th November

This week the Jolly Postman visited The Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk and also Cinderella.

We have made a large map to show the Jolly Postman's  journey. We have read lots of Traditional Tales:

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, The 3 Little Pigs, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk and also Cinderella.

Can you tell a grown up who the different characters are? You could retell them your favourite story.

In maths Year 1's have been using positional language such as below, behind and above as well as learning to do half and full turns.

They have also been learning to use the term left and right handside.

The reception children have begun to explore and name 3D shapes (e.g. sphere, cube, cylinder and cone).

Our Busy week 7th November

This week the Jolly Postman delivered the Wicked Witch a special catalogue full of 'witchy' supplies. We pretended to be the witch and wrote a letter back to order our favourite items.

Levi wrote

Dear Hobgoblin Supplies

Thank you for your leaflet.

I would like to buy a hat because mine has a hole in it.

On Friday it was Remembrance Day and found out it was a time to remember people who had died. Isaac said "it is to remember soldiers who died in the world wars.

We worked together to make a  giant poppy using red objects from our classroom. It looked really good when we had finished.

Our Busy Week 31st October

This week we received a very exciting package. It was from The Jolly Postman!!

Read his letter below to find out more about him.

On Thursday this week the year 1s were learning to use computer coding to move fish across the screen. Click on the link below to see some of their work.

http://apps.espressocoding.co.uk/?site_id=13918

Our Busy Week 17th October

We enjoyed sharing our Harvest Festival with our families today and hope they enjoyed listening to some of our favourite harvest songs; Cauliflowers fluffy and Harvest Samba.

In RE the children have been thinking about their favourite fruit and vegetables.

We have been finding out about Autumn this week and the changes we can see all around us. We have mixed colours to create these fabulous trees. What colour leaves can you see?

We went for a walk around school to see what we could find to show it was autumn. We collected leaves, Sycamore spinners and conkers. We used our leaves to make these super hedgehogs and owls. Perhaps you could go for a walk during the holidays and see what you can find. You could make a picture or model with the things you find which you could share when you come back to school or take some photos of your walk.

Our Busy Week October 10th

This week was our class assembly where we told the rest of school about Mondrian, the artist our class is named after. You can watch it here.

Our Busy Week 3rd October

Well done to Jack for receiving the handwriting and presentation trophy this week. Have a look at his beautifully formed cursive letters.

This week we created our own version of Van Gogh's famous painting called 'Starry night'. Can you tell someone what happened when we painted over the stars we had drawn?

The year 1s have been sorting 2D shapes and using them to make repeating patterns. Can you say what comes next in Lily's pattern? Can you make your own repeating pattern?

The reception children have been listening for rhyming words. We have played lots of games and listened to stories. Can you match the pairs of rhyming pictures?

Our Busy Week 26th September

On Wednesday everyone joined in with a sponsored assault course. The children had to crawl under a huge camouflage net, balance on tyres, run in and out of cones as well as run in between the rungs of a rope ladder. Tell an adult which was your favourite part of the course and which was the most difficult part.

In literacy the year 1s were learning to use a question mark. They thought of a question the alien might ask the boy in the story 'The Way back Home'. Emily wrote 'When is he coming to the moon?' Can you write a question to ask a friend or Mrs Pearson?

The reception children wrote a list of items the boy need to help repair his aeroplane. They listened carefully for the sounds they could hear in the words they were writing. Can you help someone write another list e.g. a shopping list?

Our Busy Week 19th September

We had a very exciting afternoon on Tuesday. We were learning about living in space. We tried space food (freeze dried ice cream) from NASA and drank space milkshake from a bag just like real astronauts. Can you tell someone why astronauts eat and drink from a bag rather than from a plate?

 The year 1's have also been learning about double numbers this 

 week. What do we mean when we say double 2? How quickly can

 you say the answers for double 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?

Our Busy Week 12th September

This week we have been reading the story 'Whatever Next' about a little bear who 'went' on an adventure to the moon. The reception children have draw story maps to show what happened in the story. Can you tell someone the story? The year ones have been writing questions to ask Baby Bear. Can you remember what kind of punctuation you need to put at the end of a question?

In maths, the year 1s have been finding numbers which total 10.  Can you use your fingers to help you find out how many more you need to add to 6 to make 10?  Ask someone to tell you different numbers.

The reception children have been using the vocabulary 'most', 'least', 'more than' and 'less than' to compare quantities. Can you tell someone which glass has the least? You could fill containers in the bath and see which has the most.