Friday 6th December 2013
I didn't go into Rivelin Primary on Wednesday, but however went in on Friday instead to help out with the Christmas fayre. The children were very excitable and had a lot of energy, looking forward to selling things on their stall and going around the school to see the other stalls and attractions.
I firstly sorted out all of IJ's gift bags for the stall, just sealing them so you couldn't see the goodies that were inside! Then I helped some children set up the stall and make the pick a stick game, which is where a person takes a stick that has one end hidden in the sand and if it has a white or purple mark on the other end then that person has won a prize! So I was helping the children bury the sticks in the sand tray. We also placed all of 1D's gift bags out for sale.
The Christmas fayre wasn't until the afternoon, there was a lot of setting up to do, and therefore the children got an extended lunch break and extra time to run around. When it was time for the fayre I was supervising the children from both classes that weren't on a stall or going around with their parents/ a TA and there was a complicated system of taking a group of children every 15 minutes to their stall going through the very busy packed halls; and also taking the other children back, whilst also working out which children were leaving with their parents (with a TA's assistance of course). It was fun supervising the children I played snakes and ladders with some of them, and did colouring with some others. I did a lot of behaviour management and making sure the children didn't get lost in the corridors or wander off into the hall.
The children were delighted to sell all of their gift bags, and this was done rather rapidly! so much so the teachers had to come up with new games for the stall which there was definitely some improvising going on! It was good fun and all money raised goes back into the school and the children on the school council decide where the money goes! The children in the whole school put a lot of effort into their enterprise and it paid off really well for them.
Sunday, 8 December 2013
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Lots of Activities and Getting Ready for the Christmas Fayre!
Monday 2nd December 2013
I did heard some children read while the teacher was taking the register and sorting out what the children have for lunch.
The children have been looking at instructions and how to write these, for example 'what we need' and 'what we do' concepts of giving and following instructions. So they have been looking at how to catch a witch, and they had to come up with instructions for this, 1 child came up with putting a potion in front of her to tempt her into the trap which was a cage. Another child came up with tying her up with a rope and then the teacher went through 'what we need' and 'what we do' concepts with the children on the interactive whiteboard.
I helped some children with instructions on what planet they would like to visit and how to get there, they also had to write about what they would like to do when they get there! It was interesting that most children chose Earth instead of another planet. Anyway they had to use instructions and time connectives such as 'First', 'Next,' 'Finally' 'Then' etc and they are just starting to grasp this idea now.
In numeracy we did about subtracting using the number grid so the children can draw lines to the numbers to see how many 'to jump back' which gives them the answer.
In phonics I was helping a child with different sounds of letters. I have learned that a digraph has 2 letters like 'ow' in 'how' and a trigraph has 3 letters in it like 'igh' in 'high.' Phoneme is the sound that the letters make and grapheme is the symbol of that letter/combination of letters.
We were doing the sounds 'ay' 'ow' 'ai' 'ie' 'ea' 'igh' 'ey' 'oi' 'oy' 'ir' and confusing for the children 'I' which is a word in it's self. Some of the words that were brought up were 'might' 'destroy' 'cow' 'coin' 'money' etc.
I helped some children make some rockets throughout the day, it was a little side project to some of the other work they had been doing. I helped to make three rockets and my creative abilities seemed to get worse with each rocket, but however the children's enthusiasm for their individual rockets increased with each poorly crafted rocket - very funny! 1 child could make a rocket completely independently which was very impressive!
Finally I oversaw some children making some reindeer gift bags for the Christmas fayre on Friday. They turned out really good and we must have got to nearly 40 or so! The children were great at organising who was going to do drawing some ears when we had run out, while another child cut them out etc. so there was so,me good planning and production going on.
It would be Mrs Dungworth's final day on Tuesday, so this was the last day I would be seeing her, which is sad as she is a brilliant teacher, however the class will be having two nice teachers taking over from then on, sharing the week with half doing a few days and another doing a couple of days, so it will be interesting to see how they will teach and how it will vary from Mrs D. What will also be interesting is how they communicate with eachother about activities as they share their teaching time in the classroom.
I did heard some children read while the teacher was taking the register and sorting out what the children have for lunch.
The children have been looking at instructions and how to write these, for example 'what we need' and 'what we do' concepts of giving and following instructions. So they have been looking at how to catch a witch, and they had to come up with instructions for this, 1 child came up with putting a potion in front of her to tempt her into the trap which was a cage. Another child came up with tying her up with a rope and then the teacher went through 'what we need' and 'what we do' concepts with the children on the interactive whiteboard.
I helped some children with instructions on what planet they would like to visit and how to get there, they also had to write about what they would like to do when they get there! It was interesting that most children chose Earth instead of another planet. Anyway they had to use instructions and time connectives such as 'First', 'Next,' 'Finally' 'Then' etc and they are just starting to grasp this idea now.
In numeracy we did about subtracting using the number grid so the children can draw lines to the numbers to see how many 'to jump back' which gives them the answer.
In phonics I was helping a child with different sounds of letters. I have learned that a digraph has 2 letters like 'ow' in 'how' and a trigraph has 3 letters in it like 'igh' in 'high.' Phoneme is the sound that the letters make and grapheme is the symbol of that letter/combination of letters.
We were doing the sounds 'ay' 'ow' 'ai' 'ie' 'ea' 'igh' 'ey' 'oi' 'oy' 'ir' and confusing for the children 'I' which is a word in it's self. Some of the words that were brought up were 'might' 'destroy' 'cow' 'coin' 'money' etc.
I helped some children make some rockets throughout the day, it was a little side project to some of the other work they had been doing. I helped to make three rockets and my creative abilities seemed to get worse with each rocket, but however the children's enthusiasm for their individual rockets increased with each poorly crafted rocket - very funny! 1 child could make a rocket completely independently which was very impressive!
Finally I oversaw some children making some reindeer gift bags for the Christmas fayre on Friday. They turned out really good and we must have got to nearly 40 or so! The children were great at organising who was going to do drawing some ears when we had run out, while another child cut them out etc. so there was so,me good planning and production going on.
It would be Mrs Dungworth's final day on Tuesday, so this was the last day I would be seeing her, which is sad as she is a brilliant teacher, however the class will be having two nice teachers taking over from then on, sharing the week with half doing a few days and another doing a couple of days, so it will be interesting to see how they will teach and how it will vary from Mrs D. What will also be interesting is how they communicate with eachother about activities as they share their teaching time in the classroom.
Sunday, 1 December 2013
Thinking of an Idea and Writing an Interesting Sentence About It!
Wednesday 27th November 2013
I helped a child in the morning identifying real vs non real words, e.g. reading the word off the board and sounding it out phonetically to them so that they could decide if the word was real or not.
A teacher from another class wanted a child taking to the first aid office because she had a nose bleed so I took her there, and we got her nose seen to and a note for her parents. She was okay and the nose bleed did stop quite quickly.
I took a group of different children throughout the day and working with the child one-to-one seeing if they could come up with an interesting sentence, say it, write it and check it! So for example the child could look at a book to help them or come up with an idea off the top of their head, first they would say it to me - one child said, 'The snowman was white and cold,' so once she had said this I got her to write it on her whiteboard, using cursive letters for good writing practice. Next we checked it, looking for a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, finger spacing between words and a full stop at the end of the sentence. The aim of the activity is to see if these children could hit the target of a 1C most are already working at this level but just need a little boost. There were some brilliant sentences written!
The children in both classes in year 1 use that of standard letters and sounds in phonics, but also use the jolly phonics actions in conjunction with the sounds.
I asked Mrs J if she thinks there is anything I could do better to assist her, particularly I was thinking about the morning when I feel a little lost when the parents are helping with the first activity before the register. Anyway she thinks I could concentrate on behaviour management of the children, especially when working in small groups. It would also be good to look at any dwindling resources e.g. could the pencils be sharpened or the superstar tickets topped up for example, and finally it is okay to get some children and work on anything I think they need to improve, e.g. it will not be stepping on the teacher's toes! So I can have that little bit more responsibility now which is good news, at least now I know what I can do that will be more effective in supporting the teacher and the children in 1J. I like to now for personal development and to set targets and see if I have reached them.
I am hoping to help 1J out next Friday with some items they need to do for the Christmas fayre, however the day clashes with college so it just depends on what is happening there too.
I helped a child in the morning identifying real vs non real words, e.g. reading the word off the board and sounding it out phonetically to them so that they could decide if the word was real or not.
A teacher from another class wanted a child taking to the first aid office because she had a nose bleed so I took her there, and we got her nose seen to and a note for her parents. She was okay and the nose bleed did stop quite quickly.
I took a group of different children throughout the day and working with the child one-to-one seeing if they could come up with an interesting sentence, say it, write it and check it! So for example the child could look at a book to help them or come up with an idea off the top of their head, first they would say it to me - one child said, 'The snowman was white and cold,' so once she had said this I got her to write it on her whiteboard, using cursive letters for good writing practice. Next we checked it, looking for a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence, finger spacing between words and a full stop at the end of the sentence. The aim of the activity is to see if these children could hit the target of a 1C most are already working at this level but just need a little boost. There were some brilliant sentences written!
The children in both classes in year 1 use that of standard letters and sounds in phonics, but also use the jolly phonics actions in conjunction with the sounds.
I asked Mrs J if she thinks there is anything I could do better to assist her, particularly I was thinking about the morning when I feel a little lost when the parents are helping with the first activity before the register. Anyway she thinks I could concentrate on behaviour management of the children, especially when working in small groups. It would also be good to look at any dwindling resources e.g. could the pencils be sharpened or the superstar tickets topped up for example, and finally it is okay to get some children and work on anything I think they need to improve, e.g. it will not be stepping on the teacher's toes! So I can have that little bit more responsibility now which is good news, at least now I know what I can do that will be more effective in supporting the teacher and the children in 1J. I like to now for personal development and to set targets and see if I have reached them.
I am hoping to help 1J out next Friday with some items they need to do for the Christmas fayre, however the day clashes with college so it just depends on what is happening there too.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
My Mini Lesson Plan - A 2D shapes Game!
Monday 25th November
I firstly helped a child in the morning with her recognition of real versus nonsense words and also her writing practice. She did some brilliant work!
In phonics the children did the usual sounds but also the new sound of 'ew' such as 'flew' and 'grew' The children were also working on 'irl' such as in 'girl' 'twirl' etc. I worked with a boy 'G' in phonics helping him to stay focused on the task.
Today I got the chance to do my mini lesson plan - I was working with 8 children who played a 2D shapes game that I created. The learning objectives were that the children could spot the odd shape out in a pattern of shapes, that they could secondly chose a shape that had a certain number of sides and tell me some properties about it, and finally could they make a basic symmetrical pattern using some 2D shapes of their choice? It was turned into a game by throwing the dice to determine finding a shape with that many sides e.g. 6 = hexagon, 3 = triangle 1(curve) = a circle etc. The children had fun and the mini game is on TES connect. Something which I could have done better is to have less children the optimum is 6 (so Mrs D tells me) 8 is a lot for a small group activity. Also as I look at the instructions that I've put on tes-connect I think that the game is a little complicated as it has three parts to it. These are definitely points to work on!
In the afternoon I helped some children with making reindeer antlers which are going on some handmade craft bags designed by the children for the Christmas Fayre! The children found cutting the antlers out a little tricky however they were very creative! Mrs J from the other Y1 class came in and saw me cutting out some reindeer ears and told me off (only a little :-)) as the children need to do this themselves - I certainly see where she is coming from, but there weren't enough ears to antlers ratio, but it didn't matter, and so I must remember to allow the children to be independent at all times, and not be too quick to jump in to help!
I asked Mrs D if there is anything I can improve on whilst helping in the class, and I also asked her what I do well. So the thing that I can improve on is helping children in the morning, particularly where the parents don't stay with their child to do the first writing activity, so look out for the children who don't have their parents there to help. The thing that I do really well apparently is working 1-to-1 with children. The reason why I wanted feedback from Mrs D was because I had feedback from the other class teacher in 1J in the form of the observation feedback comments, so it's nice to know what I am doing right and wrong in both classes. Both teachers are very helpful with feedback and you can approach them about anything which is great.
Finally one of the new teachers that will be taking over 1D in the next coming weeks came in to visit which was lovely to meet up with her! There will be two teachers in 1D sharing the first and second half of the week.
Here are some pictures of the mini lesson - the shapes game.
I firstly helped a child in the morning with her recognition of real versus nonsense words and also her writing practice. She did some brilliant work!
In phonics the children did the usual sounds but also the new sound of 'ew' such as 'flew' and 'grew' The children were also working on 'irl' such as in 'girl' 'twirl' etc. I worked with a boy 'G' in phonics helping him to stay focused on the task.
Today I got the chance to do my mini lesson plan - I was working with 8 children who played a 2D shapes game that I created. The learning objectives were that the children could spot the odd shape out in a pattern of shapes, that they could secondly chose a shape that had a certain number of sides and tell me some properties about it, and finally could they make a basic symmetrical pattern using some 2D shapes of their choice? It was turned into a game by throwing the dice to determine finding a shape with that many sides e.g. 6 = hexagon, 3 = triangle 1(curve) = a circle etc. The children had fun and the mini game is on TES connect. Something which I could have done better is to have less children the optimum is 6 (so Mrs D tells me) 8 is a lot for a small group activity. Also as I look at the instructions that I've put on tes-connect I think that the game is a little complicated as it has three parts to it. These are definitely points to work on!
In the afternoon I helped some children with making reindeer antlers which are going on some handmade craft bags designed by the children for the Christmas Fayre! The children found cutting the antlers out a little tricky however they were very creative! Mrs J from the other Y1 class came in and saw me cutting out some reindeer ears and told me off (only a little :-)) as the children need to do this themselves - I certainly see where she is coming from, but there weren't enough ears to antlers ratio, but it didn't matter, and so I must remember to allow the children to be independent at all times, and not be too quick to jump in to help!
I asked Mrs D if there is anything I can improve on whilst helping in the class, and I also asked her what I do well. So the thing that I can improve on is helping children in the morning, particularly where the parents don't stay with their child to do the first writing activity, so look out for the children who don't have their parents there to help. The thing that I do really well apparently is working 1-to-1 with children. The reason why I wanted feedback from Mrs D was because I had feedback from the other class teacher in 1J in the form of the observation feedback comments, so it's nice to know what I am doing right and wrong in both classes. Both teachers are very helpful with feedback and you can approach them about anything which is great.
Finally one of the new teachers that will be taking over 1D in the next coming weeks came in to visit which was lovely to meet up with her! There will be two teachers in 1D sharing the first and second half of the week.
Here are some pictures of the mini lesson - the shapes game.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Observation Time!
Wednesday 20th November 2013
Firstly as usual I helped the children with recognising real versus non-real words and I set up and ICT game on the laptop which was also along the same lines - a phonics game of real words go into the green dragon and non-real words go into the red dragon. Whilst a child completes this game on the laptop I hear another child read when they have finished the children swap over and complete the other task.
In phonics I helped a child with the 'ar' sound and writing words with this sound in e.g. car, star, harsh, part etc.
I also completed a money game with the children where they gave out pretend money to each other and had the other person count how much money they had. I made it harder by adding more money and more complex coins, such as 20p's for example.
In the afternoon I met with Angela for my observation, it was lovely to see her and I think the observation went okay, also I received some good feedback on how to improve my interaction with the children which will help me to further develop better strategies for assisting learning in the classroom.
I helped some children get changed for P.E. and then I set up the ICT game of red versus green dragon - for real versus non real words (phase 3) and pick a picture - matching words to a picture (phase 2) games for children that were age/stage appropriate to their needs. Whilst one child was on the laptop I heard another child read and then swapped them over after they had completed the first task.
The children have also been looking at connective (first, then, next, finally etc) words and how to use these in a sentence. They have also been looking at information such as instructions and what these are and what they tell us, e.g. 'what we need' and 'what to do' when following instructions for a recipe.
Firstly as usual I helped the children with recognising real versus non-real words and I set up and ICT game on the laptop which was also along the same lines - a phonics game of real words go into the green dragon and non-real words go into the red dragon. Whilst a child completes this game on the laptop I hear another child read when they have finished the children swap over and complete the other task.
In phonics I helped a child with the 'ar' sound and writing words with this sound in e.g. car, star, harsh, part etc.
I also completed a money game with the children where they gave out pretend money to each other and had the other person count how much money they had. I made it harder by adding more money and more complex coins, such as 20p's for example.
In the afternoon I met with Angela for my observation, it was lovely to see her and I think the observation went okay, also I received some good feedback on how to improve my interaction with the children which will help me to further develop better strategies for assisting learning in the classroom.
I helped some children get changed for P.E. and then I set up the ICT game of red versus green dragon - for real versus non real words (phase 3) and pick a picture - matching words to a picture (phase 2) games for children that were age/stage appropriate to their needs. Whilst one child was on the laptop I heard another child read and then swapped them over after they had completed the first task.
The children have also been looking at connective (first, then, next, finally etc) words and how to use these in a sentence. They have also been looking at information such as instructions and what these are and what they tell us, e.g. 'what we need' and 'what to do' when following instructions for a recipe.
Measuring With Our Feet and Hands!
Monday 18th November
I helped the children with real versus non real words in the morning and I heard a few readers.
A lower ability set were doing an activity recognising words, they had to write down the word on a whiteboard and then spell them out with the magnetic letters and match them to the card word phrase as well as read these out to me. I helped them to stay on track with concentration and reinforcing good behaviour with rewards e.g. they could have a superstar ticket or they could play with the construction kits if they did good work. I was really pleased with the work that they have done, this group has certainly come on brilliantly since September and I am very proud of them!
The children have been doing about measurements and measuring things with their feet and hands. The teacher used 10 steps from the edge of the carpet to the door, a child used 15 steps because he has smaller feet. A child measured the desk using 8 hand spans the teacher took 4 handspans. So the children learned about feet and hands not being a reliable form of measurement as different people's hands and feet are different sizes. The children have also been using straws, cubes and different lengths of string to measure and estimate sizes of objects. This makes a difference to uses a ruler as the children had to be more creative!
I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon so I had to leave the class for this.
I helped the children with real versus non real words in the morning and I heard a few readers.
A lower ability set were doing an activity recognising words, they had to write down the word on a whiteboard and then spell them out with the magnetic letters and match them to the card word phrase as well as read these out to me. I helped them to stay on track with concentration and reinforcing good behaviour with rewards e.g. they could have a superstar ticket or they could play with the construction kits if they did good work. I was really pleased with the work that they have done, this group has certainly come on brilliantly since September and I am very proud of them!
The children have been doing about measurements and measuring things with their feet and hands. The teacher used 10 steps from the edge of the carpet to the door, a child used 15 steps because he has smaller feet. A child measured the desk using 8 hand spans the teacher took 4 handspans. So the children learned about feet and hands not being a reliable form of measurement as different people's hands and feet are different sizes. The children have also been using straws, cubes and different lengths of string to measure and estimate sizes of objects. This makes a difference to uses a ruler as the children had to be more creative!
I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon so I had to leave the class for this.
Measurements & Forces
Wednesday 13th November
I helped the children learn about measurements, they were comparing whether a string is longer or shorter than another next to it. This helped with their estimating and prediction.
I heard some children read and made records of this in their reading diary and the green folder.
In the afternoon I helped some children get changed for P.E. and heard some more readers.
We also looked at forces and whether their is a push or pull force or both.
I cut out some signs for a transport display as the children have been learning about different kinds of transport such as going in a car, or riding the train, or even flying when going on holiday.
I helped the children learn about measurements, they were comparing whether a string is longer or shorter than another next to it. This helped with their estimating and prediction.
I heard some children read and made records of this in their reading diary and the green folder.
In the afternoon I helped some children get changed for P.E. and heard some more readers.
We also looked at forces and whether their is a push or pull force or both.
I cut out some signs for a transport display as the children have been learning about different kinds of transport such as going in a car, or riding the train, or even flying when going on holiday.
Remembering the Hero Soldiers for Rememberence Day!
Monday 11th November
Today there was a special assembly to remember the soldiers who fought in the first world war and sacrificed their lives doing so! I was allowed into the assembly hall for the first time which was really nice. A child held a lit candle for the service and we had the two minute silence which is customary for the date. The head teacher also gave a speech about the war and the soldiers actions. Due to the assembly there was no phonics session for Y1.
I helped some children in ICT play a game about money, the children had to recognise what certain coins were and how much they totaled. The game was a little too easy for the group and so I found them a game where they had to compare two sets of coins and click on the one with the highest total. This is a comparison game.
I heard some children read and I helped some children with a letters game where they had to use the magnetic letters to spell out a word and then check this against a word card. This was helping a lower ability group with word recognition.
Today there was a special assembly to remember the soldiers who fought in the first world war and sacrificed their lives doing so! I was allowed into the assembly hall for the first time which was really nice. A child held a lit candle for the service and we had the two minute silence which is customary for the date. The head teacher also gave a speech about the war and the soldiers actions. Due to the assembly there was no phonics session for Y1.
I helped some children in ICT play a game about money, the children had to recognise what certain coins were and how much they totaled. The game was a little too easy for the group and so I found them a game where they had to compare two sets of coins and click on the one with the highest total. This is a comparison game.
I heard some children read and I helped some children with a letters game where they had to use the magnetic letters to spell out a word and then check this against a word card. This was helping a lower ability group with word recognition.
Real Words Vs. Non Real Words
So there was no school on Monday (04/11/13) due to a training day!
Wednesday 6th November in 1J
I helped the children practice their recognition of real words versus non real words and whether they could take one word and create a sentence using the word they had chosen.
As it had been bonfire night the previous night, the children had learned some bonfire poems and I was helping to do the actions along with the teacher, which the children had come up with for certain words in the poems such as hands straight out for the word 'whizzing' and punching the air for 'bang' and so forth.
The children have also started learning about forces - 'pushing' and 'pulling' motions of forces. So for example we were looking at whether a a swing has a push or pull motion or both, and how a child creates this using their feet, pulling/pushing forwards and backwards to make the swinging motion.
Finally I helped the children get ready for P.E. and heard some children reading. I also helped two children put the reading book bags out for home time, and I also got the lunch boxes for both Y1 classes.
Wednesday 6th November in 1J
I helped the children practice their recognition of real words versus non real words and whether they could take one word and create a sentence using the word they had chosen.
As it had been bonfire night the previous night, the children had learned some bonfire poems and I was helping to do the actions along with the teacher, which the children had come up with for certain words in the poems such as hands straight out for the word 'whizzing' and punching the air for 'bang' and so forth.
The children have also started learning about forces - 'pushing' and 'pulling' motions of forces. So for example we were looking at whether a a swing has a push or pull motion or both, and how a child creates this using their feet, pulling/pushing forwards and backwards to make the swinging motion.
Finally I helped the children get ready for P.E. and heard some children reading. I also helped two children put the reading book bags out for home time, and I also got the lunch boxes for both Y1 classes.
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
ECO Week!!!
The children have been learning about ecology and recycling and as part of this they have brought in items that they can recycle from their packed lunches, along with other items for recycling from home.
In the morning I helped the children to plant some seeds in yoghurt pots, it is hoped they will start sprouting in the coming days. The children have also enjoyed learning about where their rubbish goes e.g. to the tip or what happens to it when it is recycled.
There was no phonics due to 'eco week.'
I heard some children do some reading as usual and I also read the children a story at home time about Max the Tractor as after half term there will be a theme of transport being taught to the children.
Wednesday 23rd October
The children made different animals and a human out of their recycled items from food packaging. They made a hedgehog, a horse, a dog and a man and had a lot of fun doing it.
I helped some children with letter practice, looking at letters that individual children were struggling with.
I also helped a child with restrictive movement in her arm get ready for P.E. and while the children were doing P.E. I heard some readers and recorded their progress in their reading diaries and kept a log of my own record.
The Rivelin School ECO-CODE:
Everyone has to take part
Always reuse carrier bags
Recycle all recyclable waste
Time to take action
Help save our future!
Monday, 28 October 2013
Recognising Shapes and their Properties!
Monday 14th October in 1D
I tested the children on whether they could identify shapes and their properties and then recorded this progress i.e. testing whether they knew what a triangle, circle, hexagon, pentagon, square, and rectangle were and how many sides or curves (circle) they have.
I played a numeracy game with a group of children - they needed to put two counters in two pots (out of three pots) and each pot would have a number on - the children would then tell me what their number sentence was i.e. 2+3=5 with the counters having been placed in the '2' pot and '3' pot. This was testing the children on their grasp of number problems in a lower ability set, the children found this difficult.
I heard some children read as normal and marked their progress off in their reading diary and the teacher's reading record folder.
This was an unusual week due to the children having photos taken and a planned fire drill (which never happened in the end due to the children having their photos taken).
Wednesday 16th October
I helped the children with their letter practice 'y' 'g' 'l' 'j'
There was disruption due to the photos being taken and children were leaving the classroom to have photos taken with siblings. It was lovely to see the children pose for their photos as we went to the hall as a class for the session. I was managing the behaviour of the children who had had their photos taken trying to contain the noise levels - the children were excited and eager to talk to their friends about what was going on - bless them!
There was no P.E. either due to the photo session, I therefore heard children read and helped two children put out the reading bookbags as well as fetching the lunch bags . I checked on one child's hand who said she couldn't feel it and it was numb! It turned out to be okay.
I tested the children on whether they could identify shapes and their properties and then recorded this progress i.e. testing whether they knew what a triangle, circle, hexagon, pentagon, square, and rectangle were and how many sides or curves (circle) they have.
I played a numeracy game with a group of children - they needed to put two counters in two pots (out of three pots) and each pot would have a number on - the children would then tell me what their number sentence was i.e. 2+3=5 with the counters having been placed in the '2' pot and '3' pot. This was testing the children on their grasp of number problems in a lower ability set, the children found this difficult.
I heard some children read as normal and marked their progress off in their reading diary and the teacher's reading record folder.
This was an unusual week due to the children having photos taken and a planned fire drill (which never happened in the end due to the children having their photos taken).
Wednesday 16th October
I helped the children with their letter practice 'y' 'g' 'l' 'j'
There was disruption due to the photos being taken and children were leaving the classroom to have photos taken with siblings. It was lovely to see the children pose for their photos as we went to the hall as a class for the session. I was managing the behaviour of the children who had had their photos taken trying to contain the noise levels - the children were excited and eager to talk to their friends about what was going on - bless them!
There was no P.E. either due to the photo session, I therefore heard children read and helped two children put out the reading bookbags as well as fetching the lunch bags . I checked on one child's hand who said she couldn't feel it and it was numb! It turned out to be okay.
| Working on recognising shapes similar to this scenario (photo taken from web) |
A Busy Third Week
Third week - 1 day in 1D, 2 days in 1J!
Monday 7th October 2013
The children came into the classroom and had about fifteen minutes with their parents practicing their cursive writing as usual. I helped some children get a new reading book appropriate to their reading stage i.e. pink book stage 2.
Next was phonics and I helped a boy practice his phonics, sounding out 'ng' 'ai' 'ee' 'ar' 'oo' 'igh' and so on. I encouraged the child to write words with some of these sounds in them too.
The children have been looking at sources of light and most children could identify the sun as a source of light. some children talked about electricity being a source of light and comparing this to natural sources of light such as the sun, fire i.e. candles, and the fact that the moon reflects the light but is not a source of light!
I helped a group of children with an art and science combined project which was all about shading, so starting with a colour such as red and using white to make each shading box a little bit light than the last shade of red. Nearly all of the children grasped the idea of shading and they had a lot of fun doing so!
In numeracy I helped one child with number sentences e.g. 8+2=10 and the child has to solve, write, understand the sentences. Some children were working on how many numbers up to 100 they could recognise in five minutes.
I heard some children read, there was some excellent reading going on! Most children can sound out a word to help them understand it, using what they have learned from the sounds of grouped letters from phonics.
Working with a group of children we played a letter game on the carpet, the children had to throw a dice and when they land on a particular letter they had to say a word beginning with that letter. The first child to the end of the board wins. Most children enjoyed this, one or two I helped get back on track when their concentration was drifting a little, by asking them if they could also name some words beginning with the letter that the last child had landed on, obviously I did this after the first child had said their word.
I had to quickly go into the class next door to help with a child that had collided with another child and had bumped their head, due to that teacher needing to watch the class - while I dealt with the child who needed first aid. With the teachers permission I went to the first aid area in the nurses office and got a cool pack out of the fridge and placed it by the eye of the child who had a little bruising. Another member of staff wrote out a report note for the child's parent/carers. The child was fine and remained in school.
Tuesday 8th October - Class 1J
Today we carried on with looking at sources of light - both classes are doing the same topics.
I helped a different child in phonics with the same letter sounds as yesterday and helped some children in art with shading who enjoyed mixing the paints, this time being able to choose between blue or red paint, we ended up with a mix of purple shades which wasn't supposed to happen!
I also heard a number of children read as well as helping some children with letter practice e.g. working on the letter 'g' on a whiteboard first then the child does this independently on their letter sheet within their workbook.
Wednesday 9th October in 1J again
Today I worked with the children doing creations with building blocks making symmetrical shapes. I also helped the children with their cursive letter practice of certain words such as 'and' 'there' 'go' 'we' 'I' 'then' 'they' etc.
I helped some children with one-to-one writing practice of their name, they would trace the letters of their name and then write it out independently. This was working with the children in a lower ability set.
In afternoon I took some children out into the corridor to practice some letter practice working on 'q' and 'f' or whatever letter the child was having difficulty with.
I heard some children read and helped two children put out the reading books and letters on the reading bags before the children headed off home. I also fetched the lunch bags for both classes so the children can pack these away at home time, this is to help another TA whose job it is, but is in the junior section so it is hard for her to come across to year 1 and do this so it is now my job which I don't mind.
Monday 7th October 2013
The children came into the classroom and had about fifteen minutes with their parents practicing their cursive writing as usual. I helped some children get a new reading book appropriate to their reading stage i.e. pink book stage 2.
Next was phonics and I helped a boy practice his phonics, sounding out 'ng' 'ai' 'ee' 'ar' 'oo' 'igh' and so on. I encouraged the child to write words with some of these sounds in them too.
The children have been looking at sources of light and most children could identify the sun as a source of light. some children talked about electricity being a source of light and comparing this to natural sources of light such as the sun, fire i.e. candles, and the fact that the moon reflects the light but is not a source of light!
I helped a group of children with an art and science combined project which was all about shading, so starting with a colour such as red and using white to make each shading box a little bit light than the last shade of red. Nearly all of the children grasped the idea of shading and they had a lot of fun doing so!
In numeracy I helped one child with number sentences e.g. 8+2=10 and the child has to solve, write, understand the sentences. Some children were working on how many numbers up to 100 they could recognise in five minutes.
I heard some children read, there was some excellent reading going on! Most children can sound out a word to help them understand it, using what they have learned from the sounds of grouped letters from phonics.
Working with a group of children we played a letter game on the carpet, the children had to throw a dice and when they land on a particular letter they had to say a word beginning with that letter. The first child to the end of the board wins. Most children enjoyed this, one or two I helped get back on track when their concentration was drifting a little, by asking them if they could also name some words beginning with the letter that the last child had landed on, obviously I did this after the first child had said their word.
I had to quickly go into the class next door to help with a child that had collided with another child and had bumped their head, due to that teacher needing to watch the class - while I dealt with the child who needed first aid. With the teachers permission I went to the first aid area in the nurses office and got a cool pack out of the fridge and placed it by the eye of the child who had a little bruising. Another member of staff wrote out a report note for the child's parent/carers. The child was fine and remained in school.
Tuesday 8th October - Class 1J
Today we carried on with looking at sources of light - both classes are doing the same topics.
I helped a different child in phonics with the same letter sounds as yesterday and helped some children in art with shading who enjoyed mixing the paints, this time being able to choose between blue or red paint, we ended up with a mix of purple shades which wasn't supposed to happen!
I also heard a number of children read as well as helping some children with letter practice e.g. working on the letter 'g' on a whiteboard first then the child does this independently on their letter sheet within their workbook.
Wednesday 9th October in 1J again
Today I worked with the children doing creations with building blocks making symmetrical shapes. I also helped the children with their cursive letter practice of certain words such as 'and' 'there' 'go' 'we' 'I' 'then' 'they' etc.
I helped some children with one-to-one writing practice of their name, they would trace the letters of their name and then write it out independently. This was working with the children in a lower ability set.
In afternoon I took some children out into the corridor to practice some letter practice working on 'q' and 'f' or whatever letter the child was having difficulty with.
I heard some children read and helped two children put out the reading books and letters on the reading bags before the children headed off home. I also fetched the lunch bags for both classes so the children can pack these away at home time, this is to help another TA whose job it is, but is in the junior section so it is hard for her to come across to year 1 and do this so it is now my job which I don't mind.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Second Week in Placement - I Know Nearly Everyone's Names!
Due to a bad cold I did not go into the school on Monday, however I have offered both teachers extra days starting tomorrow, so I will be in four days which I am really looking forward to. However here is what I got up to in Mrs J's Class on Wednesday 2nd October:-
Firstly I helped the children with their cursive writing following on from the week before as well as helping a child with phonics - sounding out the words and trying to get the children to come up with other words that sound similar.
The children have been learning about castles and who lives in them. In creative art, I helped some children with the swords and shields that they have been making. The children can work mostly independently and just need help with cutting, or with a template for a sword - which was certainly testing my creative skills! Some of the children came up with fantastic designs and it was good to see their creative juices flowing.
The children have made a card for a child that is not well in their class and so I helped to stick all their messages into the card. It was lovely to see the support that they show for their classmate.
I also helped some of the children work out if there there are any lines of symmetry in certain letters e.g. B, K, C,D F, E. The children are very good at finding the line(s) of symmetry.
In the afternoon I helped some children get ready for P.E. e.g. helping to take off shoes and socks and some children needed help taking off their school jumpers. whilst the children were doing P.E. I called individual children out to hear them read. The children differ in reading abilities varying from spelling out words to reading independently with little help to say or understand words. There was some great effort put into reading!
I now know all the names of the children in this class, I now just need to finish learning all the names in class 1D.
Firstly I helped the children with their cursive writing following on from the week before as well as helping a child with phonics - sounding out the words and trying to get the children to come up with other words that sound similar.
The children have been learning about castles and who lives in them. In creative art, I helped some children with the swords and shields that they have been making. The children can work mostly independently and just need help with cutting, or with a template for a sword - which was certainly testing my creative skills! Some of the children came up with fantastic designs and it was good to see their creative juices flowing.
The children have made a card for a child that is not well in their class and so I helped to stick all their messages into the card. It was lovely to see the support that they show for their classmate.
I also helped some of the children work out if there there are any lines of symmetry in certain letters e.g. B, K, C,D F, E. The children are very good at finding the line(s) of symmetry.
In the afternoon I helped some children get ready for P.E. e.g. helping to take off shoes and socks and some children needed help taking off their school jumpers. whilst the children were doing P.E. I called individual children out to hear them read. The children differ in reading abilities varying from spelling out words to reading independently with little help to say or understand words. There was some great effort put into reading!
I now know all the names of the children in this class, I now just need to finish learning all the names in class 1D.
Thursday, 26 September 2013
My First Days Working with Year 1
Monday 23rd September 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed my first day working with Mrs Dungworth's year one class. The children were lovely and the teacher was very supportive.
I was first set a task before the children had arrived at school, to cut out some pictures of kings using the guillotine. These would be used for numeracy later and the larger pictures for a literacy activity.
As the children came in to settle down, I heard a child P read, helping him with any complicated words and made a log of his progress in the reading progress book that each child has.
The children have been learning cursive letters and I helped some of them to write these out - the letters start on the line and curve round so that they can be joined up with other letters, also it encourages the children to fully form the letters so that they sit properly on the line and are recognisable. I helped with the more difficult letters such a 'p' and 'd' which are easily mixed up as well as 'g' and 'o' which should have two 'flicks' one where it starts on the bottom of the line and one where it would finish or join another letter if contained within a word.
I helped one child with phonics - the sounding of letters and words with these letters in so the 'oat' sound is in 'boat', 'coat' and 'moat'. The children on the carpet could chose a foam set of letters such as 'igh' which they found the word 'high' 'sigh' 'light' and 'might' and even one child found 'weigh' used these letters.
Class 1D have been making castles as part of creative art and I helped some of the children cut the turrets and cut out the windows where we poked a pencil through to make a hole and then cut out the square shape for the window. I also helped so,me children with the gluing of the round part of the tower as this was a little tricky for some children. All of the children were able to make the design of their castle independently and were very creative with decoration on their castles.
Working with another group who had a picture of a castle worksheet, I was helping them to label the names of the different parts of the castle, 'turret' 'drawbridge'' flag' 'moat' 'gate' etc. The children found this quite hard however, so I wrote the words out on a whiteboard and some children were able to copy the words of here, whilst others still had trouble writing certain letters and labelling each word with the correct part of the castle, so I am working on this for next session.
For my next task I walked around the class and checked that the children knew what was being asked of them and that they were not struggling with their work, at this point one group who was doing numeracy were looking at ways that we can get to a total of five, for example on one crown M has put pictures of three kings and on the other crown she has put two kings, whereas L has put four kings on one crown and one king on the other crown, we talked about this and how you would write the number sentence which is 3 + 2 = 5 and 4 + 1 = 5 which both make the same total.
As part of learning through play three children and myself played the board game 'snakes and ladders' which helped teach the children about turn taking, game rules, and helped with counting and number recognition in line with the children's' numeracy targets.
Wednesday 25th September 2013
I joined Mrs Jackson's year one class on the Wednesday and it was great that Mrs Jackson had some tasks for me to do with the children throughout the day. It allowed me to use the time constructively and to see what still needed to be done.
The children in 1J were very friendly and quite lively too! Mrs Jackson was very welcoming and helped me to get settled into the class.
Firstly I helped the children to get settled into the room and I got to talk to some of the parents and it was nice to meet them. I helped the children with cursive letters on their whiteboards, mostly allowing them to write each word independently, only helping where a child was struggling with a particular word or letter. The children seemed to have got to grips with a lot of the basic words such as 'and' 'to' 'they' 'go' 'when' and so on. I was mostly overseeing this activity as well as some of the parents stay for a few minutes and help their child settle in and help their child with the first activity.
Next I heard a child 'C' read, helping him with any difficult words or sounding out the words, I then recorded this progress in his reading log and in the teacher's green folder which makes a note of the children that have read and on what date.
My next task was to get quotes about what the children had learned about a king, queen, castle, knight, prince or princess which will go in speech bubbles and be displayed on the wall with the children's castles. I managed to get a quote out of most children, however I need quotes of six more children next week, some children were reluctant to tell me what they had learnt, however after a little encouragement most did. I just need to help the last six to do so!
The children have also been learning the story in line with the theme of castles; 'The Princess and the Pea' and Mrs Jackson drew symbols of each action in the story on the interactive board so the children are able to join in retelling the story. I was helping some of the children to come up with signs/actions that we could use to show parts of the story, for example one child came up with using her hands as a heart symbol on her head for the character of the true princess, the king was a crown symbol which is two straight hands about the head, the queen was the hands made into a triangle above the head, the notion of marriage was a using two fingers to shape a heart, time was pointing to a watch etc. this way the children can remember the story and retell it with actions and simple phrases. It was also helping them to remember what they have learnt about castles and who lives in them.
For creative art the children have been designing the king's knickers of which this artwork had been completed before I joined the class, and so while 1J were in assembly I was putting their colourful artwork on display up on two lines around the classroom.
As part of the next activity I was helping a child 'G' with writing certain letters and numbers on his whiteboard, for example showing him how to write an eight (8) and how to write the number sentence 4 + 4 = 8. Next I helped to write the letter Z and find a word with it in,' Z is for Zip' 'Z is for Zebra' the words were written with cursive letters - they start on the line and join other letters.
I then heard another child 'K' read and recorded this as in line with track progress recording. I was impressed with her reading and how after sounding out some of the more difficult words she was able to read them in the context of the whole sentence.
Class 1J had P.E. in the afternoon and so I helped some of the children to change for P.E. especially where a child struggled to get her top over her head and undo buttons as she had a splint on her arm. Whilst the children were doing P.E. I was able to hear another three children read to me. One was able to change his reading book and two children were fluent readers, one was able to recite what had happened in the book. I recorded their progress in their reading log book and in the teacher's green folder. Where the children get on well with a book they are encouraged to choose another out of the book box, whereas the children that struggle with a book read it again to learn some of the words and or themes in the book - helping them to be more comfortable with more difficult words and gain confidence in their reading abilities.
I helped out with some behaviour management where the children were messing about in the line and so I asked them to stand quietly and face the front of the line and to do good listening for Mrs Jackson, where children are good they get a star for good behaviour and at the end of the day I chose two children, a boy and a girl to receive a star each. I also watched for any misbehaviour in the group of children doing jobs in the corridor just outside the classroom, the children were well behaved but just needed reminding that only four children are allowed to be doing jobs at the table outside the classroom, and so I sent one child back into the classroom.
Finally just before home time I helped two children to put the reading books on top of the all the children's reading book bags, helping them to read the more difficult names of their classmates. The children did really well, mostly being able to do this independently apart from a few names, it encourages reading skills, confidence in being able to carry out a task for the teacher and also it helps the children to recognise their peers names.
I really enjoyed my first two days of placement and look forward to going back to class next week!
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