ECO Week!!!

Monday 21st October in 1D

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! 

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.

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.

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.