Year 1 | West Boldon Primary School

When Polly the Penguin came to visit…

9th February 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

Class 4 had a lovely surprise today when the penguin from the story we are studying came to visit.

We found out that she was called Polly Penguin and she just loved to have adventures.

The children asked Polly questions to find out about her adventure from the story Lost and Found.

Polly Penguin noticed our story map and showed us how to adapt the map to make it tell the story from her point of view.

The children then all had a go at creating the story map themselves, pretending they were the penguin!

Number Day 2022!

5th February 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

Children at West Boldon Primary have been dressing up for digits this week to raise money for the NSPCC. Here’s what each year group have been getting up to…

As part of Digit Day, Year 1 took part in a variety of Maths activities. These included using the Hit the Button game online and also playing our new favourite game, ‘Get out of my house!’, which helped us to practise addition and quick recall of number bonds.

Year 1 children taking part in Number Day activities

Children in Year 2 were having to really think about partitioning numbers to work out how to win the game! Amazing competition!

Year 2 children solving maths problems for number day

We even had time to decorate our own numbers to stick on our outfits. Such number fun!

Year 2 have also been counting their throws and catches of the ball in PE!

Year 2 counting their throws and catches in PE

Year 3 celebrated number day with a problem solving treasure hunt task. They had to find the pieces of a key which were hidden around the room, the location of each key was only revealed when children solved a maths problem. They had to work in teams to assemble the key.

Then, they took part in some solvemoji problems, before writing some of their own for their friends to solve. Some of them were really tricky!

Year 3 children showing off their numbers!

Year 3 children looking for Buddy's key!

Year 3 children creating their own solvemoji problems for their friends

It was great to see the children dressed up today. There was sports shirts, dance tops, year tops, some awesome home made ones and some very clever uses of numbers from movies etc.

With it being digit day we had to get involved with some awesome maths activity. Year 4 took part in a special NSPCC Times Table Rockstars competition (which was available only today on digit day).

We also took on some really difficult solve emoji puzzles. The children worked in pairs and it took some real brain power. They needed to use their logical thinking, their problem solving ability and skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division!!!

Some of them even had a trick element in! Every pair worked so hard and as a class we competed nearly 70 puzzles!

Year 4 taking part in Number Day activities.

Year 6 spent the morning solving maths riddles, decoding and following directions on a compass. We have also solved codes, played countdown and challenged each other in a dice game. We’ve used problem solving and reasoning skills. Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

Year 6 children taking part in an activity for number day

Class 14 taking part in their tasks for number day

Teamwork and communication in Year 1

26th January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

During our Commando Joe lessons we have been thinking about the Lion King film. Today one of the characters was stranded in unknown territory. It was our job to work as a team to cross the river and rescue our friend without touching the floor!

Some awesome team work and communication skills from Class 3 today

Year 1 crossing the river in commando joe

Lost and Found

24th January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

In literacy, this term we are studying the story Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.

We explored the beginning of the story through drama – trying to recreate the scenes from the story and contemplate how the characters might be feeling and what they might be thinking.

The children were able to generate some amazing adjectives to describe how the penguin might feel when he was lost.

They were also able to imagine how the boy felt when he opened the door to see a penguin there and what he might have thought.

Inuit Artwork

24th January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

As part of our Come fly with me ..to the Arctic topic we have found out about some Inuit art.

There are many huge structures across the very north of Canada called Inukshuk (pronounced I-nook-shook). These structures are built from huge rocks and look a little like people.

These landmarks were used to mark special places, as sign posts and to mark good hunting or fishing spots.

The children used wooden blocks to create their own inukshuk working with a partner to share and develop ideas.

How does blubber work?

23rd January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

The children came across the word “blubber”

During our work on Arctic animals we carried out an experiment to see how a seal’s blubber can protect it from the icy Arctic seas.

We first explored how long we could keep our hand in ice cold water – which was not long at all!

Then we used plastic bags to simulate the animal skins and lard to be blubber and tested again how long we could keep our hands in the water.

The children were amazed that they could no longer feel the coldness at all! We found that the icy water didn’t feel quite so cold when our hand was surrounded by a layer of fat.

Year 1 children investigating how blubber works

Inuit Throat Singing

22nd January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

In our Dimensions theme this term we have been learning about the Arctic. We have been learning about the animals and people who live in the Arctic. We have learnt about the Inuit people; what the eat, wear, where they live and some of their pastimes.

We have learnt that traditionally Inuit women would have “throat singing” competitions to pass the time while the men were away hunting.

Throat singing is a tricky skill of repeating the sound just a second after the other person has made it, while keeping a beat and rhythm. The first one to stop for breath or giggle is out.

We had our own “throat singing” competition to see who could keep making noises longest. The children had a great time making some very strange and loud noises and also were amazed when we watched a video of some throat singers and how lovely their music was.

See below for more:

Inuit Throat Singing in Year 1 (1)

Inuit Throat Singing in Year 1 (2)

Inuit Throat Singing in Year 1 (3)

Helping Simba the lion in Commando Joe’s

21st January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

Our mission in Commando Joe today was to help Simba the lion and his friends save the animals who had been scattered across the African Savannah.

We had to work as a team to get around the course and bring all of the animals back safely.

The children were resilient- not giving up when things went wrong and had innovative ideas how to solve problems.

After the lesson the class agreed that they hadn’t talked to each other enough and set themselves the target of better communication next time.

Year 1 children completing their Commando Joe

Painting penguins

20th January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

As part of our Dimensions topic on the Arctic, class 3 have been painting penguins, building marshmallow igloos and even attempted some Inuit throat singing!

We have really enjoyed learning about Inuit people and how their loves differ from ours. We were particularly interested in their diet!

Let’s Twist Again!

13th January 2022Miss K. Wilkinson

This term Class Four will be working in dance. Every Monday for the next six weeks, Miss Skiggs will be working with the class to teach dance steps and to combine the steps in to a routine.

This week she introduced our music – Let’s Twist Again, and allowed the children to respond in their own way. There was some fancy footwork!