Today we are going to be having a good look at the /ar/ sound and ways that we know how to spell it. 

Watch the below video which shows the Alphablocks exploring the way that you first learnt to spell the /ar/ sound when you learnt Phase 3 Letters and Sounds. 

In Year 1, we have been beginning to look at alternative ways to spell this sound. Here are some words which contain different spellings of the /ar/ sound. Read them with an adult and notice the spelling patterns.

/ar/ spelt 'a'

glass, path, afternoon 

/ar/ spelt 'al'

almond, calm, palm, half

Read through the below passage which a diary entry by someone who goes to stay on a farm! Can you spot words that contain the three spellings of /ar/?

This has been taken from 'phonics play'. The link to this page can be found below. If you need to log in, please use the below.

Username: march20

Password: home

* Watch out! There are also some words such as 'heart' which use the letters 'ear' to spell the /ar/ sound. Also, the tricky word 'are' uses a different spelling rule!

If you feel super confident with the different ways to spell the /ar/ sound, you could have a go at the challenge below also on Phonics Play!

Today we will be following on from yesterday's introduction to 'The Scarecrow's Wedding'. 

Now we would like you to watch the whole story using the link to the  video below.

How do you feel about the new character that JD has introduced? Why do you feel like this? How does he behave? Would you like him as a friend? Why/why not?

Explain that Reginald Rake is a villain. Can you think of any other villains from books that we have read? Could you think of some WOW adjectives to describe them?  For example, they might be selfish, spiteful or cunning.

Practise thinking of WOW adjectives with an adult and explore these by saying them out loud ensuring you understand what they mean and how to use them in a sentence. For example 'The wolf in Little Red Riding Hood was cunning because he knew that if he dressed up as Granny, it would trick Little Red Riding Hood'. 

Now we would like you to do a character study on Harry O’Hay and Reginald Rake. Use the sheet below to study the two characters and write words around their pictures to describe what they are like. You might like to focus on:

 – how they act

-  what their personality is like

-  what they look like

When you have finished, show your work to an adult or sibling and present the characters to them. Use your labels to help you to talk about them in detail!

If you want a challenge, you can write a short description a few sentences long about each character, ensuring you use 'because' to justify your choice of adjectives. 

Maths

Problem of the Day: Can you solve it? Send us your answer on Seesaw please.

Today we are learning to use addition and subtraction in the context of money. 

Show children the game board below.

Explain that the amount at the top of each column gives the total value of the column and the amount at the side of each row gives the value of the row.

Ask: How does addition help us to solve this puzzle?

Children say: You need to add the amounts together to get the total.

Ask: How does subtraction help us to solve this puzzle?

Children say: You can find the missing number by looking at the total and taking away the numbers you already have.

Show children how to solve a part of the money puzzle. Make a connection to the part-whole model.

Children say: The whole in this column is eight pence. There is already two pence and five pence, which makes seven pence. Seven pence is one part so the other part is one pence. Eight pence subtract seven pence is one pence.

Start with the column where only one coin is missing.

Ask: Why is this column a good place to start? Which row or column shall I work out next? How can we check we have chosen the right coin?

Work out the missing number together, applying children’s knowledge of coin values and number bonds within ten.

To help children to grasp this practically, show the problem using Dienes. It is always good to start with considering 'what you already know'. First make the column or row total (the ‘whole’), then partition off the ‘parts’ that you 'already know'. This will leave the value of the missing ‘part’. 

Work through the rest of this puzzle together using the pdf below.

Now, have a go at solving Puzzle 2!

* If children are struggling, you can help them by adding more coins on to the grid. For some children it will be challenging enough if only one coin is missing from each column. In the same way, the challenge of this task can easily be increased by removing more coins from the grid.