English We will read stories from well-known authors, humorous poems and riddles. We will use information books to find out about mini-beasts & castles & dictionaries to find definitions. Children will write riddles, poems, information leaflets and stories. What you could do… * Read every day, discussing stories. * Use dictionaries to find definitions of new words. * Identify rhymes in poems. Useful websites: Maths We will be developing quick recall of number facts such as 2, 3,4,5 and 10 times table, doubles, halves, number bonds to 10, 20, and 100, 10 more/less than a 2 digit number. We will apply these facts to solve number problems. What you could do… Encourage your child to use Mathletics at home or at your local library. Practise 2, 5, 10, 3, 4 times tables. Useful websites: www.mathletics.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/ Science We will look at plants and animals in our environment and sort them by characteristics. We will observe the life cycle of a butterfly. We will learn about manmade and natural materials. What you could do… *Name and identify plants and animals in your garden. *Identify homes/habitats of mini-beasts in your garden or local area. * Name and identify different COMPUTING History We will look at homes through the ages and find out why and how castles were built and identify what life was like in a castle. What you could do… Share information books and name parts of a castle. Use the internet to find out more: www.castles.org/kids We will understand what algorithms are and will create and debug simple programs, using ‘unplugged’ activities, BeeBots and ipads What you could do… Practise giving instructions(algorithms) for your child to follow.E.g. how to make a jam sandwich. Art PE We will take part in games, athletics and swimming. We will learn to co-operate in a team and develop confidence in water. What you could do… Take your child swimming and teach them how to play rounders and cricket. R.E./PSHE We will discuss ‘Getting on and falling out.’ What you could do… Read stories about friendship and discuss how characters deal with issues. We will explore how we use line, shape and colour to create images. What you could do… Use the internet to find examples of artists’ work using line, shape and colour to create images. Philosophy We will be developing our thinking and reasoning skills. We will practise using the word ‘because’ to explain our thoughts. What you could do… Encourage your child to use ‘because’ when they are expressing their views. DT We will design and make a mini-beast hand puppet. We will design & make a model castle with a winding mechanism to control a drawbridge. What you could do… Look at different toys and identify how they work. Build your own model of a castle. What features will it need?