English
The Year 1 Learner
Approach
In English lessons, children are taught speaking, listening, reading and writing skills through studying a variety of styles of writing (genres). Teachers follow the Teaching Sequence for Writing, which means that children will firstly be taught to read and understand the text, then practise the skills of the style of writing (including grammar) and apply into their own writing.
The Primary National Curriculum statements will be taught through the modules below.
Y1 English Coverage
The Year 1 English curriculum consists of the following modules.
Poetry
Fiction
Contemporary Fiction
Stories with repeating patterns
Traditional Tales
Non-Fiction
Lists, Labels and Captions
Reports
Instructions
Explanations
Recounts
Key poets/authors your children will encounter are:
Mo Willems
Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle
Roald Dahl
Julia Donaldson
Michael Rosen
Doreen Cronin
David McKee
Recommended reading list (a variety is best):
Wolf Won’t Bite - Emily Gravett
Click Clack Moo - Cows That Type, Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin
Penguin - Polly Dunbar
Handa’s Surprise - Eileen Browne
Fortunately, Unfortunately - Michael Foreman
Billy’s Bucket - Kes Gray
Where’s My Teddy? - Jez Alborough
Owl Babies - Martin Waddell
Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems
Six Dinner Sid - Inga Moore
The Gingerbread Boy - Ian Beck
Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Ian Beck
Little Red Riding Hood - Ian Beck
For an extended reading list please refer to:
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/bookfinder/
http://scottishbooktrust.com/reading/book-lists/kids
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site
http://www.devonsls.org.uk/booklists/
Curriculum Content
Phonics
At St Cross we use the government scheme ‘Letters and Sounds’ to teach phonics. Children are taught for at least twenty minutes daily in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage One.The children are assessed regularly as part of the lessons and individually to ensure that they make rapid progress and are secure in each phase before they move on.
Speaking and Listening
The children will become more familiar with and confident in using language in a greater variety of situations. They will, for example:
· Listen to and discuss a wide range of books and poems
· Recognise and join in with predictable phrases
· Learn some rhymes and poems to recite by heart
· Discuss the meaning of words and extend vocabulary
· Join in with discussions and explain their understanding
· Change their speaking when taking on a role of a character during play
Reading
This part of the curriculum is broken down into ‘word reading’ and ‘comprehension’.
‘Word reading’ is taught as part of English lessons, guided reading and in Phonics. As well as being able to read words, children need to understand what they read and develop a life-long love of reading. They will learn to do this through carefully structured activities using a wide range of high-quality books. They are encouraged to:
· Make links between their own experiences and the story
· Check that they understand what they are reading
· Talk about the title and the main events
· Predict what might happen before they read it
· Join in with predictable phrase
We use a variety of reading schemes in Key Stage One including Oxford Reading Tree and Fisher Family Trust. We use Rigby Star for guided reading.
Writing
In Year 1 children develop their writing through the following areas:
Spelling:
· Spell words using phonics
· Learn commonly used whole words that are difficult to sound out
· Spell the days of the week
· Begin to look at patterns and rules
Using Spellodrome for weekly spellings
Handwriting:
· Hold a pencil correctly
· Form letters and digits correctly and confidently
· Leave spaces between words
Composition:
· Speak in whole sentences
· Write sequences of sentences
· Re-read and check for sense
· Develop a wide vocabulary
· Use capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
· Join sentences with ‘and’