CRAIGCLOWAN
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WELCOME TO FORM 1 - WINTER TERM 2010
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Parents
 
Dear Parents,
Our project this term is “Toys”, always a great favourite with the children. We have a trip to the museum organised for Tuesday 14th September. The children will get the chance to see and play with toys from the past. We will also be setting up our own teddy bear museum in class, so start looking out all those old treasured teddies from your childhood. There will be a teddy bears’ picnic at some point during the term, to which you are invited. A date will be posted later.

We like to encourage the children to bring in things from home related to the topic work and their contributions are always most welcome. Please name their possessions to avoid mix-ups.

If you have any toys from when you were a child, or pictures of you playing with them, we would be very interested to see them and to use them for displays and discussions. Again, if possible, please name everything.

Please click HERE to view a letter from your Form 1 teachers Mrs Cashman & Mrs McCrae.

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SUMMER TERM 2010
 
 
Welcome to Form 1
 
Our topic this term is “Living and growing”.
(See topic grids below)

We are starting off the topic with outdoor activities in the school garden where Form 1 have their own planting area. They have already been busy and have planted potatoes and sown seeds. Weather permitting we will be busy gardeners every Monday afternoon so please make sure the children bring their wellies to school that day. They can bring their own gardening tools and gloves if they wish.

We will be posting weekly pictures of our progress in the events page of the website and outside the Form 1 classroom.
We will also be visiting a Garden Centre and will use the visit to help the children plan and set up their own Garden Centre back in class. As always we encourage the children to bring in things from home to add to our class displays for the topic. Their contributions are always most welcome.

Our big event at the end of term will be a “Garden Party”, where all Form 1 parents will get a tour of the school garden and a chance to see what the children have produced. There will also be refreshments served in class before the tour. A date is still to be finalised but we will let you know as soon as possible when this will take place.

Other activities and clubs this term
Monday
• Gardening
• Hockey club

Tuesday
• Outdoor games with Mrs Farrow

Friday
• Music and Movement
• Ballet

Sports Day: Friday 28th May at 2.00pm

The third and final term in Form 1 is always a very exciting stage in the children’s development. It is a time when we see the biggest change in the children. They have all developed into confident individuals and are experiencing success in all they do across the curriculum. The children’s achievements over their time in Form 1 is always a delight to see and very rewarding for us as teachers.
We hope that you and your children have enjoyed your time with us in Form 1.

   
Form 7 help in our classes in the morning before registration. They have been helping us make things for our class Garden Centre.
We are making seed packets.
   
 
THE NEW FORM 1

15 SEPTEMBER 2009


The Craigclowan cow was very pleased
to meet the new Form 1 children.

o0o

What you need for starting Form 1:
  • A large school bag. (it needs to hold an A4 reading folder)
  • A painting apron.
  • A jogging suit in a gym bag.
  • Gym shoes.
  • A snack if you wish. (no sweets or chocolate please)
  • Water in a bottle. (this is to keep our brains awake during Class!)
Note: You do not need shorts and t-shirt until the Summer term. Please ensure all items are clearly named.
 
A TYPICAL WEEK IN FORM 1

We continue to take part in the junior assemblies. These happen three times a week.
On Tuesday we have a sharing assembly, where the children can share a piece of news or show something of interest.
On Thursday we have a birthday assembly for children that have had birthdays in the previous week.
Our assembly on Friday is set aside for special events and individual class assemblies.

Other activities:
  • Monday (am) Gym with Mrs Grant.
  • Tuesday (pm) Scottish Country Dancing with Mrs Farrow.
  • Wednesday (pm) Music with Mrs Clark.
  • Friday (pm) School Library Slot followed by Music and Movement.
Note: Ballet is on Friday after school and only for children wishing to participate.

In the morning we concentrate on language and maths. (We use the Scottish Heinemann Maths scheme)
In the afternoon we do topic work.
We do a different topic each term on a two yearly cycle. (See topic grids below)

YEAR TERM 1 - Toys TERM 2 - People who help us TERM 3 - Living and Growing
2008-09

2010-11		 1. Teddy bears.
2. Toys that move.
3. Let’s pretend.
4. Spinners, twirlers and fliers.
5. Puppets.		 1. At home.
2. At school.
3. The police.
4. Doctors and nurses.
5. The dentist.
6. The fireman.		 1. Gardening and seeds.
2. Butterflies and Moths.
3. Baby mammals.
4. Living, once living, non-living things.
 
YEAR TERM 1 - Homes TERM 2 - Senses TERM 3 - Living and Growing
2009-10

2011-12		 1. Our homes.
2. Building a home.
3. Services and safety.
4. Castles.
5. Hansel and Gretel.
6. Homes in other countries.
7. Animal homes.
8. Pets at home.		 1. Seeing.
2. Hearing.
3. Smelling.
4. Tasting.
5. Touching.		 1. Gardening and seeds.
2. Butterflies and Moths.
3. Baby mammals.
4. Living, once living, non-living things.

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WHAT WE DO IN FORM 1
 

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WELCOME TO FORM 1 READING

Dear Parents,
The reading scheme your child will be using initially in Form1 will be “ Oxford Reading Tree”.
As an introduction to “Oxford Reading Tree” and as a way of familiarising your child with the characters s/he will be bringing a story book and an Extended Story card home for you to read together. The Extended Story cards will only be used for the first six books.
The Extended Story is a longer version of the storybook. It is for you to read aloud while your child looks at the storybook, so that she/he gets to know the story before reading it on her/his own.

Here are a few points to help you use the Extended Story.
• Choose a quiet time to share the story.
• Look at the cover. Talk about what the story might be about.
• Read the Extended Story while your child looks at the storybook.
• Look at the pictures in the storybook. Talk about them and tell the story together.
• If the storybook has sentences on the page, ask your child the Guided Response questions at the end of the Extended Story.
These will help her/him read the sentences.
• Let your child read the story on her/his own.

You don’t have to follow every step every time. Keep it fun!
When you no longer have an Extended Story to read along with the book you should still try to cover points 1, 2, 4 and 6. Ask some simple questions to encourage your child to find the answers in the storybook. Encourage them to read the answer.

At this stage
• Your child may use the pictures as a clue. Don’t cover them up.
• Your child may guess the sentences. Don’t try to stop this.
• Your child may learn the sentences off-by-heart. Don’t worry if this happens.

Your child will also have a word tin, which will be used alongside the storybooks.
• Try to go through the words in the tin each night.
• Match them to the pages in the book.
• If there are character’s names try to find their pictures in the book.
• Make up the story using the words in the tin.

Only go on as long as you feel your child is able. Don’t try to carry on if they have lost concentration.
The stories are fun to read with humorous drawings that parents usually like as much as children. I hope you will enjoy reading them with your child and helping her/him become a confident reader.

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