English at Pittington

More fabulous English from across the school 

Pittington Primary children are back in full flow and raring to go with our carefully planned reading and writing curriculum.

Our reading team have been out in force again delivering whole school assemblies and setting challenges for the children. Each member of staff is the face of a different question domain and is used to help the children understand and tackle the array of comprehension questions thrown their way.

As always, the curriculum is brought to life through engaging texts and imaginative teaching. The children in year 2 woke to find a ticket to The Polar Express after studying the book at Christmas and spent a day travelling the world with linking their geography learning on the continents with their history work on George Stephenson and steam engines. After reading The Tiger Who Came to Tea, our children in reception wrote invitations inviting the tiger to join them for afternoon tea in class. Their writing was so good that he came and enjoyed the feast they had prepared using all of their food technology skills in DT.

World Book Day this year had the theme ‘Curl up with a book’. Our younger children brought in a favourite bear to read stories to, while our older children enjoyed setting up their own slumber parties.

Our curriculum gives the children opportunities to read widely and experience writing for many different purposes. Our Year 5 children spent a week reflecting on their reading journeys throughout their time at Pittington and were tasked with writing a speech to persuade other children and adults to pick up a book, whilst explaining their own thoughts and feelings on how important reading is to them. The following video features one of our wonderful writers – I challenge you not to be blown away by this young man…

Mrs Emmerson is busy putting together a new pupil voice group who will be her trusted advisors in school. The ‘English Ambassadors’ will have input into events and resources for English and help staff to understand the needs and views of the children. Watch this space for their first project coming very soon.

Pittington Poets

We culminated a very busy term of English learning with a fortnight of reading, learning, analysing and writing poetry. Each class from Nursery to Year 5 recorded a performance for everyone to enjoy.

Nursery

Nursery have been learning about rhyming and rhythm within their phonics work and have shared one of their favourite poems ‘I had a little turtle’.

Reception

Reception have chosen to share a poem by Michael Rosen called ‘Welly Boots’. He is a much-loved author in our school and the children have read several of his stories and rhymes throughout their time in our EYFS.

Year 1

In year 1 we have been learning a poem about the seaside called “Seaside Things”. In history we have been learning about Grace Darling and all of our English work this term has linked to this and the seaside. The children had great fun learning this poem and thinking of actions that would go with the different lines. We also noticed that our poem has pairs of words that rhyme throughout. We hope you enjoy our performance.

Year 2

With hope in our hearts Year 2 have been learning the words to ‘Three Lions’. We have really focused on using expression to put across the meaning of the words and show our understanding. Hopefully you’re watching this and celebrating as it was recorded before the final…hopefully it’s home now!

Year 3

Our year 3 children have been learning a poem linked to their science work on plants and growing. We often link subjects together to help us remember new vocabulary and facts. See if you can pick up some information from their performance.

Year 4

The poem Year 4 learned this term was ‘These Are the Hands’ by Michael Rosen. It was written to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the NHS and there was no better time to celebrate the importance of what their staff do. The class explored the features of rhyme, syllable pattern, repetition and the structure of each verse. They wrote their own verses to fit within the poem with tremendous results and finally worked in groups to independently decide how best to perform the poem.

Year 5

This term’s poetry focus was ‘From a Railway Carriage’ by Robert Lois Stevenson.  As you will see we have certainly been developing our recall skills, learning poems by heart. The children were brilliant at the performing aspect adding actions and expression. Enjoy!

Reading and Writing is important in every curriculum subject...

In year 1 we have been learning about the Great Fire of London in History and all of our English work has been linked to this topic. In 1666 Samuel Pepys wrote his diaries using a quill and by candle light so we decided to write our own diaries in the same way.

Reading Team

We have been reading lots of different books about the Great Fire of London and answering Meaning Medic and Wright Retrieval comprehension questions as a whole class. In the last couple of weeks of term some groups of children have been answering questions with a little support using the reading team to help them. 

Phonics

In year 1 phonics plays a very important part in learning to read and write. We work in small groups to develop our skills at spotting digraphs and trigraphs with words. We do this by playing lots of different games to recognise sounds and read words. 

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The Reading Team at Pittington Primary

 Meet our Reading Team! A set of characters we use to help the children to understand different types of questions and what is required in answering them. Each member of staff has become a character of the team and will be in role for special assemblies and for whole school events like World Book Day.

Meet the Team…