Year 1 Home Learning Statements

Reading

This term our reader’s workshop has two focuses:

• Decoding: the ability to read a word by using phonics (the sounds within the word).
• Comprehension: the ability to understand and make sense of the text.

A fluent reader has the ability to put both of these skills together at the same time, which is a goal for  Year 1 readers.

This term we are focusing on Recount and Narrative writing. Students will also be practising forming lower case letters correctly using Victorian Modern Cursive Script on dotted thirds.

Recount writing is the retelling of past events or experiences in sequential order. Recount writing consists of:

• Orientation (who? what? where? when?)
• Sequence of events (first, then, next, after)
• Conclusion (personal comment)

Narrative writing is an imagined story that has characters. Narratives come from two places; our imaginations or our experiences. Many stories are a combination of both. Narratives are organised into three parts:

• Orientation (used to introduce the characters and the setting)
• Complication (where something goes wrong)
• Resolution (where the problem/s are solved)

To support this learning at home:

• Give your child the necessary resources, such as pens, pencils, paper or a notebook, and a space to write. 
• Create an ‘ideas bag’ or ‘ideas folder’ to use as a writing prompt. To inspire writing ideas, collect objects such as photographs, pictures cut from magazines, brochures, movie tickets, or any other found item.
• Support your child to read their writing aloud.
• Encourage your child to create a picture, drawing or collage that visually represents their ideas.
• Always proudly display your child’s work in a prominent position in your house. This will give them confidence, and demonstrates the importance of writing. 
• Involve your child in authentic writing experiences such as writing cards and letters to family and friends.
• Encourage your child to keep a diary to recount important events.

Click to access the Victorian Modern Cursive Script sheets.

Mathematics

This term our focus in Number is counting and place value.

• Counting is an essential skill that underpins the understanding of number and algebra. Students should be able to count forwards and backwards by 1s to 100 from various starting points, as well as skip count from 0 by 2s, 5s, and 10s by the end of Year 1.
• Place value is the ability to know the value of each digit in a number; e.g. 24 is 2 tens and 4 ones. Students are working towards being able to recognise, model and order numbers up to 100 by the end of Year 1. This is an essential skill that supports addition and subtraction.

To support this learning at home:

Counting:

• Practise counting by 1s (forwards and backwards), or skip counting by 10s, 5s, and 2s to 100. For example, you may count by 1s to find out how many steps it takes you to walk to school or, you may count the letter box numbers to count by 2s (e.g. 242, 244, 246). 
• Identify the odd and even mailboxes.
• Play board and card games such as Snakes and Ladders. 
• Add the total number of cutlery items on the table. 
• Practise counting when grocery shopping. For example, ‘How many apples am I putting in the bag?’ 
• Count the legs (table, chair, human, animal) in your house. 
• Hunt for numbers throughout daily activities (e.g. cooking).

Place value (starting week 6):

• Use playing cards to make numbers with multiple digits and ask your child to read the number and say the value of each digit. For example 27, 2 tens and 7 ones or 27 ones. You could extend this by asking them to find the number that would be 10 more/10 less.
• Play ‘Guess my Number’. Choose a secret number, and students have to guess the number using place value to describe the number. For example, “Is there a 2 in the hundreds place?”

For more home learning ideas, see the Department of Education guide.