This half term, Year 1 have thoroughly enjoyed reading the wonderful story Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion. The children quickly noticed that the story had many similarities to the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood, while also spotting some exciting differences. We had lots of thoughtful discussions comparing the characters, settings and events in both stories.
The children explored the characters carefully and worked hard to think of interesting adjectives to describe them. They used fantastic vocabulary to explain their ideas and shared their thoughts confidently with their partners and the class.
The children have learnt how the -ed suffix is often used to show that something has already happened in the past. They practised using verbs ending in -ed in their speaking and writing. We also explored the -est suffix to describe when someone or something is “the most” of something, such as meanest, kindest or silliest. The children loved thinking of their own examples!
Working collaboratively, the children created story mountains in pairs to help them retell the story. They thought carefully about the beginning, build-up, problem, resolution and ending of the tale. This helped them to organise their ideas and prepare for their own writing.
At the end of the week, the children became proud authors and worked incredibly hard to write their very own Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion books. We have been so impressed with their creativity, presentation and determination. On Friday, the children are very excited to share and read their stories to the children in Reception.
After half term, the children will continue developing their storytelling skills by changing parts of the story to create their own unique versions. We cannot wait to see the imaginative ideas they come up with!
How to Help at Home
- Read traditional tales together and talk about similarities and differences between stories.
- Encourage your child to describe characters using interesting adjectives.
- Practise adding the -ed suffix to verbs to talk about things that have already happened.
- Explore words ending in -est, such as fastest, smallest and funniest.
- Ask your child to retell the story using the story mountain structure: beginning, middle, problem and ending.
- Encourage your child to write short stories or draw pictures to match their ideas.
Thank you for your continued support. We are so proud of all the hard work Year 1 have shown this half term!