LITERACY WORK YEAR 1 "FAT CAT ON A MAT"

The story we are going to work in year 1 is called "Fat Cat on a Mat"

With this story, we are going to work the following targets:

Text level work

Pupils should be able to:

·         

• Use phonological awareness, contextual and grammatical knowledge to work out and predict the meanings of unfamiliar words and to start to make sense of what they read.

“Fat Cat flees up a tree”

·       

•   Identify and discuss characters (e.g. appearance and behavior), to speculate about how they might behave (prediction)

Sentence level work

Pupils should be able to:

·     

•     Develop an awareness of the grammar of a simple sentence.
• ·         Read with an appropriate expression and intonation.

Word level work:

Pupils should be able to:

·        

• Practice and secure the ability to rhyme, and relate this to spelling patterns.

“I don’t like bees and I don’t like trees”

·      

•    Learn new words from reading and shared experiences, and make collections of personal interest or key words and words linked to topics being studied. 

ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP THE TARGETS

Before reading:

Children will look at the cover of the book and the teacher will ask them what they can see. The will talk about:

ÒWhat are the animals that you can see?

ÒHow is the cat? Is happy?

ÒWhat do you think the cat likes?

ÒWhat do you think that will happen to the cat?

ÒDo you like cats? What is your favorite animal?

ÒDo you have any pet?

With this activity, the children will make predictions about the story just looking at the cover. Also, it is good to motivate children to read the story and a good opportunity for them to talk in English and to review vocabulary.

During reading: 

The teacher will read the story using body gestures and intonation. From time to time, he/she will ask some questions to the children to check understanding, and to help them to know new vocabulary. 

After reading: 

Which adjectives would you use to describe Fat Cat?

                                                       

                                        -  Intelligent                  - Fat

                                          -    Small                  - Big

                                           - Funny                    - Lazy

                                                               - Crazy

                                               - Evil                - Clever

IDEAS FOR STARTING THE LESSON: SONGS TO SAY GOOD MORNING

Teachers have different ways to start our English lessons, in order to get children's attention and keep them involved and interested in the lesson, ready to learn. We can use the following options, always trying to develop oral communication in our young learners:

• Greetings and forms of address:

• Checking attendance: we can start a small conversation with our children as well as calling their names. 
  
• Rearrange the classrom: We need some more space for today's lesson -you there- can you help me move some tables back?
• Do question routines, e.g. days of the week, the weather, birthdays... Can anybody help me to remember what's the date today?
• Play a game
• Sing a song. Children, especcially young learners, enjoy singing songs. Here we have some examples of songs to say good morning: 

Here we have an example of a sequence we can use to start our English lesson with year 1/year 2 children: 

Ways of starting lessons