Author: Mr Roundtree

16 November 2018

This week’s spelling list continues to focus on words ending in –tious and –cious.

We’ve investigated why these words end in this way and now need to practise spelling them and using them correctly in sentences. Using the suggestions at the back of your book, see how many different ways you can practise spelling these words and choose three you’re less confident with to use in a sentence.

  • vicious
  • precious
  • conscious
  • delicious
  • malicious
  • suspicious
  • ambitious
  • cautious
  • fictitious
  • infectious
  • nutritious

Living and Learning: Anti bullying assembly

Thank you to everyone who came to Year 6’s class assembly. We focused on bullying: what it is; how to stop it; and how to make a choice not to bully.

Our favourite parts of our assembly were when we talked about what we are proud of. Here are a few for those of you who couldn’t make it yesterday.

Lewis: I am of colour and I am proud.

Martha: I like football and I am proud.

Ethan: I am small and I am proud.

Nicky: I am Sikh and I am proud.

We also wrote ‘kindness’ statements about each other:

Dylan, you are kind, selfless and inspiring. You are one in a million.

 

Why is a square number called a square number?

Using counters and cubes, we investigated what square and cube numbers are and why they were given those names. Once we figured it out, it became pretty obvious.

We can show why 16 is considered a square number by representing 4 x 4 as an array which creates a square.
We flipped it around to show that the square root of a number is show by the number of counters in each row.
We particularly liked the fact that cube numbers create an actual cube. 2 x 2 x 2 is 8 and there are 8 cubes making up the cube itself – wow!

Who is Ada Lovelace?

This week, as part of our Time Travel topic, learning all about inventions, we’ve been focusing on local inventions and inventors. Having explored what inventions have come from Leeds, we now know that a female, British inventor was responsible for the first form of computer programming.

At home, as us about Ada Lovelace and the work we did on creating and debugging algorithms which she made possible over 150 years ago.

Staying safe to and from school

We want our children to be happy and healthy learners. For older children, walking to and from school, perhaps with friends, can be a good way to incorporate some physical activity into the school day. It’s also a way to develop independence as they approach secondary school.

If your child walks, scoots or cycles to and from school without an adult, please do make sure you regularly check that they understand how to stay safe.

Are they crossing roads in a safe way?
It can be easy to become distracted, perhaps with their friends or, even more likely, if they’re using a mobile. Make sure you’re confident your child knows the importance of crossing roads safely.

Do they know what to do if they encounter a stranger who’s behaving suspiciously?
Perhaps when you were growing up, the message was ‘Stranger danger’. However, this message doesn’t recognise that sometimes approaching a stranger is a way to stay safe – if your child were to get lost, seeking help would be better than becoming more lost, for example. A new campaign is promoting a new message: ‘Clever never goes‘. Does your child know to never go off somewhere with an adult (whether a stranger or not)? Does your child have ideas about what to do if an adult is following them?

If you’ve any specific questions, comments or concerns, please do ask.

09 November 2018

Next we’ll, we’ll be focussing on word endings in ‘tious and ‘cious. Here are some words which end in these sounds. Work out the root word for each of them and think about how this can help you to decide whether the spelling is with a ‘t’ or a ‘c’. There will be no test on Friday 16 November.

  • vicious
  • precious
  • conscious
  • delicious
  • malicious
  • suspicious
  • ambitious
  • cautious
  • fictitious
  • infectious
  • nutritious

09 November 2018

This week’s homework is Talk Time and will be discussed on Thursday 15 November.

Has flight had a negative or positive impact on the world?

We continue our inventions Time Travel topic by moving on to flight. The Wright Brothers were the first to successfully create a flying machine which could take off and land under its own power. At home, discuss what impact this has had on the world, both negative and positive. Do you all agree or are there differences of opinion in your household?

Make sure your child writes a few bullet pointed notes about the discussion you’ve had to help them in the class discussion on Thursday.

Inventions Taboo

As part of our topic learning, we played a great game of Taboo today. In Taboo, you have to try to get your team to guess what’s on your card without saying a selection of related words.

For example, can you get someone to guess ‘playground’ without saying the words play, ground, children, swings or slides?

In pairs, the children had a card with Leeds inventions on that they had to try and describe to the rest of their table without saying a selection of related words. Some were easier than others but we learnt lots about Leeds inventions while playing.

At home, ask us about what was invented in Leeds and see whether you can create your own game of Taboo.