Author: Mr Catherall

PE – tennis

This half-term, in PE, we’re learning all about tennis. We’ve practised our forehands and backhands and have even had some pretty successful rallies! Many of the children are really enjoying playing tennis (particularly when it’s sunny) and it’s a great way to get out of the house to be active.

Much of the time, all we hear from children is about them playing on the Xbox/Play Station so it’s great to hear some of them saying they’ve been out playing tennis with their friends and family. Roundhay Park has lots of free-to-use, public tennis courts and is on most of our doorsteps.

Please remember, PE is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so children should have outdoor and indoor kit with them on these days.

Words of the Week

This week, our ‘Words of the Week‘ are relentless, abundant and fragile.

word: abundant (adjective)

  • definition: existing or available in large quantities; plentiful.
  • Baby name suggestions were in abundance for William and Kate. 
  • synonym: plentiful, lots of
  • antonym: scarce

word: fragile (adjective)

  • definition: (of an object) easily broken or damaged
  • The archaeologist discovered a fragile pot in the crumbling dirt.  
  • synonym: breakable
  • antonym: robust

Challenge: can your child use fragile to describe a living thing?

word: relentless (adjective)

  • definition: never stop, unceasingly intense
  • Mr Williams was relentless when it came to times tables.
  • synonym: persistent
  • antonym: short-lived

Help at home by encouraging your child to use these words in conversation.

27 April 2018

This week, our homework is Creative:

I can show who inspires me. 

This week, we’ve focussed on the verb ‘to inspire‘. Because of this, we’ve read about, and discussed, some famous people who have inspired others. I’d like you to share with the class who inspires you.

We have discussed this in class and children came up with the following ideas:

  • you could print a picture of the person and explain what they do to inspire
  • you could film yourself imitating that person
  • you could make a poster about your idol
  • you could bring in something that reminds you of that  person
  • you could use a shoe box to recreate a situation where that person is doing what inspires you
  • you could make a model of your  inspiration
  • you could create a fact book about that person

and, obviously, there are many more ideas, too!

Homework should be returned on Friday 04 May 2018.

 

 

27 April 2018

27.04.18

I before e is one of the most common spelling rules we hear. However, it doesn’t always work. In fact, “I before e, except after c when the sound is ee” is much more accurate – of course, there are exceptions to this rule: either, weird, their. This homework is designed to help children recognise which words follow the rule and which words don’t. Read the text below and underline all the ie words. Then, write your own short text that contains all of these words.  You should return this completed activity on Thursday 3 May.

Brief Siege

Mrs Elizabeth Carver, niece of the Chief of Police, was besieged by wasps in her home yesterday. A ceiling fell down and knocked off an old mantelpiece. Hundreds of wasps flew out.

She shielded her face with a handkerchief and dialled 999. She gave a piercing shriek into the phone.

“Send the police. Believe me, these wasps will kill me if you don’t.”

The Chief of Police received the call and rushed to relieve her.

Vocab – Words of the Week

This week, in Year 5, we’re focussing on a few words that might improve our vocabulary (both in speech and in our writing).

Our focus words are:

  • uncouth (adjective)
  • to inspire (verb)
  • optimism (abstract noun)

We’ve been trying to use these words throughout the day in class and in our writing where possible. Today, Kai and Lewis managed to use the word inspire in an answer during our reading lesson. We used this article about Helen Sharman to help us improve our retrieval, interpreting and author’s choice skills. When asked what the purpose was, Lewis wrote: “To inspire and influence young people who may be interested in a career in science or space!” – great answer!

See if your child can use these words at home and help out by asking what they mean.

Friday 20 April 2018

This week, children have been learning about how Greek and Latin root words are embedded within the English Language. Understanding the meaning of a root word can help us to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words. For example, if we know that ‘auto’ means self and ‘graph’ means writing, we are able to understand the word ‘autograph’ – even if we’ve never come across it before! We’ve identified these words during our spelling sessions this week. Children should practise learning them in preparation for a test on Friday 27 April 2018. We’ll also focus a lot on what strategies we’ve used to learn them so evidence this in your homework book. 

autobiography

photograph

autograph

telepathic

microphone

paragraph

television

telegraph

telephone

automatic

Friday 20 April 2018

This week our homework is TalkTime: Should we spend so much money on exploring space?

This links to our current mini-topic: space. Children should discuss this (including pros and cons) in preparation for a class discussion as part of our homework review.

23 March 2018

Our homework this week is Creative: I can recognise my talents. 

All of the children in Year 5 are blessed with an array of talents. This week, we’ll celebrate this as part of our Living and Learning lessons! I’d like children to respond creatively and be ready to show off their talents to their peers. They could do this in a range of ways:

  • create a short performance to show to to the class
  • film themselves showing off their talent
  • make a collage of their many talents
  • produce a piece of art to show off their talents

There are, of course, many other ways that children could respond. We’ll review our homework on Thursday 29 March 2018. 

Friday 23 March 2018

Homophones and near homophones

This week’s spellings are the same as last week. Because of other things happening in school, we haven’t practised these words as much as I would’ve liked. Because homophones are so important in our writing, I’d like children to be very confident with these words. Children should continue to learn these words in preparation for a test on Thursday 29 March.
break – brake
their – there – they’re
of – off
accept – except
meddle – medal
whose – who’s
where – wear – we’re
meat – meet
compliment – complement
practise – practice

Social Media and Us!

Today, as part of our reading session, we read the FirstNews papers. We came across this article on the front page and the children decided it was an important issue to discuss.

We immediately put a stop to our reading session and discussed our use of social media as a class. We discussed a lot about being online: the benefits, the negatives, how much we time we spend online, how adults use social media and much more!

Much of what we discussed was positive. Children were able to see the huge benefits that being online and social media can have. They were able to say what they should do if they come across something they’re not happy with and most children said they have spoken to their parents about how to stay safe online and when using social media. We also learnt that some parents keep the password for devices from their children so that they know exactly what their children are doing online.

However, there were also some less positive things that we learnt through our discussion:

  • Despite the recommended age for using social media sites being 13+, 17 children said they use at least one site regularly (Facebook, SnapChat, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Musically etc)
  • 14 children claimed they are online for more than 2 hours every school day
  • 13 children claimed they are online for more than 3  hours every school day
  • 8 children claimed they are online for more than 5 hours every school day
  • 10 children said they think they spend too much time online
  • 3 children admitted they think they spend too much time online but don’t know how to stop
  • 21 children said they have constant access to a device that lets them get online (phone, tablet, laptop, Xbox, PlayStation)
  • When playing games online, some children have played as part of a group with someone they don’t know
  • 13 children admitted that they have talked to someone online that they didn’t know (we discussed how we all make mistakes but the best thing to do in this circumstance would be to block the person and tell our parents about the incident)

We also discussed how it’s not just children that are affected by the things we discuss. Adults are just as vulnerable online! And, 25 children in Year 5 said they think their parents spend too much time on their phones, tablets and laptops.

Obviously these facts are not 100% reliable but it was interesting to hear the children discuss this with complete honesty and great maturity. Please discuss this with your child – it’s super important for this generation!