20 November 2015
This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due on Wednesday 25 November.
Should children play outside or play with technology?
Choose one side of the argument to debate.
Be prepared to have a class debate on this topic. Choose one side of the argument to debate but don’t forget to consider both sides so that you can counter the other team’s points.
Use the sentence openers to organise your ideas and create counter arguments for our debate.
13 November 2015
Practice Makes Perfect is all about multiplication and is due on Wednesday 15 November.
To be able to use column multiplication.
We’ve been sent a very important secret message from the ISS for Tim Peake. It’s our mission to solve this and respond to it. Use your column multiplication skills to decode what they’ve said. There might be some slightly trickier calculations thrown in for you to use what you know in order to crack these too.
13 November 2015
This week’s homework is Talk Time and will be discussed on Wednesday 18 November.
I wonder how astronauts can stay healthy on the ISS?
Tim Peake’s launch is growing ever closer and our learning focus next week is all about being healthy in space. Around the dinner table, in the car, as you walk around the supermarket, discuss how they might stay healthy and don’t forget to write a few sentences so that you remember your ideas for our discussion on Wednesday.
We’re also using Makewaves, a social networking site, to share our work throughout this topic; if you want to upload anything you discuss, log on at home.
13 November 2015
The homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 18 November.
I can show / tell people what to do if they are being bullied.
It’s anti-bullying week next week (16-20 November). The theme for the week is Make a noise about bullying. Children’s homework should tell others what to do if they are being bullied.
In school, we tell children that the most important thing you can do to STOP bullying is to Start Telling Other People.
The link to the website is below: http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/
06 November 2015 – practice makes perfect homework
As always, Year 5 have a practice makes perfect homework due on Wednesday 11 November.
To show I can improve on my writing target.
Each child has written their writing target into their book and need to show (in any way they choose) that they are aware of what this is and can practise improving on it. You might want to write a paragraph that demonstrates you are considering your target, or you could write individual sentences to help you practise. It’s up to you. Here are the different targets with an example to help.
- To be able to use expanded noun phrases – In front of him stood a long, dark corridor that was full of shadows.
- To be able to use relative clauses – Tim Peake boarded the rocket, which was ready for lift-off, and buckled himself in for a bumpy ride.
- To be able to add detail to openers – Beyond the Milky Way, where the stars shone brightly, a comet flew through space.
- To be able to use a range of openers – ‘ly, ‘ing, conjunction, preposition
06 November 2015 – creative homework
This week’s homework is creative and is due on Wednesday 11 November.
To show what I know about the Solar System.
We’ve had a fantastic start to our new topic, Mission to Space and this week’s learning has centred around the Solar System.
- How many planets are there?
- What are their names?
- In what order are they from the sun?
- Which is the biggest and which is the smallest?
- What orbits Earth? How long does it take?
- What does Earth orbit? How long does it take?
- How long does it take for the Earth to spin on its axis?
- What else would you find in our Solar System?
- Where is the ISS?
…Just a few questions we’ve been answering through a research-based topic where the children are taking lots of responsibility for their learning. Here are a few suggestions of ways the children could present their learning this week:
- Draw and label a diagram of the Solar System
- Write a story, travelling through the Solar System on a rocket
- Create a model of the Solar System
- Present information about the planets using mathematical facts and figures
As usual, you can use one page in your homework book. For this topic, Year 5 will also be using a website called Makewaves to share the work we’re doing in class with other people taking part in this national project. If you want to upload your homework to your Makewaves site, it will add to your portfolio and we can have a look at it in class.
06 November
We have been learning about shape this week. We have looked in detail at the following four basic shapes and so your child should be able to fill in the following table which can be found in their homework books. Please note that we’re learning that a circle has no sides but has a curved edge.
06 November 2015
Our homework this week is practice makes perfect. In English this week, we’ve been focussing on our own targets for writing and your child’s homework reflects that target. Your child has got one task to do, depending on their group.
To accurately spell high frequency words
This group have been looking at spelling rules and ways to practise their spellings. Their homework is to Look, Cover, Write, Check a group of high frequency words. Once they have practised these, they need to use them in sentences to describe fireworks.
To use ‘middlers’ effectively
‘Middlers’, which can be used to add extra information, are a type of subordinate clause. They’re placed in the middle of a sentence and are usually punctuated with commas either side. (Did you spot the middler in the first sentence?!) This group have to punctuate a group of sentences and then write their own sentences with middlers. When your child has completed this task, ask them if their sentence would make sense if the middler was removed – if it doesn’t, they’ll need to rewrite it.
To choose adjectives for impact
This group have been discussing how to use adjectives effectively. In their writing, they’re using an impressive range of adjectives but these adjectives do not always match the noun they are describing (I drank a colossal glass of water would usually not work as well as I drank a full glass of water).
To help with this, we’ve used target grids in class to rank adjectives for different purposes. On the grid, the best possible adjectives go in the middle and less effective adjectives are placed further away. Your child has a group of adjectives that describe fireworks and must rank them using this grid. They must then use the best adjectives to describe some fireworks.
To use a wider range of conjunctions
For this target, pupils have worked on expanding the types of conjunctions they use in their writing. A conjunction is used to join two words/sentences together to form one idea/sentence. We describe this as a ‘strong join’ in class. The homework for this group is about the choice of conjunction. They’ve been given similar sentences in groups of three that must be completed with either but, and or so. The challenge is to make sure that all three sentences make sense.
To punctuate sentences
This group are focussing on using capital letters and full stops to punctuate sentences. I have given the group pairs of sentences that have been ‘squashed together’ – children must decide where one sentence finishes and the next starts.
06 November 2015
The homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 11 November.
I know what a safe risk is.
The SEAL theme this half-term is the 8 Rs for learning. One of the 8 Rs is being able to take a safe risk. In this homework, I’d like children to show me that they know what a safe risk is. Examples of safe risks children make are putting their hand up in a lesson to answer a question or crossing a road at a safe crossing point.
It’s half-term…
…so there is no homework this week.
Please make sure your child spends some time most days reading – books, comics, newspapers… Why not visit the library or a book shop this week?
To support writing, your child should review their spellings from the last few weeks. You could test them on words from all the lists, and ask them to use the words in sentences or a story, or create a comic strip with a word used in each speech bubble.Perhaps you could set a challenge (for you as well as your child!) of using spelling words in everyday conversations! Practising handwriting by joining up is a useful activity, too.
In Maths, children in Key Stage 2 should definitely practise times tables – including the related division facts. Can your child respond within five seconds (not counting up to work it out) to questions like ‘What’s 7 times 8?’ and ‘What’s 42 divided by 6?’
Of course, make sure your child is happy and healthy over half-term, too! A walk and play at Roundhay Park, a bike ride, a conker challenge, a trip to the art gallery… Enjoy!