Homework

26 September 2014

This week’s homework is Practice makes perfect and is due on Wednesday 01 October.

I can use a number line for addition.

Your child has been practising addition in class for the last two weeks. They have work that is suited to their learning in their homework books which will allow them to practise the skills they have developed and offers the suggestion of learning that will challenge them.

Practice Makes Perfect

This is similar to what you might consider traditional homework: it may be a worksheet or a writing task (such as Y5’s current homework: I can write instructions).  Practice Makes Perfect is useful homework when something has been taught in school but needs consolidation.  The work should be fairly straightforward for the child as there should be no need for new learning, so just some encouragement from you is needed.  However, it would be a great time to get your child to teach you – they should be able to explain the key points or processes!  We use this type of homework less often because usually the best practice is where a teacher can keep feeding back and presenting new challenges when they see it as appropriate.  Teachers mark these activities in line with our marking policy. 

As always, please ask if you’ve any questions or concerns.

26 September 2014

This week’s homework is practice makes perfect.  It needs to be handed in by Wednesday 01 October.

It is really important that the children know their number bonds to 10 – this means that they need to know the pairs of numbers that make 10. For example…

7 + 3 = 10  so  3 + 7 = 10    

And if they know the addition facts, they’ll know subtraction facts, too…

10 – 7 = 3  and  10 – 3 = 7 

The homework this week is looking at calculations that make 10 – if your child can recall these facts quickly then it helps with more complicated calculations as they progress.

(Thank you for the great discussions that seem to have happened about Katie – it’s an exciting topic!)

19 September 2014

This week’s homework is talk time homework.  Your child needs to be ready to talk about this homework on Wednesday 24 September.

What did Katie do?

There should be lots to talk about this week after our exciting day with Splats.  Here are some questions you might want to ask:

• Who is Katie?
• What happened when she went to the art gallery with Grandma?
• Who did she meet in the paintings?
• Which painting would you like to go inside?
• Did anything in the paintings change?

As this is talk time homework,  we do not expect lots of written work from the children.  There is a slight change in expectations this year – please make a few brief notes showing what was discussed.  Older children are expected to write their own notes but this is something that we can develop during the year.

We are looking forward to hearing all about your discussions.

19 September 2014

Our homeworks this week are Talk Time and Practice Makes Perfect and are due in on Wednesday 24 September.

The Talk Time homework is I can talk about the types of books I like and why I like them. 

Children should talk to you and other family members and friends about the subject. They need to have a good awareness of different genres of story and that authors write in a particular style to suit a particular audience. This discussion will hopefully help children with this.

The Practice Makes Perfect homework is I can write descriptive sentences about a character.

This week in English, we have been writing descriptions of characters in the Fighting Fantasy books. Your child has a picture of a character in their homework books and should write about this character. Below is a quick guide with a couple of ideas for how you could help your child to improve their descriptive sentences.

Start with quite a simple sentence:

The scary monster was holding a battle-axe.

1. Improve the vocabulary

The scary monster was holding a battle-axe.  Scary isn’t a strong enough adjective for this sentence so I’m going to change that and improve the vocabulary in the rest of the sentence: The petrifying monster was wielding an enormous battle-axe. 

3. Include an add-in (opener, ender or middler) to their sentence.

I’m going to add a middler to our sentence to give the reader some more information about the monster. Notice the commas used to separate the middler from the rest of the sentence: The petrifying monster, who was bearing down on me, was wielding an enormous battle-axe which was covered in dried blood.

19 September 2014

This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due on Wednesday 24 September 2014.

I can talk about a painting.

Have a discussion at home (maybe over dinner) about ‘Sunflowers’ by Vincent Van Gogh. Here are some questions that might help your discussion.

• Do you like the painting? Why?
• What colours have been used?
• Why did the artist choose to paint it?
• Would you want it up in your house?
• How much do you think it would cost to buy the original?

From this year, your child is expected to make some notes about they they’ve discussed.  Also, please could you (the adult) sign the page or possibly write a comment to show that this homework has been discussed and how your child engaged in the discussion.

12 September 2014

The first piece of homework has been sent home with Year 1 children this week.  There is a homework guide in the front of their homework book and there is more information on the website.

There are three different types of homework:

Creative homework – this is when the children can use their imagination as much as possible and be as creative as they want.  There will be a statement or question and this is can be responded to through pictures, writing, photos, videos, presentations or anything else that grabs their interest.  The only restriction is that they can only use one side of A4.

Practice makes Perfect – this homework is used to reinforce something that we have done in lessons or it might be that your child is finding something particularly hard and it is an opportunity for them to have more practice.

Talk time homework – this is when the children and you are encouraged to talk about a question or a statement and then the children feed back to the rest of the class.  There does not have to be anything recorded in their book for talk time homework.

Homework is sent home on Friday and it must be sent back to school by the following Wednesday.

This week’s homework is “creative” homework and concludes our “Where in the World?” topic:

I can show where I live.

As always, if you have any questions or would like some support then please come and see us.

12 September 2014

Now your child is in Year 5, he or she will be given two pieces of homework every week – this additional homeowrk is in response to parents’ feedback. Every week, your child will get a Practice Makes Perfect homework which will usually be extra practice in English or Maths. He / she will also receive a Creative or Talk Time homework. Both pieces should be handed by Wednesday.

This week, the Practice Makes Perfect homework is a maths activity which will test and reinforce the learning we’ve been doing on doubling and/or halving.

The second homework is Creative and is an opportunity for children to show what they have learned in our first mini-topic of the year, Where in the world?

Here are a few ideas we came up with as a class:

12 September 2014

This week’s homework is creative and is due on Wednesday 17 September.

I can show what I have learnt about the world.

Remember, creative homework involves a creative piece of open-ended work based around the ‘I can …’ statement above. The only rule is not to use more than one page of A4.

You could

• create an information leaflet
• label a map of the world
• create a quiz
• do a mind map

Ready to learn

It’s the summer holidays and, in line with our homework policy, there is no formal homework set over the six-week break.

That doesn’t mean that your child won’t be learning!  We learn all the time – and so do children, whether it’s through play, day-trips, independent reading, discussions at home…

And of course, you’ll be keen to support your child at home so the basic facts aren’t forgotten.  Please think about key English and Maths knowledge that you can gently practise over the holidays:

• number bonds: knowing pairs of numbers that add to make ten, like 3+7=10 and therefore 10-7=3).  When your child is secure with pairs that total ten, can they extend this knowledge to pairs which make 20 (13+7=20, for example) and 100 (such as 30+70=100) – make this fun by using some sweet treats or how about stringing ten loom bracelets on string and then hiding some and making the link with the ones that are left (how many are hidden if you can see three bracelets?)
• times tables: Year 2 children should have an emerging knowledge of the 2 times table and the 10 times table at least, and children who have just finished Year 4 should know all their times tables (up to 12 x 12) and the division facts, too (7×8=56 so 56÷7=8) – think about chanting some times tables or buying an app to practise just a few minutes every day to keep your child’s knowledge sharp!
• reading: lots of reading over the holidays will help your child in lots of different ways – visit the local library; take part in our Extreme Reading competition; if you’re going to a theme park or museum, read the leaflet and the website… there are loads of opportunities to build in reading as a daily activity!
• writing: reading will help your child’s spellings and writing style, so don’t force lots of writing, but do try to encourage some useful, purposeful writing – write some postcards to friends and relatives , or send some emails instead, and make lists for what to pack on holiday, or what to buy if planning a sleepover.

Check out this guide about supporting learning, useful whether it’s term-time of holiday time!

Finally, make sure you enjoy the summer break!

11 July 2014

This week’s whole school homework is creative following our themed week, Staying Safe.  It should be returned by Wednesday 16 July.

I know how to stay safe.

Throughout this week, a variety of visitors have worked with classes to deliver key learning about different aspects of safety.  These include:

• water safety (lifeguard – Mr Glass and RNLI)
• scooter training (Mrs Strange)
• bike maintenance (Edinburgh bicycle cooperative)
• skateboarding (sk8 safe)
• trampolining (Roundhay high school)
• food/kitchen safety (school kitchen)
• first aid (British Red Cross)
• e-safety (One day creative)
• road safety (Leeds City Council)
• drug education (dside)
• safety within engineering (Mr McDermott)
• bike security (police)

Alongside these external visitors, children have been learning other aspects of safety within their class.

The creative homework is a great opportunity for your child to demonstrate their learning from this week. They could:

• write a poem
• produce a quiz
• create a comic strip
• produce an information leaflet
• create a crossword
• …or anything else they can think of.