07 February 2014
This week’s homework is creative so get those juices flowing!
I can find out about a hero from the past.
Before we all disappear for half term, we’ll learn about two real life heroes from the past. We’ll step into the life of Grace Darling, a young woman who saved 9 people after their ship crashed off the Northumbrian coast, and learn about Rosa Parks, who refused to give her seat up for a white person on a bus in Alabama, 1955.
We want to know what real life heroes in history you can find out about. Choose one and present everything you find out about them in the most creative way you can think of. Here are some ideas:
- Write an autobiography as though you are that person.
- Create an information leaflet on their life and what they did.
- Draw a story board of their life and what they did.
- Create a quiz and answer booklet to challenge your friends.
31 January 2014
For all children in Year 1 – Year 6, the homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 05 February.
I know what makes a good school councillor.
It’s time for children to consider if they would like to stand for election for our new school council. With two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers, all children at Moortown Primary are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.
Elections for our new school council will take place next Friday 07 February with our polling station and ballot boxes at the ready. Candidates will have the opportunity to give their election speech to their class on Wednesday 05 February or Thursday 06 February.
What makes a good school councillor has been considered by our current school council and in each class this week. Suggestions have included:
- ‘Communicating with others – pupils and adults.’
- ‘Having good listening skills to know what to contribute in meetings.’
- ‘Thinking of realistic ideas to suggest in meetings.’
We invite children to respond to the sentence above in a creative way – they might choose to use this time to prepare an election speech or otherwise consider this statement and present it as a character description, pictures, an interview with a current school councillor or other ideas of your own. For either option you should include the importance of voting.
Hints for your speech include:
- What skills and abilities would a good school councillor have?
- What are you particularly good at that would help you to be a great school councillor?
- What do you think would make the school better? What could you do that people would really like?
- Think of things that are realistic, maybe that you could do yourself, rather than having to ask other people to do?
Thank you to our current school councillors for all their ideas and contributions over the last year. We hope you have enjoyed this role and responsibility and you are welcome to stand again for election.
Good luck to all children who decide to stand in the elections. Results will be announced in our assembly on Friday 07 February.
24 January 2014
This week’s homework is creative homework.
What is a hero?
After a fantastic “hero day”, we would like to see what the children’s perception of a hero is. There has been a lot of discussion already about heroes but there are many different heroes from fiction, sport, history and real life day to day heroes. Ideas and opinions can be shown in any way your child likes and please remember to be as creative as possible.
This homework needs to be handed in by Wednesday 29 January.
Thank you for providing costumes for your heroes; the day kicked off our topic really well and we defeated the villainous character who appeared in Year 2!
24 January 2014
The homework this week is practice makes perfect and is due in on Wednesday 29 January.
I can research and present a report about an animal.
This could be one of the animals we met on Monday or any other animal which your child would like to find out about. Children can present what they have found in any way they like. This could be a leaflet, poster, written report, video, PowerPoint type presentation, etc.
The one rule is that children are not allowed to cut and paste text directly from a website or copy out a section of text from an information source. Instead, they should pick out key pieces of information which they want to use in their reports.
If you would like to submit this (or any other) homework digitally, children can send it to the following email address. Please note, this is a class email address and should only be used to send homework or other school work. It should not be used to send any messages to me or any other adults in school.
If you have any questions about this week’s homework, please come in and see me!
17 January 2013
For all children in Year 1 to Year 6, the homework this week is Talk Time:
Which two charities should we support at school and why?
It’s time for children to think about our school charities. Currently, we support Dogs Trust and Water Aid. A previous School Council selected these because they wanted to help animals and people, and wanted to help nationally and internationally. These charities were chosen because pupils passed on to School Councillors very clear and strong arguments to choose them eg Dogs Trust help us by visiting, so we have the chance to re-pay this, and everyone has a basic human right to water.
We’ve helped these charities for two years now, so it’s time for a change. We need you to have a discussion at home about which charities would be best for us to support. Each class will then discuss this and then the councillors will bring the views and ideas together to decide on the charities.
Once your child has decided on a charity, make sure they have clear, powerful reasons to support their views.
You might want to discuss whether we support…
- a local charity
- a children’s charity
- a charity which helps a vulnerable group in our community – this would link back to vulnerable groups we thought about in last summer’s Community Week
- should we ensure the new charities are very different to the current ones or previous ones?
- should we need to have charities at all?
- if your child was to set up a new charity, what would (s)he choose, and (as always) why?
10 January 2014
This week’s homework is creative homework.
A mini-topic based on a book called Meerkat Mail has led to lots of research about animals and different countries. Year 1 have shown excellent research skills and have shown a lot of interest in atlases and maps. This homework will let them show what they have found out but don’t forget to let those creative juices flow – it can be presented in any form.
I can show what I know about an animal from another country.
This homework needs to be handed in by Wednesday 15 January 2014.
10 January 2014
The homework this week is practice makes perfect and is due in on Wednesday 15 January.
I can write an algorithm to solve a problem.
As we have been learning about computing in our mini-topic, we thought it would be a good idea to practise our programming skills by writing an algorithm to solve a problem. An algorithm is a set of instructions designed to solve a problem or perform a specific task. Computer programs use algorithms to carry out different functions. However, for this homework, we won’t be needing any digital devices!
Stuck in the children’s books is a 5×5 grid with a start and finish point on it. The children have to write an algorithm (set of instructions) to guide a sprite (a computer graphic – but for this you could use a coin or a counter with an arrow marked on it) from the start to the end point. Their algorithms should contain the following vocabulary: forward, 90 degrees, clockwise, anti-clockwise.
Computer programmers strive to write the simplest algorithms so children should be encouraged to find a route with the fewest steps possible.
Once they’ve finished this, they could write another algorithm to guide a family member from one part of the home to another.
Please drop in to see me if you have any questions!
10 January 2014
We’re kicking off with practice makes perfect this week, focusing on the skills we have learnt in our maths lessons.
I can use my number skills.
Work through the tasks in your homework book to partition, sort and round numbers. Remember what we’ve learnt this week!
06 December 2013
This week’s homework is talk time.
We all take light for granted every day and Year 1 have been investigating different sources of light. This week, we have discovered which were the best sources of light with some fair testing. We would like you to discuss the following question before Wednesday 11 December:
“Is it right that some people live without electric lights in their homes?”
06 December 2013
The homework this week is a moral talk time homework and is due in on Wednesday 11 December.
We all have electricity in our homes but should we be more aware of how much electricity we use?
In our mini-topic, we have been learning about electricity. We now want you to think about how much we use electricity and the cost of this both economically and environmentally. Children should be considering how we could use less electricity in our day to day lives and also other sources of energy we could be using (solar power, wind power, etc).