08 September 2017
This week’s homework is Creative: I can show how to make my class a good place to learn.
This piece is due in on Thursday 14 September.
Children should respond in a creative manner and show how they can make our place a good place to learn. This could be done in many ways but here’s a few ideas we came up with as a class:
- create a poster of dos and don’ts
- create a mini version of the perfect classroom using a cardboard box
- create a video explaining what the perfect learner would look like
- create a video in which you play the ‘perfect’ learner
- make a puppet show using a cardboard box and string
If you have any problems, please see me at the earliest opportunity.
14 July 2017
This week, as it’s the final week of the year, children have been given one piece of homework to do. This is due on Thursday 20 July.
The homework is Creative: I can reflect on my time in Year 5 and look ahead to next year.
We have discussed lots of ways that children could respond to this:
- you could write a letter to Mr Catherall and Miss Rushbrooke
- you could make a poster about the different topics we’ve covered this year
- you could make a Year 5 themed board game
- you could create a timeline of the year
- you could do a video diary of the year
- you could make a Year 5 themed comic
- you could write a newspaper report about Year 5
- you could create a collage of your favourite pieces of homework
- you could create poster of highlights
- you could create a vlog about a typical day in Year 5
- you could make a movie trailer of the year we’ve had
- you could use Scratch to reflect on the year
Obviously, there are many more ways, too.
07 July 2017
This week’s whole school homework involves completing the pupil health questionnaire sent home with your child/children.
I can share my views about health.
Pupil voice is an important part of our school and this annual questionnaire provides pupil views on some of our key health issues.
Please support your child to complete the health questionnaire by discussing these issues.
The questionnaire should be returned to your class teacher by Thursday 13 July.
30 June 2017
This week, as always, children have been given two pieces of homework.
The first is Practice Makes Perfect: I can learn my lines or know my role in the performance.
Children should ensure they know all their lines for the performance (and the lines before and after their own). If a child doesn’t have many lines to learn, they should make sure they are fully aware of their role within the production. Similarly, if children are still unsure of the songs, they should practise these at home, too.
The second piece is a little different this week: I am aware of my own health.
Children have been given a ‘My Health, My School’ diary to complete. They should do this for seven days – starting on Saturday 01 July and finishing on Friday 07 July. The completed diary should be returned to school on Monday 10 July. The diary will be used by the children to help them complete the ‘My Health, My School’ survey during school time. Therefore, it’s important that children complete the diary as honestly and accurately as they can.
23 June 2017
This week, children have two pieces of homework – both due Thursday 29 June 2017.
The first is Practice Makes Perfect: I can calculate perimeter and area.
Children have been given some maths problems to solve. They should complete four of the activities in their book.
The second is Creative: I can respond to something I have seen, or read, in the news.
For this homework, children should provide a response to something that has been in the news this week. We’ve discussed it as a group, and the children came up with the following responses:
- Make a collage of some recent news articles
- Create a game where people need to match the image to the headline
- Choose an article you like and an article you dislike and explain why
- Create a ‘Which one is real?’ board game
- Make your own newspaper article about something that has happened this week
16 June 2017
This week, children have two pieces of homework to respond to – both are due on Thursday 22 June 2017.
The first piece is Talk Time: I can discuss how I could change my learning for the better.
Linked to this week’s SEAL statement, this piece of homework is intended to encourage children to reflect on their own learning over the year and then decide what they could do to make their learning even better in the future.
The second piece is Practice Makes Perfect: I can score 1000 points on Mathletics.
Children should use the Mathletics app (or website) to practise their maths skills. Children should score at least 1000 points (note: this doesn’t have to be on Live Mathletics).
As always, if children have any problems or queries about their homework they should speak to me at the earliest possible opportunity so we can seek a solution – homework should never be a source of stress or worry.
09 June 2017
This week, children have been given two pieces of homework to complete – both are due on Thursday 15 June 2017.
The first piece is creative: To be able to observe science in real life.
This week, we’ve completed three science investigations. For each investigation, we used our observation skills to make sense of what’s actually going on. Science is everywhere. We often don’t even realise that we are watching science in action. This week, children should spend some time observing science in action. Children don’t necessarily need to understand what is going on but the skill of actually taking time to observe something and think about what might be happening is a crucial aspect of being a scientist. I did this earlier without even realising at the time…
When I entered the supermarket, it was reasonably sunny. However, when I left five minutes later, it was raining extremely heavily – so heavily, in fact, that the rain was actually bouncing off the floor. I was caught up in a monsoon! It made me think: how does it physically bounce off the floor? The rain is made of water so surely it should splatter as it hits the ground? This wasn’t happening. The rain drops seemed to stay intact and bounce like a ball. I presume this has something to do with the amount of force that the rain was falling with. I don’t actually understand the exact scientific reason for this happening but the important thing is that I saw something happen and then questioned why.
We discussed how we could respond to this as a class and the children had the following ideas:
- You could complete a scientific investigation of your own
- You could complete an everyday activity (like diving into a pool) and wonder about the science behind it (why does the water splash?)
- Complete a diary of your scientific thoughts
The second piece this week is Talk Time: I can discuss the general election results.
Children should discuss the results of Thursday’s election with an adult.
19 May 2017
For all children in Year 1 – Year 6, the homework this week is creative and is due in on Thursday 25 May. In preparation for our whole school themed week next week, Staying Safe, children should consider the following question by showing what they already know.
How can I keep safe?
Children should think about the situations where they need to keep safe and who might help them to stay safe. This could be done in any creative way.
- A story
- A poem
- Instructions
- A comic strip
- An advert
- An interview
- A game
- Scenarios
…or any other creative ideas!
The homework will be reviewed as part of the themed week learning.
19 May 2017
In addition to our whole school ‘staying safe’ homework, we also have a Talk Time piece: Debate: should we pay more for sugary drinks/food?
Children should discuss this with adults and be prepared to debate this important question with their peers as part of our homework review next week.
To get you started, here are a few ‘for and against‘ arguments we’ve discussed as a class:
For
- Tooth decay is rising amongst young children.
- Obesity is rising amongst young children
- Other countries (like Mexico) have done it and it seems to work.
Against
- We should educate people rather than make them pay more.
- The people who make food are responsible not the people who buy it.
- People know what is in their food so they should take responsibility for their own diet.
11 May 2017
This week, children have two pieces of homework. Both are due on Thursday 18 May.
The first is Practice Makes Perfect: I can score 1000 points on Mathletics.
Please note: this does not have to be on ‘Live’ Mathletics.
The second is Creative: I can appreciate art.
We may not all ‘like’ art, we may not all aspire to be artists, but we can all appreciate art to some degree. For this homework, children should respond in a creative manner and show that they can appreciate art in some way. We discussed it as a class and the children decided that some good ideas were:
- create their own piece of art
- visit an art exhibition and document their trip
- imitate their favourite artist’s work
- do an interview with a (fake?) famous artist
- have a conversation (and record this in some way) with someone who does not particularly like art but can appreciate it in some way
- make a collage of all the art they like/own
- draw a picture, and ask someone you know to draw one, too. Then, compare and contrast them
- make a puppet show about why people appreciate art (possibly with an arty background)
There are, of course, many other ideas, too.