22 January 2016
This week, we are our continuing our spelling focus on homophones. Why not try illustrating this week’s homophones to make them more memorable? See below for some ideas.
fair: treating people equally
fare: the money paid on public transport
great: above average
grate: to shred food
groan: a sound of despair
grown: to have increased in size
main: the most important
mane: the long neck hair of some animals
meat: the flesh of an animal (which some people choose to eat)
meet: to be in the same place as someone else at the same time (in the word, the two e letters meet up)
15 January 2016
This week’s spelling are all homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings e.g. new and knew. I’ve included some rough definitions as a guide. You might want to chat about other meanings with your child. For example, the word brake could be used as a noun (the brake of a car) and as a verb (I’m driving too fast so I’m going to brake).
| accept: to agree to receive something except: not including |
| affect: this has changed something effect: this will change something |
| not: changes the meaning to negative knot: usually string or rope tangled together |
| berry: a round juicy fruit bury: to put or hide underground |
| break: to damage something brake: something that stops a car or bike |
It’s Christmas…
There are no homework tasks or spellings during the holiday period.
Instead, support your child in other ways. Make sure they take part in family events, encourage them to relax and catch up on some reading at home, encourage them to send thank you notes (emails are fine, too!) – all these things will help their English skills of speaking and listening, reading and writing.
Plenty of maths skills can be practised, too – planning some top telly and considering times and durations of programmes, working out what half price is when the sales start… could your child even help with some cooking to use various measures?
Whatever they do, make sure your child, and you, have a happy and healthy Christmas break.
11 December 2015
This week’s spellings link to measurements which will be our maths focus next week. Your child will need to know the spellings and the appropriate abbreviations.
| 1. metre – m |
| 2. centimetre – cm |
| 3. millimetre – mm |
| 4. litre – l |
| 5. millilitre – ml |
| 6. grams – g |
| 7. kilograms – kg |
| 8. weight |
| 9. height |
| 10. capacity |
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!
09 October 2015
This week’s spellings follow the rule drop the e for ing.
| arrive – arriving |
| believe – believing |
| breathe – breathing |
| cycle – cycling |
| complete – completing |
| decide – deciding |
| describe – describing |
| exercise – exercising |
| guide – guiding |
| imagine – imagining |
02 October 2015
This week’s spellings follow the “drop the e for an ing” rule. Your child will be tested on the words in bold.
- centre centring
- believe circling
- continue continuing
- increase increasing
- minute minuting
- pressure pressuring
- promise promising
- separate separating
- suppose supposing
- surprise surprising
25 September 2015
This week, our spellings will focus on a common spelling rule: double up for a short vowel sound.
- different
- difficult
- disappear
- grammar
- happen
- opposite
- possess
- possession
- possible
- suppose
Some of these words are included in the Year 3 and 4 spelling list in the National Curriculum. Therefore, it is key that your child knows these spellings but even more importantly, the rule that applies. When consonants are doubled up (accident), it forces the vowel in front to be a short sound (accident).
Feel free to pop in if you’d like some advice on helping your child to spell at home.
03 July 2015
This week, we’re practising spelling words which have a prefix – a series of letters which are at the beginning of a word.
- dishonest
- disagree
- disobey
- impossible
- impatient
- impolite
- rewrite
- recount
- refresh
- rethink
12 June 2015
This week’s spellings are nouns (singular to plural).
For some of the words, you have to drop the y and replace it with an ies in order to pluralise the word. Can you spot any other spelling patterns or rules in these words?
| 1. | century centuries |
| 2. | baby babies |
| 3. | child children |
| 4. | knife knives |
| 5. | thief thieves |
| 6. | volcano volcanoes |
| 7. | tomato tomatoes |
| 8. | potato potatoes |
| 9. | woman women |
| 10. | library libraries |