11 December 2015
This week’s homework is practice makes perfect and is due Wednesday 16 December.
Your child will have been given an extract from our class novel “Five on a treasure island” with the speech punctuation missing. Can your child add it back in?
They will also have a comprehension sheet to complete. To help your child with this, ask them to highlight the key words in the question and find the clues in the text before they go to write an answer.
27 November 2015
Following our Health themed week, this week, our whole school homework is creative and is due on Wednesday 02 December.
I make healthy choices.
Each class has taken part in a variety of learning this week including a range of visitors to support our teaching of keeping healthy (please see our Class News pages).
Your child could present this creative homework in a variety of different ways:
- a quiz which tests the knowledge of other children
- art work
- poetry
- a poster
- writing: diary, story, letter, instructions, report
- a rap
- a mindmap
- your own creative idea
We look forward to seeing your creative ideas to demonstrate how to keep healthy and this homework will be the focus of our open afternoon, next week.
Homework open afternoon, 2.40pm on Wednesday 02 December – parents/carers of children in Years 1 – 6 are invited into the classroom to help you to be aware of the standards of homework in your child’s class; it will also give you an insight into how we give feedback to your child even if the homework does not appear to be marked.
19 November 2015
Our homework this week is practice makes perfect and is due Wednesday 25 November.
In Maths, we’ve been focussing on methods of addition. Your child will have six calculations to practise these methods. There are two class news posts from earlier this week which will help to explain the methods we’ve been using.
Try going through the calculations with your child:
- challenge them to explain how they reached a certain answer
- get your child to teach you something they’ve learned from their homework
- encourage your child to justify why they reached their answer and not another answer
As always, please ask if you’ve any questions or concerns.
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.
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 homework is creative and is due in on Wednesday 14 October.
I can create a promotional image of Scarborough.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve been learning about promotions and how language is used to persuade people to buy something or visit somewhere. On Friday, we finished off this English focus with an extended piece of writing. Next week, we will be improving and displaying our promotional texts so we need some images to go with these. You could create a post card, a web page or even just illustrate one of the many attractions Scarborough has to offer.
25 September 2015
Our homework this week is a practice makes perfect. Pupils must fill in the missing gaps on a hundred square and use this to help them solve addition questions. We’ve been learning to use partitioning to help us solve addition questions in class. Asking your child to partition the smaller number will give them a starting point to solving the calculation. “How many steps of ten do you need to make?” and “How many steps of one do you need to make?” will match the language we have used in class when helping your child.
Look at the Addition video (especially Addition 6) for help with partitioning.
This homework is due on Wednesday 30 September.
10 July 2015
This week’s whole school homework involves completing the pupil health questionnaire sent home with your child.
I can share my views about health.
This annual questionnaire has been compiled in consultation with our school council and helps us to find out pupil views on some of our key health issues at school. Please support your child to complete the health questionnaire by discussing these issues. The questionnaire should be returned to your class teacher by Wednesday 15 July.
01 May 2015
This week the homework is creative and is due in on Wednesday 06 May.
I can show what I know about magnets and forces.
In class, we’ve been learning about different forces and magnets. This is a chance for your child to show what they know and have learnt over the past couple of weeks.
They could:
- make a game
- create a quiz
- write a poem
- draw and label different types of magnets
- create a table to show magnetic and non magnetic materials, or…
- any other creative idea they might have!
24th April 2015
The homework this week is practice makes perfect and is due on Wednesday 29 April.
I can use column addition.
Year 3 have been learning how to use column addition. They have a worksheet to complete to practise this skill.
