Here you will find all the things you need to keep learning at home during this difficult time. Log on each day to see the latest suggestions, to find links to great things you can do both online and off, to see photos of your friends at work at home, and examples of the work they are doing. Send us what you are learning before 9 am each day, and you may well see it here! Any great, interesting or original work or photos, any top tips, or even a joke of the day; just email me. Let’s share our learning and living experiences.
Keep safe, busy and smiling, everyone!
Susan Perry
Well done, everybody, children and families, for all your hard work this fortnight. And please send your Dunwich storm recounts in, if you haven’t already. Here are some of the things you’ve been up to over the week. Happy Easter, and don’t eat too many Easter eggs!
Great recounts from Ella and Autumn, amongst others. Well done. Boys, the girls are beating you. Please send in your recounts to even things out. Friday will be fine. Fantastic Smarties science, Lexi, using some of your knowledge of states of matter from last half-term.
Beautiful recording of your lifecycles science, Ruby. Great work!
William has been consolidating some of the learning he was doing last term on forces. What a great idea!
And well done, Shawn, for improving your bike-riding skills.
Hello Congo Class. I hope you haven’t all been April Fooling the adults at home and telling them you’d lost your pens and pencils, or forgotten how to do all your work! Let us know how you did fool them, though!
Thursday is officially the last day of the spring term! Your timetable would usually include maths and literacy in the morning, then science in the afternoon. I have sent adults information about these, or you can look further down on our class pages for links and ideas. Do let us know if there’s a problem.
I would suggest using today to review how you have got on with your learning. Do you have any of your learning packs to be getting on with? How is your recount going? Some of you have already written your recounts, and some of you have done some great plans. Well done Lily, for a fantastic plan.
Remember, a big part of writing is editing. Can you do this with a blue pen or, even easier, edit it on a computer? Here are a couple of top tips:
Does it get exciting at the climax of the recount, as the storm wreaks more havoc? Have you described what you saw and heard AND what you felt? I will expect lots of vivid description about water levels getting higher and higher, and the wind howling around you, as you feel for your family, trying to rescue them in the pitch dark.
Have you made sure your recount is authentic, and is set in the 13th century? Have you talked about using wooden buckets to (unsuccessfully) bail out all the water? Have you mentioned all your metal cooking pots and chairs and tables being washed away along the streets?
Have you shown that you live on the coast, and mentioned the huge waves and the way they crash in giant surges, and how you can see the sea level rising higher and higher and higher?
Watch the YouTube videos again if you need to recall the atmosphere (google Bude and Cornwall storms).
It would be great to have photos of literacy, some maths and something else sent by you all, so we can fill our class pages with pictures of all of you! There are a few of you I’ve not heard too much from. I do hope things are going alright. We are all really proud of our families – well done.
Although you are not officially ‘at school’ on Friday, I do hope children have been able to practise spellings and times tables over the week. If you want to try doing your own test (maybe with someone), let me know how you got on. Maybe a last chance to move up the rocket!
A big well done to Oscar, who has emailed me, letting me know how he’s getting on; an made a great short video using Lego.
For your information, the website below was recommended by a parent. Although it’s American, it is pretty good, especially the Parenting pages. If you want to print off worksheets, remember, 6th grade is Year 5, and 5th grade is Year 4.
Hello. The sun is still shining, and it’s no longer trying to snow!
Hope you all managed to have a look at the literacy powerpoint, and write some good descriptive sentences. Well done to J, who has written some great ones!
Wednesday is hot seating! Here is a link to show what this is, if people aren’t sure. You will need a partner first, then need to work out who will go in the hot seat! Remember to decide your character, then write some open-ended questions first. If you can, make some notes after, to remember what the character said. All this will help you bring your character to life for when you write your recount later this week.
Hot seating:
If you’re on the co-ordinates part of your learning pack (Year 4s), well done! A sharp pencil and ruler will really help here, if you have one. And a big well done to A, who has done some great fractions maths!
If you are being super speedy and fancy a maths challenge, here’s an extra one attached, about a doughnut!
If you’re sticking to your class timetable, and fancy some music and PE in the afternoon, here are a few ideas below.
Activities: Copy Me game, using just the notes G, A and B to the right of middle C. Play four notes to start; can you partner have a go? Then play five notes, then six … Each time, see if your partner can play back the tune.Compose a tune using a pentatonic scale (that would be C, D, E, G and A in the middle for C major). So, using just these 5 notes, compose a tune, which reflects your mood today. Would it be playful and jumpy, slow and melancholy or confident and marching? Can you record it, so you or a partner can play it back? If you can use musical notation (go on, have a go), then write your music out using musical notation, OR write out the notes in capitals. Put a line — after the longer notes (minims) and a little line to link 2 fast notes (quavers).
For PE (if you still need more after Joe Wicks!), how about making up your own set of exercises, trialling them out yourself, then seeing if someone else can do your routine with you? You could always do this outside, if you fancy? Add in some of your favourite music, and how about making a short video to show us all?’
Day 7Hello, Congo Class. If you had a good day yesterday, well done. I think a few people found it tough, but remember – Mondays are always tricky! So, here are a couple of well dones, to make you all smile.
Firstly, well done A for your great guitar playing. You clearly have hidden talents. And secondly, what a lovely poem from Lily! You may well be seeing this in our local village magazine, too.
Wash you hands we were told, stay at home we were told. the schools are shut, shops are closed. How long will it last, nobody knows!
It makes me mad, It makes me sad. So much we were going to do this year, All had to stop. our world has changed, Don’t touch nanny, don’t hug grandad. Don’t kiss nanny or grandad. I miss my friends, I miss my school.
Don’t touch this! Don’t touch that! Don’t go out! Stay safe, cause the virus is about!
NHS will sort it out! Thanks to them, We will all be saved. And hope that it will go away!
Remember, Tuesday is the day to watch that literacy powerpoint to remind yourselves about all those good writing features. Then, try to put yourself in the shoes of a child living in Dunwich 800 years ago, and write some amazing sentences. Send me them if you can. And, if you have been investigating Augmented Reality, let us know what you found out.
Plus, we need: more poetry (to cheer us up, make us think, to help you by writing down your feelings), and more jokes (some classes have more jokes than we do)! Two house points for any decent jokes sent in!
Hello everyone. Hope you all had a good weekend, and didn’t get blown away by that wind!
I’m hoping you all received information about your learning at the end of last week (or you can find it on last Friday’s post).
I have also sent an email today. I hope you like the photos. Now you turn to send me yours!
I also hear some of you are missing your Rocket and Superhero, plus your jar of shinies. I have found the link for the superheroes below, so you can choose and print out your very own. How about one for each of your family? Or alternatively, you might want to make your own.
The videos for this week’s literacy are short, but exciting. I hope you will enjoy watching them
Wow. We’re reaching the end of the first week, so a really big thank you to everybody. It has been really great hearing from you all, and sending me your photos and news.
In my planning for week two, I have tried to accommodate families who like working online AND families who would rather work in other ways.
Here is a schedule for the week, with spellings included, plus ideas for foundation subjects, or afternoon activities, details of which have been emailed to everybody.
All the best, everybody. Stay safe, look after yourselves and have a good breather over the weekend.
Here’s a selection of what Congo Class has been up to at home this week. Some great creative science from J, learning about electricity AND boats made from twigs – move up the rocket! W and his sister C have been very creative with their drawings – up the rocket for you, as well! Great work from Z and his brother, making a great model of the solar system. And Z has also made a delicious meal; here is the main course – yum!
Good morning, Class, and well done! You’re nearing the end of your first week of home learning. I hope it has gone well for families.
Today is a day to ‘tie up’ learning, as next week is a new week. Keep going with your learning packs, too. You might also want to spend some time on Friday afternoon reviewing your week, and thinking about what went well and what you might want to change for next week. Please do send in some pictures of your learning.
On Fridays, we usually do spellings and times tables tests. Could you do these at home?How about using http://www.timestables.me.uk/ to practice your tables?
It might also be good to practise some of your very best handwriting, as this is something we often do on Fridays, too. How about an A-Z of places in the UK? Write each one 3 times, and remember to start with a capital (which doesn’t join, does it?).
And fingers crossed that the sun carries on shining over the weekend. Have a great one, everybody!
I’m not going to put too much on here today, as I’m hoping you will be carrying on with work you’ve started over the last few days.
Here are some reminders:
Keep going with your Learning Pack. By now, you should be feeling quite confident about place value, direct and reported speech and fronted adverbials, depending on your year group
If you fancy something a little extra for literacy, have a browse on The Literacy Shed, and watch a short film, to inspire you to write a short story, poem or recount. The Great Animations Shed, Dream is good, as is The Myths and Legends Shed, The Dragon Slayer
Remember your reading. Find something you like and enjoy. You have the luxury of reading twice a day now (at least)!
Have a practice of those spellings, like you do for Early Work. How about making some word spirals, starting with the first letter in the middle, and twisting the page, working out? Or making some cards for a game?
Thursday afternoon is science usually. Look at suggestions I’ve put earlier this week, and think how you might want to develop your learning. Do you have a scientific question you might want to test? Do all the garden ants live in the same place? Does the warmest (or dampest) place have the most wildlife?
Practise some times tables? Challenge yourself!
And, if you’ve read this far, you deserve a bit of fun. Type a well-known animal into Google, scroll down and hit the 3-D button. Enjoy
Well done everyone, for hanging in there.Wednesday is the middle of the school week; you’re half way there. It’s also a day to consolidate learning. Apparently it’s also the most productive! Below are some ideas/thoughts from me. Parents/carers, please remember these are a guide, and you know your own children and circumstances right now.
But first, some well dones!
Great science work, I. That looks fun!
And well done, W and younger sister, C. You’ve been using your drawing talents. And those chocolate brownies sounded delicious, Autumn (fancy putting beetroot in them!). Plus great news from Bailey and his family; sounds like he’s keeping busy. Well done all of you.My apologies if I haven’t posted all your photos today. Hopefully, over the day, they will go up.
Make some progress with the learning pack, if you are able (please let me know if there are any problems)
Practise some times tables (on paper or online) if you haven’t already done so
Do some PE with Joe Wicks
Get into that reading book of yours (if it’s not for you, choose one off your bookshelf; fiction if possible)
Consolidate (that means ‘move on with’ anything that has interested you, be it science, craft, cooking or your own idea
We haven’t talked spellings yet, have we? Your parents/carers should have a list of these. This week, we’re doing the second from last list on sheet 2A. You all know your groups. You are all also used to Early Work, to practise spellings. So, here are a few ideas. Try one or more, and practise for fifteen minutes: i) Writing one column with your correct hand, one with your ‘wrong’ hand; ii) Writing a column of lower case printed spellings, writing a column of fully cursive spellings and a column of spellings in capitals; iii) Spelling pyramids – start with the first letter, then underneath write the first 2 letters, underneath the first 3 letters. You’ve all done this before, haven’t you? iv) Making some spelling cards from cut-out paper/card and using these to play a challenge game with a partner. You could write a definition on the other side. Happy Early Work, everybody!
Wednesday afternoons is traditionally physical and creative. The forecast is still sunny, so how about organising some circuit training or an obstacle course. You could do some laps of your garden, maybe 4 laps walking, 4 sprinting, 4 skipping, 4 jogging? Or how about some ball skills? You all enjoy your music, so how about listening to something different today? Listen and respond; draw or write about what you hear. Get out your recorder, flute or keyboard and compose a tune? Could you send it to me as an email attachment?
This is a great online piano. If you want to try playing a tune from your recorder book, get the letter notes up to get you started. The white notes are the main ones, and the blacks are the sharps and flats. Can you play Mary had a little lamb? https://www.onlinepianist.com/virtual-piano
Here is some feedback from yesterday. Well done, everyone!
A big well done to Aniek, Kai and Lily, who have been getting fit with Joe Wicks. This is a great chance to put on your PE kit and work off some energy, for the day ahead
Sounds great, Ruby, Ethan and Jayden, who have been outside, spotting the spring wildlife. Let us know what you found!
Jayden, you have been busy; you’re also planning some cooking activities, as is Zac. Yum, yum! Do share your photos of the finished goodies, before you eat them all!
Jacob, sounds like you’ve been really busy studying ants (see the link below) AND finding out more about the Titanic (more below). Kai, you might like the link below, too.
And painted pebbles sounds beautiful, Saffron. My children found a few on a nature walk at the weekend. So, maybe if the window sill gets crowded, you could hide some along a nature path for other people to find. You could add a secret message on the back too!
Someone else has been making bath bombs – mmm! Well done, Kai!
Another well done to Shawn, who has been improving his bike-riding skills.
And well done to Imogen, who has been practising her piano playing.
And Autumn, your sea pigs topic sounds amazing! I can’t wait to see some pictures.
Today
The sun is still shining. Keep
taking those brain breaks when you need to, and keep learning outside, as often
as you can. Apologies these are a bit late (I’ll aim for 9 am each day,
if I can), but here are a few top tips for today:
Minibeast hunt (Year 4s really, but you’re all included); how about making a chart, so you can put in the name, a drawing, habitat, adaptations (how an animal behaves and changes its behaviour according to where it lives) and any other comments
Times tables – you’ve had a whole day off from these! So, if you have a spare five minutes (pencil and paper, or a whiteboard and pen), challenge a partner! Show them how we do it. In order, Randoms, Divides, Challenge Yourself – parents probably haven’t done this for years, so here’s your chance to impress, or even beat, them!
Some of you have mentioned a daily task or goal; what a great idea! Tying shoelaces, putting away the washing up, helping hang out the washing, changing the towels in the bathroom – all good things to help each other
