Well what about last week’s weather?! I complained about the lack of Summer and Hey Presto – sunshine and shorts! I’d better not complain this week in case we return to the wintery days of April again!
On the subject of the warm weather, could we remind everyone about the need for children to be protected from the sun, by wearing a hat and applying sun-screen. The children may bring it to school in a named plastic bag at the start of the week and bring it home for the weekend.
We continue with SATs tasks for the Year 2’s this week and the children have really done us proud so far. They have said that it was nothing like they thought it would be and they can’t wait to do more – an opportunity for them to show off all of their knowledge and skills.
Next week sees the Key Stage 2 SATs nationally and our own Year 6 children are eager to show off all their knowledge after 7 years at St.Vincent’s. We wish them all the very best and are sure that they will be fantastic!
Literacy
By the title of this week’s blog, you should be able to gather that we are really pushing the children on to raise the level of their writing this week.
When writing our Information books this week, the children will be ‘up-levelling’ their writing in 4 different ways:
· Vocabulary
· Connectives
· Openers
· Punctuation
VCOP for short!
Have a go with this sentence:
· I walk to school.
Mmm, we can improve this by adding vocabulary to extend the sentence :
· I walked quickly to school this morning.
Then, let’s extend it even more by adding a connective:
· I walked quickly to school this morning SO I was not late for the register.
Getting better! Now, how can we change the opening? Let’s begin our sentence with an ‘ing’ word – the action (verb) in the sentence:
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register...
Oh – when we remember our Think it, Say it, Write it rule, the sentence doesn’t ‘sound’ right. We need to add another ‘bit’ on the end, so...
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my packed lunch, so had to return home anyway.
Much better, but I haven’t got any punctuation!
· Walking quickly to school this morning so that I was not late for the register, I suddenly remembered I had forgotten my packed lunch, so had to return home anyway!
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to write 3 simple sentences about their chosen topic
SHOULD be able to write at least 5 extended sentences, including a connective, about their chosen topic
COULD be able to write extended sentences, using VCOP about their chosen topic and ensure they are written as paragraphs.
http://www.sparklebox2.co.uk/literacy/writing/vcop.html a resource we use in school, but if you would like your own colour copy of this to print off at home, then it can be downloaded from this site. Get the children to cut this out and assemble it into an actual pyramid! You may recognise some of the other resources which we regularly send home, as this is a huge favourite of ours!
http://www.kelsall.cheshire.sch.uk/Parents/Parent%20Handouts/VCOP%20Mat.pdf a mat version of the VCOP pyramid
http://www.sutton.lincs.sch.uk/pages/playground/zone/story/start.html ideas for writing your own stories – great to use as opening paragraphs
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/writing_a_story_opening hints on writing a story opening
http://www.midlandit.co.uk/education/writingtips.htm story writing tips
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/kids/writing/storymaker/storymaker.asp create your own story
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/index.html this is great! Enter the information requested and the programme generates a story start.
Phonics
The children have really amazed us with how much they can remember and which phoneme to use for different words. ‘PH’ and ‘WH’ words are now firmly embedded and the children are even giving themselves spelling challenges, seeing how many words they can come up with!
This week, we move onto ‘au’ and ‘aw’ sounds. They will investigate where the ‘au’ and ‘aw’ pattern USUALLY come in a word – beginning, middle or end, and apply this to new words.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to recognise the patterns au and aw in words
SHOULD be able to spell words containing au and aw
COULD be able to include au and aw words learned in a sentence
http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/index2.php?action=underestand review some of the previous letter patterns we have been working on. By clicking on the sounds, the children will be able to hear the sound the letters make together.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/wordTree.html write 5 words with the au pattern and 5 with the aw pattern and get the children to locate them on the tree. The children could even make their own game up for each other, practising their spelling skills!
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/helpAhedgehog_v4.html choose ‘enter your own words’ to work on this week’s patterns or choose from the list to review previous sounds
http://www.ictgames.com/hybrid.html click on the au and aw patterns
Numeracy
As stated last week, we will be continuing with a review of areas of numeracy where the children need a little more practice.
This week, we will be moving on to partitioning up to 4 digit numbers and using this to support them when adding larger numbers. We will also review missing numbers in a number sentence, looking particularly at the sign in the middle + or -.
One area which we will spend some time on, is reviewing the vocabulary associated with addition and subtraction. Once the children can understand the vocabulary, the number work becomes second nature. For example:
10 – 5 = ?
Or
Find the difference between 10 and 5
Both are exactly the same sum, but the second one is perceived as being more difficult, because of the ‘words’!
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to find the difference between a TU number and a U by counting on a number line
SHOULD be able to find the difference between a TU number and another by counting on a hundred square
COULD be able to use partitioning to help find the difference between numbers up to 4 digits
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/846/Thinkingofanumber-100.swf this really does make you think! Click on all of the clouds to get the clues in order to guess the missing numbers
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SumSense/sumsub.html manipulate the numbers to make up your own number sentence for subtraction. Remember to emphasise the ‘find the difference’ phrase.
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Ghostblasters3/ghostsub2.html blast the ghost which answers the subtraction problem
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/starship/maths/crosstheswamp.shtml choose addition and subtraction, then select which ‘rock’ to land on. Challenge yourself by selecting the higher numbers.
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/maths/big%20sums/big%20sums%20subtract.html we will be using this site in class to teach missing numbers. Try hiding the first number rather than the answer to add some variety!
http://oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/mathssub.html race against the clock to answer these subtraction questions
Science
We are moving towards the end of our topic on plants and this week we are looking at the different types of plants that we can find in and around our neighbourhood.
The children will also look at how animals are suited to the environment in which they live. They will be able to name a number of different habitats and match the animals to them.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to name some habitats and where they might be found
SHOULD be able to match an animal to its habitat
COULD be able to predict suitable habitats for animals according to their features
http://www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/living_things/index.html a lovely website, which is a one-stop shop for all our objectives this week!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/plants_animals_env.shtml click on the plants and animals that we might find in our local environment. This is a great site, particularly as the children can use this independently.
http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/ict/AAA/AAA.html what a lovely database all about animals and their habitats. This is also a really useful resource for the children to use when writing their information texts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/wwww/scottishwoodlands/standard/index.shtml building on who, where, what, why and when questions from last week, this is a fairly simple sites which poses questions about habitats for the children to answer.
Here I Am
We begin our new topic of Building Bridges in our RE curriculum this week. In this important topic the children will focus on their friendships and how they are to be cared for. They also look at how friendships can be spoilt and the importance of putting things right. They will study the Sacrament of Reconciliation and learn about the importance of forgiveness and being forgiven. This topic also enables to link our SEAL curriculum with our Here I Am programme.
By the end of the week, the children will have:
RECOGNISED :that friendships can be spoilt.
REFLECTED: on friendships they have had which were spoilt in some way.
RESPECTED: appreciate the importance of saying sorry and making-up.
This Sunday is also Pentecost Sunday, where we celebrate not only the coming of the Holy Spirit, but the birthday of the Church. We have a task for the children on Sunday...
What colour vestments is Father Richard wearing? Why is he wearing that colour?
PE Kits
The children should have brought their PE kits home over the last week or so to be washed, but there are still a few which haven’t found their way back into our class PE boxes. Please could ensure that you also check your child’s pumps fit, as we hope to embark on our practices for Sports Day – yes we are approaching that time of year again, hard to believe though it is!
Change of Day
For this week only, Golden time and University has been swapped to THURSDAY. This is enable Foundation Stage to go on their visit to Blue Planet Aquarium – I am sure they will all have a ‘splashing’ time! (oh dear!)
Year ½ team
No comments:
Post a Comment