Big Talk

Have a look at the picture below and talk about the questions underneath.

What does it mean to be envious?

Why might some sea creatures be envious of this fish?

Which sea creatures may not be envious of this fish?

Have you ever been envious of someone else?

Do you think someone has ever been envious of you?

Is it wrong to be envious?

Do you think fish really have feelings?

Should we treat fish differently to the way we treat other people?

Would you treat a fish with no colourful pattern the same way as you would this fish?

 

Can you draw a picture of another creature you’d be likely to find living in the waters?

 

These sentences are ‘sick’ and need help to get better. Can you help? Can you add exciting adjectives to make them more interesting? 

The fish swam through the water. It had eyes and a pattern on its skin. Its mouth opened and closed as it flapped its fins.

 

Phonics Year 1 & 2 Tricky words

This week in phonics we would like you to focus on reading and spelling tricky words. You could...

- have a look at the game below and select the level that’s right for your child.

http://www.ictgames.com/littleBirdSpelling/

- shoot nerf bullets or water pistols  at the words to help recognise them

- hide the words around the house or outside 

- write the words in chalk in help spelling

- make up rhymes or rap songs  to help you remember the spelling

When children are confident at reading them they should then learn to spell them. Then they can apply them to writing simple sentences.

Here is  a great game to play for those who also want to practice their phonics this week https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/helpAHedgehog/index.html

There is a list of common exception words at the bottom of the blog.

 

Maths Number & place value

Year 1

There are lots of ways you can help your child to understand number and place value. Here are just a few ideas:

1. Talk about numbers around us

Numbers are everywhere, and they can tell us all sorts of different things. Some numbers tell us about an amount (for example, ‘there are ten sweets in the jar’). Some tell us about position (for example, ‘I finished the race in 2nd place’). And some are just labels (for example, ‘we are waiting for the number 15 bus’).

Talking about how numbers are used in the real world can help your child understand why they are important. For example, you could talk about numbers when you are buying something, or telling the time, or catching a particular bus.

Video: What is number? https://youtu.be/vyjHrDpBlKo Get a simple definition of the concept of number and the difference between cardinal, ordinal and nominal numbers with this fun animation.

2. Count

Your child needs to know why, how, and when to count.

You could practise counting orally through songs and rhymes like ‘Ten Green Bottles’, going forwards and backwards.

Counting objects around the house is also a good way to make sure your child understands that each number name can represent an amount. Try counting in steps. For example, you could count pairs of socks in twos, use your fingers to count in fives, or count 10p coins in tens.

3. Make representations of numbers

It is important that your child understands what numbers look like, so it is helpful to represent numbers using objects and pictures.

For example, to understand the number 3, children need to understand what 3 really is. We can represent it using the symbol, 3, but it is important to understand what three looks like as a quantity. You could count out three sticks or draw three pictures to help with this.

Your child also needs to understand that numbers can be made up of other numbers. So three can be made of three ones, or a two and a one. Once they reach the teen numbers, we need to show that these are numbers made from one ten, plus several ones. For example, fifteen is made of one ten and five ones. Again, this is much easier to explain to your child using objects or pictures.

At school we use a range of objects to help children with their counting such as numicon, multi-link and sorting bears. At home you can use anything- lego bricks, pasta shapes, toy cars, pom poms, sweets, leaves...really anything at all! 

When we move on to 2 digit numbers we introduce ten sticks and ones. This helps children to recognise and understand 2 digit numbers. Here is a great video to help explain it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dHu5TFxPtk At home you could make your own by cutting up paper, use different size lego, k-nex, pipe cleaners and pom poms, sticks and pine cones. Children should understand that ten ones and the same as one ten stick. 

At home you could...

-Use resources to make numbers, counting the tens in tens and the ones in ones

Here we have 2 ten sticks = 20 and 4 ones = 4.

20 and 4 = 24.

-Make numbers with a part whole model

-Write the number sentence

-When they are confident with this they could begin to solve simple problems (still using the resources to help if needed)

Children should start with numbers up to 10, then 20, 50 and moving on to 100. If children are finding teen numbers tricky then come back to those another time.

Here are some great online resources to help...

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/place-value/place-value-charts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8sfr82/articles/zw4g2nb

https://mathsbot.com/manipulatives/placeValueCounters

https://mathsbot.com/manipulatives/placeValueCards

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares

We have also attached some worksheets if you find these help and a number warm up powerpoints. 

 

Year 2

When children are confident at partitioning numbers into tens and ones (as above for Year 1) they can  use their knowledge of place value to compare numbers using the symbols < > or = and use reasoning to explain how they know this.

For example...

They can also partition 2-digit numbers in different way. This video gives a great explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWe65U7ZAWQ 

It's important to remember that some children will still need to use resources to support their learning. Others will be confident at drawing tens and ones and should do to explain their answers and show their working out. 

Here are some useful online resources...

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/place-value/place-value-charts

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8sfr82/articles/zw4g2nb

https://mathsbot.com/manipulatives/placeValueCounters

https://mathsbot.com/manipulatives/placeValueCards

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares

We have also attached some worksheets if you find these help and a number warm up powerpoints. 

Challenge 

There are some place value challenge cards at the bottom of this blog to try or have a go at this game...

Round the Two Dice

There are two dice, each of them with faces labelled from 1 to 6.
When the dice are rolled they can be combined in two different ways to make a 2-digit number.

For example, if I roll a 2 and a 3 I can combine them to make 23 or 32.

Now round each of these numbers to the nearest 10:  23 rounds to 20 and 32 rounds to 30.

Repeat for other rolls of the dice.

Do both of the numbers you make ever round to the same multiple of 10?

Click here for interactive dice- https://nrich.maths.org/6717

 

English Riddles

A Riddle is a type of poem that describes something without actually naming what it is, leaving the reader to guess. A Riddle is a light hearted type of poetry which involves the reader.

Riddles can be about anything, from Riddles about animals to Riddles about objects. There are no rules on how to structure a Riddle poem, a Riddle can be funny or it can rhyme, it depends on the person writing the Riddle. Here's a video to watch.. https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/z84p97h

This week we would like the children to have a go at writing a riddle about an animal of their choice. They could draw a picture of the animal and write words around it to describe it like this...

Then they can use these ideas to write a simple riddle like this...

I am fluffy and cute.

I pounce on small creatures.

My fur is soft.

I like to say meow.

What am I?

 

Think about...

-What they look like

-Do they make a noise?

-Where do they live?

-What colour are they?

-How do they feel?

-How do they move?

 

Can you guess what this riddle is about?

 

I slither and slide.

My skin is scaly.

I smell with my tongue.

Can you hear me hiss?

What am I?

 

Feel free to share your riddles with us on the Friends of Garrick Green Facebook page or email them to Mrs Ellis at rellis37ru@nsix.org.uk

 

Science

This week is all about understanding what plants need in order to thrive. Remember to email Mrs Ellis on rellis37ru@nsix.org.uk if you need your log in information for Developing Experts.  Some questions to think about…

What do plants need to thrive?

Why do plants need light?

What do the plants roots do?

What happens if plants do get any water?

 

Can you create a poster to show what plants need?

 

The Science Behind the Science
Different species of plants have different requirements. Some species like shady areas, other prefer sunny areas. For shade-loving plants, this is because they have adapted to shady areas in the wild, say if they grew near the ground of a forest floor. Their leaves will contain more cells that can absorb sunlight (chlorophyll cells) than plants which prefer sunny areas, so they still able to survive and thrive. 

Other species of plant have adapted to grow in different soil types. For example, heather plants like acidic soil. This is because acidic soil is able to dissolve the nutrients they need to absorb.  

Despite plants having different preferences, they all need sunlight, nutrients from the soil, water, and carbon dioxide to grow. 

 

Topic Andy Goldsworthy

This half term we are continuing with our topic of The Best of British. This week we would like you to learn about and explore the British artist Andy Goldsworthy. Below is a powerpoint talking about his life and work. You could write a fact file about Andy Goldsworthy; use natural resoures to create a picture; recreate a picture in the style of Andy Goldsworthy.

Here are some examples of his work...