SATs INSPIRE 7TH February 2013

Sites such as Mathetics have been well used by many families. We would recommend that you continue to use it as the practice in basic skills is essential. There is another site that has been used in Year 6 that also works well for basic skills - particularly improving times tables knowledge and recall. This is the Mathsisfun site. here is the link.
http://www.mathsisfun.com/tables.html

Learning about mathematical vocabulary is also essential. One of the best maths dictionaries on the web is the maths dictionary for kids by Jenny Eather.
Here is the link.
http://amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

Of course the BBC have useful learning aids on their sites.
Here is a link to the Bitesize site for KS2.;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/

SATs workshop 7th February 2013

As mentioned in the workshops, being aware of what the SATs papers looks like will help everyone be more confident about the tests. Here are links to view some past papers and the sample grammar test that is new this year.
Reading Text
Reading test
Maths A
Maths B
Mental Maths
Grammar Test Spelling Sample
Grammar Test Sample

Mr Baker's Homeworks

Maths for this week is to practice adding with decimals. The sheet has been sent home, but as it was not created by me, I have not been able to get it onto the blog - just don't lose it and bring it back on Monday.

English for this week is about non-chronological writing.
We have looked at wikipedia as an example of non-chronological writing. In particular we looked at the entry for Bill Gates - second wealthiest man in the world (reputedly worth $63 Billion Dollars). If you won $2million on the lottery each week, how long would it take you to accumulate that much money?
The homework is to plan and write a "Wonkypedia" entry about a person you know well...YOU! Use titles, subheadings etc to organise an entry that looks like the real thing. (Keep it real, don't make it up. I don't think any of you have been to the moon.)
Wonkypedia
Make sure this is returned by Monday as well.

Mr Baker's maths games

Games are a great way of learning and having fun. Today, the whole class was gripped by the epic struggle between Esmeralda and Sean - who would win the Ghost Blasters game? After a titanic struggle, with the advantage first with one player then the other, Sean took the victory - but only after coming within a whisker of losing. Passing children were looking through the door to see what all the cheering was about
If you would like to play this and other games, try them on these links.
Ghost Blasters - number bonds game
Make 10 Shootout
HIt the button - various useful skills

And don't forget mathsisfun
mathsisfun.com

Enjoy!!

Revision Guides

Despite an early order, the revision books have still not arrived (Mr Baker hoped to give them out at last week's SATs Inspire workshop).
It is unfortunate that the revision opportunity afforded by the half term break will be missed, but it is nothing to worry about. We will try to find out why there has been a delay.

Half Term - Mr Baker's Homework

During half term, it is easy to forget things that have been learned so please avoid this by;
Reading every day, using Mathletics or Mathsisfun websites, and completing these homeworks.
English - planning for balanced arguments by thinking of the pros and cons of four ideas for discussion that we will be using next half term.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ws-08hbujMIrGCFZNmQJY53jJd53rE1aFIYBHiJ0Q8c/edit
Maths - have a go at a mental maths paper, this time trying to do all 20 questions. This comes from a published scheme so I am unable to put this on the blog (copyright rules).
Spellings - The spellings given out this week will be used in the sponsored spell after half term.

Mr Baker's Reading Homework

As Christmas draws ever nearer, I think it would be great for my English Set to read one of the most famous Christmas stories aroud - A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. This book was written 168 years ago, but is rich in linguistic delights and moral themes; it is also a thumping good tale.
Being such an old book means that it is now out of copyright so there are many free ways to read it including ereaders such as the Kindle and Kobo. There are also PDF files available on the net. If you do not have a copy of the book at home, you can view it with the link below. Do not try and print it though because there are well over 100 pages of it and this would be expensive to print.
For homework, read and talk about chapter 1 with a grown up at home ready for some "Book Club" sessions next week.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B7ltbtjWnVsONTBhNTBhODAtZDU1Ni00OTcyLWI4ZjEtMzY5MjAyMzdkYTMz