Merry Christmas!

Thank you to everyone who voted for Bald Worm in the Edublog awards. Unfortunately, we didn't quite win - you can see the final results here - but all the girls at FSG can be proud that we were nominated for your brilliant podcasts, videos and slideshows.

Merry Christmas!

P.S. The image above was created using Wordle, and Chapter 2 of my dodgy novel! Visit http://www.wordle.net/ to create your own Wordle.

P.P.S. Mr Evelyn Paw is recovering from a trip to the vet's where he lost four - four! - of his best mouse-ripping front teeth. Poor Paw!

Listen to this Blog...and Our Interview Questions!

Merry Christmas, everybody! I hope you're all enjoying your holiday homework - sorry, I mean, your holiday - and aren't eating too much chocolate!

I've added a new tool to the blog: click on 'listen now' and you can hear a mini-podcast of the blog post. This should be brilliant for aural learners, as they'll be able to hear, as well as read about, their homework.

P.S. I've added the 'listen now' tool to the Falcons Interview blog. Why not use it to help you prepare for your interview?

Happy Holiday Homework!

You lucky girls! Santa has come early, and what's that in his sack? Yes - it is Holiday Homework! Hurrah!

Year Five holiday homework page on Bald Worm's comprehension blog, http://bit.ly/comprehension

Year Six holiday homework page on the pupil wiki.

P.S. Exciting news: You can watch videos of the dances you'll be performing in the School Play, Romeo and Juliet, on our pupil wiki: http://fsg.wikispaces.com/School+Play+2009

Year 6: Stories Based on a Given Sentence (Wednesday, 10th December 2008)

Please brainstorm, plan & write a complete short story - 1 1/2 sides of A4 - for the following title:

Write a story beginning with the line, 'I had never seen anything like it.'

Don't forget you can learn more about planning a story based on a sentence here at http://www.baldworm.co.uk

Feeling clever? Include all of the following:
* Fragment
* Impact sentence
* Simple
* Compound
* Semi-colon
* Colon
* Bracket
* Dashes
* Subordinate clause at the beginning of a complex sentence
* A complex sentence using the bracketing comma

Due: Thursday

P.S. I'll be giving out the Year Six Holiday Homework tomorrow, you lucky, lucky people!

Year 5: Audition Tomorrow!

1. You need to make sure you know your lines for the first Year 5 Romeo and Juliet audition on Thursday.

2. You may want to make a start on your holiday homework pack. Visit http://bit.ly/comprehension, Bald Worm's comprehension blog and podcast site, to read useful advice, find the answers to your pack and learn about the writing tasks!

Year 6: Comprehension (Monday, 8th December 2008)

L.O. To revise the use of P-E-E in longer mark questions

It is the last 11+ comprehension paper of the term! Please complete the 'Alice in Wonderland' Latymer-style comprehension.

Download a copy of the Alice Latymer-style comprehension from my box at box.net. My fee? A vote for Baldworm's Blog in the 2009 Edublog Awards! Please click on the badge to the right of this post and vote!

Due: Wednesday

Don't forget their is all the advice you need on answering comprehension questions, and helpful podcasts, at Bald Worm's comprehension blog, http://bit.ly/comprehension

Year 5: Romeo & Juliet

On Thursday we are going to have a little audition for Romeo & Juliet, our school play. I am looking for girls who can be convincingly aggressive!

Please learn one of the parts for Thursday.

Due: Thursday

Year 6 Comprehension - Xmas Comprehension

You're right, Mr Paw really needs to tidy his magazine rack...but you should see his bookshelves!


Homework: Please complete the 'Xmas' comprehension; there are no really tricky questions, so aim for 100%! To achieve this, you'll need to P-E-E all over the page.

P.S. Don't forget to send me a comment with your suggestions for our reading list.

P.P.S. if you have a moment, please click on the 'Edublogger awards' picture and vote for Bald Worm!

Year 5 Fiction - Type Up Your Book Review & Design a Cover (Weekend homework)

We are taking part in the Books Go Global wiki, sharing our favourite books. Your weekend homework is in two parts:

1. Type up a third draft of your book review and e-mail it to baldworm@baldworm.co.uk. Don't forget to spellcheck your work and read it through before you hand it in. No computer access? Write up your work on A4.

2. On blank A4, create an illustration we can post alongside your book review, e.g. if you were reviewing 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' you might use pencil crayons to create a picture of Aslan or the White Witch.

Due: Monday

We Need Your Suggestions!

Over the Xmas break I am going to be putting together a new Falcons School for Girls 'Free Readers' Reading scheme, Bald Worm's Reading Passport.

Books are a passport to another world, and Bald Worm wants to make sure you're visiting fantastic, imaginative worlds as often as possible!

This is going to be a scheme with a difference - you will have a page in your reading passport for each genre of fiction, and you'll receive a Bald Worm stamp and a certificate in assembly whenever you read three books in any one genre, e.g. when you've read three 'family stories' you'll get a stamp and a certificate!

There will be a special certificate for any girls who manage to read all the books in a genre...and who knows what we'll do if you manage to read all the books in the passport!

You can see some of the books we'll be including in the 'Bald Worm's recommended reads' pages at baldworm.co.uk.

My question is this: Are there any books you think should include in Bald Worm's Reading Passport? Who wrote them? Why should we include them? Click on 'comments' and give me your suggestions, book worms!

Take a look at how the Reading Passport is shaping up at the Falcons School for Girls pupil wiki.

Year 5 Book Reviews: Redrafting (Thursday, 4th December 2008)

We're writing book reviews for the Books Go Global wiki so we can share our enthusiasm for reading with children across the world! This is a great example of how Web 2.0 - wikis, podcasts, videos and blogs - allow us to learn in new ways.

Task: Please finish the second draft of your book review. Don't forget to focus on including at least one of the following:
* The listing comma
* The joining comma
* The bracketing comma

Learn more about redrafting at baldworm.co.uk

Year 6 Fiction: Writing the First 15 Lines of a 'Continue the Passage' Composition (Thursday, 4th December 2008)

Please write the first 15 lines of a story - including an exciting first line & setting the scene - for extract 3 'The Hero'. Don't forget you can revise 'continuing a passage' at baldworm.co.uk

Feeling clever? Don't forget to include sem-colons and colons

Due: Friday

Bald Worm Shortlisted for Award Thanks to Brilliant Work by Falcons Girls!

Thanks to Mrs Mannan's kind efforts, Bald Worm's blog has been shortlisted for an Edublog award - for best teacher blog! These awards are given to the best educational blogs in the world, so this is a fantastic tribute to all the brilliant work you girls have been doing in class and for homework: the judges were clearly impressed with your podcasts and videos!

The winner is decided on which blog gets the most votes, so if you have a moment please visit http://edublogawards.com/2008/best-teacher-edublog-2008/ and vote for your favourite :) You'll make a little bald worm very happy...

We're going to continue to use Web 2.0 technologies - wikis, podcasts & blogs - so you can share your creativity with the world, like our this Year 6 pupil podcast and these Year Five videos.



Next year, let's see if we can win best podcasts, video and pupil wiki!

Year 5 Non-fiction - Book Review

We're beginning our work for the Books Go Global! book review wiki. We are going to share our opinions about books with girls on the other side of the world. This is an example of how we can use Web 2.0 programmes - podcasts, wikis & blogs - to share our creativity with the world!

Please write a first draft of your book review for Thursday. Write one-side of A4.

Due: Thursday

Year 6 Fiction - Continuing the Passage (Wednesday, 3rd December)

L.O. To maintain story structure when continuing a passage.


This week we're learning how to follow on from a comprehension passage. Learn more about continuing a passage at baldworm.

(i) Finish the three plans & (ii) Write the first 15 lines for one of the extracts you've planned for. Try to write in the style of the original. Even though you’re writing ‘the next part of the story’, try to start with an exciting first line & include some description as you open the story.

Due: Thursday

Year 6: Comprehension

Listen to the annotation techniques podcast at http://bit.ly/comprehension

Please complete the 'Didokkai' comprehension. Give yourself 40 minutes to complete this paper. Don't forget to annotate as you go!

Year 5 Homework: Auto Words/Brackets (Tuesday, 2nd December 2008)

1. Learn your spellings for the 'auto' words test next week at Spelling City.

2. Write a description of the cover of one of your books at home. Write 10 lines, using our descriptive techniques, but concentrating on including at least 5 brackets. Remember, brackets contain extra information!