Monday 29 September 2008

Year 5 (Tuesday) For One Night Only...



For one night only...you've got a 'catch up' night. Please make sure that:

1. You have completed the three 'spy' comprehensions so far.

2. You have completed the 'Plan & 7-8 lines' pack

3. You have finished your Spy model to bring in on Thursday for our work on Suspense.

Year 6 (Tuesday) - Parts of Speech Kinesthetic Task



L.O. To revise parts of speech

Please create with a partner a 'parts of speech' clapping rhyme - we'll record them next week, and you'll be sitting a Latymer-style past paper where you have to identify, for example, the adjective in a sentence.

This is a great example of kinesthetic learning - learning through movements and actions. Learn more about kinesthetic learning here.

Due: Next Tuesday.

Sunday 28 September 2008

Year 6 - Create Your Own Comprehension



L.O. To revise the different types of question in a comprehension test


In class we completed the infamous 'Colin Ramsey' paper, and focused on underlining key words in the questions; your homework is to create some comprehension questions of your own. Please create your comprehension and email it to baldworm.co.uk, or bring it into school on a USB key for next Monday.

Click here if you want to download another copy of the prompt sheet from box.net.

Don't forget that Bald Worm's comprehension blog -http://bit.ly/comprehension - contains all the advice you need to become brilliant at completing (and setting!) 11+ comprehension papers

Year 5 - Jane Blonde P-E-E Comprehension



We've begun our spy project!

Homework: Complete the 'Jane Blonde' comprehension. Stuck on a question? Visit Bald Worm's comprehension blog: http://bit.ly/comprehension
.

Click here to visit the fantastic 'Jane Blonde' site!">

Wednesday 24 September 2008

Year Six Comprehension Podcast



Take a listen to the Year Six comprehension pupil podcast - a brilliant way to learn more about how to go about answering comprehension questions.

Year 5 - Thursday & Friday - P-E-Eing Masterclass



L.O. To use the P-E-E approach to answering comprehension questions

Comprehension is a vital part of the 11+ exams - and the secret to high scores in comprehension is to P-E-E all over the page!

You are going to have a two day masterclass in using evidence to 'prove' your points.

Remember, there is loads of comprehension advice at Bald Worm's comprehension blog.

Thursday
Listen to the Year Six Comprhension Podcast. Pay particular attention to the first couple of minutes, when the girls talk about reading with a pencil, annotating and P-E-Eing all over the page.

Please complete the 'Hurricane Gold' comprehension for homework.

Friday
Please complete the 'Stormbreaker' comprehension for homework. Don't forget to bring in the 'planning and seven/eight lines' homework - and you need to have your Spy HQ bases finised for Thursday!

Year 6 - Thursday & Friday: The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes



L.O. To write a detective story featuring a fictional detective

You are going to create your own Holmes-style Victorian detective. Learn more about inventing a character here.

Thursday
In class, you created a fictional detective, and began to plan a story based on an 'open' title; please write the first 15 lines of that story for homework. Don't forget to describe your detective's study/flat and what they look like!

Feeling clever? Include a colon as you set the scene!

Due: Friday.

Friday

In class you wrote 'The Broken Vase' under timed conditions. Please type up this story, improving it as you go, and either (i) bring it in on USB or (ii) email it to me at baldworm.co.uk so we can put together a 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes' laminated book for the school library!

Due: Monday.

Have a great weekend - next week we will be looking at reported speech, and revising characterisation.
Don't forget to get your friends and family to listen to our Year Six Comprehension Techniques podcast, and feel free to add to our Flat Classroom project, http://timezoneexperiences.wikispaces.com/Time+Zone+Chart

Year 6 - Vary Dialogue Openings



English
L.O. To vary dialogue openings in the first 15 lines of a short story.

Please complete the 15 lines you began with a partner in class. Don't forget to include a character description.

Feeling clever? Try to include a colon, the listing comma, the joining comma and the bracketing comma in the first 8 lines! Quite a challenge - you'll have to 'split your brain in two'

Due: Thursday.

Mathematics
Please work for 1/2 hour in your Mental Ar. book

Monday 22 September 2008

Year 6 - Prose Style and Mathematics Homework



English
L.O. To revise the use of the listing comma


How To Use Commas

Write a description of Watson's office (remember that he's a doctor). This is a twofold challenge:

(a) Can you include all of our descriptive techniques
(b) Make sure that you include the listing comma.
(C) Include a colons.

Write 10 lines.

Feeling clever? Include both the bracketing and joining commas.

Mathematics: Work for 1/2 hour in your Mental Arithmetic book.

Due: Wednesday

Christmas Card
Complete your Christmas card design for Monday on A5 paper. The theme is 'Christmas Angel'

P.S. Feel free to add to the TimeZoneExperience wiki!

Flat Classroom Project: Time Zone Experiences



Flatclassroom projects are lessons that use Web 2.0 tools - things like wikis, blogs, podcasts and videos - to communicate and collaborate with pupils on the other side of the world.

We've just joined a new flat classroom project - Time Zone Experiences - where we are going to share details of our day with pupils in the USA and Australia (don't worry: we won't be sharing any personal details or posting pictures), creating some work in our IT lessons for them to enjoy, and learning about their lives.

Click on the link to learn more: http://timezoneexperiences.wikispaces.com/Who+Are+We%3F

Want to start getting involved? Click on the link and start adding 'What we are doing at this time?' Make sure you write in the correct column (the GMT Falcons column!): http://timezoneexperiences.wikispaces.com/Time+Zone+Chart

Sunday 21 September 2008

Year Six - 11+ Comprehension



Please complete the 'Clare and Two Aunts' 11+ comprehension under timed conditions; use the online stopwatch to time yourself - no more than half-an-hour, please! This is a pretty easy comp. - as long as you read the passage - so aim for your best score so far!

Your Mathematics is to work for 1/2 hour in your Mental Arithmetic books.

P.S. The revised times table challenge is here for you to download.

Bald Worm Says...

Bald Worm in New York

Friday 19 September 2008

Times Table Challenge



Want to have a go at the times table challenge at home? Click here to download a copy!

Thursday 18 September 2008

Year 5 Planning from a Picture/First Two Sections of a Short Story



Your homework is to complete two of the picture + first 7/8 tasks. This work completes our planning unit. Remember, you can revise all our planning work at http://www.baldworm.co.uk, or revist the tasks on the pupil wiki, at http://fsg.wikispaces.com/Year+5+Planning+2008-9

Your challenge is to include an exciting opening line and set the scene. Make sure that you visit the links at baldworm.co.uk and revise these key skills.

Please bring in this work a week on Monday.

Model update: Please build your secret spy hq for a week on Wednesday (1st October)
Full details can be found on the post below!

Have fun at Flatford Mill!

Year 6 - A Sherlock Holmes Story



//L.O. To write a detective story.//

In class we looked at how to plan a detective story based on Sherlock's deductive methods.

Plan and write a Sherlock Holmes story entitled The Stolen Watch. Write 1 1/2 sides of A4. Make sure it is a story of deduction, not a story of a crime!

Feeling clever? Include all of these commas in the first 15 lines of your story:
* Listing
* Joining
* Bracketing
* Adverb-starter

Please use our checking strategies when you have 'finished' your work.

P.S. Don't forget your costume for the special 'Comprehension' assembly on Monday!

Year 6 - Optional Homework



L.O. To revise the structure of the first 15 lines of a short

Your optional homework task is to write the first 15 lines of this plan.
Complete the work in your A4 blue books.

Wednesday 17 September 2008

Year 5 - Planning for Conflict & Preparing for our 'Spy' Project

1. Please complete the five handplans for each of the different types of conflict.

Due: Thursday.



2. Next week we are going to be looking at spy novels, because this is a brilliant way to learn about using suspense and action.

Novelists often use models to help them 'picture' a location in their imagination (a bit like playing in a doll house!); I would like you to design and build a secret hq for a bad guy.





Build a model of a secret hq. Here are some of the things you could include:

* Banks of computer screens
* A giant map of the world
* Secret doors or compartments
* Torture chamber (yuck!)
* Sharks!
* Henchmen/goons
* Evil pets
* Rockets
* Dwarf servant
* Desk
* Armchair with buttons

How you build the model is up to you! Here are some of the materials you might choose to use:
* Cardboard boxes painted over
* Sticky-back plastic
* Wood
* Paper mashed and glued
* Washing up bottles
* Model Paint

This video will give you some ideas (don't make Tracy Island, though! Just use the same techniques!)



Hint: Design the hq on paper before you start to construct it!

Be as imaginative as you can! Bring your model into class next Thursday! We are going to base a series of stories in this location, so do a great job! There will be a small prize for the best model!

We'll photograph the models and stick them on the pupil wiki for the world to enjoy, and then write scenes and stories set in this location!

Year 6 - Sherlock Holmes: Setting the Scene



Over the next two weeks we are going to secure our knowledge of how to structure the first 15 lines of a short story.

Learn more about the Red-Headed League here. You can listen to a podcast of 'The Red-Headed League' here (try refreshing the page if the player fails to load).

Homework: Write an eight-ten line description of Sherlock Holmes' rooms in 221b Baker Street, using the floor plan to help you! Include as many of our descriptive techniques as you can; don't forget that the best writers make sure they use a varied prose style as they write.

Monday 15 September 2008

Year 6 - Publishing our 'Arrest' Stories



We are going to 'publish' our third drafts of our 'Arrest' stories; please type up your story (making improvements as you go), and either:

1. PRINT on white A4 in Ariel Narrow 14, with the heading (not underlined) and your name in bold in Ariel Narrow 20

or

2. Email to me: baldworm@baldworm.co.uk

Due: Wednesday or Thursday

Year 5 - Spelling List and Neat Hand Plans



1. Spellings

Sometimes an 'o' can sound like a 'u' e.g. 'oven' can sound like it should be spelt 'uven'

oven
among
come
money
government
discover
none

'u' often makes an indistinct, or unclear sound which can make it difficult to hear that it is in the word.

antique
cheque
business
Saturday
laugh
aunt

Some words may seem to have too many 'u's in them.

unusual
queue (don't confuse this word with 'cue' - a billiard or snooker cue)

(You can get a print out of this information here.)

Learn these spellings using the look-say-cover-write-check method. You will be tested with a dictation on Friday.

2. On blank A4, create a neat copy of one of your hand plans. Colour in the hand with flesh tones using a pencil. Put your name neatly in one corner of the plan. This work will be displayed, so keep it super tidy! Please include your original brainstorm at the top of the plan.

Due: Tomorrow

Year 4 - Verbal Reasoning



You can play the online synonym games here! Have fun!

Year 5 Comprehension - Annotating the Passage



L.O. To annotate a passage with question numbers.

We've been learning all about annotating a passage.

1. Revise this work by listening to the annotation podcast.

2. Please complete the 'Henry Sugar comprehension. Don't forget to quote from the passage.

Sunday 14 September 2008

Year Six - To infer



We looked at the importance of inference. Sometimes someone will try to tell you something without coming right out and saying it. He will imply it. When you understand what is implied, you infer. You can revise the online inference quiz here.

Homework: Please complete the 'Willie and the Bone' comprehension.
Due: Tomorrow.

Friday 12 September 2008

Year 6 - Stories based on a Sentence



Learn more about planning a story based on a sentence here: http://www.baldworm.co.uk/Planning/sentence.html.

Write a second draft of your timed writing story (Write a story that includes the sentence: "Why are you arresting me?" she screamed. "I - I've done nothing wrong!"), focussing on making improvements.

Don't forget to complete your verbal reasoning homework, too.

Next week we'll be looking at story structure, so please visit baldworm.co.uk to learn more!

Have a great weekend!

Year 5 - Hand Plans



In class we started to look at a method for creating simple plans - 'hand planning'.

Homework: 1. Create three neat 'hand plans' based on the pictures you were given.

2. Read the P-E-E page at my comprehension blog.

P.S. Don't forget that you'll be performing your version of 'The Comma Song' on Tuesday!

Thursday 11 September 2008

Year 6 Weekend Verbal Reasoning Homework



Please complete test paper one of the verbal reasoning book. Remember, a good score in verbal reasoning can make all the difference - can you get 100% in the first paper?

Due: Monday

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Year Six - Goal-Impediment-Solution



L.O. To revise goal-impediment-solution planning

1. Create a goal-impediment-solution plan for the title 'The Lost Keys'
2. Write the first fifteen lines of this story. Don't forget to begin with an exciting opening line, set the scene, use some dialogue and describe one of the characters.

Feeling clever? Try to include an adverb-starter, listing, joining and a bracketing comma when you 'set the scene'.

Due: Friday.

Year Five - Planning from a Picture



We've been learning about planning from a picture.

Homework: Create two plans based on the pictures on the last page of the 'pictures' pack. Remember to plan neatly so your friends can read your brilliant ideas!

Don't forget you can learn more about this 'planning' unit here: http://fsg.wikispaces.com/Year+5+Planning+2008-9

Year 5 - Planning: The Fab Four Golden Rules



We have started to look at how to plan under timed conditions.

Homework:
1. Read the information on the Fab Four Golden Rules for Planning a Short Story at my website, http://baldworm.co.uk

2. Create two plans - brainstorming and writing out a clear plan - for the titles

(i) The Terrible Storm

(ii)The Angry Cat

Write the plans neatly into your A4 blue book.

P.S. Disappointed with your comprehension score? You would have scored a lot more marks if you'd used the P-E-E approach. Click here to learn more. You should also listen to this podcast before next week's comprehension lesson.

Due: Tomorrow

There is a page telling you about all the work we'll be doing on planning over the next couple of weeks at the pupil wiki: http://fsg.wikispaces.com/Year+5+Planning+2008-9



L.O. To revise the goal-impediment-solution method & To revise the importance of conflict in a short story.

Homework:
Brainstorm and plan a goal-impediment-solution plan for the title, ‘Hunted’. Write the first 15 lines of this story, beginning with an exciting opening line, and setting the scene using our descriptive techniques.

Feeling clever?
Include personification & the bracketing comma. Annotate your ‘finished’ 15 lines to show me where you’ve included the bracketing comma.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Year 6 - 'The Paper Round' redraft



Please redraft your 'Paper Round' story, making sure you (i) set the scene and (ii) include lots of commas!

Revise setting the scene - and redrafting - at baldworm.co.uk!

Year 5 - The Comma Song

There is a secret to getting commas in the right place: the connective. We use a connective to joing together two sentences that might otherwise stand on their own. For instance, 'Mr Hitchen thinks he is cool' is a sentence. As is, 'He looked stupid trying to dance.' It is when you join these two sentences together that you need a connective. Join the two sentences together and you get this: 'Mr Hitchen is a criminal mastermind, but he looked stupid trying to dance.' Do you notice where I put the comma? That's right - before the connective.

Homework: Learn the words to the comma song and write a tune to go with it.

Due: Next Tuesday

Sunday 7 September 2008

Year 6 Comprehension - Revising Annotating Techniques



L.O. To revise annotation techniques (i) question numbers & (ii) summarizing paragraphs

Please complete the Jo & Mrs Potts comprehension.

Due: Tomorrow.

Don't forget that everything you could need to know about comprehensions is at Bald Worm's How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Comprehension blog

Year 5 - Comprehension: Reading the Paper



L.O. To revise reading a paper by (i) reading with a pencil & (ii) mouthing the words

Please complete the 'Daydreamers' comprehension. Due: Tomorrow.

Don't forget to listen to the 'reading the paper' podcast here. There is tons of advice on becoming brilliant at comprehensions here - and learn about P-E-Eing here.

Thursday 4 September 2008

Welcome Back, Girls!



Welcome back to FSG, girls!