Saturday 29 May 2010

Second Annual Bald Worm Twitter Writing Competition



Bald Worm is on Twitter. Twitter is a website that lets you send messages known as ‘tweets’ of up to 140 characters in length. I want you to write a story that is exactly 140 characters in length.
• You must include punctuation
• You must use correct spelling (not ‘text speak’)

This year there are three categories:
* Pupil
* Parent
* Readers of the Bald Worm blog

Get a copy of the competition form from school/download a copy from my area at box.net. You can submit your entry in three ways:

1. Send a comment to the blog (don't forget your name!)

2. Email your entry to baldworm@baldworm.co.uk

3. Put a hard-copy of the form into the envelope on Mr Hitchen's classroom door.

The winners will be announced on June 30th, so get writing!

Last year, Mr Desai won the Parent category with the following entry:

'Curiosity killed the cat said the sun. Had Mr Moff thought of the phrase he wouldn't have put his egg in the microwave to see what happened.'

Remember, ‘characters’ includes all of your punctuation and the ‘space’ between words, i.e. every time you press the space bar this costs you another character.

My advice is that you have a few tries on paper, before attempting to type your entry using Word. If you look in ‘Word Count’ it will tell you how many ‘Characters (with spaces)’ you have used. Remember, your goal is to use exactly 140 to tell your story.

The following were our three pupil winners:

I ran home panting. 'Stay away from me,' I thought. Footstops dogged me. I stumbled on a brick and fell to my knees. Blood all around me...

A picture. It looked like Lucy. She touched it. She felt something brush her cheek. She smashed the picture, and, as it broke, so did she.

The window was open in my room. There were muddy footprints on the floor. My piggybank was broken! Then I realised that my money had gone...

Good luck!

Thursday 27 May 2010

Half-Term Homework



Year Six
You must know by heart all of your lines, words and cues for the 2010 school play.

Don't forget that Mr Allan has set a Macbeth essay, too.

You'll be starting a Shakespeare research project on your return to school next Monday.

Year Five
The Half-term homework comes in three parts:

1. Ensuring songs and cues for the school play are known by heart

2. Reading at least one book from the enclosed ‘Real Life’ reading list.

3. Learning the spellings attached – including ‘The Grumpy Examiner Frowns…’ common
errors lists – for a ‘bumper test on our return to school.

I hope you have a relaxing break, and look forward to seeing you all again on 7th June for the School Play, Residential Week and our new English unit on ‘Real-life Stories’, where we will be revising key planning techniques and focussing on developing our use of connectives.

Tuesday 25 May 2010

Monday 24 May 2010

Year Six Macbeth



Year Six have been studying Macbeth with Mr Allan. Enjoy this gory image, created using piZap, where Macbeth realises what he has done to King Duncan... Year Six have literally put themselves into the play!

Friday 21 May 2010

Year Five Weekend Homework: Revision for Assessment Week

Next week is Assessment Week (and Sports Day on Friday). Your weekend homework is to get a good rest - you've got a lot of concentrating to do next week - and a little bit of revision.

1. Revising Spelling Rules
The spelling age test is not based on your weekly spelling lists, but you may like to revise some of the key rules - and common errors like 'surprise' and 'excitement'

2. Make sure you know your 'Improving Your Writing' target
Your Summer term report will include your new 'Writing Stage'. This will be based on the story you'll write under examination conditions on Tuesday.

You can revise all of the lists from this year at my area in Spelling City.

To make sure your Writing Stage has increased since the Spring report, and you've met the target you were set in the report, visit Improving Your Writing at the Falcons Girls pupil wiki, or read through the sheet stuck in the back of your blue composition book.

Parents Own an iPhone? Get This Amazing History App!



Computer technology is making learning more fun - and improving your understanding of the world. At Falcons Girls - West London's Most Creative Preparatory School - we are aiming to use Web 2.0 technology to make your lessons as dynamic as possible.

This is a fantastic example: the Museum of London have created an amazine 'Streetview' history app that lets you see achieved photographs and paintings of street scenes spliced with the same view today.

Get a parent or carer to click here to download the app.

Thursday 20 May 2010

Year Five Fiction: Montmorency Shared With Montmorency



Tomorrow we're going to record part of your second 'Montmorency' draft as a podcast...and I'm going to email Eleanor Updale, author of the Montmorency series telling her about it. Maybe she'll take a listen? Who knows!

We use Web 2.0 technologies - videos and podcasts - to share our creative writing with the world!

Task: Please complete your redraft; you must bring in your book tomorrow!Pay close attention to the 'self-assessment for self-improvement' success criteria.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

BIG NEWS: Falcons Girls Wins World Maths Day 2010 UK Video Challenge Competition



Well done, Year Six! We've won the UK World Maths Day Video Challenge Competition! Watch the winning video above!

Year Six DT Day: Evaluation

Please complete the evaluation section of your DT day pack.

Due: Tomorrow

Monday 17 May 2010

Year Five Comprehension: Fight Scene



You are going to add a fight scene to your 'Montmorency' stories. We'll be studying Bald Worm's action techniques.

Task: Please complete the 'Fight Scene' comprehension.

Due: Monday

Not got a copy? Download a copy from my area at box.net

Friday 14 May 2010

Free Song for your iPod: The Semi-Colon Song


Something new from West London's Most Creative Preparatory School: you can now download one of our songs and play it on your iPod!

FREE DOWNLOAD
Click here to download a copy of Year Five singing The Semi-Colon Song. Once downloaded, it will play in your iTunes just like a Lady Gaga or Take That song - and you can then put it on your iPod!

By listening to the song, you'll be able to revise how to use semi-colons in a way you'll remember!

(Photo by Andrew; used under Creative Commons agreement)

Year Five Fiction: Writing a Montmorency Story



Please write your first full attempt at the 'Jeweller' Montmorency story, paying attention to the ideas on the 'Self-Assessment for Self-Improvement' sheet.

Write 1 1/2 sides of A4.

Due: Monday

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Year Five Prose Style: Mr Semi-Colon Recording & Spelling Test Tomorrow

a. We are going to record the Mr. Semi-Colon song tomorrow - and share our creativity with the world on FalconsTube, our school YouTube channel.

This is an example of musical and visual learning.

b. We'll also be having our spelling test.

Task: Make sure you have learnt all of the words to the 'Mr Semi-Colon' song by heart.

Monday 10 May 2010

Year Five Comprehension: Raffles Comprehension



We have been learning that Montmorency is a character in the tradition of Raffles, the original gentleman thief.

Task: Please complete the 'Raffles' comprehension. Don't forget you must use our comprehension techniques.

Due: Thursday.

P.S. Eleanor Updale, author of Montmorency, has just released a new book: Johnny Swanson.

Sunday 9 May 2010

Year Five Spellings & Year Six Pupil Blog Work



Year Five
Please write the example sentences for this week's spellings.

The test will now be on Friday.

Year Six
Please type up your recount of our trip to the Anne Frank exhibtion at your page on our pupil blog.

Visit http://bit.ly/pupilblog - the Falcons School for Girls pupil blog, enter your password and type up your work.

See me tomorrow if you have any problems with signing-in or the blog.

Due: Wednesday

Thursday 6 May 2010

Year Five and Six Weekend Homework

Year Five Weekend Homework

Task:
1. Read the ‘Flushers’ chapter.
2. Write a conversation between two flushers where they discuss the strange things they keep finding in the sewers, e.g. false teeth; false legs; old prams, etc. Write half-a-page of A4.

Due: Monday

Year Six Weekend Homework
Please complete the plan sheet; if you are confident it it detailed and includes a sub-plot, you may type up your plan onto the Crogan wiki. If you're not sure, you can check it with me on Monday.

I'll be writing to the brilliant Chris Schweizer early next week to share with him our progress on the project, and you never know, he may take a look - so make sure you plan is as brilliant as possible, and includes a good sub-plot.

Due: Monday.

Vote 2010

We had a school election this morning - and there is a general election taking place today. Who will be our Prime Minister on Friday?

Here is a photo of the church hall where I cast my vote:


Want to learn more about writing a brilliant short story in the 11+ examinations? Visit http://www.baldworm.co.uk

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Vote 2010 and Year Six


Listen to my boo, Year Six, for your work after break:
Listen!
Watch this video to remind yourself about metaphor, simile and personification:


(Image by Mkly; used under Creative Commons agreement)

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Year Five Prose and '-ssion' Spelling Homework



1. Please learn the '-ssion' spellings for a test next Tuesday.

2. Please learn the words to the semi-colon song for next Tuesday. We'll be recording our own version of the semi-colon song and uploading it for the world to enjoy at FalconsTube, our school YouTube channel.

Monday 3 May 2010

Year Five Homework: Summarising a Comprehension Passage



We're continuing to focus on summarising passages. This is one of the keys to doing well in the 11+ comprehension examinations!

Task: Please complete the 'Snow Goose' comprehension.

Due: Thursday.