11+ Year 5 and 6 Holiday Preparation

Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho! Santa Worm has a sack full of 11+ preparation work just for you.

Year Five
Year Five are focussing on on comprehension techniques this holiday. Want a copy of Bald Worm's Xmas Holiday Comprehension work? Click here to download a copy.

Want the answers? Visit Bald Worm's comprehension blog - http://bit.ly/comprehension - and click on 'Xmas 11+ Exam Preparation' at the top of the page, or click here.

Year Six
As Year Six prepare for the exams in January, they'll be completing a number of tasks - and there's a special Year Six Christmas Holiday Homework page at our pupil wiki here.

This include Bald Worm's London Girls' Consortium-style papers - click here to download an 11+ comprehension and composition paper based on King Solomon's Mines & here for a comp set around a mysterious meal...

P.S. Click on the link to get a copy of the Year Six Xmas holiday recommended reading list?

Have a great break! I look forward to seeing you all in January!

(Image by KevinDooley; used under Creative Commons agreement)

Bald Worm Recommends...Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book!

Want a new book this weekend? Why not nag Mum to get you a copy of Neil Gaiman's brilliant 'The Graveyard Book'? Be warned - the opening chapter is very scary!

Already enjoyed this book? Try Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book

11+ English Weekend Homework: Year 5 and 6

**Year Five**
Please write an improved second draft, adding in lots (and lots!) more shown feelings.

You have not got your target cards yet - we'll talk through them next week.

Due: Monday

**Year Six**
1. Please complete the 'Nativity' continue a passage task - write the next part of the story.

Please read the 'writing a story based on a passage' advice at baldworm.co.uk before you begin.

Write 1 1/2 sides of A4. Feeling clever? Try to write in the style of the original passage.

2: Please complete the Verbal Reasoning paper. Pay particular care with questions 62-66. Take your time - aim for 100%!

Due: Monday.

Year 6 Fiction: Continue a Passage

We have been learning about writing a story based on a passage. Click here to learn more at baldworm.co.uk. Remember, the real challenge is to write in the same style as the original.

Task: Please complete the 'story based on a passage' task.

Due: Thursday

(Image by Alexanderdrachmann; used under Creative Commons agreement)

Year 5: Spelling City

Please learn the 'words' begin with trans spellings by playing some of the games at Spelling City.

Test next Tuesday!

P.S. We'll record the 'Comma Songs' on Wednesday.

P.P.S. Don't forget to bring in your completed 'Evacuee' comprehension tomorrow!

Year 6 Fiction: Writing Longer Descriptions

Please complete a longer description based on the 'Dracula' prompt. Write 200 words.

Don't forget to use a full range of descriptive techniques, including similes, metaphor and personification. You can get tips on planning and writing a longer description here, at baldworm.co.uk.

Want to impress? Make sure you use a full range of punctuation and an 'elegant', varied prose style.

Due: Wednesday

(Image by Tony the Misfit; used under Creative Commons agreement)

NaNoWriMo 2009 - I've Won! Yippee!

Phew! With twenty-four hours to spare, I've completed NaNoWriMo 2009. I've written 50,000 words in just thirty days! I've been looking forward to taking part all year, and I'm so delighted that I managed to do it! The last couple of thousand words were a bit of a slog, but what has surprised me most is that the more I wrote, the easier things became. And it really has been enormous fun to spend so much time immersing myself in writing a story.

The novel isn't 'finished' - I've only really completed chapters 1,2, half of chapter 3 and most of chapter 5, with bits of 6, 7 and 8 (don't even ask about chapter four!) - and it will all need an awful lot of redrafting and editing, but I'm delighted I managed to get so much down on paper in such a short period.

Here's to doing it again next year!