Maths: written and mental ways of multiplying

Today we practised a written way of multiplying. In the first example we started by doing 3 x 4 = 12. Then we did 20 x 4 = 80 on the next line. Finally we added the two answers. The second example was done in the same way.

For homework please do the sheet I gave you, which is all about mental multiplying. We learned ways of multiplying mentally earlier in the week. Follow the steps on the board above and you will see how to do the sheet. First separate the tens and units. Then multiply both, and then add the two answers. Finally copy the question and put the answer with it.

Literacy: Cinderella comprehension

We looked at our answers to the Cinderella comprehension. On the board above I have put three answers that are not very good. The first one is not a sentence. The second is a sentence but it does not contain enough information. Who found what where? The third one contains all the information but it is too long and wordy. The same information could be put into a much neater, shorter sentence that is easier to read.

Here are example answers to the five questions. Every answer is a complete sentence. It is possible to work out that the rind must be the outside of the pumpkin, without using a dictionary. The text says that the godmother removed the inside, leaving only the rind, so the rind must be the outside.

Literacy: answering comprehension questions properly

Today we looked carefully at the rest of the Basia questions which we had started yesterday. We talked about the answers. I have put example answers on the board above. It is always important to read carefully. If we give an answer that we could have given before we read the story, the answer is probably worth no marks. We need to find evidence for our answers in the story.

The last question is the hardest. It would probably have the most marks if it was an exam question. We have to give our own response to the story. That means we have to give good reasons why we liked or disliked it. We should also choose the best parts of the story and explain what tricks the writer has used. If we just write that the story was good and interesting, we will get zero, because we could have written that without reading the story. We must prove that we have read and understood it. I have given an example answer which is above Year 4 level on the board, but it gives us an idea of what to aim for. If you think a question like this was easy, you need to look at it again, and improve your answer. This kind of question is always hardest.

At home please do the comprehension about Cinderella on page 6 of the JE2 book. Answer in full sentences in your literacy book. Enjoy doing your homework, and make a good job of it.

Maths: mental multiplication

Today we practised our mental multiplication strategies again. As yesterday, I have shown two strategies on the boards, but with different examples in each case. The top board shows partitioning, where we multiply the tens and the units separately, and then add.

The second board shows doubling. If you double a number, and double it again, you have multiplied it by 4.

Maths: mental multiplication strategies

Today we looked again at mental multiplication, using different strategies to arrive at the answer. On this set of boards you can see three different ways of multiplying 28 by 5. The first way is to partition (separate) the tens and units, multiply separately, then add.

The second way uses near multiples of 10. 28 is almost 30. 5 x 30 is easy if we know 5 x 3. Then we just need to subtract two lots of 5.

The last board shows how we can use doubling to get the answer. Doubling twice is the same as multiplying by 4. That gives us 4 lots of 28. Then we just have to add one more lot of 28 to get the answer.

At home please do the sheet I gave you about the 7x table. Take care and enjoy doing it.

Literacy: Basia's Birthday Present

This morning we read the story of Basia's Birthday Present. Basia and her family are refugees who left their home in Poland during the second world war. We answered some questions about the story. One question puzzled us a little at first because the word had appeared twice. Check the board above for the explanation. Next literacy lesson we will look at the rest of the questions.

Literacy: frightening stories

Many of us had worked hard on our haunted house stories. We had time to look closely at six people's work together in class during the literacy lesson, and you can see parts of their stories on the boards above and below. We focused on punctuation, getting all the full stops in the right places. Some of us are ready to start using advanced punctuation like semicolons and brackets.

At home please finish off your story by writing the resolution. That means write the part where your characters find out what was really causing the strange things they saw and heard. Was it robbers hiding stolen diamonds, and making ghostly noises to frighten people away so they would not be caught by the police? Was it friends playing a prank? Was it just the creaking of an old wooden house with the wind blowing through it, and tomato ketchup on the floor because someone had been eating McDonald's burgers in there? You decide. Have fun finishing your story.

Art: drawing in perspective

This afternoon we learned a new art technique using straight lines. If you look at the drawings on these two boards, you will see that every straight line follows one of these three rules:

• Horizontal - that means EXACTLY level, not sloping


• Vertical - that means EXACTLY up and down, not sloping


• Towards the vanishing point (the dot in the middle of the picture)

If you draw a line that does not obey any of those rules, your picture does not look right.

This is a picture of a swimming pool, drawn using the same rules. To make the walls of the pool look like walls, I used vertical lines. To make the floor look flat I used horizontal lines. I also used horizontal lines to make the path around the edge of the pool look flat. Anyone can do perspective drawing if they follow the rules carefully.

Maths: mental practice

We did a mental maths exercise today. After the paper had been marked we stuck it into our books, along with the question sheet. At home you can review your work. A few of us scored full marks. Well done! If you got some questions wrong, look carefully at them.

Literacy: writing a story with a frightening setting

We looked at the planning sheets that we began yesterday. We started work on the first part of our frightening stories. Remember that we have looked at examples of frightening stories in class, and they did not contain any ghosts, vampires, zombies or other silly things. They contained lots of sights and sounds that make us imagine frightening things.

At home please write only the FIRST part of your story, up to the exciting bit where the character is really terrified. Describe the things the character sees and hears. Describe how he or she feels (heart thumping, fast breathing, sweating, etc.). Do not write the explanations for the things the character sees and hears. We will do that tomorrow. Enjoy beginning your frightening stories.

Maths: convex and concave shapes

Most of us can identify convex and concave shapes and get them all right. A few of us need to look again at the meanings of the two words. Look carefully at the board above. Can you see why the light blue shape is concave? You can draw a straight line that starts inside the shape, goes outside, and goes back in again. You cannot do that with a convex shape.

Science: electrical safety

Electrical safety is very important. Mains electricity can kill someone if it is not used properly. We looked at a picture in the science textbook, where there was a house full of dangerous electrical equipment.

Maths: convex and concave shapes

We learned about convex and concave shapes today. If a shape is concave, it is possible to draw a straight line that starts inside the shape, goes outside it, and goes back in again. That cannot be done with a convex shape. At home please draw 5 convex shapes and 5 concave shapes on the spotty paper I gave you. Enjoy doing your homework.

We also looked at our word problems. Almost all of us had listened carefully in class and shown our working, instead of just writing the answers. Well done if you showed all your working. The last question caught some of us out. If you read it carefully you will see that four eggs are eaten each week, not two. First we have to do 2 x 2 to get 4, and then 4 x 4 to get 16.

Literacy: using description in frightening stories

Today we read a description of a Great Hall in an old castle. We found all the adjectives, similes, sights, sounds and smells that the writer used. We also found some clever metaphors. For example, the writer described a rat with peppercorn eyes. That is like saying that the rat's eyes were peppercorns.

After that we began work on a story plan about a frightening house. Tomorrow we will complete our plan and begin our story. We will use techniques to make our stories effective, without writing about silly things like ghosts, vampires or zombies.

Problem sheet

Here are the maths problems, in case anyone has lost their sheet. Remember to show your working. Don't forget to put km in your answer to question 3. Have fun.

Maths: regular and irregular polygons

A polygon is a flat shape with straight sides.

A regular polygon has all its sides the same length.

Check the board for examples. In class we looked at shapes on page 108 of the NHM book. We decided if they were regular or irregular. We named some of them using the names we learned last term and in Year 3.

Here is an online sorting activity to try at home. Click here and scroll down to Polygon Sort. Be careful with the rhombus. The programmers think it is an irregular shape.

At home please do the word problem sheet I gave you. Remember to show your working and not just write the answer. Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: Ruby comprehension

Some of us said, as we opened our books this morning, that the Ruby comprehension exercise was very easy. However, we were not so sure about that when we looked carefully through our answers. Questions 8 and 9 caught quite a few of us out. Those who gave the best answers were those who looked carefully for evidence in the story, instead of just trying to remember or guess. Question 9 must be supported by evidence from the story, not just something that you have said because you think so. Look carefully through the correct answers and compare them with yours.

Literacy: finishing our shared story

Today we completed our shared story about the boys whose boat sank while they were out fishing. We discussed ideas and words, and then we worked together to make them into interesting sentences.

We tried to include wow words to show how much danger the boys were in. We imagined what it might have been like to be there.

We finished the story with the boys safe and warm on the fishing boat. There was a slight joke at the end, about the fish that got away. It's an old joke.

At home please read the unseen comprehension called Ruby, and answer the questions of section A only, in your literacy book. Answer in proper sentences. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: types of triangle

Today we learned about three types of triangle:

• An equilateral triangle has three equal sides. That means it must also have three equal angles.



• An isosceles triangle has two equal sides, and one side that is different. That means it must have two equal angles, and one angle that is different.



• A scalene triangle has all three sides different. That means all the angles must be different too.

To try the online triangle sorting activity, click here, and scroll down to Triangle Sort.

Sports Day: Badge Competition

Remember to finish your entry for the Sports Day badge competition if you have not already given it to me. You have until Wednesday 25 January to give it in.

If you need another paper to do one at home, just draw a circle about 8cm in diameter (that means 8cm across) and draw your design inside the circle. Remember the rules:

• Put the letters NES, and the year 2012, and the words Sports Day in your design.


• Use the four colours red, green, blue and yellow equally


• The drawing and colouring must be done by you, not by anyone else.

Maths: problems and number tricks

In class we looked at Abacus page 72 which is all about tricks with numbers. It is like doing word problems but much more fun. Can you explain to your family how the trick at the top of the page works? If we follow the steps, we subtract everything we added and we are left with ten times the number we started with. Then, if we cross off the last zero, we are left with exactly the number we started with. Next week we will have fun talking about the page. Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: putting a story in sequence

We started by looking at five pictures that tell a story. Our first activity was to sort the pictures into the correct sequence. They tell the story of two boys who go fishing. A storm blows up and they are in danger of drowning. Fortunately a fishing boat comes to help them, and at the end the boys are safe and dry, being looked after by the fishermen.

Next we began to write the story as a piece of shared writing. We put up our hands and added ideas. Then we worked together to make the ideas into sentences. We tried to vary our sentence structure to make the story more fun to read.

The first picture shows the boys setting out on their fishing trip. The weather is calm. We described the setting and introduced the characters. We also created suspense, by adding a sentence that suggests something bad is going to happen. Can you find the sentence that creates suspense?

In the second picture we see the wind beginning to blow, bowing the tree and making the waves bigger. The boys are still unaware of the danger. We will complete our story next week.

Literacy homework: adverbs and connectives

At home please do the sheet about adverbs and connectives. Read the whole sheet before you put any answers in. Make sure you put the best word in each space. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: adding to 100 and 1000

Today we looked at number pairs that add up to 100 and 1000. We noticed a pattern. The numbers in the first column, before the plus sign, count upwards. They count in steps of 5 for the pairs that add up to 100. They count in steps of 50 for the numbers that add up to 1000. Do you know which number pairs are missing from the parts where the paper is torn?

Literacy: how to answer comprehension questions in full sentences

If we read the sentences on the board above, can we tell what the questions were? Yes, we can, because the answers are full sentences with all the information that is needed. When answering comprehension questions, think carefully before starting to write. Get the whole sentence in your mind first.

Maths: adding to the next 100

We practised adding to the next multiple of 100. You can see examples on the board. Knowing our number bonds to 10 is a big help. Lower down the board you can see a harder question. We have to choose numbers to put in the boxes to make the equals sign true. What do both sides add up to? Is it the same? If it is the same, then we are right.

At home please do sheet 16 and stick it into your book. Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: Metalmiss adverbs and questions

First we looked through our list of adverbs from the story Metalmiss. Well done all those who followed the instructions and used only the underlined words from the sheet, choosing the ones that fitted the sentences best.

After that we answered some searching questions about the story. Answers to two of the questions are on the board above.

Class photograph tomorrow (Tuesday)

We will have our class photograph taken tomorrow morning (Tuesday). Remember to put on your tie and your jumper or cardigan (winter uniform). Everyone needs to look smart and tidy for the photograph.

Literacy: Metalmiss

Today we read part of the story Metalmiss by Linda Pitt. Metalmiss is a robot. She is the teacher of Class 3R at Pinkerton Primary School. We found many adverbs in the story. We wrote a list of the adverbs with their correct meanings. Follow the lines to find the correct meanings on the board above.

Here is the list of adverbs again. Your homework is to do the questions below, in your literacy book. Copy the sentences and put the correct words in the spaces. Choose from the underlined words in the list above.

If you forgot to take your printed sheet from your desk at the end of the day, you can click on the image above to read the sentences. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: place value and doubling

We began by looking over our homework. We found it easy to add the numbers if we first covered the units, then added, and copied the units back on. You can see that method in yesterday's blog post.

After that we saw how doubling can help us do addition sums. On the board above you can see how 320 + 320 can help us find the answer to 320 + 330.

Maths: using place value to add tens

Once again we practised our old way of adding tens. We learned this last term so we know what to do. If we have to add a multiple of 10, cover up the units in both numbers. Then add what you see. Last of all, uncover the units and write them on the end of the number. This is a very easy way of adding numbers that cross a hundred boundary.

At home please do NHM p19. Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: answers to the question on The Hobbit

Today we went through the questions on The Hobbit. It is not an easy story to read but if we look for key words, and think carefully, we can find the answers. It is important to answer in clear sentences, so that there is no need to copy the question.

Topic: Ourselves and Others

This afternoon we began a new topic, called Ourselves and Others. It is all about getting along well together, in school and in other places too. Our first lesson was about the ways that people can be different, and the ways that they can be the same. We each thought of five friends, and we found that they are the same as us in some ways, and different in other ways. Being different does not mean better or worse. It just means different.

At home please finish the topic sheet. Answer the True or False questions. Different people may get different answers. This topic is all about differences, so that's good! Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: The Hobbit

This morning we read a challenging piece of writing by J.R.R. Tolkien, from the book The Hobbit. Smaug, the dragon, attacks a village and tries to burn it to the ground. A brave archer, Bard, shoots the dragon with a bow and arrow, having learned about a weak spot in the dragon's scaly armour plating. We began to answer some questions about what we had read. We will finish them next week.

Maths: place value

Our homework yesterday included sorting a list of 4-digit numbers into order, smallest first. We then thought of our own numbers to fit in between those numbers. You can see the numbers we chose, in red, on the board above.
We then did an Explore activity from the Abacus book. We had six place value cards: 3000, 2000, 700, 100, 90, 60, 5 and 3. We had to make all the numbers we could using those cards, between the limits of 2000 and 3000. The exercise helped us understand place value. You can see the numbers on the right side of the board above.

Maths: place value

Today we practised splitting up numbers into thousands, hundreds, tens and units. If one of the columns was zero, we did not need to make a line for that column. Look at the examples on the board above.

At home please do page 4 questions 1 to 10, where you have you write the value of the red digit. We looked at several of the questions together in class. Also do the speech bubble question, which says to put the numbers in order. You can do the curly e if you want to. Either way, enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: The Iron Man

We came up with some really super questions and answers about the Iron Man. Well done! I have put some of our questions on the board above. We had obviously read the story carefully. In class, when we were looking for the answers, we did some excellent reading and thinking too. We learned some new words: brink (edge, like the edge of a cliff) and snag (obstacle).

Literacy: The Iron Man

This afternoon we read The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. As well as writing stories, Ted Hughes wrote poems, and his language is rich and wonderful to read. We learned about personification, which is a kind of metaphor where you write about something as though it was a person. Can you find examples of personification in The Iron Man?

At home, please read the story again, and think of a really hard question that you could ask someone else who has read the story. Write your question, and write the answer, but keep the answer secret. Tomorrow we can ask each other the questions we thought of, and see if we can find the answers. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: place value

We had practised adding and subtracting 10 and 100 for homework, using methods that we learned last term. When adding ten, cover the units and add 1 to what you see. Then put the units back on the end. When adding 100, cover the tens and units, and add 1 to what you see. Then replace the tens and units at the end. This way makes it easy.

After that we compared numbers to see which was bigger. Always start with the biggest column. On the board above, the biggest column is the thousands column. If the biggest column is the same, look at the next column.