Literacy: writing the end of a story

 We read the beginning of the story Mystery at Musket Bay, and we thought about what might happen next.  The crew of the Saucy Sally have received a mysterious message in a bottle, from someone shipwrecked on Dead Man's Island.  We began our work by drawing a map of Dead Man's Island.  My map is shown above.  Yours might be different, according to your imagination.

Next we planned what was going to happen in our continued stories.  The first thing to plan is the ending.  Have the ending in your mind before you start to write.  Also plan any problems your characters will have to solve before they reach the ending.  My planning notes are shown on the board above.  I made up two characters, one good and one bad.

At home please spend half an hour working on your story.  If you do not manage to finish the story in that time, do not worry.  Here are some points to remember:

• Write in sentences with full stops.  Read your work aloud to hear where the full stops go.
• Plan ahead.  Do not make it up as you go along.
• Use speech only once or twice.  Most of the story should NOT be speech.
• Make the ending worthwhile.  It could be a surprise, or a happy ending, or something that the reader has guessed might happen because of clues you have written.

Enjoy writing your story.

Maths: standard written multiplication

Yesterday we used the grid method of multiplying.  We could see where each number came from.  The grid method is shown on the left side of the board above.  On the right side, the same multiplication has been done using a standard written method.  I have used a colour code to help show that the numbers on the right are the same ones that appear on the left.
560 on the right comes from 80 x 7
63 comes from 9 x 7

Here are two more examples.  Next to the numbers you can see explanations of where they came from.  The last step is to add the two numbers to get the final answer, which is shown in green.

Topic: choosing the right fabric

We visited the BBC Education website and chose clothing for different seasons.  In the winter we need to wear wool, polyester and nylon.  Wool is a good insulator and keeps us warm.  Polyester and nylon are warm, waterproof in the rain, and easy to wash.  In summer we need to stay cool.  Cotton and linen allow the air to circulate, so our skin can breathe and stay fresh. 

Maths: grid multiplication

We practised grid multiplication today.  We learned it in the first term and we called it partitioning.  We know how to split a 2-digit number into tens and units, multiply them separately, and then add the answers.  This is the same thing written in a different way.  We became so confident that we extended our work and multiplied 3-digit numbers too.

At home please do sheet 40 which has 2-digit numbers.  It is easier than today's classwork.  Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: Katy's Dog comprehension

 We looked very carefully at our answers to the comprehension questions about Katy's Dog.  Questions 5 and 6 were quite hard because we had to read carefully and think.  When Katy called Dylan after she had returned from the park, he did not bark an answer to her and he did not come to her.  That tells us that he would usually have done both those things, or the writer would not have bothered to tell us that he did not do them.  Katy's father said that Dylan was bright (clever) and would find his way home, which Dylan did.

Getting full marks for question 7 was not easy.  Dylan was battered because he had fought with two other dogs (that's the easy mark) but he was muddy because he had been out all night.  If we read carefully, we see that it was the next morning when he came home.  Always look for evidence in the text before answering.  Well done for having a good try.

Literacy: finishing Mr Majeika

We finished looking through the comprehension exercise about Mr Majeika.  The last question was the hardest.  To get three marks you have to write about what the story meant to you, using parts of the story to back up your answers.  If you write something that could be about any story - like my wrong example, labelled in red above - you will probably get zero.  To get full marks, write about parts of the story and link them to things you like, or things you have experiences.  It is hard, but you can do it.

At home please do the practice comprehension on Katy's Dog.  We will look at it together next week.  Enjoy your homework.

Maths: revising fractions and mixed numbers

We checked our homework, which was all about fractions and mixed numbers.  Check out the board above.  Can you see where all the numbers come from?  In a fraction, the bottom number tells you how many equal parts make a whole.  The top number tells you how many parts are coloured.  In a mixed number, the big number tells you how many whole ones are coloured.

Topic and Art: designing T shirts

This afternoon we looked at a super website which allows us to design our own T-shirts and other clothes.  You can try it at home.  Click here to go to the website.  Afterwards we designed our own symmetrical T-shirts in the art room.

Maths: angles, co-ordinates and mental maths practice

We looked at angles and compared them.  The angle is the amount of turn between the two lines.  It does not matter how long or short the lines are.  The two angles shown on the board are exactly the same.

 We revised co-ordinates.   We remembered to go ALONG first, then UP.  By colouring the squares with those co-ordinates we found the age of the turtle.  How many years before he celebrates his centenary?

We practised mental maths with time limits for the questions.  Questions 1 to 10 were done in 5 seconds.  Questions 11 to 15 were done in 10 seconds.

At home please do the two fractions revision sheets I gave you (sheets 60 and 61).  Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: reading comprehension practice

We started to look carefully through the comprehension exercise about Mr Majeika.  We found the multiple choice questions quite easy.  The answers were clearly shown by evidence in the story.

The longer questions were a little bit harder.  We needed to re-read the story carefully after reading each question, before trying to answer.  Never try to answer from memory.  It is dangerous to give answers which you could have given without reading the story.  Look for evidence in the text to support your answer.

Tomorrow we will go through the more difficult questions at the end of the exercise.

Science: investigating friction

This afternoon we investigated friction using boards covered with different surfaces, and blocks of wood.  We use metre sticks to measure the height of the surface when the wooden block began to move.  Can you use our results to draw a conclusion about which surface has the most friction?

Literacy: reading the Cheat story and revising contractions

We began by revising contractions from yesterday.  We must take care with spelling when we write contractions, and we must be sure to put the apostrophe in the right place.  The apostrophe goes where the missing letter used to be.  Check the board above.

Afterwards we sat with partners and we read the whole story of Cheat! by Judy Waite together.  We found out that the painting Danny stole was painted by Mr King himself, even though he is blind.  Mr King started a new painting each day.  Danny took an unfinished one, completed it himself and entered it into the competition.

At home please read the comprehension sheet entitled Mr Majeika and answer as many of the questions as you can for practice.  We will check the answers tomorrow.  Enjoy it.

Maths: directions

Using our knowledge of compass directions we designed our own garden maps and wrote directions to find the things in the garden.  Can you follow my directions on the board?  If I had more time I could all more things, and write more directions for a complete tour of the garden.

Mr Rusanu's music website

Here is a link to Mr Rusanu's music website:
assemblynes.blogspot.com

Maths: angles and directions

We revised compass directions and angles.  A whole turn is 360 degrees.  If you turn through 360 degrees you will be facing the same way you were facing when you started.  Can you do the question on the board without looking at the blue answer first?

At home please continue the pages we began in class.  Work for about 30 minutes and see how far you get.  The pages are 114 to 117.  Enjoy doing your homework.

We finished reading the extract from the story Cheat! on pages 54 to 57, and we discussed the words and phrases that the writer, Judy Waite, had used.  We found some contractions in the story.  Contractions are words that use apostrophes to show that letters have been missed out.  We thought of our own sentences containing contractions.  My examples are on the board above.  I have coloured the contractions to highlight them.  Do you know what each contraction stands for?  It's can mean it is or it has.

Literacy: writing a conversation

We began our literacy lesson by revising how we write a conversation.  We should not have two people speaking on the same line.  If another person speaks, we should start a new line, even if the first line is not full.  It makes it much easier to know who is speaking when you are reading.  On the board above, Fred speaks, and then Dad replies.  Before writing Dad's spoken words I must begin a new line.  I must also put speech marks around the spoken words, and remember that other punctuation (commas, exclamation marks etc.) always comes BEFORE speech marks.

At home please read pages 54 to 57 of the Literacy World fiction anthology, all about Danny and Mr King.

Maths: co-ordinates for position

We revised co-ordinates today as a way of showing position.  On the board above, the co-ordinates of each point are shown on the right side.  The ALONG number is always written first, then the UP number.  To find the black dot we go along 2 and up 3, so its co-ordinates are (2,3).

Maths: mental practice

Today we practised mental maths, with a time limit for each question of either five or ten seconds. The questions and answers are shown above. Below are the answers we wrote down when we went through the questions at school.

At home please do the sheet on symmetry that I gave you. Use a ruler to draw straight lines. (Please remember... every student should have their own ruler to use at school. If you do not have one, please get one. It will be exam time in a few weeks!) Enjoy doing your homework.

Science: understanding forces

As we had finished our week's literacy work, we used our lesson time this morning to write about our new science unit on forces. Forces make things change shape, speed or direction. Here on Earth, our weight is a force that is always pulling us down. When we sit on a chair, the downward force (weight) and the upward force (from the chair) are equal and opposite. When forces are balanced (equal and opposite) nothing changes.

Symmetry: using iPad and iPhone

Some students asked today about applications for the iPad and iPhone that will help them practise symmetry at home. Check out SketchBook Express (for iPad) and SketchBook Express Mobile (for iPhone and iPod Touch). Both are free, and can be found in the iTunes store. They take a few minutes to learn. They allow you to draw symmetrical shapes, copy and transform layers to check for lines of symmetry, and draw in various colours.

Literacy: stories about changing places

We imagined what it would be like if we changed places with one of our parents for the day. You can see the ideas we thought of on the board above. In class we began to write imaginative stories about changing places. Maybe we would have to go to work in our parent's place, and maybe the parent would have to go to school in our place. Think of the funny things that could happen. Remember to plan the end of your story, when everything goes back to normal. At home please finish your story. Work for half an hour, and get to the end of the story if you can. I look forward to reading some super stories. Remember to take care with punctuation. Imagine reading out your story, so that you know where to put the full stops. Enjoy writing your stories.

Maths: line symmetry

We looked for lines of symmetry in different flat shapes. The red shape above has just one line of symmetry. The greenish shape has two lines of symmetry. Sometimes it is easier to see lines of symmetry if we rotate the book so that the line is vertical.

The dark blue shape has just one line of symmetry, from top to bottom. The light blue triangle does not have any lines of symmetry.

The orange shape has one line of symmetry. The brown shape does not have any lines of symmetry. Never try to rush when you are looking for lines of symmetry. It is easy to get the wrong answer. Take your time and think carefully. Turn the book around, all ways, to see if you can find a line of symmetry. Sometimes there is no line of symmetry to be found.

Maths: negative numbers

We looked at negative numbers, which are less than zero. If the temperature is -3°C, it is 3 degrees lower than zero. It must rise 3 degrees to get up to zero.

Literacy: reading comprehension

We looked at our answers to the comprehension about the story A Narrow Escape. Those of us who had made a serious effort, and had gone back to the text after reading each question, looking for evidence for our answers, did a good job. Students who listened carefully when we went through the answers are most likely to improve in comprehension, and do well in the exams which will take place next month. When you get your sheet back, review the example answers on the board above, and make sure that you can find the evidence in the text.

Literacy: comprehension

At home please read the story called A Narrow Escape on the sheet I gave you, and answer the questions. Read carefully and do not rush. Keep looking back at the text. Make your answers clear and easy to understand. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: multiples

We have moved on from number sequences to multiples. We revised how to recognise multiples of 2, 5 and 10. Check the notes on the board above. The Venn diagram shows five numbers. Can you think of other numbers that could be added to the diagram? Can you explain why no number can go in any of the green areas?

Maths: number sequences

Today we looked at number sequences. Some sequences are ascending (going up) and others are descending (going down). We can write the rule for each sequence. At home please review the sheet of work we did in class, and do the second one that I gave you for homework. Be careful if there are negative numbers. Remember -15 is a lower number than -5. Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: punctuation

This morning we read an extract from Bill's New Frock by Anne Fine. The part shown on the board above contains no full stops or other punctuation. Can you find where to put the correct punctuation marks? Don't forget speech marks, full stops, apostrophes and commas. Don't forget capital letters either.

Topic: textiles and clothing

We thought about different types of textile (cloth). We started with the two shown on the board above. Cotton comes from plants. It is picked from the plants and combed into straight fibres which can be made into fabrics. Wool comes from sheep. The shearer cuts the wool off the sheep. The wool is washed and combed into straight fibres which can be made into fabrics. Winter clothes are made from wool. Summer clothes are made from cotton.

Literacy: reading comprehension

Following our literacy work on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the Roman town of Pompeii, we looked at the comprehension passage shown above. Can you find all the answers? They can all be found in the text if you read very carefully. You have to form a picture in your mind as you are reading.

Maths: mental maths practice

Today we practised mental maths. The questions are on the board above. You have a copy of the questions in your orange book from today.
Here are the answers to the mental maths. The maths exam will be in the week beginning 20 May, so now is the time to start practising. You can find lots of new material to help you at the Y4 Revision website.

Maths: money problems

We did more calculations involving UK money. Our classwork is on the board above. Well done if you got all the answers right and showed your working. If you found any of the questions difficult you can review them at home. The working out and answers are in blue.

At home please also do the money problem sheet I gave you today. Remember to show your working. Enjoy doing your homework.

Science: revision of the Moving and Growing unit

We are coming to the end of our Moving and Growing science unit. After the holiday we will have a short test. To prepare for the test, look at the points on the board above and read the textbook pages I have listed. You can also look at your exercise book. As I promised, here are links to the lessons we did on bones of the body and how muscles work in pairs.

Literacy: finishing our Pompeii stories

This morning we checked the punctuation of our finished stories and we read some of them out to the class. You can see the end of my story, about Marcus and Flavia, on the board above. I have tried to use WOW words, and to describe what my characters were doing, seeing, hearing and feeling. Many of us wrote excellent stories. Well done! We are becoming better writers all the time.

Literacy: improving our stories

This afternoon we looked at ways to improve our stories. I have tried to improve mine. You can see the first part on the board above. I have tried to use better words, and I have checked my full stops and other punctuation carefully. The sentences sound right when I read it out. I will finish the story later. Finish improving your stories at home. We will read out some of our stories tomorrow if they are good enough. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: subtracting money

Today we did more work on UK money, learning to subtract from an amount in pounds by using a decimal point and two zeroes. Check out the example on the board. After setting the calculation out you have to decompose before you can subtract. The 2 in the tens column becomes a 1, which makes 10 in the next column (units). Then we can borrow from the units, leaving 9 units and putting 10 in the tenths column. At last we are ready to subtract. We must not forget the decimal point and the pound sign in the answer.

Maths: written addition of money

Today we practised written addition of money. First we had to make sure all the amounts were written in pounds, with a decimal point. Then we wrote them vertically with the decimal points lined up correctly. Finally we added, remembering to put a pound sign in the answer.

At home please do NHM page 64 question 1 parts a to h. Check your work carefully. Make sure the decimal points are all on the lines, and the answers have pound signs in them. Check your work to make sure there are no careless mistakes. Enjoy doing your homework.

Literacy: Pompeii stories

After writing down lots of words and ideas in class and at home yesterday, we began to write our exciting historical stories about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. I have started my story as an example on the board. In the first paragraph everything is normal in Pompeii, with no sign of the disaster that is about to happen. In the second paragraph, things start to go wrong, but the reader still has to guess what is going on until the seventh sentence. Later I plan to have my characters, Marcus and Flavia, leave the city and have a lucky escape, before the final explosion which buried the city at 6am the next day.

Literacy: a story from history

We learned some historical facts about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, which buried the Roman town of Pompeii, near Naples in Italy. We imagined what it must have been like for the eighteen hours that the volcano was erupting, with ash and pumice stones raining down on the town. Buildings were collapsing and the streets were filling with ash. At home please complete every box of the sheet. We will be using our sheets later this week to write stories about Pompeii.

Topic: hunting and gathering

Thousands of years ago there were no farms to provide food. There were far fewer people then than there are now. They found food by hunting and gathering. Hunting means finding and killing animals to eat. Gathering means finding plants to eat. One way of trapping a mammoth is shown on the board above. Mammoths have been extinct for about 12,000 years. Today there are far too many people in the world to feed everyone by hunting and gathering.

Maths: UK money

Today we looked at the notes and coins that are used in the United Kingdom. We practised making different amounts of money using the fewest possible notes and coins. How would you make the four amounts shown on the board for Gita, Mel, Zoe and Sam?