Each week, I will post lots of suggestions for home learning. You aren’t expected to do everything. Please pick out the things that will work best for your family. We are covering similar topics across all classes so that siblings can work together – feel free to also have a go at activities set by other class teachers or help your younger brothers and sisters with their learning too.
For those of you who prefer to print work for the children to complete offline, you will find downloads below. For those who like online activities, there are suggested weblinks.
Spellings: Possessive Apostrophe
This week we are revisiting using the apostrophe to show something belongs to someone or something. Remember: DO NOT use an apostrophe for plurals (e.g. three horses or two birds).
Arithmetic: Rounding
Can you remember how to round numbers to the nearest ten, hundred or thousand? What about rounding decimals to the nearest whole number? 
Japan: Round-up Research
Just like when we get to the end of a topic at school, we are going to have a round-up week. If there is anything you wanted to learn about Japan that you haven’t found out yet you can research it. Or perhaps there is something you wanted to do or make that you haven’t had time for yet. For ideas you could check out the gallery on the school website for photos of what other people in the class have been doing or look in the archive for activities from the last five weeks.
For your English this week, I would like you to produce something to share what you have learnt. You can choose whatever form you want for your writing. Perhaps you could use your knowledge of Japan to write a diary of an imaginary holiday there. You might want to write an information report on the country, or perhaps you could produce a travel guide encouraging people to visit (when it’s safe to go on holiday again).
English Grammar Activities:
This week we are focussing on possessive apostrophes. Here are some activities to practise:
- Copy these sentences, adding an apostrophe in the correct place: It was Jordans turn to play on the computer. Emilys jumper lay on the chair. It was my brothers birthday.
- Use an apostrophe to write the shortened version of each phrase. E.g. The coat belonging to the boy = the boy’s coat. 1) The tail belonging to the mouse = ? 2) The ball belonging to the footballer = ? 3) The dog belonging to the boy = ? 4) The garden belonging to Miss Brown =
CHALLENGE: The rattle belonging to the baby (1 baby) = ? the toys belonging to the babies (lots of babies) = ? HINT: use the spelling information above. - There are online activities to practise your possessive apostrophes here.
- Write a wizard’s spell using apostrophes to show where each ingredient comes from. Make sure you use a and an correctly too.
- Can you use possessive apostrophe’s correctly in your writing about Japan?
Maths: Position & Direction
Children should be able to use the four compass points (eight by year 5), clockwise & anticlockwise, left & right, up & down and horizontal & vertical when giving directions. They should know that a turn can be measured in degrees and should be able to make right angle turns (90°) and estimate other turns. On a co-ordinates grid, they can find the co-ordinates needed to make different 2D shapes, then they should be able to reflect a shape or translate it (slide it to a new position). This week’s activities also give the children lots of opportunities to practise recognising 2D shapes (including different quadrilaterals and types of triangles) and acute, obtuse (& reflex for year 5) angles.
Suggested Activities:
- Make a treasure map on a square grid. Label the co-ordinates and use these to write instructions to find the treasure.
- Play battle ships (a printable version can be downloaded below).
- Set up an obstacle course in your garden. Blindfold your brother or sister and try to direct them around the course, using angles & clockwise/anticlockwise to describe how much to turn.
- Play Simon Says, with instructions like: turn two right angles clockwise; turn 360° anti-clockwise; take two steps North; make an acute angle with your arms; show me a horizontal line.
- You need a partner and a ball of wool or string for this. The person with the wool is going to make a 2D shape on the floor by following your directions. As they move, they leave a string trail behind them. You need to give them instructions to create the shape. For example, “walk three steps forward, turn 90° degrees clockwise, walk six steps forward, turn one right angle clockwise, walk three steps forward, turn 270° anti-clockwise, walk six steps forward – can you tell what shape I have described?” Easier shapes: square, rectangle, right-angle scalene triangle, trapezium. More challenging shapes: regular pentagon, parallelogram, equilateral triangle, isosceles triangle, irregular hexagon.
- Make a co-ordinates dot-to-dot picture: on a square gird, list the co-ordinates needed to create a picture, then get someone else to follow them and try and draw it. Some examples can be downloaded below.
- Set up a treasure hunt in the garden or around the house. Use position and direction language to write the clues.
- Play ‘Who am I?’ with shapes. Stick a post-it note with the name of a shape on everyone’s forehead so you can’t see what yours says. Take turns to ask the rest of the group questions about your shape (e.g. am I a quadrilateral? Do I have any right angles?). The winner is the first person to correctly identify their shape.
Downloads
Useful Links
Japan Activities
