Home Learning

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: negative prefixes
This week we are focussing on prefixes that can be added to the beginning of a word to change the meaning to a negative: un, mis, dis, in, il, im, ir & in. In particular, children should learn the rules for when to use in, im, il or ir. Explanation & example words can be found in the download below.
You can also find more activities on letterjoin if you click on ‘Rowan’ after logging in.

Arithmetic: finding fractions of amounts
To find a fraction you divide by the denominator (bottom number) and multiply by the numerator (top number). In school, we often use a bar model to show this.

Japan: Culture & Language

Suggestions for research:
– Find out about traditional Japanese games, such as Otedama or Chopsticks. Have a go at playing them.
– What is it like to go to school in Japan?
– Look up Kanji and try some Japanese writing.
– Research Banruka. Can you make your own Japanese-style puppet theatre?
– Find out about the Japanese tea ceremony.
– Look at Chinese anime and manga. Try drawing illustrations in the style. Can you make your own comic?
– What foods are traditionally eaten in Japan?
– What is the national sport of Japan? What other sports are popular.

Suggested Activities:
– Otedama is a game played with beanbags. Try making a set of your own, before playing some of the games. You can find instructions here.
– There are lots of videos on youtube showing you how to draw manga, or download the step-by-step guide below for drawing Pikachu.
– Make a blossom collage. The photos show some suggestions, but you could use whatever materials you have at home.

Learn some simple Japanese phrases:
– Hai (hi-ee) yes – Iie (i-ie)no
– Ohayo (oh-hi-yo)Good morning – Sayonara (sigh-oh-nar-ah)Good bye
– Arigato (ah-ree-gah-toe)thank you
– Haha (Hah-hah)mother – Chichi (chiy-chiy)father

English

Reading Comprehension: Japan Factfile (download the text and questions below).

Activity Ideas:
– Do some research into Japan. This could be on the internet, using the reading factfile or you could ask people at home what they know about the country. What are the most interesting facts you have found out?
– Practise taking notes on what you are finding out. Remember that notes are short. Record only the key words that you need to remember. Try to think about what you have found out and describe it in your own way. DO NOT just copy from the book or internet.
– Try making memory notes WITH NO WORDS. Take a fact you have learnt and try to draw pictures, symbols or diagrams to help you remember it. At the end of the week, see if you can remember just by looking at the pictures the facts you were learning.
– Make a quiz about Japan. Don’t forget to use the correct punctuation for questions and answers.

Grammar – continue to practise recognising nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs:
– Create a bank of interesting words associated with Japan. Have one section for each word class.
– Play ‘I packed my bag and in it I put …’ with nouns. Start with A: I packed my bag and in it I put some apples. The next person has to remember what was said before and then add a word for the next letter of the alphabet: I packed my bag and in it I put some apples & a book. Keep adding words until someone gets it wrong: I packed my bag and in it I put some apples, a book & a carrot. The winner is the person who remembers the most.
– The game above can be adapted for different word classes. For verbs, start with the words Things I miss doing at school are … (asking questions, being with friends, clapping etc.). For adverbs, Miss Brown walked into the room … (angrily, briskly, carefully). For adjectives, That’s not my dog, it’s too … (angry, big, colourful).

Writing Challenge for the Week: Use what you have learnt about Japan so far this term to create a factfile on the country. Start with an introduction explaining what and where Japan is. Think of three headings that you could write detailed paragraphs about. Each paragraph should have at least four sentences on a similar topic. Make sure you use some complex sentences using conjunctions (because, when, while, if, although, even though, whereas). You could also include fact boxes or questions to engage the reader.

Maths: Problem-Solving Week

This video provides hints for parents to help children solve mathematical problems.

Here are some suggested problems for Rowan Class, but feel free to have a go at ones from other classes too – all the problems can be explored at different levels and it is great if your whole family can work on a problem together. Discussion, trying things out comparing different ideas is encouraged. It doesn’t matter if you don’t reach the end point, and don’t worry if you are not familiar with the methods the children are using. In Maths, the process is just as important as the answer. Doodling, drawing pictures & scribbles are all encouraged and remember that getting stuck and making mistakes is an essential part of learning too. Here are some questions that might help when you are exploring the problems:
– Do you notice anything interesting?
– Can we predict what will happen next?
– What if … ?
– Are there any patterns?
– Which moves might be good moves to make (e.g. in a game)?

Links to Interactive Problems:
– calendar sorting problem
– treasure hunt
– Factors & Multiples Game

Monday: Cut a square into four triangles as shown in the picture. How
many different shapes can you make by fitting the four triangles back
together? You may only fit long sides to long sides and short sides to
short sides. The whole length of the side must be joined. Can you name
the shapes you make? Can you describe them? How could you record
the different shapes you made?

Tuesday: This is a basic form of the ancient game, Nim. You’ll need an adult to play with. You will also need seven objects such as counters, blocks, coins or toys. Place the 7 objects in a pile and take turns to take away either one or two objects. The person who takes the last object wins. Swap who goes first, and keep playing until you work out a winning strategy. Some things to think about:
– Does it matter who has the first turn?
– What happens when there are three objects left?
– How can you win at this game?
– What happens if you start the game with more than 7 objects?

Wednesday: Another game. Each player draws a grid like this. Take turns to throw
a dice and put each number in one of the squares. When all nine squares are full,
the winner is the person whose total is closest to 1000. After playing a few times,
start thinking about strategy and how to have the best chance of winning:
– Which squares are the most important?
– Does it help to see where other players are putting their numbers?
– Are some numbers better to roll than others?

Thursday: On the planet Wed there are two sorts of creatures. The Zios have 3 legs and the Zepts have 7 legs. The great planetary explorer Nico, who first discovered the planet, saw a crowd of Zios and Zepts. He managed to see that there was more than one of each kind of creature before they saw him. Suddenly they all rolled over onto their backs and put their legs in the air. He counted 52 legs. How many Zios and how many Zepts were there? Do you think there are any different answers?

Downloads

Japan Factfile & Questions

Spellings Negative Prefixes

Maths Problems:

• Shape Times Shape
• Magic Vs
• Always Sometimes Or Never
• Dice Game

Draw Pikachu

Useful Links

Japan Facts

National Geographic

Japan Activities

Kirigami for Kids

Easy Origami