Welcome to your latest week of home learning. With only three days left until the Easter holidays, I wanted to reiterate the message that I have been giving on the videos and during the lovely phone calls I have had with the children this week: please only do what you can. We must acknowledge that things have changed: children cannot learn at home in the same way as they do in school. If they miss a video, or a learning challenge because they were playing outside, or helping tidy up or cook, or reading, do not worry. During these extremely unusual circumstances, children might want to take the opportunity to enjoy something creative or simply need to relax. Some children thrive on the structure offered by the tasks and will be working through them all, this is also fine. Above all, though, there is no need to disagree about how much learning is enough – it is far more important to focus on working out how to be so closely confined as a family.
I will continue to provide the videos and learning activities for the next few days and after Easter; as well as this, I will give a comprehensive list of possible ideas/websites/challenges to visit and tackle during Easter and beyond – these are not set bits of learning, they are possibilities for you to fit into and around the schedule that works for you and your family, if required.
I’ve been so impressed by the independence shown over the last week and I’ve loved hearing about people’s timetables and how everyone is managing in their unique way. This independent approach will set the children up well for secondary school. One final thing I wanted to mention is that, following efforts toward family harmony, the next most important thing to do is to read. Not only has reading been proven to be the most powerful tool for learning, but it is also a way to escape into other worlds and possibilities – I look forward to discussing your child’s reading choices during our next phone calls.
Please find this week’s learning resources, followed by some more ideas for over Easter and beyond (which should supplement the already long list found here). There will be no “formal” topic learning set until after Easter and everyone has found their rhythm – if you must, choose from the variety of links provided.
Lessons will begin again on Monday 20th April – have a fun holiday!
Many thanks – Mr Drane (Class Teacher) and Martha Drane (Learning Coach)
Monday 30.3.20
- Task to complete between now and the end of the Easter break: Call somebody and practise the art of telephone conversation. It could be anyone – friend or family (I would personally recommend someone who would love a phonecall, like a grandparent or anyone in isolation). Try and think of some questions to ask the other person before calling. There’s not much going on at the moment, so it’s even more difficult, but keeping in touch with others is even more important than normal.
English
- Join our class on Vocabulary.com
- Freerice.com
Maths
Tuesday 31.3.20
Maths
Wednesday 1.4.20
English
Upload link for any stories you’d like me to read (see video for instructions)
Maths
Fractions Finale – Spicy and Extra Spicy
Government advice: Keeping safe Online
Easter and beyond
English
Radioblogging – daily live radio show involving a variety of authors that then set writing challenges
Authorfy – famous authors set a 10 minute writing challenge
Pocket story challenge – five images randomly generated, can you use these to tell a story?
Vocabulary.com and FreeRice – as discussed in Monday’s video, rehearse your vocabulary understanding
Maths
ISeeMaths Daily challenges – daily online Maths lessons aimed at Year 5 and 6
Arithmetic generator – click the link and there are an infinite number of arithmetic SATs papers that can be generated, for all those who are missing doing these…!
Art
Draw with Rob
Zentangle challenges from another teacher online
Other
Workout with Mr Jackson
Pizza Recipe with Ms Natale
Mindfulness with Ms Natale
Philosophy Man Brainsqueezers
Philosophy Man Video Prompts
Duolingo – learn a language with all this spare time!
British Sign Language – available for a much reduced fee during the pandemic, teach yourself a useful life skill
Microscope challenge run by a parent at the school (@GillisLab): Can you guess what these pictures are of? They were all found in a garden in Girton. Answers after the break, or check out his Twitter page for live challenges.
