Hawks  

Book review template for homework

Welcome back to the Spring Term of Year 4 and 5. Mrs Phillips and I will be continuing to teaching Hawk Class this year, as detailed below.  Please feel free to approach either of us if you have any concerns, no matter how small, and we will endeavor to help.  Unless it is urgent, we prefer to catch up and chat after school so we can start the day on-time and be with the children as they settle to their busy work, and support their learning.  We are always on the playground at the end of the day and you are always welcome to come and discuss anything with us then.

This year our class will be supported by Mrs Tait on a Monday and Tuesday, with Mrs Kirby on Thursdays. 

Organisation

Mondays - Mrs Halfhide/Mrs Tait

Tuesdays - Mrs Phillips/Mrs Tait

Wednesdays - Mrs Phillips

Thursdays - Mrs Halfhide/Mrs Kirby

Fridays - Mrs Halfhide

Learning

This term the children's topic will be the 'Blue Abyss'.  This topic is geography and science focused.  On Tuesday the 16th of January we will all be attending 'Whales Beneath the Surface' - an exhibition at the Natural History Museum. All learning is detailed in the term's curriculum leaflet attached below - hopefully you will find them useful and informative.  Please click images to open the PDFs.  Our prior curriculum leaflets are still below for your reference.

Although the learning has been planned, as detailed in these documents, it is not set in stone and is dependent upon many factors.

Autumn 1 Planning	Autumn 2 Planning
Spring 1 & 2 Planning

Homework

English

Detailed within the curriculum leaflet is also the spelling focus per week, which will relate to their weekly lists to learn. Spellings will continue to be given out on a Monday and tested on a Friday. SPaG homework and MA homework in its current form will be suspended until further notice.  This is so Hawk Class can become involved in an online homework trial.  This will begin on Friday 12th of January or possibly Friday the 19th of January - depending on set up time.  Assignment of homework will continue to be on a Friday and expected completion will be Wednesdays. This is explained in the homework leaflet.

With regard to reading, children should still read with adults to ensure that their comprehension is progressing and can hold high quality discussions about their understanding; however, they should also read on their own for pleasure - most days.  It is important for children to read a range of fiction and non-fiction.  It can be tricky as children approach Y4/5 to get them to sit down and read with an adult!  Therefore, I am going to provide short texts to read at home with adults.  These are optional but will provide you with opportunity to see through a text from start to finish rather than dip in and out of a chapter book they are reading independently.  I will attach some suggested questions to some of the examples. For the first part of this term, the children will be engaging with poetry. It is recommended that your children read some poetry at home and discuss how poems are structured in a variety of ways.  The children will also be engaging with writing non-chronological reports on whales, persuasive writing on environmental issues and fantasy stories.

Below are some examples of these texts with some suggested questions for you. If you would like to read these with your children it will broaden their experience of different texts and provide some variety.

                                Autumn -  Newspaper Example Reading Pack                 Autumn -   Biography Reading Pack           Autumn -    Discussion Texts

Further packs will be added throughout the term

Maths

Inside the leaflet is also some ideas for supporting their mathematics at home which will serve to boost their progress in the planned learning for the term.   In class, the children will be issued with a reward/sticker bookmark to track their time tables knowledge (this will be attached to their maths book and serve as a bookmark reminder of this important learning!).  The children will be rewarded with house points for each times table they learn.  This will be based upon them knowing their multiplication and division facts.  They will be tested by asking 10x, 9x, 5x, 6x and then other facts.  After they will be tested on their division facts in a similar order.  This is to encourage their understanding of related facts. Not all children can learn facts in a random order, struggle with retention and can panic if questions are fired in this fashion. It does not matter, if they do not simply KNOW the answer, they just need strategies to derive it efficiently.  Our brains all work differently.

Timing

Spellings - Out on Monday - Tested on Friday

Maths - Out on Friday - In on Wednesday

English - Out on Friday - In on Wednesday

Reading - Children are expected to read most days for pleasure and I would recommend they read to an adult 3-4 times a week and discuss their understanding.

They children are able to attend homework club on Tuesdays to complete their work and on the discretion of Mrs Phillips and I may be able to use further lunchtimes is they request a classroom pass.

Equipment