July 2020
Home Learning
Hello everyone!
Hope you are all safe and well. Thank you for the wonderful email's and photographs you have sent me, I really enjoy seeing the fantastic activities you have taken part in.
Our school is open once again this week! I am very much looking forward to seeing those that can attend, we have some exciting check in and catch up sessions planned for you. If you are unable to attend, do not worry, I will give you a ring for another friendly catch up and check in. Our sessions will also be shared on our class page every Friday afternoon so everyone has the opportunity to take part. Please continue to email me with photographs of your activities.
As always please email me with any questions, concerns or if you just fancy saying hello.
NevisD6@Hwbcymru.net
Mr Nevis
Reflection on Lockdown
Our school is drawing to a close in the coming weeks. I would like you to reflect on your unusual experiences of home learning during our lockdown period. Think of the positives that you have experienced such as:
Spend some time thinking about the positives shown above. Create a poster to celebrate and capture your successes. You could include pictures of yourself and your family achieving your great successes or your new discovered interests or hobbies. You can use the resources below for help.
Literacy
Using all the information you have learned about the Gower Peninsula create a persuasive and eye-catching attraction leaflet enticing tourists to visit the Gower.
This week I would like you plan your leaflet taking care to include the relevant features of the text and the attributes that makes the Gower become an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Use the the plan template below to guide you through this task as well as the attraction leaflet template to check you are including as many features as possible in your plan.
Hint - Think about the beaches, wildlife, places of interest and exciting activities within the Gower.
Numeracy
Taskmaster
Over the coming weeks you will be presented with a numeracy based challenge from your taskmaster, Mr Nevis. These challenges will test your learned calculation and reasoning skills in a variety of contexts and can be used to involve your family and friends. Here is task one, good luck!
Task 1
Below is a step by step worksheet designed to help you complete the task. Please email me with the furthest distance you can achieve and if possible video evidence of your attempts.
In addition, continue with tasks previously outlined. You are all doing a fantastic job with your families so far and are on track. Remember we recommend I hour a day Monday to Friday on focused tasks. Concentrate on times tables and calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The BBC bitesize daily lessons are still available and the problem solving tasks on nrich.com are excellent resources to help you.
Please steadily try a different task each day. There is a lot of Maths options here, do not feel you need to complete everything. Keep it fun and keep it relevant.
Year 4/5 Quiz
Try the below quiz for a bit of fun. Test how well you know our current topic as well as your classmates and other skills/knowledge from this school year. The quiz will be updated each week.
Home Learning
June 2020
Hello Everyone!
Hope you are all safe, well and had a fantastic half term holiday with your families. We were very lucky with some superb weather, I hope you took advantage of outdoor activities.
Look out for a phone call from me week beginning 1st June, I can't wait to hear about the wonderful activities you have been doing over the holidays.
Great news!!! School has started again on 1st June. Here are some new projects for you to take part in.
As always please email me with any questions, concerns or if you just fancy saying hello.
NevisD6@Hwbcymru.net
Mr Nevis
#gogreenday
sizeofwales.org.uk has put together a range of activities to celebrate Go Green Day on on Friday 26th June. If you have an interest in Rainforests and would to take part in this optional side project follow the information below.
The activities begin with World Rainforest Day on Monday 22nd June and culminate with Go Green Day on Friday 26th June. Below is a link to a programme of fun activities, including educational resources, forest meditations, tropical animal mask-making workshops, a pub quiz, recipes for deforestation free cakes and more!
Literacy task
Story writing - write an adventure story based in / on the Gower. Think about your main characters, you can use the wildlife (animals and marine life from your previous research), characters from historical myths or legends (King Arthur) or fictional characters from your own imagination. No more than 2 or 3 characters.
You will need to plan your story first, use the adventure story mountain planner. This will help structure your writing to include a beginning, build up, dilemma, resolution and the ending. Use the word mat resource to help you include descriptive, exciting words that can build a picture in your readers head of:
Once you have finished writing, editing and improving your story, you could turn it into a book, adding illustrations for each page.
Numeracy
Continue with tasks previously outlined. You are all doing a fantastic job with your families so far and are on track. Remember we recommend I hour a day Monday to Friday on focused tasks. Concentrate on times tables and calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The BBC bitesize daily lessons are still available and the problem solving tasks on nrich.com are excellent resources to help you.
Please steadily try a different task each day. There is a lot of Maths options here, do not feel you need to complete everything. Keep it fun and keep it relevant.
The Water Cycle
Over the last few weeks you have been learning about our local seas and oceans, but how can these huge bodies of water effect our weather?
Start by watching the video clip below. Take notes of key information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnlpysno4LE&feature=youtu.be
Next take a look at the power point presentation. Try to describe each step of the water cycle. What is happening to water? Is it a liquid or a gas? Try to find the meaning of each scientific topic word. What is the effect of each step in the cycle?
Water cycle board game
Follow the given rules to play this board game with your family
Science Experiment
Evaporation Experiment - Use the powerpoint and the resources below to help you conduct this investigation. Use the success criteria checklist to help you through each step of the experiment. Be sure to follow the guidelines to make sure you conduct a fair test.
Hint - soak each towel in the same amount of water.
The given resources are to be used as guide to help you carry out the experiment. You do not need to print them out. You can follow along using a tablet, mobile phone or laptop.
Please email me photographs of your experiments and evaluations of your findings.
Surf's Up!
Literacy Task - Welsh marine wildlife
Take a look at the videos below. A local behavioural ecologist named Maddison Bowden-Parry would like me to share some information presentations she has made for you. Remember to take notes and pause the video to help you retrieve the information at your own pace. You can also rewind and watch it again if you wish. Click the links to access the lessons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsiWT9XmRb8
With the information you have gathered, make an information report leaflet for tourists informing them of the wildlife they may expect to find in the Gower Peninsular. Use the guidance below to help you.
RNLI
Mrs Croall would like your help this summer! She is a volunteer for the RNLI. Your first task is to research this organisation. Who are they? What do they provide for us? Where and when did they start?
The project
This summer, our Lifeguards cannot watch over every beach, meaning a heightened water safety risk to beach goers. The RNLI are asking you to help us share some important messages to children and their families.
Once it is safe to do so many people will head to the beaches and coastline to enjoy the sun, sea and time with friends and family. But, due to our current situation there may not be as many lifeguards patrolling our beaches keeping us safe.
So what can we do?
Keeping safe, in on and around water is fundamental to saving lives at sea and a core part of water safety with the. Complete the packs of resources below focusing on keeping safe this Summer.
Half Term Holiday!
Hello Everyone!
Well done for all your amazing efforts over the last few weeks and a huge thank you for the photos, emails and activities you have sent me. I love seeing what you have been getting up to.
3:20pm on Friday 22nd May marks the start of our half term holiday. So I would like you to take a break and enjoy spending time with your families. Take part in fun activities you enjoy such as outdoor exercise, baking, cooking, painting or building. It is your choice. Please try to keep your screen time within a reasonable amount, discuss with your family.
I will update the class page with some new June Home Learning activities on Monday 1st June. In the meantime please email me with any questions, concerns or if you just fancy saying hello.
Take care and stay safe.
Enjoy your half term holiday!
Mr Nevis
NevisD6@Hwbcymru.net
Home learning
May 2020
Hello everyone!
Hope you are all safe and well and had lots of fun over the bank holiday weekend.
Thank you so much for all your fantastic efforts, I hope you find our new topic interesting.
It was so nice to catch up with you all on the phone recently, I will be calling again from Monday 11th May. Please keep an eye out for my call. In the meantime please email me with any questions or advice that you need. I am here to support you.
Here are some more activities for you to take part in with your families.
Be safe, take care and look after each other.
Mr Nevis
NevisD6@Hwbcymru.net
Research and investigation
Building on your research project so far (do not worry if you have not started yet, there is still plenty of time to get started), I would like you to focus on plastic pollution in our local beaches and waters. You could research:
Useful websites
What is the problem with plastic?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42810179
Kids against plastic – Information website with free resources.
https://www.kidsagainstplastic.co.uk/learn/
How we can keep plastics out of our ocean – National Geographic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQTUWK7CM-Y
What really happens to the plastic we throw away.
Literacy based tasks
I would like you to focus on plastic pollution as a context for your writing over the next few weeks.
Numeracy
Continue with tasks previously outlined. You are all doing a fantastic job with your families so far and are on track. Remember we recommend I hour a day Monday to Friday on focused tasks. Concentrate on times tables and calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The BBC bitesize daily lessons are still available and the problem solving tasks on nrich.com are excellent resources to help you.
Please steadily try a different task each day. There is a lot of Maths options here, do not feel you need to complete everything. Keep it fun and keep it relevant.
Science and technology
Choose as many of the following projects that you would like to complete.
Health and Well-being
Organise a beach or local area clean-up. As part of your daily exercise take one pink refuge bag and clean up any plastic pollution you find along the way. Make sure you use gloves and do not pick up any sharp items. Make sure you have adult supervision.
As a reward for your exercise and a full bag of plastic pollution treat yourself to our new dessert recipe! There is an optional writing task attached to this recipe.
Please email me photos or post on twitter your beach clean up and cooking successes. @Whitestone_sch #MrN #OneBagChallenge
HOME LEARNING
APRIL 2020
Hello everyone!
I hope you are all staying safe and keeping busy. I assume you have all been working hard and completed the work that I set! Don't worry if you haven't - there was a lot of tasks there.
As we should have started a new term, I thought it would be interesting to start a new topic. Our new topic is 'Surf's up!'
I thought that we could use these unusual times to learn about the ocean and our local area, the Gower Peninsula and Swansea Bay. Please keep checking back to this page as more tasks will be added every few weeks.
Please don't feel the need to print everything out - any sheets could just be on your screen for you to copy or refer to.
Remember to contact me or send examples of what you've been doing to my email address - NevisD6@Hwbcymru.net - and also use twitter to keep me updated on what you've been up to.
Take care of yourselves and your families as always,
Mr Nevis
The 4th of May is a time when fans of Star Wars celebrate the films and stories of the star wars franchise. Take a look at the activities below as an optional side project this week.
Create your own Star Wars planet. You can use inspiration from established Star Wars worlds such as the misty swamps of Dagobah, the floating skyscraper city of Bespin, the evil and dark home of the Syth Starkiller Base, the majestic forest of Kashyyyk home of the Wookies, or the baron deserts of Tatooine. See this link for more ideas https://screenrant.com/star-wars-rogue-one-planets-ranked-jedha-scarif-tatooine/. You could also use internet searches (remember to use 'KS2' in your search).
You could present this as a sketch, a painting, a shoebox diorama, a mosaic, a 3D model or anyway you wish using the materials you have to hand. Let your imagination free to create something fun and imaginative.
Extension - Write a short paragraph describing the setting of your world. Use the word mats below to help.
Please take a photo of your finished piece and email them to me. I would love to see your creations.
Star Wars Costume. Make a costume of a character from the Star Wars franchise. Use any materials you have to hand in your households. Please take a photo of your finished piece and email them to me. I would love to see your creations.
May the force be with you this week and enjoy this optional side project.
Research work
Before you can do any writing based on the ocean and the Gower Peninsula you need to do some research! To start with you'll need to find out what a Peninsula is and why the Gower is classified as one. Look carefully at the land mass of the Gower - what do you notice about the waves in sea around this location? I would then like you to concentrate on the waters surrounding the Gower peninsula - What are they called? What is our nearest ocean? Where do our waves come from? How do our waves effect our coastline? How are waves formed? What wildlife can be found in this area?
Oceans are made up of zones - what are these? Which plants / animals can be found in each zone? Can you create a drawing to show the zones?
Remember to use 'KS2' or 'for kids' at the end of your search so that the information you find is relevant to and written for children.
Literacy-based tasks
This term I would like to give you more choice with your writing so I'm not going to tell you exactly what to write, just what type of writing I would like you to produce.
Maths
Please steadily try a different task each day. There is a lot of Maths options here, do not feel you need to complete everything. Keep it fun and keep it relevant.
Expressive arts
Create a beach scene. This could be your interpretation of a local beach or a beach from your imagination. You could use internet searches (remember to use 'KS2' in your search) or if you are able to walk as part of your daily exercise to the beach, you could sketch the scene there.
You could present this as a sketch, a painting, a shoebox diorama, a mosaic, a 3D model or anyway you wish using the materials you have to hand. Let your imagination free to create something fun and imaginative.
Please take a photo of your finished piece and email them to me. I would love to see your creations.
Family cooking time!
Help out your family by cooking a delicious chocolate cake dessert using a microwave. The recipe and instructions are below (you do not need to print this). Ask for adult help when handling anything hot. Please email me a photo of you and your family enjoying your fantastic dessert and let me know if this is something you enjoyed doing. I have more recipes to share if you would like them.
HOME LEARNING
MARCH 2020
Hi Year 4/5. I hope you are all well and staying safe. Here are some tasks that you can have a go at - they are all building on learning that we have already covered this year. Just try your best with them. If you want to contact me at all, my email address is
NevisD6@Hwbcymru.net
Please take care of yourselves,
Mr Nevis
-An element of Tudor life such as religion, King Henry VIII and his six wives, Tudor punishments, etc
-A natural disaster
-A hobby of yours - A favourite author, actor, singer, etc.
Use lined paper to practice your handwriting. Remember the basic rule - all letters join, apart from capitals. Complete a line of each word from the 100 high frequency words below (you do not need to print every page). Check for spelling as well as correct letter formation. As an extension, try to write an sentence using the word with good letter formation.
Literacy Home learning - Reading
Find a book to read. Read it for enjoyment, enjoy the plot and the characters.
Use a notebook /make a notebook from A4 paper to write your thoughts and reflections down as you read your book.
Create a character description of one of the main characters - think about which descriptive language / phrases you could use.
Predict the ending of the story - why do you think it might end in this way?
Create a new character for your book. How will they fit into the story?
Read aloud to someone - ask them to ask you questions about what you've read.
Can you list the verbs / adjectives used on one page of your book?
Think about how the author makes you want to carry on reading. List the strategies that they have used.
Think about how the main characters' actions show their feelings / thoughts.
Which words or phrases has the author used to create a frightening or tense atmosphere / to make you laugh?
Letter writing - write a formal letter to Henry VIII - ask him about life in Tudor times and aspects of his life that we have learnt about. Think carefully about the layout of and language in your letter - where should the addresses go / the position of the date / the language you need to use to make the letter formal / how you need to sign your letter off. See letter writing resources below for help.
Balanced argument - we were just starting some work on writing a balanced argument before school finished on the Friday. We looked at a few different texts that gave a balanced argument based on a question, e.g. should children bring mobile phones to school? Should Mother's day be banned? Should children wear school uniform? Write a balanced argument about whether Henry VIII was right to execute Anne Boleyn. Remember it's important that your writing gives both sides of the argument in a balanced way, before you give your own opinion. You could also think of a topic of your choice to base your writing on.
Persuasive writing - remember that persuasive writing is one-sided - it is written to convince people to think or buy something. Write a piece of persuasive writing based on one or all of the following - should PE be compulsory in schools? / why should people self-isolate at the moment? / should dogs be allowed on all Gower beaches all year round? Think carefully about the types of phrases that you need to include (see persuasive writing word mat below).
Non-chronological report writing - We live in a beautiful part of the world, surrounded by amazing beaches. Research the history of a range of Gower beaches and produce an information leaflet based on them. Include illustrations or photographs. Remember a non-chronological report needs an introduction and a conclusion. Fun facts are always a nice touch too!
Story writing - Choose a theme for your story - anything you like (pobble365.com has some lovely ideas and help). Choose 2 characters and where your story will be set. Plan your story using the 5 parts - beginning, build-up, climax, resolution and ending. Plan to use descriptive words and phrases. Set speech out effectively using punctuation, speech marks and words that are more interesting than 'said'. Once you have written your story in a controlled way, edit and improve it - does it make sense / could you add any punctuation / could you improve any of the description / have you used enough exciting vocabulary? Now make your story into an illustrated book using A4 paper. Remember a cover and a blurb on the back!
PE
Every morning at 9am, on You Tube, Joe Wicks is doing a live, half an hour PE session for children of all ages (and adults too!). Why not join in - if you're up?!!
Science tasks
The link below will take you to a great pack of kitchen sink science investigations that can be carried out with only a few pieces of equipment. I like it because it gives you extension activities and points to discuss with someone else.
https://learning-resources.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Kitchen-science.pdf
Remember to email me if you have any questions. Good luck and take of yourselves and your families.
See you all very soon.
Mr Nevis