Monday, May 7, 2012

Olympic Torch Relay


The torch relay is getting closer!  Here is the route.  The torch will be passing through Totnes (14:12 start), Paignton (14:40 start), Torquay (15:42 start) and Teignmouth (17:37 start) on Sunday 20th May...just under 2 weeks from Today!


Here is an extract from http://www.london2012.com
The Flame is then delivered to the Host Country, where it is transferred from one Torchbearer to another, spreading the message of peace, unity and friendship. It ends its journey as the last Torchbearer lights the cauldron at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, marking the official start of the Games.
For Home Learning, I would like you to research the Olympic Torches from history and design and make your own.  Due in on Friday 18th May.
Use this site to research them.  Design your own torch and if possible, make it as well using materials from home.  
I hope to have a parade of Olympic Torches in School on Friday 18th May, the last schoolday before the torch travels past us in Devon.

You might want to use these ideas as part of your design: peace, unity, friendship, cooperation, perseverence.  You may want to include some London Landmarks as part of your design.  Have a look below for some ideas:



If you cannot make your torch, then draw and label your torch design on either a piece of paper or post it to the Kidblog site.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

sycamore link post (weekly)


Posted from Diigo. The rest of Sycamore Links group favorite links are here.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Kidblogs are go!

I've just set up our ultrasafe kidblogs here!  Please see my earlier post about it by following this link.

I've set up a blog for each of you but you don't need to use it unless you want to.

You will need a password which I have set up to be your bugclub password.

Remember that all posts and comments will be reviewed by me.

If I can't understand it, then I won't publish it!

Take care when writing as your class mates will be commenting on your blog posts.

YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT WHATEVER INTERESTS YOU, but if you want an audience, make it interesting...stories, football match reports, 42 mile bike rides, instructions on how to take care of new puppies, how to knit socks...whatever interests you!

I also get to see who has been commenting and I'll be giving out lots of marbles in class for thoughtful comments.

Good luck!

Make Friction irresistible!

Have a look at the science page...click on the link  a few words back or go to the tabs at the top of the page.

There are lots of useful links to help you learn about our current forces science topic.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Your own blog!

Would you like to have an online way to show off your writing and work, photos maybe?

I have started a class blog using Kidblog.  I like this way of blogging because:

  • it lets me check your work before it is posted
  • it lets me start off with no-one else being able to see your blog while you get started, then other members of class can see your posts and comment.  See here for more details, parents
  • we can access it at school and so you can comment from within class.  This would allow you to use it as an independent reading activity.
Have a look here to see what it is like.

Leave a comment on this blog if you want me to set you up with a blog.

You must be willing to have a go at writing about what interests you AND be prepared for other people in class to read your writing and leave comments about it.


Home Learning - get on your skateboard...or rollerskates and feel the force!

Home Learning is to go skateboarding, get on some rollerskates or on something which runs on wheels which you can move.

Move it!

Draw it, showing arrows pointing in the direction of the forces.

Have a look here for some help.

Due in on Wednesday 2nd May - two weeks from now.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Olympic Torch - Can you explain?

Why do we have an Olympic Torch Relay as part of the Olympics?
Where will the route go and why was this route chosen?
Why were the people chosen to carry it?

Here are some answers, but try to find out as many answers as you can.

Also please send in some of your own questions about the Olympic Torch Relay.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Olympics - The Torch

I hope you're having a good Easter break. Here's a link to a site with details of the route of the Olympic torch.
This site shows you the route.

Can you find out which runners will be holding the torch in Teignmouth or in Totnes?

Don't forget that Ollie will be doing a Tae Kwon Do display in Teignmouth.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Australia Glossary

We've been learning about Australia for a while now and have developed our own Australia glossary. We've got email buddies at Rochedale State School and we hope you are reading this! Please have a look and add a comment. Leave your name as part of your comment please.
Glossary
View more presentations from Ben Winter.

Unfortunately, the hyperlinks from the contents page don't seem to work in this file.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Telling the time

How to learn to use an analogue clock to tell the time: top tips
  • wear a watch which is analogue and tell the time
  • ask your parents to ask you questions about the time during the day
  • set your analogue alarm clock and use it to help you get up
  • use this link to help learn to tell the time to the nearest 30 minutes
  • use this link to help learn to tell the time to the nearest 15 minutes
  • use this link to help learn to tell the time to the nearest 5 minutes 
  • use this link to help learn to tell the time to the nearest 1 minute 
When you've mastered telling the time, work out differences between times.  Try this site for some practice.

Want a real challenge?  Try this NRICH problem.

Home Learning - Set on Thursday 14th March, 2012

This week we have been continuing to read Leon and the Place Between.

We've been learning how to use expanded noun phrases and adjectives to write descriptively. we've also been learning to write speech.

We will be writing our own version of Leon's journey from the moment he enters the place between.

 This week's home learning is to create a picture of the "Place Between". A copy of one of the pages from the book is shown here.  Please use A3 or A4 to draw, paint, collage, or use different media to create a picture of the world Leon visits.

Please hand in your home learning by 29th March.  Make sure that your artwork is named on the back, but please don't stick into your home learning books.

As you can see from this link, a theatre production of the book is being planned.  I wonder how they will create their imaginary world?

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Imaginary Worlds






We're about to journey into Imaginary Worlds.
Think of some of the stories you have read which are not set in the real world.
Which characters could you find in these worlds?
What kind of places do they live in?
Who are the heroes?
Who are the villains?
What kind of jobs would you need in these worlds for the fairy tales to be possible?

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Emma and Casey's answers

Here are the answers to the quiz from yesterday.

Some of the questions were opinion questions so the answer depends on you for them.

Thanks for the hard work Casey and Emma!

Answers for the questions.


1.      = B
2.      = 13th  ,may, 1787
3.      =  King George III
4.      =   midday
5.      =   1,305
6.      new south wales
7.      =    8 months 1 week
8.      =     port Jackson 
9.      =Sydney
10.     =     48
11.     =     yes
12.     =     1787
13.     =      yes
14.     =      yes
15.     =     C
16.     =     A
17.     =      No
18.     =      267

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Emma and Casey's quiz

Have a look at the quiz made by Casey and Emma.

Answers will be posted tomorrow!

1.      How many small wooden boats left Portsmouth on the first fleet?
A.      10
B.      11
C.      12

2.      What day, month and year did the small vessels leave on?
3.      Which king was his 17th year of his reign?
4.      What time did all the ships pass the needles?
5.      How many seamen, marines and convicts set sail?
6.      Where did they set sail to?
7.      How long did the voyage take?
8.      Which port did they weigh there anchor at?
9.      Where did they settle at?
10.     How many people died in the voyage?
11.     Was the journey successful?
12.     When did the first fleet leave?
13.     Did it travel any further than any other voyage?
14.     Did they carry any more people than any other voyage?
15.     Rounded to the nearest meter how short was the smallest ship?
a.      19 meters
b.      20 meters
c.      21 meters

16.     How long did it take to arrive at Botany Bay?
a.      8 months
b.      2 months
c.      5 months

17.     Were the ships designed to transport convicts to Australia?
18.      How many people loose in the 2nd   fleet?
19.     Do you think it was fair to travel convicts to Australia?
20.      How many times do you think they dropped the anchor?
21.      Do you think old people died quicker on the ship than the younger people?
22.       How many convicts do you think were sea sick?

23.       What supplies of food do you think they got and how much did they get?

24.      Do you think the convicts had their own cabins?
25.       What diseases do you think convicts got on the way to Australia?

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Hot water

Did you know what it means when we say someone is in hot water?

Look here to find out.

Today we were being systematic when we recorded what happened when we put hot water in a container in our classroom.

There was some fantastic science going on, great predicting, amazing recording and phenomenal cooperation!

...but why do hot things cool down to room temperature?

Look here for an explanation.

Answers as comments please.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Home Learning - Set on Friday 24th February, due in on Wednesday 7th March

We've been learning about area and perimeter.

This site has some really good practice activities for you to try:
http://www.matematicasdivertidas.com/Zonaflash/juegosflash/perimetros.swf

Your home learning is to carefully draw as many shapes as you can which have an area of 16 squared centimetres.  Label their width and their length.

Please:
use squared paper and a sharp pencil, use this link if you need more squared paper
make sure your lines are straight by using a ruler.

Extension 1: Red, orange, yellow and green maths groups should try to do this
Which shape has the biggest perimeter?
Which shape has the smallest perimeter?

Extension 2: Red and orange maths groups should try to do this
Investigate with shapes with an area of 20 squared centimetres.

Which shape has the biggest perimeter?
Which shape has the smallest perimeter?

Area and Perimeter

What is area?

What is perimeter?

What units do we use to measure area?

What units do we use to measure perimeter?

How do we measure the area of a rectangle?

How do we measure the area of a triangle?

Please leave your answer as a comment.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The First Fleet - the first convicts taken to Australia

We've been learning about timelines and have started to create timelines of Australian events.

Here is a link to a site which contains details of the convicts who were transported onboard the first fleet of ships to Australia which carried prisoners or convicts.

These facts have been put into a database so that we can easily search them.  They are not primary records - records which were made at the time, but are based on secondary sources - these were made after reading primary sources.

Primary sources are sometimes very difficult to read - see this one scanned here.  Handwriting was sometimes very different to our handwriting now.

The youngest convict was John Hudson.  How old was he when he was transported?

What age was he when he was charged with his crimes?

What was his occupation when he was arrested?

How many 14 year old convicts were there in the First Fleet?

If you are interested in finding out why convicts were sent all the way to Australia, then look here.

As always, please leave comments with your name.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Wild animals - food chains food webs and non fiction texts

We've been looking at Australian animals so far and have done some great research.

We're now going to use our skills of using information books and websites as well as our scientific skills of grouping animals (using keys) to make our own animal keys and food chain and food webs.

Remember that when you use these websites, you need to skim and scan...skim over the page for what it is about and scan for particular words you are looking for.

Keys
BBC Revisewise keys
RSPB

Information texts 
Not sure about what different parts of the Non fiction book are called?  Look here. or look below:

Food Chains and Webs 
Food Chains
General information and links to food chain sites
Make your own Australian food web
Fun with Food webs - drag and drop


Saturday, February 4, 2012

Coordinates

Do you know how to describe how you're moving?

Which words can you think of?

We can use coordinates to help...go here for some practice.


Want some help with area?  Here is a geoboard - but online.  Use it to help make shapes and then use the measure button to work out the areas and the perimeters.

Multiplying and Area

Have a look at this link for a great way of visualising multiplying and area.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_322_g_2_t_1.html?from=category_g_2_t_1.html
Home Learning in Sycamore Class Set on Friday 3rd February, due in on Wednesday 15th February

Dear Parents and Children, Brilliant home learning last time!
 Well done for all of the effort you put into it. 29 out of 33 children handed it in on time – a record!

 For home learning I would like you to write a poem which:
• Has Well-chosen words
• Includes descriptive writing – try to use adjectives, adverbs, similes and Metaphors if you can • carefully edited text with as few spelling mistakes ad possible
• is handwritten.

Use this checklist as you plan your writing, so that you can meet the objectives...then start getting creative!

You might want to write about an Australian theme, a cold weather poem, a poem about a day in your life, a poem about you’re a journey, a poem about a member of your family.

Here's a slideshow which might help you with similes and metaphors:

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Rochedale State School

Here is a link to our brand new link school!

 Rochedale State School

Here's a page from the school site with animal information.  Do you have any questions about the animals which aren't answered on their website?

Please leave as a comment.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Timelines

We use timelines to show events from the past.
Below is the start of a timeline which was made using classtools.net.  See if you can make your own timeline of your own life, or of a relative.

Share it with me by making your timeline, then clicking on the "cog" link at the bottom.  This will give you an embed code.  Copy this an then post it as a comment on the blog...I'll then post your link and show off your timeline.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

The First Fleet

The First Fleet of 11 British sailing ships dropped off 772 convicts on the shore of what is now Sydney on January 26, 1788.


Here is a list of the equipment they took with them:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Which European first landed on Australia?

Find out about James Cook here.

Have a go at a webquest...find out about life as a cabin boy

Why did he go?  Look here...there were two reasons...can you find them?
Who went on the trip with Cook?
How did they navigate?  Look here.
Want to find out more about hemispheres and latitude and longitude?  Go here
What was life like on board ship?
Here are some dates from Australia's history.
Here's a very detailed timeline of events.
Here is a brief description of where Cook went on his different expeditions.
On Cook's first expedition, he travelled with a man called Joseph Banks.  Look here for one of the letters he sent to his sister.  It's quite difficult to read.  Can you understand any of the words?
Here is a site which has links to typed up versions of many of the journals which were kept by Joseph Banks on his journeys as a scientist.
Why was the trip so important for science?
Here is a summary of Cook's journeys.
Look at the map below for the journey taken by Cook on his way around the world.
 c
Below is an image of the ship he used to travel to Australia:

Look here for some facts and figures about the Endeavour...what was her top speed?
Here is a painting of the HMS Endeavour just before the long journey to Australia.  What was the name of the ship before being used for the expedition?

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Words for said

Look at this wordle word art for synonyms for said.  Want some practice at using better words for said?  Go here.
Wordle: Said words

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Animal Adaptation

Adaptations mean that animals are well suited to their habitat.
Have a go at this game.  You've got to be quick to win.

Comment on three adaptations which help any of the animals mentioned in the game please!

Here is a quiz about adaptation.  The site is American; can you spot a word which has a different spelling to the UK way in the quiz?

How are beluga whales adapted to the cold temperatures of the Arctic?

Can you find the answer about plants and blubber?  It made me laugh.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Homophones - words which sound the same

Do you get stuck with there/their and they're? Have a look here, here or here to have some practice at choosing the right one.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Arctic Plants

Watch the video .  Which plants can survive in the Arctic?

Which flower manages to survive in the Arctic?  How has it adapted to survive in the crippling wind?


BBC Blue Planet

We are learning about habitats in science.  If you go to the science tab there are several links to good websites about habitats, both in Britain and in Australia, our main topic of the term.

Here is an amazing bbc site which helps you learn about the Habitat of the British coast.  It's set up as a game.

Let me know your scores by posting as a comment.

Here is another useful habitat site if you're interested in making a bug home.

What do you want to know about Australia?

Here are some of the things I want to find out about Australia:

How quickly did the population of Australia grow?  When did it reach 100,000?
What is the highest mountain?
How often is there snow?
What is school like compared to in Britain?

See if you can find the answers to these questions.

Try to think of some things you want to find out about Australia.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Home Learning Set on Friday 6th January, 2012

This week, we're really focussing on getting back into a reading habit.
Please make sure that you read for 20 minutes each night at least.

Write 3 or more comments into your reading records this week.

I'll collect in reading records on Friday to find out what you're reading.

Comments could:

  • recap the main events of the story
  • describe your favourite part
  • be a recommendation for a friend.  Why would they like it?


Thursday, January 5, 2012

Australian Animals

I'm sure you know about the kangaroo, wallabee and the emu, but do you know many more Australian animals? Do you know the type of place they live...their habitat?

Follow this link. Read the questions and then see if you can find the answers by researching using the links.

If you find any amazing facts then add them as comments. Good luck.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Stories from other cultures - Porpoise and the Kangaroo

Happy New Year!


I hope you all had a great break and Christmas and I look forward to a fantastic 2012...hope you do too!


We will be finding out about Aboriginal stories as part of our topic on Australia.  Follow this link for a puppet show and this one for a written version.


 Have a look below at the National Geographic for kids video of Aboriginal Rock art.






See you on Thursday for the first day of school.


If you have any information about Australia or Aborigine culture, try to bring it to school.