●       Practice this week’s spellings and common exception words using the type of activities we usually do in our spelling journals

●       read, read, read (try the e-books on Oxford Owl)

●       Numbots 

●       card games, board games or cookery

English:

This week we are going to use The Pirates Next Door to help in writing a story. This is much harder than you might think. There are so many things to think about at the same time - how the story is going to progress; using description to keep the interest of the reader (explaining what’s in the writer’s head - a tricky concept to appreciate that the reader doesn’t have the knowledge that the writer does); making sure each sentence makes sense; punctuating sentences (including capital letters); spelling; handwriting.... So the week is set up to help with some of that. By describing the boat, the children will be able to use what they write to feed into their story. By planning, they can know how they want their story to progress and have a clear beginning, middle and end. By editing after writing, they have chance to look back and check it makes sense and address spelling errors. It is quite tricky to add in full stops at this point, so when your child is writing their story it is important to support them in thinking of a sentence at a time.

I have included some word mats to help with vocabulary ideas and spellings which may be useful on days 2, 4 and 5.

Day 1: Look at the image of the Jolley-Rogers’ ship. Ask: How could we describe the ship? Write down (either you or your child could write) words and phrases to describe the boat to begin to build a word bank. Play the sounds of a boat on water (you could use this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNSGz1Zt0g0 start after about 30 seconds) – ask your child to close their eyes and imagine being there. Thinking about different senses, once again ask your child to describe what they can hear, what it feels like, etc and record words and phrases for the word bank. Ask: How could we describe the journey on a boat? Finally, ask your child to use the word bank they’ve created to write sentences describing the Jolley Rogers’ boat and what it’s like to travel on it.

Day 2: Look at the last page of the book again, especially the letter from Jim Lad to Tilda. Ask: When do you think he wrote it? How do you think Tilda will feel when she receives the letter? Imagine being Tilda, waiting on the wall and fishing for bottles with notes. Ask: How do you think she feels? How do you think she feels once she has got the letter from Jim Lad? What will she do? Will she want to go? Will her parents let her?

Explain that they will be writing a story on day 4 and that today they will plan it. Ask: What adventures might Tilda and Jim Lad have if she went on the boat with him? What might happen? Talk through any ideas your child has. If ideas are slow in coming, talk about how stories need something to happen, a problem (in The Pirate Next Door it was that they weren’t liked) which is sorted in the end (everyone liked them and missed them when they left). Perhaps Tilda and Jim Lad find something, go somewhere unusual, meet someone or something…

Once they have an idea, ask them to plan it out by drawing a story map (they’ve done these before), making sure they have a beginning (Tilda going on the boat - where they can use their descriptive writing and word bank from yesterday and how she feels from today's discussion), a middle (the problem) and an end (how the problem is resolved).

Day 3: Spelling investigation and spellings (included on the same sheet this week) – recapping and embedding our work on adding vowel suffixes

Day 4: Today they can write their story, but first use their story map to tell you their story. Encourage them to add detail - ask questions like, how did she feel, what did it look like, etc. In class, we often write parts of the story at different times, as writing for an extended period of time is tricky, so you may need to do this too. Ask them to write the beginning then take a break. They may then be able to write the middle. Again break and possibly write the end. Or you may want them to write those the following day. 

Day 5: You may want to use this session to complete the story from yesterday. If possible, it’s a good idea to spend some time editing - checking it makes sense, looking at spellings, etc.

Maths: 

Please use this link https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/spring-week-3-number-multiplication-and-division/ to the White Rose Home Learning for Year 2, Spring Week 3. 

This week we will begin to work on division. It is a tricky concept as it can be thought of as sharing or grouping. The sessions visit both separately and then on Day 5 there is a mix, which is done on the video with no additional worksheet. It would help if the children answered the questions on paper as they go. I have included some sharing and grouping questions for further practice. 

As ever, I have included the worksheets and the answers to these, so your child can have immediate feedback and I have included some challenge sheets to go with each day (and the answers). 

Science: 

This week’s science is to continue our exploration of Healthy Eating.

Use the Healthy Eating (2) PowerPoint to find out more about being healthy and a balanced diet. The PowerPoint includes a link to a game to recap last week’s work: http://archive.foodafactoflife.org.uk/Activity.aspx?siteId=14&sectionId=61&contentId=1853

It also explains the task. You can use the Healthy menu plan sheet to record the task on if you wish and the Eatwell Guide is there again to help you.

Learning Journey: 

Shipmates, we need to pack a healthy lunch to take aboard our ship and we need to have a strong and waterproof container to pack it in. 

Use A Pirate’s Packed Lunch PowerPoint to meet Pirate Paddy and find out how to design, make and evaluate your packed lunch container. 

There is an evaluating existing products sheet to help with the design process, but this could just be done on paper if you don’t want to print it.

This week, use the bbc bitesize website to continue your computer science journey and find how computers have changed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvsc7ty/articles/ztrq7ty

Hanwriting practice is about building muscle memory for how letters are formed which can be done though the standard copy handwriting practice, but, whilst it is an important way to practice, this can be seen as dull and boring. So I would suggest interspersing it with more 'fun' muscle memory skills (either way the importance needs to be on formation). Using coloured pencils or even felt tips or using a finger or stick in sand/flour/shaving foam to practise formation and joins. Giving handwriting practice a purpose - to write a note/letter, to write a shopping list, etc where the emphasis is on what each word looks like can also help. 

I have included a PowerPoint which demonstrates how to form individual letters, which can be used for reference or practice. 

There is also the cursive formation sheet which shows all the letters, grouped in letter families.

This week, the sheets focus on 'curly caterpiller letters' which are the letters based on a 'curl' where the curl comes first.