The next 2 weeks we are focussing on story building following a similar plan to the building of our Egyptian story. We remember how it took a long time to craft our story. A good story is like a curry. You can’t make it in a hurry! You have to have all the correct ingredients. You have to taste it as you go, adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that. You have to let it simmer and bubble until you’ve made something that lots of people will enjoy. Anyone hungry now? You know Mrs O always like to use food as similes and metaphors!

THEME AND SETTING

First of all decide on the theme of your story. Is it an adventure story? A mystery? A funny story? A spooky tale? A sporting story?

Decide next on the setting of your story. A castle? Space? Spooky house?  Have a look at Pobble to inspire an idea for a theme and setting.

https://www.pobble365.com/

And check out BBC Bitesize for some more info on setting

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zytbrdm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxtyrd/articles/zbgmmfr

CHARACTER

Think about who the stars of your story are going to be. Remember not to have too many characters as you can lose track of them. Draw your characters in detail and add adjectives to remind you of the type of character they are – kind, scary, cunning, magical….

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxtyrd/articles/z49hhbk

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zqf32nb

PLANNING PICTURE

Remember we planned our stories out in a few different ways? We drew a big picture with all our ideas of what could happen. Some of them we used and some of them we didn’t. It helped us be creative.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zqmkh39

STORY MOUNTAIN

We also built a story mountain so we could structure our stories clearly. Click the link for more information and climb your mountain!

Now you have some clear ideas, you can give your story a title. You could always change it if your plan changes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfxtyrd/articles/zhh992p

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zwmt4qt

COMIC STYLE

Another method we used was creating the beginning, middle and end of our story in comic book style. It helped us focus on the main events, the plot twists and how any dangers or problems were fixed. Why not give that a go?

VCOP THINK BOARD

Remember the importance of drawing the reader in with a fantastic opener. Describe the setting. Introduce a character. Don’t just jump into the action. Build up the suspense. Remember the importance of vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation. Create an image with a simile, weave a magic spell with your wonderful words! Add excitement with an adverb! In class we created a think board of all our VCOP ideas so we didn’t forget them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfkk7ty/articles/z9tkxfr

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zfkk7ty/articles/zq4c7p3

FIRST DRAFT

Now you have gone through all the planning stages it’s time to get writing that first draft. Remember there should be a beginning, a build up, a problem or a challenge, a fix to the problem and an ending.

We used a lot of BBC 500 word resources. Here is a link. If you download the teacher/parent resource pack you will find lots of help and printables to create your story.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/J5GH9skxCc1ngyT5GWqYlj/learning-resources

EDIT AND FINAL COPY

Once you have written your story, read it over carefully to see if you can improve it. All authors have to proof read and edit!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpccwmn/articles/zpyhtyc

Finally, why not add a front cover to your story and add illustrations?

Good luck with your story challenge. You can email me a copy if you like or get someone to take a photo of the author at work!

Remember you have 2 weeks to write your story so take your time.

Multiplication Monday

We had been learning to use repeated addition and arrays to solve multiplication problems. Try these problems

Finlay has six packets of stickers. There are five stickers in each packet. Make or draw an array to show the problem.

How many stickers does he have altogether?

Isla plants some bulbs in the garden. Work out how many bulbs she has planted for each example. You can draw or make an array. Try to write your answer as a repeated addition sentence and as a multiplication sentence.

for example

3 rows of 2  is the same as 2+2+2   and 3×2 So she’s planted 6 bulbs.

4 rows of 10                   5 rows of 5                     2 rows of 3

Finally can you work out how many bulbs she’s planted altogether? You can include my example in your calculation.

Good morning P4! Hope you are well. Happy Star Wars Day! I’m working in the Tayview Hub this week so I won’t be posting on the blog. This week you should complete the next unit of Get Spelling if that applies to you and do some active spelling activities, sentence writing and check out spelling games on topmarks.

Try some creative writing inspired by the pictures on Pobble or answers some of the related questions. Or use Once Upon a Picture to inspire your story writing.

https://www.onceuponapicture.co.uk/

https://www.pobble365.com/

Keep up to date with your daily RWI lesson too if that applies.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo7fbLgY2oA_cFCIg9GdxtQ

Scroll to last week’s activities to make sure you covered as much of that as you can. Remember to check out Oxford Owl, Dundee Science Centre, Glasgow Science Centre and all the other websites mentioned previously. This week is Body Week at Dundee Science Centre so have a look.

https://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/gsc-at-home

https://www.dundeesciencecentre.org.uk/body-bits-week

https://www.themathsfactor.com/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/dailylessons

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/books/free-ebooks/

http://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/spookySpellings/index.html

I’ve put a maths challenge on Sumdog if you want to have a go.

VE DAY – Friday 8th May 2020 is the 75th anniversary of VE Day – the end of the Second World War in Europe. You can learn more on the link below.

https://www.historyforkids.net/ve-and-vj-days.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749

https://glowscotland-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/ddcoglesby911_glow_sch_uk/EWqlkwR4T8FNmScyDBF8UfcBqkoxK54UJfA7KBKINZCJYw?e=8SWpdQ

Above you will see a link to a maths calendar for May. Some stuff we were covering in this term but have a go at it!

Also on Friday we would have been on holiday, so feel free to have a chill out day!

Have a good week!

Mrs O

Do a Daily 10 to check your tables then repeat it to see if you can beat it.

Make sure you are up to date with your Get Spelling unit. Ask someone to give you a spelling check. RWI ask someone to give you a spelling check on Green words of your choice and some Red words from your list.

Check out some fun star gazing tips on the link below

https://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/gsc-at-home/coming-soon

If you’ve enjoyed Space Week at Dundee Science Centre, why not enter their competition?

https://www.dundeesciencecentre.org.uk/competition-of-the-week

You have till 4pm to complete your Sumdog challenges!

How are your leaflets/posters for your favourite Dundee tourist attraction coming along? You can email a pic if you like!

Numeracy – all groups. Click the link. Choose a times table sheet to challenge yourself with. You don’t need a printer, just do the work in your jotter or on a piece of paper.

https://www.timestables.co.uk/worksheets/

Literacy

Make sure you are up to date with your Get Spelling unit and all the literacy activities you have been set.

RWI children, do your daily lesson on YouTube and/or practise your speed sounds and words from your folder

Have you had a go at Sumdog spelling?

Go to the webpage of a well known local tourist attraction Read the information and create a leaflet or a poster to advertise the attraction. You’ll need to include location, what people can see there, how much it costs. Maybe you could redesign the logo or create a mascot Use your imagination!

Science

https://www.dundeesciencecentre.org.uk/space-week

Catch up with yesterday’s astronaut chat and then learn about the International Space Station.

Get Spelling – Use 5 of your spelling words in 5 super sentences. Don’t forget VCOP!

RWI – tune in to your daily lesson on YouTube

I’d like everyone who hasn’t had a go at their Sumdog spelling to give it a go if they can! Anyone who wants to do their castle drawing and sent it to me with a factfile can do that too if they want. Thank you Teya for your lovely picture and information.

Numeracy – Do a Daily 10 on Topmarks .

Practise saying your tables while doing an exercise like jogging on the spot, bouncing a ball, doing squats – get mind and body working together!

Have a go at your Sumdog challenge.

Science

This week is Space Week with Dundee Science Centre. Click the link for some really interesting activities from Monday and Tuesday.

https://www.dundeesciencecentre.org.uk/space-week

Today you can see a real NASA astronaut and hear him talk about his missions.

Literacy

Get spelling children – use some of your words from this week’s unit in some Active Spelling activities like pyramid writing, rainbow writing, bubble writing etc.

Then try this spelling game.

http://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/spookySpellings/index.html

RWI children – tune into YouTube for your daily lesson.  Then do this proof read in your jotter.

i  lik to go on the swings in the parc

numeracy

cubes and cylinders – Try this word problem.

Finlay and Jane are seeing who can bounce the ball the most times. Finlay manages 148 bounces. Jane manages 396 bounces!  How many more bounces did Jane manage? Jane is aiming for 500 bounces. How many more does she need?

pyramids – lets practise yesterday’s think boards again with these problems,

Isla has 19 straws and some bottles. She puts one straw in each bottle and has 3 straws left. How many bottles does Isla have?

Jess has 25 red beads and 18 blue beads. How many more red beads does she have?

Sumdog – remember there is  a numeracy and spelling challenge on Sumdog if you want to take part.

RBS are launching live Facebook and YouTube lessons for children today. Go to Royal Bank of Scotland on Facebook for the link.

11.30-12 ages 5-8 Todays lesson is on coins and notes

12-12.30 – ages 8-12 Todays lesson is on budgeting

Today there is a new Sumdog skills challenge beginning and it runs until Friday at 4pm.

There is also a spelling challenge running until Friday at 4pm for all literacy groups.

Get Spelling children should continue with wherever they left off in their spelling workbook. Try to do a unit a week if you can.

RWI children should tune into YouTube for their daily lesson. Scroll down for the link.

As we are doing a mini topic about Dundee, why not have a look this week at the V&A’s design challenge. The first challenge is on the website but every Wednesday a new challenge is announced through calling a freephone number. The details are on the link.

https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/info/design-busters

In numeracy,try Hit the Button to test your times table knowledge. Its a game of speed. We really enjoyed playing this in class!

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Cubes and cylinders – Try this 2 step problem.  Remember the importance of showing your working as you go,

P4 are raising money for charity. Their sponsored spell raises £346 and the cake and candy raises £138. How much more money do they still have to make to reach their target of £650?

Pyramids- Think boards. Draw a picture, create a bar model (part, part, whole) and write a number sentence for these problems. The picture helps us represent and solve the problem! I’ve put an example in a photo.

There are 18 cups and 11 saucers. How many cups won’t have a saucer?

There are 15 children in the gym. Miss Burke gives each child a ball and has 5 balls left over. How many balls are there?

Well here we are again at another Friday!

Today you can choose between any of the activities of the week that you haven’t got to yet – scroll through our blog to remind yourself.

Why not use today to ask someone at home to give you a spelling check or a times tables check? Check in with Sumdog if you like, choose a game on Topmarks Maths or timestables.co.uk.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

https://www.timestables.co.uk/

Mrs Brankin found this fun activity to say thank you to our hard working posties. Have a look if you like.

https://www.royalmail.com/thumbsup?iid=HP_M4_THUMBSUP

why not go on http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/index.html

and do some research on a subject of your choice? We used this site lots for our work on rainforests and Ancient Egypt.

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/ is my daughter’s favourite site. Have a look and learn something new.