This afternoon we continued our Growth Mindset Learning by reading the story of Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae.

Gerald the giraffe longs to dance, but his legs are too skinny and his neck is too long. At the Jungle Dance, the warthogs waltz, the chimps cha-cha, and the lions tango. “Giraffes can’t dance,” they all jeer when it’s Gerald’s turn to prance. But with some sound advice from a wise cricket, Gerald starts swaying to his own sweet tune.

We talked about how we feel when we try something new and can’t do it yet. Although it can be an uncomfortable feeling, it is helpful to remember that with practice, the new skill will become easier.  It is important that we challenge ourselves even if we feel uncomfortable because when we challenge ourselves we enter the ‘learning zone’. We talked about the importance of keeping trying even if things don’t go well at first.  Sometimes it might take longer to learn something new than you thought or you might need to try different strategies. It is more important to spend time understanding rather than racing to complete work quickly.

 

Homework tasks this week

Growth Mindset Homework-

Talk to someone at home about areas of learning you find tricky? How does it make you feel? Have you ever taken shortcuts such as avoiding the task or cheating?  Talk about how avoiding challenge can prevent you from learning something new. Who could you speak to when you are feeling challenged?  What could you say to yourself or to a friend to encourage yourself or them to keep trying? There is no need to record this formally.

Book Week Scotland Homework

This is Book Week Scotland 2019. The children will receive a Read Write Count Bag next week with ideas to develop literacy and maths skills and books we will look at in class this week.  For homework, please help your child to think about a book they would recommend. Please fill in the sheet together (just 1 side although it was photocopied on two sides in error!).  There will be an opportunity for children to share their recommendations/reviews during the week beginning 25.11.19.

 

Reading– core reader (reading book);

 

Spelling– spelling pattern oa and common words (him, her, our, us)

 

Please encourage your child to:

Say the word   e.g. boat

Break it into the sounds e.g. b-oa-t (3 sounds)

Blend it- b..oa…t.(stretching out each sound)

Write it (whilst covering the word)

Check it (against the written format)

 

If possible tackle one column of spelling on 2 different nights. An active spelling grid is in the front cover of the literacy homework jotter. You should pick one to try on a third night.

There will be a spelling dictation on Friday this week.

Maths-There is no new maths task in recognition of the Growth Mindset and Book Week Scotland tasks.

 

Thanks for your support with homework.

Ms Crawford