There will be a change to the spelling format this week.  Instead of having free choice there will set tasks for spelling.  The reason for this is that some children in class are scoring incredibly low in their test.  An acceptable score is no less than 8 and while some children are maintaining that or higher, there are too many consistently scoring lower.  For your ten spelling words, you need to:

write each word out 3 times at the front of your homework jotter -please ensure that you put a date

put a traffic light next to each word using coloured pencil or felt tip in relation to how easy or difficult you find it

choose 5 or more words to include in a sensible paragraph/short story

ask someone at home to test you by asking you to spell each word aloud.  don’t move onto the next word until you have mastered the one you are on  – do this at least once per night

For maths, there are 3 games you need to play on Studyladder which will be focusing on mental addition.

If you are interested, then you may want to do a bit of research on Beethoven, the composer of the piece you are currently learning to play on the glockenspiel, ‘Ode to Joy’.

The spelling words for this week are as follows:

Green and Yellow

peculiar

popular

popularity

possible

possibility

probable

probability

separate

separately

therefore

Red

washing

wander

watching

squash

quarrel

quality

quantity

warm

wardrobe

towards

The news reporters this week are Iliya and Jessica Parker.

Last week Olivia brought us a fascinating story about how pigeons are being fitted with a special device to help scientists understand where pollution from cars, and so on, ends up.  Aahron was also very knowledgeable when he told us the story about Barcelona defeating Paris St-Germain and getting through to the quarter finals.

A massive well done to all of you boys and girls.  You sang absolutely beautifully at both Disney shows.  You have had some big compliments from staff in the school about how you expertly used sign language in the chorus of ‘You’ll be in my heart’.  A special mention also to Georgia and Mason who sang ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in French at the opening of the show.  It was most impressive

Mrs Duffy is very proud of you all!

Our news reporters this week are Aahron and Olivia.

Last week Erica brought us an interesting story about how little sleep an African elephant needs in comparison to humans and cats!

Homework this week is spelling and maths.  For maths, we are trialling a new website called Studyladder.  You all have your own username and password which has been given to you on a laminated card.  There are 3 activities that you need to do and they all focus on Place Value.  Mrs Duffy will be able to see when you accessed the activities, how long you spent on them and what your score was.  The spelling words for this week are as follows:

Green and Yellow:

enough

heart

interest

island

knowledge

notice

possess

possession

possible

possibility

Red – words with ‘ey’ making the ‘ee’ sound

keys

donkey

chimney

honey

hockey

jockey

kidney

money

alley

abbey

Our news reporters this week are Andrew and Erica.

Last week Carly brought us a funny story about a carnival which takes place on Copacabana beach in Rio where the main attraction is dogs dressed up in fancy dress.  Lewis Loughery brought us a story about a young boy who decided to shun the X Factor and pursue his dreams for music in another way.

Homework this week is spelling, a whole school World Book Day task (a separate sheet has been issued for this) and a reading aloud task.

For the reading task I would like you to read a chapter, or a few chapters, of a book of your own choice to someone at home.  Use the recording grid to assess your reading alongside the person who listened to you.

The spelling words are as follows:

Green and Yellow

actual

actually

consider

considerable

important

eight

eighth

ordinary

particular

different

Red  – words with ‘o’ as ‘u’

mother

brother

other

Monday

wonder

son

some

love

above

shove

Our news reporters this week are Carly Christie and Lewis Loughery.

Last time, Zach presented us with a fascinating story about the first ever robot and Lucy gave us some interesting information about the Winter Olympics in 2018.  Well done, we enjoyed listening to you both.

Homework this week is 2 maths worksheets based on number sequences, spelling and a reading challenge.  For the reading challenge, access the following website which relates to our Scottish Wars of Independence topic:

http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/plague.html

Read the section which begins ‘Have you ever heard the nursery rhyme……….’ and fill out the next page in your Reading Passport.  For those who have lost theirs, just use a notepad.  The sections you need to complete are Book Title (which would be The Plague), Author (the name of the website), the date you read it, your star rating out of 5 and What you thought of it (summarise what you learned and your opinion of the piece).  Also, think about the reading challenge you set yourself on p.4 of your Reading Passport.  Have you stuck to it? Make a comment underneath and try to come up with a second reading challenge for yourself.  Fill it out underneath your first one on p.4.

The spelling words are as follows:

Green and Yellow:

accident

accidentally

arrive

arrival

complete

forward

heard

extreme

bicycle

mention

Red:  Adding ‘ing’, ‘er’ and ‘ed’ to words with a short vowel sound

running

chatted

drummer

nodding

tapping

sobbing

shopped

wrapped

hummed

slipping

Our news reporters this week are Zach Gillan and Lucy McInroy.

Last week Lewis Harris brought us a really interesting story about how most people are overfeeding their cats and instead of feeding them two big meals a day, we should give them five smaller meals as it makes them more active and healthy.  Kiera also told us of an amazing story about a young girl called Anya who is impressing everyone with her climbing skills and it is possible that she will compete in the next Olympics.