Category Archives: Homework

Sumdog

As P3-P7 now have access to Sumdog to support their learning in maths, and P2-P7 have it to support their learning in reading, P5 buddied up with P3/2 today to show them the wonders of Sumdog. The Primary 5s showed their buddy how to login, how to play some of the games, how to earn coins as well as explained how to get their first pet and how to decorate their Sumdog house.

Sumdog will be used to support learning in school, but can also be accessed at home where the children can complete challenges set by their class teacher. They can access this account at home by using the log in provided in their homework diary/book.

To access Sumdog, go to: https://www.sumdog.com

It’s Maths O’Clock in Primary 5!

 

Learning Intention: We are learning to tell the time on digital and analogue clocks (MNU 1-10a)

Success Criteria:
I can recognise and show time on analogue and digital clocks
I can answer simple problems involving time
I can talk about am and pm times

In Miss Sherlow’s maths class, we have started a new unit on time. We have been learning about how people use time in their daily lives, and now we are learning how to tell the time on both digital and analogue clocks. In our class today, we started by recapping some key time vocabulary- o’clock, quarter past, half past, quarter to, am and pm etc. We then discussed that the clock can be read in 5 minute intervals and used our knowledge of the 5 times tables to help with this. We used our counting stick to count up in 5 minute intervals starting at a variety of different times. We then played a game using our learning hats where we wrote a time secretly on a post it, then stuck it to our partners head. Each person had to guess what time they were given by asking questions e.g. is the hour even? Is the time before 5pm?

We then split into our groups:

1. Teaching table- we were learning to use am and pm times and write them as 24 hour times.
2. Sumdog group- Time Challenge.
3. Game group- Pass O’Clock– we set a clock at 3pm then flipped a coin. If we rolled a heads, we moved the time on 5 minutes. If we rolled a tails, we moved the time on 10 minutes. We had to read the time each time. First to 5 Hours- we rolled a dice 3 times with each dice showing how many lots of 5 minutes we had (e.g. a 3 would equal 3 lots of 5 minutes, so 15 minutes). When we reached 60 minutes, we received a counter. The winner was the first person to get 5 counters.

You can support your child’s learning at home by: asking your child to read the time from both digital and analogue clocks regularly; discussing time durations (e.g. how long it takes to walk to the shop, how long it would take to drive to your Granny’s house etc.) and by asking the difference between two times (e.g. how many minutes between 5.34pm and 6.03pm). You could also try making your own learning hats at home and challenging your child to guess the time.

We certainly measure up in Primary 5!

Learning Intention:
We are learning to estimate and measure items and then check to see how close I was – Length (MNU 2-11b, MNU 2-11a)

Success Criteria:
I can use the vocabulary and metric units of length
I can select and use appropriate equipment to measure the lengths of different items considering how accurate I need to be
I can choose and use suitable units to measure the lengths of items, converting when appropriate, and can present my answer
I can compare my measurement with my estimate to see if my answer was sensible

In our class maths lessons, we have been learning about different ways of measuring things, why you would measure and the instruments you can use to help you. This week, we focused on measuring length and created a list of the key vocabulary we might use, including longest, shortest, width, height, distance, centimeters, meters, millimetres and more… In our teaching group, we looked at the value of estimating and how this can help us, then we were given objects to guess the length, width and height of. We checked our answers using a variety of measuring instruments and even used decimal points when recording the measurements in meters and centimeters, or centimeters and millimeters. In our game group, we were challenged to measure different body parts, for example, the length from the tip of our thumb to our pinkie, or from one ear to the other. We also demonstrated our knowledge of measure using Sumdog, an activity that we can also work on at home.

An extra challenge: can you measure the length of some of the objects around your house and comment with your findings below?

Wonkatastic Roald Dahl Projects

Learning Intention: We are learning to use our research skills to answer the key questions about Roald Dahl that we have created
We are learning to present our findings in an interesting way

A successful personal project will include:

  • introduction
  • conclusion
  • bibliography
  • relevant facts/information

As a homework challenge, Primary 5, P5/4 and P4 were asked to think about 5 key questions they would like to find the answers to about the life and works of the famous author, Roald Dahl. We were given a month to complete this and, last week, we shared our findings with the class. In P5, we also used the new knowledge we learned to help us to write our script for our class assembly. We think it is fair to say, Roald Dahl lead a very interesting life!

For example, did you know that he could speak 3 languages- English, Norwegian and Swahili.

Did you know that during the Second World War at 23 years old, Roald joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot.

Did you know that Roald Dahl published 17 children’s books, 2 rhyme books, plus 2 autobiographies, 2 adult books, 51 adult short stories and more.

Did you know that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was recently voted number one in the top 100 fiction books all children should read before leaving primary school.

Did you know that the inspiration for Willy Wonka’s infamous Inventing Room came from being a taster for the famous chocolate making company, Cadbury’s.

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P4-7 Parent Drop In: Using ICT to Support Homework

Thank you to all of you who attended the 4-7 parent drop in session, looking at how to use ICT to support learning at home.

If you were unavailable to attend you will find out more information by clicking below:

Sum Dog

Purple Mash

Here is the feedback from those who attended:

Tickled Pink:

  • It was excellent to see SumDog and to know more about Purple Mash. Both will be good learning tools made fun for the children.
  • Sum Dog and Purple Mash both look like fun programmes for learning.

Sum Dog:

  • My child loves it can use it independently.
  • They have never been so keen to do maths homework before this.
  • Likes to compete with friends.
  • Quick, fast, keeps the mind ticking.
  • Feels like a game.
  • Can do it on their own, therefore it doesn’t seem like homework.
  • Instructions really clear and formative.
  • I now understand what Sum Dog does.
  • Excellent way for them to learn in a fun way.

Purple Mash:

  • Really caught their imagination.
  • My child loves it.
  • Great that they can use it independently.
  • Looks like a great tool. Many thanks to Anna for her clear explanation.

Green for Growth:

  • Purple Mash can have some aspects that are quite difficult
  • Would be good to have written work to back up Sum Dog
  • Clearer instructions of what homework is and what is ‘nice to do’

Homework: Using Purple Mash at home to support literacy and numeracy

All pupils will soon have a Purple Mash login in their reading records or homework diary. Purple Mash helps develop literacy and numeracy skills in relevant and engaging ways whilst promoting ICT skills.

You can find out more about Purple Mash by clicking here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxDWPUZVSNc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahKiZpM_H_0

Pupils can log into Purple Mash using their logon through the following link: https://www.purplemash.com/sch/midcalder-EH53

Homework: Sum Dog

As you know pupils in P5-7 have a Sum Dog login, Sum Dog helps develop pupils numeracy skills by asking them mathematical questions (related to what they have been learning in class) and also helps to develop accuracy and speed. Pupils should be encouraged to use their log in at home through the Sum Dog website or by downloading the Sum Dog app to your device.

If your child is in P1-4 you can create them a Sum Dog account.

For more information visit:

http://www.sumdog.com/en/parents/

 

Growth Mindsets- Information for parents

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference.

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

Please see the links below for further information and tips on how to help your child to develop a growth mindset.

https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset-parents

https://www.mindsetworks.com/webnav/parenttips.aspx