Help with Literacy

Scroll down this page to learn about:

The rules for making plurals

Homophones like

to, too and two
there, they’re and their
its and it’s

Doing the jumbled words questions in NWE.

The importance of context.

Silent letters.

Handwriting.

Contractions like ‘who’s’

The difference between ‘whose’ and ‘who’s’

The 8 parts of speech:
Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Adjectives, Pronouns, Interjections, Prepositions and Conjunctions

Brainteasers are available HERE and help with Maths can be found HERE.

Rules for Making Plurals

  1. A quick run through

2. Simple plurals: Adding -s and -es

Revision of this rule

3. Plurals: Words ending in -y and exceptions to this rule.

Revision of this rule

4. Rules for plurals – revision and words ending in -f

Revision of this rule

5.Rules for plurals – revision and words ending in -o

6.Rules for plurals – revision, irregular plurals and plurals that are the same as the singular.

Revision of plural rules

Homophones 1: to, too and two

Homophones are words that sound the same but that have different spellings and meanings.
These are tricky words like

to

too

two

Let’s put our learning into practice:

And here are some follow up videos so you can go back over what you have learned.

Remember don’t click on any ads or links.

And a little more revision

You might like to finish off with this catchy song about the Homophone Monkey.

Homophones 2: there, they’re and their

Homophones are words that sound the same but that have different spellings and meanings.
These are tricky words like

there

they’re

their

 

You Tube is a portal to the whole wide world.

Please supervise your children when they are online.

To finish I thought you would like this Go Noodle video clip

on the tricky words: by, buy and bye 🙂

New Wave English: Working out the jumbled up word questions: hints and practice.

One of the questions in New Wave English in practice that children can find challenging is where there are jumbled up words that they have to put in the correct order to make a word.

 

These words are in sentences. So putting the word in the context of the sentence is very helpful when trying to work out what the jumbled up word is.

 

Because of that I would like to recommend a number of short videos that teach what context is – and how one can guess the meaning of a word when reading.

But first here is an instructional video with some hints for working out jumbled up words.

Here are some videos about working out context when reading.

Remember, the internet is a portal to the world wide web.

Please supervise your children online.

Silent Letters

Do you know why some letters are silent in reading?

This is an interesting video that tells you why.

Learning about silent letters will help you with

your reading and writing,

and when you are doing your exercises in New Wave English.

Here is an instructional video about ‘silent letters’:

And here is a chance to practise what you have learned:

Finally a video about ‘silent e’.

Hints for even better handwriting

We are seeing great improvements in handwriting while you are working at home.

We think this is because of the encouragement you are getting from your teacher at home to write well.

Here is are some hints to make your handwriting even better.

Here is a handy checklist to help you improve your handwriting.

What do you do well? What could you improve?

Make a resolution that this term your writing is going to be

the best you possibly can make it!

 

Yes

No

Handwriting joined up

 

 

Writing all the same height

 

 

Equal spaces between words

 

 

Writing all sloping the same way

 

 

Writing looks grown up

 

 

Letters all formed the right way

 

 

Writing easy to read

 

 

Straight margins and lines. Ruler used

 

 

We hope you find this advice helpful. 

The handwriting in 3rd class is getting better and better.

Keep up the great work and avoid the rollercoaster

at least when you are handwriting.

Instructional Videos: Contractions and the difference between ‘whose’ and ‘who’s’

Repetition when teaching and learning helps.

Though 3rd class are finding

knowing difference between ‘whose’ and ‘who’s’ easier now,

after the midterm break it might be good to revise.

Here are some instructional videos that go back over what we learned before.

This one gives the opportunity to practice what we learned:

Here are the answers:

As well as these instructional videos,

there are other videos on You Tube that teach about
the difference between ‘who’s’ and whose,
and contractions like ‘who’s’.

Remember, the internet is a portal to the world wide web.

Please supervise your children online.

Some of these you may have seen before and some are new.


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And another short instructional video. 

English: Help with the tricky stuff from the work children are doing: Verbs and other parts of speech

Dear Parents,

Sometimes questions are asked in New Wave English about parts of speech.

Further down the page are some online activities for learning about and revising parts of speech

like nouns, adjectives and verbs.

But first, let’s go back over what they are:

NOUNS

Jorgeduardo / Pixabay

nouns = naming words

Nouns are the name of a person, place or thing

e.g. Superman, Greystones and spaceship

Superman, Greystones and spaceship are all nouns or naming words

The rule of thumb we use when first teaching nouns is:

If you can take a photo of it, it is a noun.

Simon / Pixabay

Here is a video about nouns:

 

ADJECTIVES

perianjs / Pixabay

adjectives = a describing word

e.g. brave Superman, beautiful Greystones, speedy spaceship

Brave, beautiful and speedy are all adjectives.

They describe the nouns.

Click HERE to see a short video that teaches about adjectives

VERBS

anaterate / Pixabay

verbs = action words

Superman flies. We live in Greystones. The spaceship whizzed by.

In these sentences, flies, live and whizzed are all verbs or action words.

Click HERE to see a short video that explains what verbs are.

 

Here are FIVE online activities to practice nouns, adjectives and verbs.

1.

Click on the this link for the BALLOON NOUN GAME

2.

Click on this link to play the same game but this time about BALLOON VERB GAME

3.

Click HERE to practice both nouns and verbs.

See what happens the monkey gets ten scoops of icecream in a row!

You can play three  in different ways: Nouns only, Verbs only or both Nouns and Verbs

4.

Click HERE to practice different parts of speech.

Untick the boxes leaving just nouns and verbs to practice them.

To play stop the asteroids from crashing into the planet.

5.

Click HERE for Word Shark a game that goes back over Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs

 

Finally this short video goes back over Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs just to make sure you remember what they are.

 

We hope this helps you learn about Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs.

What was your favourite game for learning about Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs?

If you let us know we will see if we can find more like it.

How about a break ?

Lepale / Pixabay

Hello again,
Here are the seven chapters of ‘The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark’ for the children who are answering questions on it for me. This work is for children who are working with me on Literacy – and is optional. Remember I am here to help.

Chapter 1 https://vimeo.com/410338545

Chapter 2 https://vimeo.com/412839836

Chapter 3 https://vimeo.com/412895127

Chapter 4  https://vimeo.com/414964789

Chapter 5 https://vimeo.com/415385837

CLICK HERE for Chapter 6 https://vimeo.com/417479559

 

You know in order to read fluently not to read like a robot 😉

Gymnastics for the Brain.

The Class Story on Class Dojo was getting a little confusing with all the brain teasers. Sometimes it was hard to see the class teacher’s school work. So you will find the brain teasers here instead:

20 Questions. The answers are below.

  1. Q: What gets wetter the more it dries? 
  2. Q: A cowboy rode into town on Tuesday.  He stayed in town for three days and rode out on Tuesday.  How was that possible? 
  3. Q:  What has to be broken before you can use it? 
  4. Q:  What belongs to you but is used more by others? 
  5. Q:  What goes up and never comes down? 
  6. Q:  I’m full of keys but I can’t open any door.  What am I? 
  7. Q:  I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest man can’t hold me for more than 5 minutes.  What am I? 
  8. Q:  Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday? 
  9. Q:  Jimmy’s mother had three children.  The first was named April, the next was named May.  What was the name of the third child? 
  10. Q:  What kind of coat can only be put on when wet? 
  11. Q:  What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in one thousand years? 
  12. Q:  What runs, but never walks, often murmurs – never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats? 
  13. Q:  What gets sharper the more you use it? 
  14. Q:  If I have it, I don’t share it.  If I share it, I don’t have it.  What is it? 
  15. Q: What word is spelled wrong in every dictionary? 
  16. Q: What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?
  17. Q: What do the numbers 11, 69, and 88 all have in common?
  18.  Q: I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
  19. Q: If you multiply me by any other number, the answer will always remain the same. What number am I?
  20. Q: What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

Answers to the 20 Questions

  1. A towel
  2. Tuesday was the name of his horse.
  3. An egg.
  4. Your name.
  5. Your age.
  6. A piano.
  7. Breath.
  8. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
  9. Jimmy of course!
  10. A coat of paint.
  11. The letter M.
  12. A river.
  13. Your brain.
  14. A secret.
  15. The word “wrong!”
  16. A glove.
  17. They read the same right side up and upside down.
  18. Seven (take away the ‘s’ and it becomes ‘even’).
  19. Zero.
  20. The word is ‘short’.

Brainteaser for Friday 12th February 2021

Name these Disney characters

Brainteaser for Thursday 11th February 2021

The Brown family lives in an wooden bungalow in deep in the woods. Their whole house is made of wood. Everything is made of wood! What are the stairs made of? Click HERE for the answer.

Brainteaser for Wednesday 10th February 2021

How much earth is there in a hole

5 metres long,

3 metres wide

and 8 metres deep?

Click HERE for the answer.

Brainteaser for Tuesday 9th February 2021

This one just takes a little thinking about.

How many numbers between one and hundred have ‘A” in their spelling?

HERE is the answer.

Brainteaser for Monday 8th February 2021

What is the next letter in this sequence; O T T F F S S E N _ ? 

Because of the practice you have had with sequences of letters,

you should find this easy I hope.

The answer is HERE

Brainteaser for Friday 5th February 2021

Some months have 30 days in them. Others have 31. How many have 28?

Think about it…

 

Think about it again…

 

Think about it some more…

 

Click HERE for the answer.

Brainteaser for Thursday 4th February 2021

After yesterday you should find the next brain teaser easier.

What is the next letter in this sequence? J F M A M J J A _ ? 

You will find the answer HERE

Brain teaser for Wednesday 3rd February, 2021

What letter is missing in this sequence; M T W T _ S S ?

tigerlily713 / Pixabay

You can find the answer HERE

Brain teaser for Tuesday 2nd February, 2021

  1. Joe’s mother had five children. The first was named Jane, the second was named June, the third was named Jean, the fourth was named James. What was the fifth child named?
  2. The more there is, the less you see. What is it?
  3. What colour are peacock’s eggs?
  4. What gets more wet while it dries?
  5. It’s as light as a feather, but the strongest person can’t hold it for more than five minutes. What is it?

Click HERE for the answers.

Brain teaser for Monday 1st February, 2021

To be successful in this brainteaser you will have to ‘think outside the box. This means you will have to think in a creative or original way. It would help if you tried this on a sheet of paper.

Click HERE for the anwer.

Brain teaser for Friday 29th January, 2021

I can tell you it is fairly straightforward, not as hard as yesterday.

To find the answer Click on this link

This is the fourth and the last Stroop Test I have for you.

I have been told this is the one people find most challenging.

Good luck.

 

Click on THIS link if you want to see the three other stroop tests from this week:

  • the colours,
  • the animals
  • and the shapes.

Brainteaser for Thursday 28th January, 2021

Well done to everyone who spotted the typo. 

Yes the numbers were fine.

But there was a typo in the question asked.

Reading it quickly, it looked like it said:

‘Can you find the mistake?’

But in fact it read:

‘Can you find the the mistake?’

Brainteaser for Wednesday 27th January, 2021

Click HERE for the answers.

Brainteaser for Tuesday 26th January, 2021

Click HERE for the answers.

Do check back every day to see

the new gymnastics for the brain that we have for you.

 

 

The Stroop Effect

Here are all four of the Stroop Tests that were on Class Dojo this week.

Which one did you find most challenging?

THE STROOP EFFECT was discovered in the 1930s by John Ridley Stroop.
The test involves saying the colour of a word, rather than reading the word itself.
Your brain must deal with the two conflicting pieces of information
This slows down reaction speed
and so requires careful thought to do.
It’s great brain training!
How fast were you?
Now try this one. Call out the name of the animal. Do not read the word.

Now try it with shapes. Again call out the shape you are seeing and the colour it is.

Do not read the labels.

Finally we are back to the colours but this time can you read the words?

 

 

Maths: Help with the tricky stuff from the work children are doing: tables, clock time, early division, rounding off

Dear Parent

We are uploading some activities here that your child may find helpful.

They are based on work being done in Maths this week and last,

particularly where children or their parents said they were finding them tricky.

So far the following has come up for mention as posing challenges:

  • Angles
  • Tables
  • Clock time
  • Early division
  • Rounding off

The following are all optional and need only be used, over time if you feel they would help your child. I am posting these today, so you can plan for their possible use next week.

  • I would suggest if next week your child has a problem with any of these areas in maths, they just dip in to the page and watch a video or try an activity.
  • Alternatively you could take a theme at a time and do some revision work on tables, clock time, early division or rounding off using the videos and activities on this page.

Tables

The children have been doing very well at their tables. However it is the trickier tables like 7s and 8s that are posing challenges. Thank goodness for the tricks for learning the pattern of 9.

I wonder if these You Tube videos would help.

Remember, the internet is a portal to the world wide web.

Please supervise your children online.

As an adult helping children to learn their tables, I always found it interesting that 144 number facts can be reduced to 24. Just to note that the following video may be of more interest to grown ups teaching tables than the children. Also this video is more about ‘memory aids’ you can use to learn number facts than maths. But every little helps.

As a teacher and a parent I have often noticed that children get so used to a familiar voice, sometimes the novelty in someone else’s voice is enough to hold their attention longer than it would listening to a person they know well.

I think watching someone their own age rattling off the tables on You Tube is motivating for children. It gives them something to work towards.

This child for example giving tips for nine times tables.


Here is another trick for learning nines:

Pity there are so many tricks for learning the other tables.

So back to our original young teacher with his take

on learning eight times tables.

An awareness and appreciation of patterns in number work

helps children learn and love maths.

Clock Time

There have been two kinds of clock time

in the New Wave Mental Maths exercises

 

e.g. 10.55 is the same as 5 to 11

If you scroll down the page there are two videos from last week

about this kind of sum.

 

We noticed that some children were finding converting

  • hours to minutes
  • and minutes to hours tricky.

 

We will give that talented young man (Akash Vukoti) a rest

so here are two short instructional videos

that show how hours are converted to minutes:

and how minutes are converted to hours:

Early Division

Moneyville is a maths activity that has maths games for 2nd and 3rd approximately.

There is a run in, to the activity in terms of choosing the child choosing the character they would like to be.

Once a child does this and gets into Moneyville they can visit the farm which is the red building at the bottom left hand corner. On the farm there is an activity that practices division. Activities like this teaches children division as sharing:

Click HERE for Moneyville

While you are in Moneyville do call over to the island across the bridge in the top right hand corner. There is an activity there, where your child can budget for a year for a family. I know from school, that children find this enjoyable. They are surprised to see what budgeting for a household involves and it helps them see the value of money.

I would say all the other maths activities on Moneyville are more suited to younger children, though going to the shop to spend any money earned again helps children see the value of money.

To follow here is a very simple short video that explains division:

There are a lot of videos on You Tube explaining basic division.

I have selected another short, simple one

rather than an all singing, all dancing one as most appropriate

at this point for the children.

Rounding Off

Finally there were some ’rounding off’ questions during the week

and I thought it would be a good idea to revise

how to round off to the nearest 10 and 100

Click HERE is a simple online game

that gives children practice rounding off.

It is very basic but it gives the necessary practice.

And HERE. for another football themed one.

Get five correct in-a-row to take penalty shots

 

As we note aspects of Maths children are finding difficult

we will keep adding videos and online activities that may help.

Early Division: Division as sharing equally

Here are some online games for practicing early division. There is a variety here, so children can find one they like.

Click HERE  to play a game sharing small amounts equally. You will be teaching dogs some tricks. 

I like this one: Doggie Division from ICT Games

pencilparker / Pixabay

Click HERE to play MONSTER DIVISION.

thejakesmith / Pixabay

If you would like to be a farmer when you grow up you might enjoy THIS one.

pencilparker / Pixabay

If you have a sweet tooth THIS one may be up your street.

AnnaliseArt / Pixabay

Guess what you’ll find in this ‘dividing as sharing equally’ activity. Click HERE

All this practice is good for your brain. 

Keep it up and you will be a whizz kid at ‘dividing as sharing equally’.

Clock time: quarter to and quarter past

Here are three short You Tube videos that go back over those tricky clock sums in New Wave Mental Maths. Watching just one a day would help children go back over how to do these sums.

 

Just click on ‘Skip Ads’

Revision does help. The repetition in New Wave Mental Maths helps too. Teachers find that children find this particular concept: this renaming of a clock time challenging. It happens every year. However with practice ‘the penny drops’. We call this the ‘Keep throwing mud until it sticks’ approach 😉

Scroll down this page for the videos from earlier this week

and to links for online maths activities in Clock Time and Data.