Home Learning Booklet

Mrs Rutherford &

Mrs Preece’s

Challenges

Week beginning 20th April 2020

Value of the week: Thankfulness

What are we thankful for?

How can we show we are thankful?

Background

Thankfulness is one of our school values and we think it’s really important. We define thankfulness as:

We appreciate everything that is good in our lives and are grateful for it.

To show thankfulness, we expect members of the Woodfield team to:

Understand that thankfulness is not just about possessions but that we should be thankful for our health, people who care for us, people who help us, the world we live in, etc.

Be positive about what we have

Be grateful for what we have

Say thank you

Think of others and put ourselves in their position

We all have so much to be thankful for in our lives. I know that I have a lovely family who care for me; I’m thankful

that I have them and very thankful that they care about me so much. I’m thankful that I can walk, talk, write, hear

and see and I appreciate these things every day, when I hear birdsong or listen to beautiful music, when I talk to my

friends or look at the stars in the sky. I’m thankful that I have a job I enjoy where I can help people to learn, and to

see that they can have fun while they’re learning – that’s very important to me. We could also be thankful that we

have other people to help us, people who can make us feel better and people who do jobs to help us – who can you

think of that does a job to help you or your family?

The Challenge

This week, I’d like you to think and talk about what you’re thankful for. There are so many things we have to be

thankful for and, for us to be happy, I think it’s important for us to realise how many things we have to be thankful

for. I’d like you to talk with other children and the grown-ups in your house. If you have other grown-ups in your

family that you can talk to on the phone, you could talk to them too; maybe you can ask them what they’re thankful

for.

Try and make a list of everything you have to be thankful for. Over the week, see if you can add to the list. I wonder

how long your family thankfulness list will be by the end of the week… Perhaps you can let me know on our Twitter

page of some of the things you are thankful for; I’d love to know.

Mrs Rutherford

7R of the week: Ready

What do we need to be ready to do a particular task?

How do we know if we’re? How can we help other people to be ready?

Background

Being ready is one of our 7Rs and we think it’s really important. We define being ready as:

-being mentally, emotionally and physically ready to learn;

-taking part and understanding the importance of seeking help if we are not yet ready to learn.

Whenever there’s a job to be done, it’s important that we get ready. That means getting the tools or equipment that

we need, but also making sure that we are ready emotionally to begin – we’re not upset or thinking about something

else; we can give this our full attention. This can be tricky when you’re young – it’s sometimes hard for children to

plan ahead but this is important because it helps them to become independent so they don’t rely on adults always

doing things for them.

The Challenge

This week, whenever there’s a job to do, I’d like you to talk together about what you need to be ready to start. If

you’re helping to do some gardening, you might need to put old clothes on. If you’re helping to do some painting,

you’ll need to get the paint and the brushes.

If a job is complicated, you might need to make a list of what you will need. Over the week, see how many times you

can talk about being ready. I wonder how many times you’ll be able to talk about it? Perhaps you can let me know

on our Twitter page of some of the things you’ve helped to get ready for; I’d love to know.

Mrs Rutherford

Calm Challenge

Please, just take time and be!

Yoga has been used by people for thousands of years, it is said to come with many benefits for both mental and

physical health. These effects can also be experienced by children too. Some of the benefits of yoga for children

include:

Growing confidence

Promoting a healthy body

Improving concentration

Helping children to manage stress through breathing

Mindfulness

Improving coordination & balance

Some of the teachers in school use Cosmic Yoga with the children. The link for it is here:

https://www.cosmickids.com/

You might like to join in with it too.

Mrs Preece

New Skill Challenge

Don’t just sit and watch, join in!

This challenge links in with our 7Rs; being ready, being responsible, being resilient, being resourceful, being a risk-

taker, being able to reason and being reflective.

While school is closed we don’t just want home learning to be about carrying on with the academic side of life, other

skills are just as important to us. Learning to do something new, being ready to learn, thinking of new ways to do

things, taking a risk to step out of your comfort zone and being resilient when things don’t quite go according to plan

are all important things to learn; things that the children were thinking about in the first half of the spring term.

Homes and gardens up and down the country, all over the world, are being cleaned, tidied, painted and weeded like

never before. So, while you are all at home we would like to challenge the children to try something new by helping

out around the house and in the garden. It’s a great way to build their independence skills and self-esteem.

Let us know what new things the children have tried by uploading a post on Twitter.

Mrs Preece

Maths Challenge: Show me 10, Show me 100

What does 10 look like? What about 20? 30? 40?

What does 100 look like?

How can we use this to estimate a quantity of objects?

Background

Sometimes, we need to estimate how many objects we have. Some people have this as their job. For us to be able to

do this, we need to have a really good idea of place value; that means really understanding what 10 and 100 look

like. We don’t mean what they look like when we write them, we mean what a group of 10 teddies, 10 pencils, 10

marbles, 10 anything looks like. We can then use this to estimate a bigger amount, such as 20, 30, 40, etc. When we

can do this, we can get an understanding of what 100 is and use this to estimate bigger numbers. Choose the size of

number that’s right for you!

The Challenge

For your challenge, I’d like you to look in different rooms in your house and maybe outside too (as long as a grown

up goes with you) to find 10 things. Here are some of the things I found when I did this at home:

Living room Bathroom Work room Harry’s room

10 coins 10 cotton wool balls 10 threads 10 daleks

Kitchen Joe’s room Garden

10 grapes 10 pencils 10 holes in the fence

When you know what 10 looks like, try showing groups of 10. Here are some that I found at home:

Garden Harry’s room Joe’s room

20 flower bulbs 30 Dr Who enemies 40 dice

When you know what the 10s numbers look like, try and find 100 things! This is a bit harder and so it’s more of a

challenge. You might need to be resilient for this one!! I enjoyed trying to find 100 things. Here are some things I

found:

100 sequins 100 words 100 letters

100 music notes 100 grapes

Now it’s your turn – what can you find? Choose whether you should find 10, tens numbers (e.g. 20, 30, 40, etc.) or

100 as your challenge. See what you can find. How many different things can you find and count?

When you’ve tried to count 10, 20, 30 or 100 things, try and use what you’ve learned to estimate how many are in a

group of objects, for example, how many words are one a page in your reading book? How many grapes are in a full

packet when you buy them? When you’ve estimated, count them to check and see if you can get more accurate the

more you try.

Take some pictures of what you find and share them with me on our Twitter page or stick them into the book we

sent home with you. See if you can find things that tell me something about you – for example, I think you can

probably tell a little bit about what Harry, Joe and I like by what I counted in our house. I will look forward to seeing

what you can find.

Mrs Rutherford

Maths Challenge: Make a Shop

How much should I pay? Which coins should I use to make…?

How much will these two things cost altogether? How much change should I get?

Which two things could I buy with a 20p coin? What about a £2 coin?

Background

It’s really important for children to understand how money works. From the beginning of understanding that we

have a 1p and a 2p but not a 3p or a 4p coin, up to working out calculations where we add three amounts together,

work out the total cost and then work out our change, there’s lots to learn about money. It can be a tricky subject

for children, so they need lots and lots of practise. It’s quite common for children to think that a 2p coin is worth

more than a 5p coin, because it’s bigger, so there’s a lot to talk about in helping children understand money so that

they grow up being able to manage their money properly and understand how we use it in everyday life.

The Challenge

For your challenge, I’d like you to set up a shop in your house and play shops. It doesn’t need to look fancy, choose

some things from any room in your house, lay them out and label them with some prices.

Choose someone to be the customer and someone to be the shopkeeper. At its earliest stage, this will be a role play

activity where children understand that they need to give the shopkeeper some coins and get some back for change,

although they may well not use the right coins. That’s ok – it’s still really helping them understand how money and

shops work.

Moving on from there, here are some things to try:

-find the right coins to make the right amount,

-how much would these two things cost altogether?

-if I paid for this with a 20p / 50p / £1 coin, how much change would I get?

Please have a look at our calculation policy if you need a reminder about how to work out the calculations if your

child needs to write something down. Change the amounts and the coins you use depending on what numbers your

child understands. Also, if you can use real money rather than plastic money, that will really help too.

It would be lovely if we could see your shops. Maybe you’d like to send us some pictures on our Twitter page. You

could even tell us what you bought and how much it cost. I will look forward to seeing what you’ve got up to! Have

fun!

Mrs Rutherford

Science Challenge: Paper Helicopters

Who can make the best helicopter?

Before you begin you will need to decide what you mean by best.

Is it the one which spins the most?

Is it the one which stays in the air the longest?

You decide!

Background

Start by dropping a range of objects from a height and observing how they fall. Paper is a good material to use; it can

be dropped as a flat piece, a folded piece or a scrunched up piece. Encourage lots of careful observation and talking

about the differences and the similarities in how different objects fall. Lots of extended vocabulary can be used.

Discuss the way that different things stay in the air. Some things fly, while some things float or glide. Find pictures or

videos of things that fly, glide or float.

Discuss aeroplanes and how they keep moving to stay in the air. What about helicopters? How do they stay in the

air?

Making the paper helicopter

You will need:

Paper-different sizes, thickness if possible

Scissors

Pencil

Ruler

Paper clips

Helicopter template http://howtostem.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Paper-Helicopters.pdf or free

hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7odgAKmSjQU

When the helicopter is dropped from a height gravity pulls the helicopter down and the air pushes up on the rotor

blades making them spin. Encourage the children to describe what is happening.

Once you have made a basic helicopter you can experiment by changing the lengths of the blade, the shape of the

blades, the type of paper/card, the number of paper clips, the size of paper/card.

Questions to ask:

Did the helicopter spin clockwise or anticlockwise?

How can you change the way that the helicopter spins?

Does the number of paper clips change the spin?

Does the size/shape of the rotor blade change the spin?

The most important thing in this challenge is to have fun and explore.

Happy flying!

Mrs Preece

Music and Writing Challenge: Write me a Story…

What pictures come into your mind when you hear a piece of music?

How does a composer make you feel excited or calm?

How do authors and composers tell stories with words and music?

Background

Writing and music can both be ways of telling a story; authors use words and composers use music to tell stories or

create pictures in your mind. I love listening to music and often get carried away and completely lost in the music –

sometimes it’s a beautiful, calming piece, sometimes exciting, sometimes strong and powerful. Whatever the style

though, music enables us to visit new places and imagine new things. Listen to these pieces of music and think about

how the composer is trying to tell part of a story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZr-VTULYQ8 This is ‘Can you Feel the Love Tonight’ from The Lion King. The use of soft sounding instruments and the slow, peaceful style help us to imagine the two lions falling in love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujsCRw-eA0o This piece of music is written for a chase. The composer has used a strong rhythm and a sound which gets louder and louder to make it feel more exciting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8 This is a piece of music that the adults in your house will probably know. It’s the Imperial March from Star Wars. The composer has used a strong rhythm and brass instruments to give a very powerful style to the piece which makes you feel an army or enemy is coming.

Walt Disney’s animators used different classical music to imagine what the music meant to them. Here’s a link to

how they imagined the story of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice:

https://vimeo.com/7878564

The Challenge

I’d like you to listen to these two pieces of music – really listen to them, don’t do jobs while they’re on in the

background, get carried away by them and enjoy them. Then choose one and talk to someone about the story it’s

writing in your mind. Who are the characters? Are they people or animals? Where is your story set? Is it daytime or

night time? Is your story happening in a forest? A cave? The sky?

Listen to whether the music is fast or slow, loud or quiet, peaceful or exciting and use this to tell your story.

Here are the links to the pieces of music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axjYxIebR3Q (Hall of the Mountain King)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erOEatu5aH8 (The Firebird Finale)

Try making a story map to help you tell your story. Here’s an example of a story map from Oak Class:

The pictures remind us of each part of the story and

help us to tell or write our story in full.

Reception children – please make a story map and then tell your story to someone else. Try and write a little bit of it

with a grown up if you can, don’t forget to sound out each word and try and write any sounds you can hear. Year 1s

please make sure you use adjectives (describing words) when you write your story and Year 2s please make sure you

include adjectives and adverbs (which tell us how your characters do things) to make your stories more exciting. If

you’d like to draw your character and setting, that’d be lovely too.

I hope you have fun with this challenge and can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Mrs Rutherford

Computing Challenge

A chance to try a new technology and expand your digital literacy

In EYFS, the children are encouraged to recognise that a range of technologies are used at home and school.

In KS1, the children build upon this understanding to recognise a wider range of common uses of technology, to

continue to learn how to use technology safely by keeping personal information private and also to identify where to

go for help if they see anything that upsets them.

The overall aim throughout EYFS and KS1 is that the children become responsible, competent, confident and creative

users of information and communication technology so that they can become active participants in a digital world.

With the current situation and home working happening at a level like never before, we have become more

dependent than ever on technology to help us. You may be using Zoom or Microsoft Teams to communicate with

work colleagues or you may be keeping in touch with relatives and friends with FaceTime, Skype or WhatsApp

videoing. This is a perfect time to discuss with the children the use of these technologies, show them how they work

and reinforce how to stay safe while doing so.

In school, we have been embracing technology too and have set up a new Twitter account for use during the school

closure period. Our new page can be found here: https://twitter.com/InfantWoodfield While school is closed, if you

would like to upload any activities that you are doing at home for home learning, we would love to see them.

However, if you upload pictures of your own children, please be aware that by doing so you are giving your

permission for the photo to be on social media, we will not be monitoring photo permissions. The Twitter page is a

public page so anyone will be able to access it.

We look forward to seeing your posts.

Mrs Preece

Dots and Boxes Challenge

Who will be the Dots and Boxes champion in your family?

The Dots and Boxes challenge has had a recent resurgence in the Preece Household. With a 17 yr old, a 15 yr old and

a 10 yr old, not to mention two incredibly competitive 40 something year olds, it has been a great way to generate a

bit of friendly family competition.

The Dots and Boxes games was first mentioned by a French mathematician, Édouard Lucas, in the 19th century. Mr.

Lucas called it La Pipopipette. Over the years it has been known by many names; boxes, squares, dots and pigs in a

pen!

Here’s what to do:

The game can be played with two or more players. All you need is an empty grid of dots. There’s a handy

template here: https://www.printablepaper.net/category/dot

Decide who is going to take the first turn; flip a coin or rock, paper, scissors, it’s up to you.

Each player takes a turn to connect 2 dots, either horizontally or vertically.

If a player completes the 4th side of a square, or box, they can claim that box and score a point. It’s also a

good idea to write the initial of the person who won that box inside the box. That player also has another

turn to connect 2 more dots.

The game ends when all of the lines have been drawn and all the boxes have been made.

The winner is the player with the most boxes.

As you become more experienced with the game, you will begin to be able to take time to consider double crossing

your opponent! You may allow your opponent to win a short chain of boxes which then leads to you being able

claim a much longer chain.

The Dots and Boxes game certainly brings out the competitive spirit in everyone. There is a note of caution though…I

cannot be held responsible for any family feuds that result from the playing of this game!

Happy playing.

Mrs Preece