Homework Pack / Sneaky Cheats!

Handwriting is all important in both school & the wider world.  Within the new curriculum of 2014, handwriting is even given a higher weighting in the SATs than previous years.  Please find below a guide to the accepted lower case formation which the school has put in place since 2016.  The sequence of learning the letters is set out on the right hand side & ties in with the style of formation.

We have been looking at different methods of paper based multiplication this week.  It was obvious to anyone in the room the shocking advantage pupils who knew their X tables off by heart had over the rest...  Want to get ahead? Learn your X tables up to X 12.

Spellings:

The Government list for all year groups is available below. However, this is only part of the solution.  
Learning spellings off by heart is almost pointless... You need to learn the spelling and simultaneously associate the word with it's meaning & the context in which you will be hopefully using it. (there - their - they're, a classic example.)
Teaching a child the mechanics of breaking down sounds, syllables and the root word from which the word originates from is far more important. (i.e. honest - dishonest - honesty - honestly etc. etc.) linking these with their meanings & context, results in a powerful learning tool, as well as a rich & vibrant  vocabulary. 
Finally,  please, please resist the temptation to get your child to learn the spellings of the next year group - they are in Year order for a reason... You will not be doing them any favours. Similarly,  all the groups of words build on each other - don't move on until you have securely embedded the words of your child's current year group,  otherwise you will have serious gaps in their learning. 
However, all of this is near useless if the words are not pronounced correctly in the first place, this will prevent a child from ever spelling the words. (what do we record important dates / appointments on? A cal-en-der - wrong... It's pronounced & spelt, cal-en-dar. So easy to misinform.)

The New National Curriculum (2104) states that all children should have a clear understanding of the following spellings - plus, don't forget the meanings!  However, before you even think about the year 5/6 spellings, make sure you have these year 3/4 spellings nailed! - they follow on directly.

The crazy Raccoon missed these though...

Following on from our poetry recitals this week, we'll be composing our own next week - want to get ahead? help yourself to these 'cheats' - you'll be ahead of the game!

personification, http://www.yourdictionary.com/personification

alliteration, http://www.yourdictionary.com/alliteration

simile http://www.yourdictionary.com/simile 

and metaphor http://www.yourdictionary.com/metaphor