How has your week started?
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​I have really enjoyed reading your adventure stories on Purple Mash and seeing your photos from over the weekend. Keep them coming in!

How did you get on with your acrostic poems yesterday? Send them in or share them on Purple Mash, it would be great to see them.

Today, we are going to be looking at haikus. They are a traditional form of Japanese poetry.  Haiku poems consist of 3 lines.  The first and last lines of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables.  The lines rarely rhyme.

Here is an example of a haiku, (it should also help you to remember how many syllables are in each line).

I am first with five
Then seven in the middle
Five again to end.
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Today I would like you to try and write your own haiku, I have posted a picture below to give you some inspiration. 

CHALLENGE: Haikus are sometimes written as clues without saying what they are writing about. For example:

Green and speckled legs,
Hop on logs and lily pads
Splash in cool water.
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Can you write some of your own clue haikus?
Share them with us and we’ll try and solve them!

How did you do with the equivalent fractions yesterday?

Today we are going to be finding fractions of amounts.
​REMEMBER: When we did this at school, we used bar models to help us solve the questions. Here is a reminder of how we did it. 

​Here are your questions for today. 

• Keep reading for 20 minutes a day.
• Have a look at the stories on the Adventure story blog. There are some amazing tales there, all written by you!
• Send in photos of any of the extra-curricular activities you have been getting up to. 
• Look at Emily's ELSA blog, it has some great ideas for what you can get up to. https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/elsa-blog

Keep on washing your hands, looking after yourselves and everyone else at home with you and remember to be kind to yourself. 

Hasta luego, 

Ruth and Emily​

How were your weekends? What did you get up to?

I've received some photos of some amazing cooking and baking. It's a shame we can't share all the food together!

Amal has made this amazing focaccia bread, she kneaded the dough herself and weighed the ingredients out. 

Yasin made these carrot and plain cookies. 

I also did some baking this weekend, I made a berry flan. It was very tasty and luckily there is still some left so I can have some with my dinner this evening! I also went to water my parents' allotment, at the moment they are seeds and under the soil but hopefully soon there will be lots of little plants growing. I'll add some more photos when it starts to change. 

Emily  took part in the toilet roll challenge. 

Buenos días, 

I hope you all had a good weekend. How many of the activities from Friday's blog did you manage to do? I hope you all had a chance to relax and spend time with your families. 

​Here is today's home learning. 

This week we are going to be looking at poetry. Each day we will learn about a different type of poem and your challenge is to create your own people in that style.

Today’s style of poem is an acrostic.

An acrostic poem is a type of poetry where the first letter in each line spells out a particular word or phrase.

For example, the poem below spells out the work Spring.
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So many flowers are blooming.
Pretty little squirrels come out to play.
Really big bears awake from their slumbers.
Imaginative children enjoy a walk with their friends.
No tree is left standing without any leaves.  So
Go ahead, jump for joy because spring is here.
 
Use the photo below as inspiration to create your own acrostic poem.

CHALLENGE: Instead of having it as the first letter of each line spelling out the word, you could choose to have the last letter or even a letter in the middle of each line. ​

This week, we are going to be revising fractions. Lots have you played the Purple Mash game last week and so have already recapped some of our learning from Autumn Term.

Today we are going to look at equivalent fractions. These a fractions that have the same value even though the numerator and denominator are different. 

Here is a fraction wall to help you solve the questions. 

This interactive fraction wall might also help you: https://www.visnos.com/demos/fraction-wall

CHALLENGE:  How many equivalent fractions of ¾ can you think of

•  Keep on reading!
• Send in any photos you might have of your weekend activities.
• You can use the class blog on Purple Mash to comment on each other’s posts. 

I miss you all, it's very strange to think it's been over a week since we were last in school. 

Keep on staying safe, being helpful and washing those hands!

Hasta luego, 
​Ruth and Emily

How has your day been?

I hope you have been able to finish your story and your maths.

Here are a few optional activities you might like to try over the weekend.

Create a piece of art showing the view from your bedroom window.
You can do this using pencil and shading, pens, colouring pencils, paint or even collage from old magazines/newspaper.

Follow the instructions below to make a car out of a plastic bottle.
You will need the help of an adult for part of this task.
You will need:

• A plastic bottle with its top
• 4 other bottle tops of the same size (for example milk bottle lids)
• String
• 2 straws
• Tape
• Something sharp to pierce the bottle top, such as a pin. (When using this make sure you have an adult with you.)

Where possible see if you can use some recycled materials.

Instructions:

• Pierce a hole through the centre of each bottle top. You might need help from an adult to do this.
• Using tape, attach a straw to the underside of the bottle (one at the front and one at the back).
• Thread a piece of string through the hole in one bottle top. Tie a knot in the end on the inside of the lid, then screw it in place on the bottle.
• Place a bottle top onto the end of each straw.
• Pull the string to move the car.

Here is a video of a boy called Dennis making the car, https://vimeo.com/34563622.
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Help to make a meal.
Offer to help prepare and clear up from one of your family meals over the weekend.

Make a training circuit
Create a training circuit in your house and encourage everyone to take part. At each station complete a different exercise for 30 seconds. Here are some examples of activities you could do: star jumps, running on the spot, bunny hops, lunges, stepping on and off a step.

Photos
For all of the above, it would be great if you could send in some photos that I can share with everyone else next week. We would all love to see your artwork, your bottle cars, the meals you have helped with and your training circuits.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend despite the changes. I am hoping to make a cake and will be going to the allotment to look after my mum and dad’s vegetables. I’ll try and take photos of both so I can share them with you next week.

Take care, stay safe and don’t forget to keep washing your hands!!
​
Ruth 

Buenos días.

Happy Friday and well done for completing your first week of home learning!
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Here are your tasks for today. 

As I said yesterday, today I am giving you time to continue writing, editing and improving your adventure story.

I have been thinking of ways we can share them and have found an app on Purple Mash that should let us share the stories.

If you go onto Purple Mash today and over the weekend, you should be able to see a new “2do” called Adventure Story. Here you will be able to type your story, add illustrations and even create a title and front cover. You can add more pages by using the button in the top left hand corner. When you have finished your work you can share it to the blog I have created for your adventure stories.

Don’t worry if you aren’t able to publish it this way. You could also rewrite it into your books with all the improvements included and add your own illustrations. If you do it this way, maybe you could take a photo and send it so we can share it with everyone else?

We have been practising multiplication all week.
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Today, I have a fun task for you. Can you think of all pairs of numbers that could be multiplied together to make the following numbers?

60

240

490
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CHALLENGE: On Purple Mash there is a “2do” for the multiplication challenge we have been trying at school. Have a go at some point over the weekend. Can you beat your previous highest score? Can you get over 20? REMEMBER: It can be tricky when you only have 6 seconds to answer the question. 

• Read for at least 20 minutes each day. More and more of you have been writing reviews on Purple Mash and I have enjoyed reading them. 
• Don't forget to look at Emily's ELSA blog. She now has 2! One is on the school website https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/elsa-blog, the other one is on Purple Mash. Each day she asks a question and you can comment with your response. 
• Check back here later on, I will be giving you some suggestions for activitites you can get up to over the weekend. 

I hope you all have a good weekend. 

Keep staying safe and washing those hands!

Hasta luego,
Ruth 

Good afternoon Year 4. 

It's Thursday afternoon and so it's time to show some of your good learning from the week.

Sabine and Usama have both completed a book review on Purple Mash. They gave their books 5 star ratings. 
How many books have you each read this week? Don't forget to review them when you've finished and try and make one of the book paper chains that we made last week. Who will have the longest chain when we get back to school?

Firstly, I would like to say a massive well done to all of you for adjusting to the new way of life and embracing the different activities you have been given. I can't wait to speak to you all about it when we get back to school. 

I would also like to give a special mention to Cody, Sabine, Zainab, Tazkiya and Anwar for having a go at the Monster Multiplication and each of them getting an average score of over 20. 

We have all been on a learning curve with using Purple Mash this week. I would like to say a special well done to Sam, Zainab, Usama, Sabine, Johnny, Marihah and Emily for creating posts and writing comments on the Purple Mash blog. It's brought great joy to my week seeing you interact with each other and to have been able to interact with you all. If you're not sure how to find the blog, here are some instructions.

1. Log in with the username and password you were given last week.
2. Click on the "Sharing" icon at the top left hand corner. (It's a picture of a green globe.)
3. Click on "Shared Blog".
4. Click on the blog started called, "How are you?"
5. Click on a blog post you would like to comment on or press the green "+" sign on the top right hand corner to create your own post. 

Buenos días Year 4. 

How has your first week at home been? I'm finding it very strange not coming into school and seeing each of you every day. 

Keep sending your work in and posting on the Purple Mash blog, it really does brighten up my days hearing from you and seeing what you've been up to. 

​Here's today's home learning. 

Finally, we have reached the point where we can write our stories! I am so looking forward to reading them.

This is your English home learning activity for the rest of the week, I won’t be giving you anything else tomorrow.

Use your plan from yesterday, your vocabulary from Tuesday and the answers the questions on Monday to help you write your story.

Remember the key things I expect to see in any piece of writing you do:

• Capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns.
• Full stops, exclamation marks and question marks at the end of each sentence.
• Paragraphs when you change topic, time, place or person

These are some of the things you should try to include:

• Show not tell description
• Fronted adverbials with a comma at the end
• Direct speech with inverted commas (speech marks)

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When you have finished your story in your book. You should try reading it aloud to someone in your house (or to someone over the phone) and ask them what they think. As you are reading them your story, think about anything you would like to change and make any improvements you think it might need. 

We are continuing with our work on multiplication, this time we are going to be applying our knowledge of the times tables in a different way.

Below are some clues to different multiples of 9. Can you work out which is which?

REMEMBER: A multiple is a number that is in the times tables of that number. For example, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 are the first ten multiples of 3.

1. When the digits of this number are multiplied, it makes 20.
2. It is a number between 10 and 50. It is a multiple of 3 but not of 6.
3. It is a multiple of 5 and 9.
4. This multiple is an even 2-digit number with a placeholder.
5. This multiple is half of 8x9.

CHALLENGE: Can you come up with your own clues for the remaining multiples of 9 up to 108?
(I have created a separate blog on Purple Mash where you can post your clues and everyone can try to answer them.)

Buenos días,

¿Cómo estás?

It has been great seeing your comments on Purple Mash and receiving your emails.

I hope you’re finding ways to enjoy yourselves while also completing your home learning.
​
Here’s today’s home learning. 

You have answered questions about your adventure story and collected lots of vocabulary to help you add description and show not tell to your story.

Today you are going to plan your adventure story.
Below are two story mountains to help you with your plan.
One is in three parts and one is in five parts, you can choose which one you would like to do. You can draw your own story mountain into your book and in each box write a summary of what is going to happen.
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REMEMBER: You don’t need to write in full sentences when you are writing a plan. 

We are continuing with the theme of multiplication. Today, we are going to look at multiplication word problems. To help you solve them you might want to use Smile Multiplication. 

CHALLENGE: There are 12 eggs in each egg tray and I bought 7 trays. I used 32 eggs this weekend, how many individual eggs do I have left now?

Emily sent me an email yesterday and would like me to pass on a message to you all.

Hi Year 4...
Hope you’re ok- I am missing you all lots! I hope you’re enjoying the home learning blog. I’m running an Elsa blog too (check it out!)
I know some of you might be feeling a little bit bored and down but turn that frown upside down by doing something that you enjoy! Whether it’s an arts and craft project or a physical activity. (PE with Joe Wicks on YouTube is fab, I did it this morning in my kitchen!) Do something to make you smile! Make a daily plan and keep your smile going.

Speak soon
Big bear hugs (not a scary school journey bear one don’t worry haha)
Emily x

Buenos días Year 4

I hope you had a good start to the week yesterday. 

Here is today's home learning:

​Yesterday, you answered some questions to help you think about what might happen in your adventure story. Today, we are going to collect lots of vocabulary to help you with the description and the show not tell when you start your writing.
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Split a page of your book into quarters. Label each box: nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs.
In each box write as many words of that word class that are linked to yesterday’s picture and your adventure story. I given you some examples below to help you start off. 

nouns
ice    boat    rope

adjectives
cold     icy     isolated

verbs
shiver     trapped     stuck

adverbs
furiously     calmly     slowly

CHALLENGE: Create a list of fronted adverbials you could use in your story.

REMEMBER: Fronted adverbials come at the beginning of a sentence and describe where, when or how something happened. They always have a comma at the end. For example:

• Later that day, the ice began to melt.
• In a far off land, the temperature never rises above freezing and the sea is always frozen.
• Without hesitation, the men began to pull at the thick rope.

Yesterday, we started off the week with some Coin Multiplication. Today we are going to continue working on multiplication but practise using Smile Multiplication. This method helps us to multiply any 2-digit number by a 1-digit number.

• You should be reading for 20 minutes every day. If you finish your books at home, there are lots of books on Serial Mash that you can read and there are questions you can answer too.
• Study Ladder and Purple Mash have a range of activities set on them that you can go onto at any time.
• You can join in the class blog on Purple Mash. (The previous post gives information about how to do this.) Thank you to those of you who have already commented, I have really enjoyed hearing from you and finding out what you are up to. I will try to reply to you when I can. 
• You can join Joe Wicks for some PE each morning on his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyCLoPd4VxBvQafyve889qVcPxYEjdSTl)
• Check out Emily's ELSA blog, you can hear her reading you a story!

Keep working hard, washing your hands and staying safe!

Hasta luego,
Ruth 

I hope today's work is coming along well, I'm excited to see what you come up with for your stories.

This morning I have been doing lots of learning of my own! Read below to see what I have done.  

White Rose Maths 

I have found a very useful website that some of you might like to use with your parents to support your maths learning: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/ is split into year groups so it might be useful for your siblings too. It has a task and video for each day. Lots of the challenge questions we do in maths each week come from White Rose so you might recognise some of activities. 

Purple Mash Blog

The other learning I have been doing is related to Purple Mash. Some of you might already know that it has a blog feature. You can write comments under the blog so it is a way of you being able to keep in touch with me and each other. 

These are the instructions to find the blog.

1. Log in with the username and password you were given last week.
2. Click on the "Sharing" icon at the top left hand corner. (It's a picture of a green globe.)
3. Click on "Shared Blog".
4. Click on the blog I have started called, "How are you?"
5. Click on the blog post you would like to comment on. At the moment, there is only one but I may put more up. 
6. Leave a comment. 

I look forward to reading what you have to say and having a way of answering some of your questions. 
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