Warm wishes

Hello all,

I hope you have had a lovely relaxing weekend. This week our Key Stage focus is ‘Important Inventions!’.

The famous inventor, Thomas Edison said, “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

Please see below for suggested ‘Important Inventions’ activities for this week.

Monday:

Find out about life changing inventions.

Choose one from the following:

Camera, television, telephone, vaccines, car, printing press, penicillin, biro (ball point pens), electricity, light bulb, glass, pasteurisation.

You could use Espresso to help you do this (Link below).

https://central.espresso.co.uk/espresso/modules/search/index.html?source=espresso-home-mixed-topnav-search#/search/inventions?sortKey=Relevance

Tuesday:

Find out about a famous inventor:

Things to consider…

What year was the inventor born?

Where did the inventor live?

What did they invent?

How did they improve people’s lives?

Was the inventor young or old when they came up with their invention?

How is their invention used today?

Thinking activity:

Discuss with a family member whose invention was the most important and whose invention was the least important after looking at the PowerPoint below.

Link:

How things work – Famous Inventors PP and research activity

Wednesday:

Becoming an inventor!

All great inventors need thinking time, so using the knowledge you have learned so far about different inventions/inventors. Maybe you could keep a notebook of things you see around your home that might need improving. Think to yourself, how could I improve it? Would it make life easier if …?

Link to step by step approach:

Here is a step by step guide on how to become and inventor

Also, here are some video clips of some other useful inventions, just in case you need some inspiration!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zw44jxs/resources/1

On the link above you will find:

Edward Jenner describes his discovery of the smallpox vaccine.

Joseph Priestley describes his work and his discovery of carbon dioxide and oxygen.

Sir Alexander Fleming describes his discovery of penicillin.

The invention of super powerful magnetic grippers and their practical uses.

How Stone Age man discovered that clay could be changed into pottery by baking it in fire.

The invention and importance of tarmac.

Thursday:

Think about your own invention and design it.

In our house, Bethany decided to create a notice board for Jenny and I to store our important ‘stuff’. Before this, everything went into a big drawer never to be seen again! Now, we can simply store and see all the post, important documents, letters, keys, pens, pencils and hairbands (not that Mr Whitty needs hairbands due to his lack of hair!). Bethany decided that Jenny’s section is on the left and that my section is on the right. This has made a huge difference as we can now find things when we need them. Bethany also wanted a door stop installed on the floor to stop the kitchen door from opening and knocking stuff from the notice board to the floor. This was a really good idea too. Please see pictures of Bethany’s invention/idea. It certainly has solved a problem for us as a family.

Bethany’s idea: The Noticeboard

The door stop:

Friday:

Today, we would like you to present your invention/idea to your parents or siblings so you can convince them (Dragon’s Den style) that your invention/creation will benefit their lives.

See link to Dragons Den ideas. You can also check out YouTube videos on Dragons Den for more information.

Inventions – Dragon’s den pitch ideas

Additional learning opportunities/suggestions:

Maths:

Times-Tables-charts-

Spelling:

Spelling Activities to help you learn.

spelling Flashcards

Top Tip: Choose 5 or 6 spellings to learn at a time.

Year 3 and 4 Statutory List

high frequency words

Hi all! I hope you enjoyed last week’s music focus. This week we have an overall focus on invention and design but we will be suggesting other activities for you to have a go at alongside this main project. Make sure you’re still reading and playing Prodigy to practise maths skills. More importantly though, remember to spend time with your family – go for a walk, play a game, share an activity and HAVE FUN TOGETHER!

So… What is an invention? I’ve been having a think and I reckon a good description would be ‘a workable solution to an existing problem.’ An invention doesn’t have to have an engine or whirring wheels and pistons. It could be something small and insignificant. The main thing is that it has an improving effect on people’s lives – it makes a job easier!

Monday 27^th April

Here are ten famous inventions. Choose 5 of them, research them and find out a bit about each one. You could think about the following questions:

Who invented it? When?

How did they invent it? Was it deliberate or an accident?

What was the problem that existed before the invention?

How successful was the inventor to begin with? Did the invention work straight away?

What was the original invention like? Big, slow, not very efficient?

How long did it take to develop the invention to a stage where it could be used in everyday life?

Printing press

Light bulb

Airplane

Personal computer

Vaccines

Automobile

Clock

Telephone

Refrigeration

Camera

Tuesday 28^th April

Use Espresso to find out about inventions – type ‘invention’ into the search bar in Discovery Education Espresso and away you go! Just read, explore and discover!

Wednesday 29^th April

Find out about an invention of your choice. Which invention of the last two days really interested you? Maybe it wasn’t one of those and you want to find out about a different one you haven’t read about yet. It’s up to you! Research the inventor and their invention in lots of detail. Collect your information in your lined booklet.

Thursday 30^th April

Now it’s time to create! Think about a problem in your own life. Something that is inefficient or takes a bit too long to do. Every time you do it, you think ‘oh no, not that again – it’s a real pain!’

Design your own invention to make this area of your life a bit easier to manage. Your design can be as true to life or as fantastical as you would like to make it. Draw your design, label it, write some detail about how it will work around your diagram. Where are the problems with your design? Can you come up with a way of ironing out these problems so your invention works more efficiently?

Friday 1^st May

Convince your parents through a Dragon’s Den type presentation that your invention is a good idea, that it will indeed work and that it could save other people lots of time in their lives too. If it will, your invention will be worth investing in because it could make someone a lot of money! Here is a clip to watch, where an inventor presents their own idea to the Dragon’s Den team:

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

Good luck and remember to let me know how you get on – did they invest in your idea? Good luck and be convincing by including lots of detail. Think of the questions they might ask before they ask them and make sure you respond to them in advance…

Good morning all!

As always, I hope you have had a fun and safe week and enjoyed making some musical madness! Thank you to those of you who uploaded photos and links to musical instruments made, songs created and new music you’ve listened to with parents.

This week’s theme is Inventions…therefore each day I have suggested some activities to complete at home, independently or with parents/siblings. As always, these are to give you ideas and can be adapted in any way that suits you!

Following some feedback from last week’s theme, I have also uploaded some additional maths and literacy activities at the bottom of the page that can be printed out and completed offline as well as some more activities to keep returning to week on week.

Monday

Talk to your parents about a device in your house. Can you discover how it works?

Have a read of the Inventions – How dogs really work & How dogs brains work.

Read through the PPT of Famous Designers and inventors. Have a go at the two activities suggested.Famous Designers and Inventors

The youtube link for the Alexander Graham Bell video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_5jG_9fAE

The youtube link for the Dragons Den video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whqogxqrWNA

Want to test your comprehension of the video? complete the Alexander Graham Bell comprehension activity: Alexander Bell Video Comprehension Activity Sheet

Tuesday

Start thinking about your own invention.

Think through your day – what parts of the day could be easier with a new invention? You could do this as an ongoing chart that you add to throughout the day e.g.

 Have a read of Dudley’s auto chef invention and Dudley’s how a toaster works. Dudley – Autochef invention Dudley – How a toaster works

Order the appliances you have used throughout the day from most important to least important. Share this with a parent/sibling – do they feel the same? Why/why not?

Wednesday 

Using your notes from yesterday, decide on something to invent.

Watch: https://central.espresso.co.uk/espresso/modules/news/first_news/design/110629d_inventions.html?source=search-all-all-all-all&source-keywords=inventions to see how inventions have changed since the Victorian Times.

https://central.espresso.co.uk/espresso/modules/news/first_news/design/090326d_wallace.html?source=search-all-all-all-all&source-keywords=inventions to have a look at some of the inventions featured in Wallace and Gromit.

Have a read of Wallace and Gromit’s Jam Ballista invention. Invention – Jam Ballista 

You could draw your invention out today…

Thursday

Type inventions into the search bar on Discovery Espresso and explore the videos and articles available. There is a whole range of inventions, from vaccines to light bulbs to the internet!

Go back to your drawing from yesterday and annotate it.

• What does each part do?
• Why does each part do that?
• How does each part work?

Share your idea with parents/siblings. Do they have any questions about your invention?

Fancy something a little different and offline? Inventions – An inventors house Famous Designers and Inventors

Friday

Create your own ‘Dragon’s Den’ pitch for your invention. You should be aiming to convince your parents/siblings that they want to buy your product.

You could create this in any way you want e.g. Powerpoint, drama, poster, video advert…anything that would sell your design! The attached document may help you to plan your pitch. Inventions – Dragon’s den pitch ideas

I would love to receive some photos or videos of your designs throughout the week!

Additional maths activities

Times Tables charts

Additional spelling activities

Spelling review

Additional writing activities 

Please note we have not yet covered all of the punctuation needed for page 1 in class. You could research colons and semi-colons yourself or skip these questions.

Grammar-Practice-Questions

Hello everyone!

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend? The weather this week is not looking quite as nice as last week, so it might be we are looking for inside ideas for things to do this week. It could be nice to keep a record of your time at home by writing a ‘My News’ for each week. I’ve attached an example of a ‘My News’ piece of writing if you wanted to write your own. My news example This has got examples of everything you have learned about writing so far in year 2.

Make sure, whatever you do, you keep reading. Bug Club is all updated for reading, spelling and grammar, please complete the activities fully so I can see when you need the next one.

This week’s Math’s focus is about thinking through problems and using your mathemagician skills to solve them. These are easy peasy. 2016 sample assessment maths reasoning instructions  Look at it together and talk about how you would find your answer. I’ve put a photo of our maths wall to remind you what you already know.

This week, the daily suggestions we will be giving will all be around designing a useful tool or machine. The first step is to come up with lots of ideas about what you want your machine to do for you. Remember Anna’s Ketchup sharer?

All day today, whatever you are doing, try and think about some sort of tool or machine that would make whatever you are doing there and then easier. You might have lots of different ideas. If you do, don’t just pick your first idea. Sketch a few of them and choose the best idea, don’t just rush and go with your first idea.

If you are stuck for an idea, you could help me out. Jacquie and I were gardening over the weekend and my job was to make a vegetable bed.

It was really hard work. I had to dig up the grass, dig the soil, break up all the little clumps of soil and then get out all the stones. I really need a machine to help me do that!

Once you have your idea, tomorrow we can look at how we could design, create and build it.

All the best

Mr F.

I hope you’ve all had a great week! Did you make lots of noise during the NHS clap? I wonder what you did to make you noise louder…

We are coming to the end of our music week… here are some activities you could do today:

What new things have you learnt this week? Record them in your red book!

Spend some time listening to and enjoying some of your families favourite songs (you might want to have a boogie!).

Check out different instruments at https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zkn4wmn  

Create your own instrument using things from around your home. What materials will you use? What sound will it make? What inspired your instrument? What do you call your instrument?

Check out top marks KS1 https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=ks1 and have a go at some of the games.

If you didn’t yesterday, or want to have another go, do some cooking together. What will you make? Will you make any changes to your recipe? Make sure you weigh your ingredients accurately!

Continue with Bug Club and reading.

Next week it’s our creative project week! Start thinking about what you would like to create and what you might need to make it. What will it do? 

I look forward to hearing about your ideas.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend together. Keep sending in your messages and photos as I love to see what you have been up to!

Best wishes

Miss Hall 🙂