Vocabulary is the focus of this week’s homework. This is because we’ve just begun a new Geography topic and with it comes new Geography vocabulary.

Here’s a list of key words that are being learnt and applied as part of our learning. Over the half-term, practise using these words with your child.

Years 1 and 2 Geography vocabulary:
• locality: an area or neighbourhood
• environment: the surroundings of a human, animal or plant
• recycling: turning waste into new materials
• pollution: something harmful or poisonous in an environment
• to survey: to find the opinions of a group of people by asking them questions
• physical geography: physical geography looks at the natural things in our environment
• human geography: human geography looks at changes in the environment by humans
• issue: an important topic or problem that needs discussion
• solution: a way of solving an issue or problem

Years 3 and 4 Geography vocabulary:
• tectonic plates: different pieces of the Earth’s crust which fit together like a jigsaw and move in different directions and at different speeds
• volcano: an opening in the Earth’s crust that allows magma, ash and gases to escape
• magma: molten rock (rock so hot that it has turned into liquid) which is underneath the Earth’s crust
• lava: when magma reaches the surface of the Earth it is called lava
• active volcano: these have a recent history of eruptions and are likely to erupt again
• dormant volcano: these have not erupted for a very long time but may erupt at a future time
• extinct volcano: these are not expected to erupt in the future
• land-use: the specific purpose that an area of land is used for
• geothermal: heat produced from within the Earth (geo means earth and thermal means heat)

Years 5 and 6 Geography vocabulary:
• climate zones: different parts of the world grouped by temperature and rainfall (eg the Met Office give six: arid, equatorial, Mediterranean, polar, snow and temperate)
• climate change: a change in climate (temperature and rainfall) over a period of time (also known as ‘climate crisis’ and ‘climate emergency’)
• global warming: an outcome of climate change: a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth (also known as ‘global heating’)
• latitude: imaginary lines which show how north or south a place is (the equator is the best-known line of latitude)
• fossil fuel: a non-renewable energy source, formed from the remains of plants and animals that died millions of years ago (eg coal, oil, gas)
• renewable energy: a source of energy that is sustainable so it will never run out (eg wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy)
• emission: an emission is something that been released into the world (eg carbon dioxide is an emission created when fossil fuels are burned)
• erosion: a process where materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water
• groyne: a low wall or barrier built out into the sea from a beach to slow erosion

Some of these words have been introduced already but there may be others that are going to be covered in the coming weeks.

Our first Talk Time of 2023 has a reading and oracy theme.

I know a poem.

This week, you’re going to be learning a famous poem. It takes great resilience and remembering skills to be able to learn a poem – two of our 8Rs for learning.

Y1,2: Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan

On the Ning Nang Nong

Where the Cows go Bong!

and the monkeys all say BOO!

There’s a Nong Nang Ning

Where the trees go Ping!

And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.

On the Nong Ning Nang

All the mice go Clang

And you just can’t catch ’em when they do!

So its Ning Nang Nong

Cows go Bong!

Nong Nang Ning

Trees go ping

Nong Ning Nang

The mice go Clang

 What a noisy place to belong

is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

 

Y3,4: Catch a Little Rhyme by Eve Mirriam (CC)

Once upon a time
I caught a little rhyme

I set it on the floor
but it ran right out the door

I chased it on my bicycle
but it melted to an icicle

I scooped it up in my hat
but it turned into a cat

I caught it by the tail
but it stretched into a whale

I followed it in a boat
but it changed into a goat

When I fed it tin and paper
it became a tall skyscraper

Then it grew into a kite
and flew far out of sight …

Y5,6: Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

These talking points could be used to support your initial reading and understanding of the poem:

• What’s the poem about?
• Can you work out the meaning of tricky words and phrases by using the clues in the poem?
• What’s the rhythm of the poem? Where do you pause for breaths?
• Are there any rhymes (words ending with the same sounds (eg cat and hat)?
• What other patterns do you notice (repeated words/lines, line lengths, themes/key messages)?

When you have a sound understanding of your chosen poem, turn your attentions to reading it aloud with confidence and clarity. This week’s Remember 2s (R2s) will help with that:

• Speak clearly in a loud voice without shouting.
• Pause for breath at the right places to make sure you read at an appropriate pace.
• Face the reader as often as you can.

Here are some creative strategies that you might use to help you remember the poem – do what works best for you:

• Create actions to go with certain words or phrases.
• Draw a series of pictures to help you remember what comes next.
• Say or sing the poem in a unique or funny voice.
• Echo phrases/lines with someone at home.