12 November 2021
Our Talk Time has a vocabulary focus this week.
Thinking about the new topic vocabulary, I can begin to use these words at home.
We’re all being artists this half term. Along the way, we’ll gain knowledge of famous artists and their work. We’ll also learn and develop a range of skills to improve our own art. The following list of vocabulary is being taught and applied in our art lesson at school:
Years 1 and 2 Art vocabulary:
| graphite | Mixed with clay, graphite forms the ‘lead’ in a pencil |
| HB | Referring to pencils, HB stands for ‘hard black’ – a medium hard pencil |
| H and B | H stands for ‘hard’ and B stands for ‘black. B pencils are soft. |
| primary colours | three colours (red, yellow, blue) that can’t be made by mixing other colours, but can make other colours |
| secondary colours | three colours (orange, green, purple) that are made when two primary colours are mixed using paint |
| pattern | arrangements of things such as colour, shapes and lines that repeat in a logical way |
| texture | how something feels, like smooth or rough |
| shape | a two-dimensional area which may be created using lines or colour |
| tone | how light or dark a colour is |
Years 3 and 4 Art vocabulary:
| complementary colours | colours that are opposite on the colour wheel (roughly, a primary and a secondary colour can be paired up like this) |
| warm and cold colours | Warm colours represent roughly one half of the colour wheel (like red, orange, yellow) and usually represent heat and emotions like anger and excitement. Cool colours roughly represent the other half of the colour wheel (like blue, green, purple) and usually represent cold things and emotions like calm and sadness. |
| form | Often used to talk about sculpture or the human body, form is the physical aspects or the shape of the artwork or parts of the artwork. |
| space | usually used to describe areas or parts of an artwork where there are large blocks of colour or ‘gaps’ |
| medium | the type of art (eg painting, sculpture, printmaking), or the materials an artwork is made from (plural: media) |
| collage | the technique and the resulting artwork where things like pieces of paper, photographs and fabric are arranged and attached to a surface |
| mixed media | artworks created from a combination of different media or materials |
| abstract art | a type of modern art that is not an accurate depiction but instead use shapes, colours, forms and marks to achieve its effect |
| figurative art | art that has strong references to the real world and in particular, the human figure |
Years 5 and 6 Art vocabulary:
| pastel | a coloured drawing medium, usually stick-shaped, produced in soft, hard and pencil formproduced in soft, hard and pencil form |
| art | the expression of creativity or imagination, or both |
| art movement | a style in art followed by a group of artists, often linked to a time and place or to particular artists (sometimes called an ‘ism’) |
| sculpture | three-dimensional art made by one of four basic processes: carving, modelling, casting, constructing |
| negative space | the space around and between the subject |
| maquette | a sculptor’s initial model or sketch |
| modern art | art that is often experimental and not traditional (1900s onwards approximately) |
| classical art | used to describe art that makes reference to ancient Greek or Roman style |
Some of the words may not have been covered in class as of yet so be sure to refer to the definitions for words your child seems less confident about.
Encourage your child to think back to their art learning so far. The following questions might prompt your child to remember even more about the vocabulary:
- What does this word mean?
- Can you use the word in a sentence?
- Can you (where possible) give an example of this?
- Have you seen a piece of art that links to that word?
- Can you link this word to one or more of the other words?
- Which of these words would you group together?
This half term, our oracy focus is building on the views of others and reasoning. Referring to these ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) will help your child to speak confidently whilst also respecting the views of others.
- Listen carefully to an opinion (have eyes on the speaker).
- Respond by acknowledging what has been said and add further ideas of you own. Use phrases like these:
- ‘Picking up on what’s been said, I’d add…’
- ‘As well as that…’
- ‘In addition to that…’
- ‘Furthermore…’
- ‘Moreover’
- Challenge yourself to provide reasons for your opinions by using ‘because’.
05 November 2021
This week’s Talk Time relates to perseverance, one of the Christian values.
I can describe situations when I’ve shown perseverance.
Perseverance closely links to resilience which is one of our 8Rs for learning. For a great definition of resilience and to find out more about the 8Rs, follow the link to our school website below:
https://www.stjameswetherby.leeds.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Parent-Eight-Rs-StJ.pdf
Perseverance is a useful skill for people of all ages. Everyone will encounter things that they find difficult. Your child will probably be able to relate to having to keep going with at least one of the following:
- remembering a piece of knowledge (eg facts about a historical figure)
- improving at a skill (eg counting forwards and backwards in 10s)
- learning something new (eg times table, poem or song)
- reading (a particular word, passage or perhaps entire book)
- spelling a tricky or unfamiliar word
- playing a sport or musical instrument
- creating a piece of art or something crafty
When recalling situations when they have shown perseverance, encourage your child to explain how they overcame their difficulties. This will not only help to boost their confidence, but also remind them of the problem solving skills that will help them in the future.
15 October 2021
This week’s Talk Time has a Living and Learning focus.
I can describe and use self-care techniques.
Everybody experiences a wide range of emotions (feelings). While many emotions are positive, some are not. There’ll be times when you feel sad, angry, anxious or low in some way.
No matter how old you are, feeling any one of these is completely normal. It’s important to know how you can manage these feelings. A strategy that works well for one person may not have a positive impact on you. That’s why this week’s Talk Time is all about finding strategies that will benefit you specifically.
When discussing self-care techniques, remember that this involves both mental and physical health. The following ideas can be used as a starting point for your conversations:
- Where can you go to combat feeling low and who can help you (trusted adults)?
- Think about exercises that you enjoy. This is the UK so it would be good to have indoor ideas, too.
- What creative tasks do you have access to (writing, music, arts, crafts, cooking/baking etc)?
- How do you relax and unwind (reading, watching a film etc).
- Consider strategies that will help you when emotions are heightened (breathing, counting, meditating etc).
This is not an exhaustive list. The link below has lots of great ideas that you may also wish to use.
https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/self-care/
The oracy focus for this half term is voice projection, fluency and pace. As we’re nearing the end of this half term, this week’s Remember 2s are an opportunity for your child to showcase what they’ve been working on at school:
- Think about what you are going to say before you speak.
- Talk in a clear, loud voice without shouting.
- Sit or stand with good posture (eg not slouching).
- Face the person, or people, that you are speaking to.
08 October 2021
This week’s Talk Time relates to a moral issue and also links with our current Geography learning.
Is it okay to build new houses on green space (fields and parks in towns and cities)?
Your child may already have some views on this. However, this statement is all about taking different viewpoints into account.
This week’s ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) will support your child as they reflect on the pros and cons of building new houses on our green spaces:
- What are the reasons for (the pros) building new houses there?
- What are the reasons against (the cons) building new houses there?
- Reach a conclusion – Do you take one particular side or is there a compromise that could satisfy everyone?
There’s a range of ways to approach this moral question. We suggest exploring the 5Ws and H (who, what, where, when, why, how).
Check out the examples below to help get discussions flowing:
- Who needs new housing (young people, families, elderly etc)? Who would build the new houses?
- What would new housing look like? What will be the impact on the environment with fewer trees and plants?
- Where would the animals from the fields/parks go? Where else could people go for walks/exercise?
- When would things be able to run normally (traffic, pathways etc)? When would people want more houses?
- Why don’t people move into houses that are already built? Why do we need more housing?
- How long would it to take to build the houses? How much would the new housing cost? How many people could live in the new housing?
Fancy an extra challenge? Your child might like to plan the new housing or design the type of housing that should go on some green space.
01 October 2021
This week’s Talk Time relates to the knowledge we’ve gained about British geography this half term.
I can show off my knowledge of British geography.
Years 1 and 2:
I know the four countries and capital cities of the UK, and the seas which surround the UK.
Years 3 and 4 (as above plus):
I know some of the counties in the UK, and some of the main rivers and mountains in the UK.
Years 5 and 6 (as above plus):
I know some of the main rivers, mountains and regions (eg the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District, the Highlands of Scotland).
With each geography topic that we teach, children are often building on the knowledge and skills gained in the previous years. We therefore recommend you start discussions around the Year 1 and 2 knowledge, before discussing the knowledge for your child’s current year group.
Check out this song about the countries and capital cities of the UK. We’re sure your child will have heard this before and know it almost word for word. If they don’t yet, they will soon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDIZoQLgIE
At school, we refer to 8Rs to promote good learning behavior. You can read about them by following the link. See how many your child knows.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BJvRtT_rKqxoFvLCdpdcyoQ4OrbmKrON/view?usp=sharing
This week’s ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) directly link to three of the 8Rs:
- Remember – Think back to geography lessons, learning, tasks, games etc.
- Reflect – Which facts are you most confident with? Which ones do you need to work on?
- Resourceful – For facts you’re unsure of, how can you improve your understanding? Who could you ask at home or at school? What resources could help you? (eg map, atlas, online tools such as Google Maps and Google Earth)
24 September 2021
Vocabulary is the focus of this week’s Talk Time.
Thinking about the new topic vocabulary, I can begin to use these words at home.
This half term, we’re all being geographers, learning specifically about British geography. Here’s a list of key words that are being learnt and applied as part of our learning:
Years 1 and 2 Geography vocabulary:
| atlas | a collection of maps, usually in a book |
| city | a large town |
| compass | a tool for finding direction |
| locality | an area or neighbourhood |
| landmark | an object or feature of a locality that has importance and can be used to help find your way. |
| physical geography | Physical geography looks at the natural things in our environment. |
| human geography | Human geography looks at changes in the environment by humans. |
| to survey | to find the opinions of a group of people by asking them questions |
| issue | an important topic or problem that needs discussion |
Years 3 and 4 Geography vocabulary:
| grid reference | a location on a map which is found using numbered lines |
| Ordnance Survey (OS) | Britain’s mapping agency |
| scale | the relationship between distance on a map and the matching distance on the ground |
| county | a region within a country |
| settlement type | places where people live and work |
| land-use | the specific purpose that an area of land is used for |
| compass points | the marks on a compass that show direction |
Years 5 and 6 Geography vocabulary:
| national park | an area set aside by the government for the preservation of the natural environment |
| six figure grid reference | contains six numbers which give a precise location on a map |
| city expansion | Also called urban sprawl, this is the increase in built up area of a city. |
| urban green space | any vegetated land or water within an urban area |
| carbon stores | places where carbon is stored in the environment |
| quantitative data | data which can be written in numbers |
| qualitative data | data that can be written in words, not numbers |
| soundscape | a qualitative record of the sounds in any environment |
| sampling | a way of collecting fieldwork data without measuring everything |
Some of these words have already been discussed in lessons but there may be others that are going to be covered in the coming weeks.
Encourage your child to think back to their geography learning so far. The following questions might prompt your child to remember even more about the vocabulary:
- What does this word mean?
- Can you use the word in a sentence?
- Can you (where possible) give an example of this?
- Have you seen a picture or clip that links to that word?
- Can you link this word to one or more of the other words?
17 September 2021
This week’s Talk Time homework links to our current Geography topic, ‘Where in the world am I?’.
I can talk about my local area.
We encourage you and your child to go out and explore as part of this task. Be sure to find safe spaces to pause and reflect on the surrounding area.
Refer to these ‘Remember 2s’ (R2s) when discussions are taking place:
- physical features (natural things that would be around without people)
- human features (things that have been built by people)
- respect people whose views are different
You might wish to use these ideas as a starting point for your discussions:
- what facilities there are
- what I like
- what I don’t like
- how the area might be improved
- what I can do to help improve the area
This Talk Time is all about critical thinking. Your child might find it quite easy to talk positively about their local area. They may find it trickier to talk about aspects of the local area that they don’t like. Remind your child that it is okay to say that there are things they don’t like so long as they remain respectful and polite.
Skills developed in this Talk Time can help your child with other areas of learning, too. As part of your child’s daily reading, you could prompt your child to talk critically about a character or a part of the book that could be improved.
10 September 2021
Our first Talk Time homework of the year links to one of Christian values: friendship.
I can describe what makes a true friend.
Use these questions as prompts for your discussions at home. Of course, you might expand on some of these or have other areas you wish to explore.
- Does a true friend have to look the same as me? (Consider whether they’re a boy or girl, their race, their religion and other differences.)
- Will a true friend always agree with me?
- If we fall out, does that mean we aren’t true friends?
- Does a true friend care about me all the time, sometimes or not at all?
16 July 2021
This week, I know how to make healthy choices is the Talk Time homework.
As a continuation of our physical health and mental wellbeing learning in Living and Learning, and having reflected on our own health, we now want to explore healthy choices we can make.
At home, you could talk about the healthy choices you could make for:
- your mind
- your heart
- your muscles
- your digestive system
- your family
Next week, each class will share what choices we can make, reflecting on whether they want to adopt any of the choices shared by their classmates to improved their own health.
09 July 2021 – Times Tables
Continue to focus on all the times tables. Make sure you have a very quick recall of the multiplication facts up to the 12 x 12. Here are a few examples of the kinds of questions children could be asked and the type of questions children could be practising in addition to the times table facts:
0.6 x 4
40 x 50=
56 ÷ 8 =
280 ÷ 2 =