Middle School
Learning at home
Here are the Middle School learning activities for Week 1, Term 4. There is a Reading, Maths, Language, and Topic task each day.
Your child’s teacher will have emailed you to direct you towards which reading and maths group your child is in. Just click on your child’s group for their online reading and maths activities.
With our classroom meetings, your teacher may ask you to bring something that you’ve been doing during home learning to share with the class. Or, you could always take a photo of your work and email it to your teacher. We look forward to hearing about the work you’ve been doing while at home.
Special addition this week: Fun activities to do in your spare time.
**Extra activities you can complete throughout the week if you wish**
A couple of other places you can explore during your home learning time are:
Home Learning TV channels
MOTAT Youtube Channel and extra activities from MOTAT
Some websites that can help support the science and STEM learning your child has been doing at school are below:
STEM Challenges (on our school website)
Lockdown Fitness! Click here for fun ways to mix up your walking!
Middle School Home Based Learning
Government learning from home website - https://learningfromhome.govt.nz/resources
As well as daily activities, here are some websites that you might like to have a look at.
monday 18th october
reading
writing
Prompt from Pobble365
Watch and Learn
The ice-cold water made her paws tingle, the sound of the cascading water around her filled her ears, and she could feel her heart pounding inside her chest. Her senses were more alert than ever.
Over years of practise, however, she had perfected the art of blocking out all possible distractions, focusing only on catching her prey.
Her cubs watched from the beach, learning from her every move. She couldn’t afford to teach them bad habits. Every move and every second counted…
Choose ONE of the following tasks to today:
Continue the story from the story starter above.
Imagine you are the fish that the bear is after and write a story about trying to escape from the bear.
When you are finished, check that you have:
Re-read your work to check it makes sense
Checked your spelling
Checked your use of capital letters and full stops
maths
topic - science leaf transpiration
Did you know that plants transpire? It is kind of like perspiring, (sweating like we do when we get hot) but not quite.
You will need:
Small clear plastic bag (zip lock bag or even a vege bag from the supermarket)
A rubber band
A plant with a leaf
What did you notice?
After 1 minute I noticed…
After 1 hour I noticed…
After 2 hours I noticed…
The next day I noticed....
The Science behind it - Transpiration is the process of water moving through plants and its evaporation from leaves, stems and flowers. We all know that plants need water. However, it only uses a small amount. The rest is lost by transpiration (about 99%!!) Leaves have pores all over them that you can see if you look closely on the bottom side with a magnifying glass. These pores are called stomata. The plants open their stomata to let in carbon dioxide and water comes out of the pores in the process. It cools the plants, but it is also a critical part of the water cycle. Transpiration adds a huge quantity of the water back into the air.
tuesday 19th october
reading
writing
Prompt from Pobble365
Number 28
Thump…Thump…Thump…
His footsteps thundered down the road, causing passers-by to stare in amazement, dogs to howl in backyards and alarmed old ladies to peer out of their bedroom windows wearing petrified looks on their faces.
His legs were as long as oak trees, his torso was as wide as a house and his fists were as heavy as tractors: this metallic monster meant business.
“Number 28 checking in. Over.” He spoke into the radio set, built into his helmet.
His instructions crackled back through the earpiece. He knew what he had to do…
Choose ONE of the following tasks to today:
Continue the story from the story starter above.
If we all had personal robots that belonged to us, would this be a good or bad thing? Write an article to make someone agree with you and your answer to this question.
When you are finished, check that you have:
Re-read your work to check it makes sense
Checked your spelling
Checked your use of capital letters and full stops
maths
topic - fitness bingo
For this activity you’ll need a parent or someone else who can call the activities out for you to complete.
To win you can either: blackout the whole board (BINGO) or complete a line (LINE BINGO)
Step One: Choose the board you want to use -
Step Two: Have a parent call out different activities for you to complete from the list below:
Don’t forget to tick the activity once you have finished. When you have covered them ALL or made a LINE call out BINGO and you are done!
Bonus: You could just try to do all the activities and record who can do it the fastest - you or your parents/caregivers.
wednesday 20th october
reading
writing
Prompt from The Literacy Shed
Reverso
A story about a man whose whole life is upside down. Gravity seems to push him to the ceiling rather than pull him down to the ground. He is an outcast in life, his attempts to make friends at work end in disaster. He ends up getting fired. A walk in the park ends in surprise.
Wait until the end of the credits for a surprise of your own.
Choose ONE of the following tasks to today:
Write a diary entry - a day in the life of this man.
Write a report about an accident caused by him.
When you are finished, check that you have:
Re-read your work to check it makes sense
Checked your spelling
Checked your use of capital letters and full stops
maths
topic - stem challenge
Help! Now that the 3 Little Pigs have gotten rid of the Big Bad Wolf for good they want to design a new house that all three of them would like to live in.
Your challenge is to design them a brand new home. Don’t forget to include all the materials they will need to make their new home and how it will look on the outside and inside. You can even show them how to escape in case the Big Bad Wolf comes back.
Bonus: If you’d like an extra challenge try building it out of recycled materials that you can find around the house.
thursday 21st october
reading
writing
Prompt from The Literacy Shed
Lily and the Snowman
Lily builds a snowman, when the light shines from the house onto him he comes alive. The Snowman uses the lights to create images to tell stories to Lily.
Lily’s imagination allows her to bring the stories to life.
As the weather warms, Lily places the snowman in the freezer bringing him out each year to go on new adventures. But soon, Lily has other things to think about.
Choose ONE of the following tasks to today:
Write a story from the point of the Snowman, talking about an adventure that he went on with Lily.
Write a letter from Lily to her friend telling them all about the Snowman and how she feels when he comes alive and they go on adventures. .
Write instructions on how to build a snowman.
When you are finished, check that you have:
Re-read your work to check it makes sense
Checked your spelling
Checked your use of capital letters and full stops
maths
topic - wellbeing - our emotions
It’s always good to know what makes us feel a certain way. Think about what makes you happy, sad, angry, or embarrassed. Which of these faces show that emotion? Write under the picture those things that make you feel like that?
Bonus: Make a list of 10 reasons why you are an amazing person! Put it somewhere in your room so you can see it every day. Ask your parents or family members to help you if you get stuck.
friday 22nd october
reading
writing
Prompt from The Literacy Shed
The Pavement to the Clouds
Choose ONE of the following tasks to today:
Write a story about someone who walks up the stairs to see what is in the clouds.
Write a description that describes the pavement to the clouds and the area surrounding it.
When you are finished, check that you have:
Re-read your work to check it makes sense
Checked your spelling
Checked your use of capital letters and full stops
maths
topic - the world around us - photography
Scavenger Hunt
You can either challenge yourself to draw a picture of these items or see if you can politely ask your parents to borrow their phone to take pictures. Be creative, a photo or picture might have more than one item on the list. Most of all HAVE FUN!
