J2 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES TERM 2

• Support your child’s reading for at least twenty minutes per night. Setting aside a similar time every evening reading is encouraged, as well as a comfortable, cozy spot. Reading your own book at the same time can show that you also value reading in your life, and can help to build a feeling of connection around reading.

• Check your favorite local bookstore for author visits and other events. We are lucky to live in the heart of book culture! There are always amazing children’s literature events just around the corner:

  • • https://booksofwonder.com/blogs/upcoming;

    • https://www.bookculture.com/event;

    • https://www.bankstreetbooks.com/event.

• Not sure what to ask your child as they read? Here are some helpful questions to support reading comprehension

January - March students will be working on personal narrative writing. You might support this learning by:

• Helping your child to generate topics about their personal experiences to write about e.g. best memories, worst memories, first time experiences.

• Read books together to inquire into how authors bring characters to life through details like feelings, dialogue, and action. Also notice how authors start and end their stories.

March - June students will be studying and writing biographies.

• Brainpop Junior shares a range of biographies on Changemakers past and present (username: unis password: unispop)

• Some great new biography books to read together:

  • A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation, by Barry Wittenstein and Jerry Pinkney

  • Out of This World: The Surreal Art of Leonora Carrington, by Michelle Markel and Amanda Hall

  • Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet, by Elizabeth Rusch and Teresa Martinez

  • It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way, by Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad

• Students could be further supported and prepared by discussing the important events in their lives so far. Creating a timeline with dates, locations and labels would be helpful.

• Take time to discuss your personal heroes with your child. Explain why you admire the action that person took to make a difference. With your child, do a little research on the particulars of that person’s life. Practice retelling the major events.

Strongly connected to Language Arts

The concept of identity features prominently in our unit: The Power of Storytelling. Students explore: ‘What makes me, me?’ Look at these identity collages. What might feature on your identity collage? Share with your child. You might even make a collage together.

After our Spring Break, students will learn about People Who have Made a difference. Students may start exploring some of the impactful people presented here.

The ‘Who Was’ books series is a helpful resource for this learning and our Junior School Library hosts an extensive collection. Similarly, the ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ collection is also wonderful.

Take time to discuss your personal hero(oes) with your child. Explain why you admire the action that person took to make a difference. With your child, do a little research on the particulars of that person’s life. Practice retelling the major events.

• https://nrich.maths.org/primary - the activities and games section under the ‘primary students’ tab is a powerful resource with tasks that require critical thinking and problem solving. The challenges can be viewed on screen or printed if offline learning is preferred.

• https://www.youcubed.org/tasks/ Tasks under the ‘Tasks and More’ tab has a range of mathematical games. This collection has been put together by Stanford Professor of Mathematics Jo Boaler.

• Inches to Feet Students match measurements in inches to their equivalent in inches and feet. This game involves mental computation that might be challenging for some.

• Measurement Game: Centimeters View a red line next to a centimeter ruler and select the correct answer from four options.

• Line Plot Practice for data collection and analysis

• Coin Combo Players click on coins to equal total money value shown. Coins continually fall in columns; when a column fills, the game is over. Levels increase in difficulty, starting with nickels & dimes and small money values and increasing to larger coins and money amounts.

• Coin Box Learn how to count, collect, exchange, and make change for coins. The coin tiles help you count as you learn the value of each coin.

• Learn to Count Money Players count money by moving coins and bills into a box. The game becomes progressively more difficult as students master levels. Level 1, count to 99 cents. Level 2, count to $10. Level 3, count to $100. Also, choose from beginner level (using any combination of coins) and expert levels (using least number of bills and coins.)

• When you’re out and about doing shopping, allow your learner to help you budget and spend. See if you can make reasonable estimates about the cost of items you will shop for. See if your child can calculate/estimate how much change you will get back.

• Concentration Click on the shape mode to play a game in which you match each shape with its name.

• Geoboard App With this virtual geoboard, students stretch bands around pegs to make discoveries about shapes. iPad and online versions available.

• While you’re out and about, play I-Spy with shapes around the city. “I Spy with my little eye, an octagon.” Then have your child look around to find it.

• While you’re out and about, take some time to analyze and sketch out the architecture around the city. What shapes are used to create the buildings that we see everyday. Have your child sketch out a building of her/his own using shapes you agree upon.

• 10s go fish card game

• Addition battle

• Connect 4 Addition

• Race to 100 aka pig

• Doubles plus or minus 1 - a 9 sided die is needed for this game.

• The Kid Should See This

• Wonderopolis

• BBC Dancemat for typing Practice