It is wonderful to have the pleasure of teaching Herons again this year and I am excited to get to know the whole class even better. Below is some information which we hope you will find useful.

Reading

Reading is an incredibly important skill and the more confident children become, the more joy they can take from sitting down with a great book. At school, we use Accelerated Reader to support children in choosing books from our library, which will help to support and challenge their reading fluency and comprehension. We provide many opportunities in school for children to read, and encourage them to do so at home.  This may include reading silently to themselves, out loud to an adult or even an adult reading to them. To help promote thinking and check understanding, children should quiz on Accelerated Reader when they finish a book.

Accelerated Reader Website

https://login.renaissance.com/12d2c6eb-d460-4141-b418-f6a20b7681a5?state=14538918-cefd-4532-b301-7bfa1f51155b

In Key Stage 2, it is every child’s responsibility to take their reading book home each day and bring it back to class the following day. Adults will remind children to do this at the end of every day. We encourage the children to read at home, with an adult, at least five times a week for 5-10 minutes. Regular reading practise helps to improve reading fluency, which in turn supports reading comprehension.

If you want to help develop comprehension, the following questions are good starting points for conversations about your child’s reading:

• Can you find a few words/phrases/sentences that tell you about… (character, setting, atmosphere).
• What do you think about the character?
• Why do you think they reacted in the way they did?
• What does (one particular word) mean? How do you know?
• Can you put the events in order?
• What did you enjoy/find surprising/dislike in this chapter?
• Non – fiction: can you tell me about key features of the text and give me some examples?

Spellings

Alongside regular reading, please ask your child to practise spellings at home in their purple homework book. The expectation is that they also write three of the most challenging spellings in a sentence to help reinforce understanding. Weekly spellings will mostly link to the spelling rules and patterns taught in class each week, but high frequency words and spellings from the Year 3/4 spelling list will also be given.

Your child will be tested on their spellings every Wednesday and a new list of spellings will be given out on the following Thursday.

A copy of the high frequency/common exception and Year 3/4 spelling lists can be found on the Herons class page.

Maths

Being able to quickly recall times table facts is a vital part of the Key Stage 2 curriculum.

Your child will have their own Tackling Tables login (https://www.tacklingtables.co.uk/)  which progresses the children through their times table knowledge and eventually moves onto application of these tables. 

Blue (2x, 5x, 10x) - multiplication, division, mixed
Green (3x, 4x, 8x) - multiplication, division, mixed
Red (6x, 7x, 9x, 11x, 12x) - multiplication, division, mixed

If your child is finding a particular times table more challenging, below are some recommended , free websites which will allow your child to focus on one times table at a time. However, playing lots of games, listening to songs and chanting times tables also proves effective in improving recall of these facts.

Free Online Times Tables Practice for Math | SMASH Maths

Times tables games - Learn them all here!

Times Tables Kids - Learn, Play, and Practice Multiplication for Free

Please support your child with practice as frequently as possible.

Lexia 

Your child might have an account for Lexia. If so, they can log in at home and work through the levels to consolidate and develop their English understanding and skills.

https://www.lexiacore5.com/?SiteID=3941-4067-1168-4899

Thank you for your support, and we look forward to having an enjoyable and productive year.

Mrs Swales & Mrs Plane