It feels like Christmas...

It certainly will feel like Christmas next Monday - the date of the school Christmas performance of 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens (who occasionally used to hang out around Church Street in Stoke Newington by the way).

Charles Dickens

So, Year 6 have one more week to learn all of the words to the song 'It feels like Christmas'.

To help you, here's a link to the song, complete with the lyrics (words):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg55oVDXv3o

Good luck!

Leapfrog problem

See if you can get all of the frogs to their opposite lilypad:
http://www.subtangent.com/maths/ig-leapfrog.php

TIMES TABLES CHALLENGE!

Here's the link again to the times table program we will be using in Friday's Times Tables Challenge final:
http://www.markhanley.co.uk/tables/timetrial/

If you've got through qualifying to reach the final then practise! Even if you haven't then practise too! There's always next year :)

I've just spotted a bug in the program which I need to fix. Until I do that, don't press the 'START AGAIN' button in the middle of a game as it makes the countdown go haywire!

If you need to start the game again, just press 'Refresh' or the f5 key.

Good luck! And well done to all those who have taken part.

I can't wait to find out who's going to win those iPods!

NEWS JUST IN!

I have just received the first completed HairyTown FM news report by Eren and Mark.

You can listen to it here:
http://www.markhanley.co.uk/pmps/year6/english/radio/erenmark.mp3

Don't forget you can download Audacity at home and make your very own radio show!

Sound editing with Audacity

As promised, here is the link to where you can download Audacity (the sound editor that we will be using to edit our news reports tomorrow):
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows

You might find it useful to have a look at the following site for sound effects:
http://www.freesound.org/

You will need to create a login of your own in order to download any sound effects. Also, search carefully for what you need, as there is an enormous number of sound samples on this site (some of which are not *that* useful!)

If you want to find some TV news samples, try a google search for 'bbc news .mp3' or 'itn news at 10 .mp3'.
Remember to bring in any examples of your creative genius at work!

Spelling practice

Use these two links to practise this week's spellings:

Mr Hanley's English group

Mrs McCree-Boyle's group

Click on the link and then click 'Click here to start practising'.

PhotoStory 3

Here's the link to where you can download the program we used to make our Britain Since 1948 montages:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=92755126-a008-49b3-b3f4-6f33852af9c1&displaylang=en

You will need to install the Windows validation tool before you can download it.

Make sure you bring in any montages you have been working on at home!

Quadrilaterals!

A link to a site that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about quadrilaterals:
http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/sats/quadrilaterals.htm

Test out your knowledge on this game. You have to pull each shape around to find out what kind of quadrilateral it is:
http://www.mccsc.edu/~tfrey/quadrilaterals.htm

5 best-I-can-do tickets for anybody who can name all seven!

Times Tables game recommendation

Eren has sent in a link to a great web page for practising your tables. It works just like those magnetic words that you find on some people's fridges. Have a look at...
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/timestable/magnetic/mixtimes.html

Thanks Eren!

Know your countries of Europe!

Here's the link to the game that will help you to learn the countries of Europe:
http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/euroquiz.html

The first person to demonstrate that they can spot all of the countries correctly (with three or fewer mistakes) will win a prize!

Get learning those countries!

Some more games to help you prepare for the Times Tables Challenge

Just for Eren - and anybody else who found the other times tables games a teensy bit boring, here's a couple of links to some hopefully more captivating games:

http://www.mathplayground.com/spaceracer_multiplication.html

http://resources.oswego.org/games/Ghostblasters1/gbcd.html

Let me know if these are more to your liking!

Multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100

Here's the link to the game we played in maths this morning.
http://weddell.sqweebs.com/x10x100/x10%20x100.swf

Have a go and see if you can get all of the answers right. Remember to use the arrow buttons to shift all of the digits to the left (multiplying) or to the right (dividing).

Times Tables Practice

Here's a couple of links to some games to help you practise your times tables.

The first one is my Times Tables Challenge. Choose the tables you want to be tested on and see how many you can get right in 30 seconds:
http://www.markhanley.co.uk/tables/timetrial/

The next is called 'Hit the Answer' and it's a great way of practising knowing the questions that go with each times tables answer (there's also some doubles and halves on there too):
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/resources/gordon/Hit%20the%20button%20v9.swf

Remember - aim to get to Bronze, Silver or Gold level when I next test you on your tables.

Loopy Snooker Investigation

Here's the link to the Loopy Snooker investigation we did in school:
http://www.subtangent.com/maths/ig-snooker.php

Can you find more patterns that will enable you to predict how many bounces will occur for any snooker table? Send a comment if you discover a new pattern.

Welcome to Year 6!

A big welcome to the new Princess May Year 6 children. I hope you enjoy using the blog this year.

Keep checking to see useful links for activities you can do at home. If there is a website that you use at home that you want to tell other children about then feel free to let Mr Hanley or Mrs McCree-Boyle know and we might add a post about it.

Game Maker 7

Here's the link to the YoYo Games web site where you can download the Game Maker program:
http://www.yoyogames.com/gamemaker/try

There are also some tutorials on the site which will help you to master programming your own games.

A great tutorial by an 11 year old boy on how to make platform games:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfdKS6NHjWI

You can find them here:
http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials

Even better, here is a link to an electronic version of a brilliant book all about making games with Game Maker:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4mXksWmedYYC&printsec=frontcover

The book normally costs about £30 in the shops! You would have to find some sprites to replace the ones used in the games in the book though :(

Have fun - be sure to bring in any games that you make at home.

Half Term Homework

Here is the link to your unfinished playscripts about the first day at secondary school:

http://www.markhanley.co.uk/pmps/year6/english/playscripts/

Download yours and work on it over half term so that it is ready to rehearse when we come back.

Remember - if you want to ask any questions then send a comment about this post with your question in it and I'll try to help by sending one in reply.

Happy Half Term!

2D and 3D Shapes

Here's the link to some fun activities which will help you to remember properties of 2D and 3D shapes:

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/3d/index.htm

Make sure you know the names of the 2D shapes. You also need to know how to work out the area and perimeter of a rectangle or square. Make sure you know terms like parallel and perpendicular too.

For 3D shapes, make sure you know the names (don't worry about tetrahedron and dodecahedron) and how to describe their properties using words like face, vertex and edge.

Good luck!

Make your own word-search!

You know all of those revision word-searches we've been doing in Early Morning Work? Well they were all made online using a simple tool.

Try it out! Perhaps use it to make your own revision word-search; or to practise some spellings that you frequently get wrong.

Anyway, here's the link:

http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php

Simply add your list of words (you could even copy and paste them from another program or web page), then give it a title and create your wordsearch.

If you really wanted to be nice to someone, you could make a list of all of the positive words which describe them (patient, kind, thoughtful...) and give it them their own personalised word-search to solve!

SATs Revision Websites

As promised, here is the link to the BBC Bitesize revision pages so you can start off your SATs revision:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/

I'll post some more websites that will help you with your preparations but for now, get busy with BBC!

Area and perimeter practice

We've done lots of work on area and perimeter in maths this week. Have a go at these games to practise working out the area and perimeter of rectangles and compound shapes:

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/perimeter_and_area/index.html

Make sure you choose the level that's right for you.

Practise those apostrophes!

Here's the link to the apostrophes games we were playing this morning:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/punctuation/apostrophes/game.shtml

Can you get all of them right AND beat the clock?