All About Christmas



All About Christmas by Topmarks.co.uk

As always the guys at Topmarks have put together a really well presented package. There’s everything you need to know about Christmas contained here…

You can find out why Christians celebrate Christmas and explore the timeline of the Christmas period from Advent to Epiphany.

From the story of the Nativity to individual sections about Advent, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Epiphany and even how to make Christingles, all aspects of the formal side of the festival are covered.


The section on customs covers Santa Clause, Christmas carols, card, Christmas pudding, Christmas trees and mistletoe.

Finally there is a host of activities with Christmas Games, Songs and stories and ‘how to’ advice on the production of cards, Christingles and even a dancing Rudolph!

You can get the low down on Santa, his reindeer and the elves as well as a whole host of puzzles and printables to see you through the madness that occurs once the Christmas postbox comes out… 🙂

All About Christmas by Topmarks.co.uk

 

Living, Dead, Never Lived…



All animals and plants are living organisms. 

Even though all plants look different and all animals look different, they all have certain things in common.

All plants and animals….

…Grow
…Feed
…Move – even just a little bit!
…Reproduce

Growth
Clearly, seeds grow into plants which go on getting bigger and animals’ babies grow up.

Nutrition
All plants and animals need energy to go about their daily business. Animals eat plants or other animals to nourish themselves. Plants make their own food from sunlight.. neat trick!

Movement
Obviously, animals move almost every part of their bodies, but even plants do move. Flowers and leaves move almost imperceptibly to face the light. Some plants even more fast enough to catch insects.

Reproduction
To keep their species in existence, plants and animals make other plants and animals: animals have babies or lay eggs, plants produce seeds.

Living things are made up of cells
Living organisms like plants or animals are each made up of literally billions of really tiny things called cells. They are so small that you need a microscope to see them. Animal cells and plant cells are slightly different to look at, but they are all cells

Dead things are also made of cells
When animals or plants die we sometimes use them to make useful objects. Wood in tables and chairs, leather in shoes and belts, cotton in shirts and handkerchiefs and wool in socks and jumpers were once all alive and so they are also made of cells.

Never lived
Things that have never been alive are not made of cells. Materials such as plastic, glass, metal and stone have never been alive. They are made from particles.

 

Shape : Area and Perimeter



Shape : Area Builder by PhET, Colorado University

This simulation allows pupils to explore the concepts of area and perimeter. There are two distinct modes to this game.

The first is great for exploring and teaching and allows squares to be dragged onto a grid and gives numerical values to both area and perimeter.

The second mode provides students with a set of challenges or puzzles to solve by setting targets for shapes with specific area and perimeter. It allows instant checking and feedback.

There are six levels of difficulty and most pupils will gain something about area and perimeter by using this simulation.

The higher levels encourage arriving at an area or perimeter by using calculations – an on screen calculator is provided.

This shape, area and perimeter project is created using HTML5 and as such will play on desktops and tablets equally well, including iPads.

Area Builder – PhET: Colorado University

Nouns : Abstract Nouns



 

Nouns : Abstract Nouns

An abstract noun is a word which names something that cannot be experienced by the five senses.  You cannot see, hear, touch, smell, or taste.

Abstract nouns can be hard to spot. Take for example ‘laughter’. There is a point of view that says it is an abstract noun, a concept; others maintain that because you can hear it, it can not be an abstract noun…

Other similar examples exist, but it is not worth the worry of trying to figure it out. The best thing you can probably do is to arm your pupils with a list of confirmed abstract nouns and teach them the principle behind them being such.

Common Abstract Nouns

Showing Human Qualities or Characteristics

beauty, bravery, brilliance, brutality. calm, charity, coldness, compassion, confidence, contentment, courage, curiosity, dedication, determination, ego, elegance, enthusiasm, envy, evil, fear, generosity, goodness, graciousness, hatred, honesty, honour, hope, humility, humour insanity, integrity, intelligence, jealousy, kindness, loyalty, maturity, patience, perseverance, sanity, self-control,  sensitivity, sophistication, stupidity, sympathy, talent, tolerance, trust, weakness, wisdom, wit

Showing Emotions/Feeling

adoration, amazement, anger, anxiety apprehension, clarity, delight, despair, disappointment, disbelief, excitement, fascination, friendship, grief, happiness, hate, helpfulness, helplessness, infatuation, joy, love, misery, pain, pleasure, power, pride, relaxation, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, silliness, sorrow, strength, surprise, tiredness, uncertainty, wariness, weariness, worry

More Examples of Abstract Nouns

ability, adventure, artistry, awe, belief , chaos, comfort, communication, consideration, crime, culture, customer service, death, deceit, defeat, democracy, dexterity, dictatorship, disquiet, disturbance, dream, energy, enhancement, failure, faith, faithfulness, faithlessness, favouritism, forgiveness, fragility, frailty, freedom, grace, hearsay, homelessness, hurt, idea, idiosyncrasy, imagination, impression, improvement, inflation, information, justice, knowledge, law, liberty, life, loss, luck, luxury, memory, mercy, motivation, movement, need, omen, opinion, opportunism, opportunity, parenthood, patriotism, peace, peculiarity, poverty, principle, reality, redemption, refreshment, riches, rumour, service, shock, skill, slavery, sleep, speculation, speed, strictness, submission, success, thought, thrill, truth, unemployment, unreality, victory, wealth.

There is this useful  word list of abstract nouns with definitions which, in addition to simply defining their meaning, demonstrates how abstract nouns are used in context, .

Time : Analog Clock Puzzle



Time : Puzzle Pic Clocks by mathplayground.com

This puzzle presents the user with 12 analog clocks showing different times.

A digital time is given under the array of clocks and the object of the game is to drag a piece of a jigsaw to the matching analog clock in the puzzle.

The ‘fast forward’ arrows allow the user to start a new game at the current level. The bars in the bottom left hand corner of the puzzle allow the user to select a level of difficulty.

This would work equally well as an interactive whiteboard activity or on individual tablets or desktop computers.

The game works well even on my elderly iPad…

 Puzzle Pic Clocks by mathplayground.com`

 

Nouns : Compound Nouns



Nouns : Compound Nouns

A compound noun is a noun that is made up of at least two words: firewood, pet shop, jack-in-the-box, blackboard,post office, six-pack

There are three forms for compound nouns:

  • With Spaces: ice cream, water tank, printer cartridge
  • Without Spaces: footprint, stopwatch, suitcase
  • With Hyphens: merry-go-round, passer-by, daughter-in-law

There are no hard and fast rules on which form to use. Just be aware that many of the words exist in more than one form.

You’ll just have to look them up if there is any doubt, Google is as good as anywhere…

Composition of Compound Nouns

Though there is no need for pupils of primary school age to be aware of any of what follows, I have included it for interest’s sake…

Most compound nouns are made up of two nouns or an adjective and a noun. For example:

  • Noun + Noun: bath tub, witchcraft, seaman, wall-paper
  • Adjective + Noun: hardware, highway, full moon, whiteboard
Compound elements Examples
noun + noun bedroom
water tank
motorcycle
printer cartridge
noun + verb rainfall
haircut
train-spotting
noun + adverb hanger-on
passer-by
verb + noun washing machine
driving licence
swimming pool
verb + adverb lookout
take-off
drawback
adverb + noun onlooker
bystander
adjective + verb dry-cleaning
public speaking
adjective + noun greenhouse
software
redhead
adverb + verb output
overthrow
upturn
input
aaa
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