Monday Spelling

This week you will be practising the spelling of different endangered animals.

giraffe rhinoceros When you are practising these words, use the strategies that you have learnt in class:

elephant orangutan  Read the words

sea turtle snow leopard  Identify the tricky part  Practising in different ways (e.g. rain- bow writing; capital letters, pyramid gorilla pangolin words; look, say, cover, write, check).

Task 1 Carefully write the spelling of each animal under its picture.

Monday continued Handwriting Task 2 Write a simple fact about each of the animals you are learning for your spellings using your neatest, joined handwriting. The sentences do not need to be long - concentrate on your presentation and using the correct spelling. For example: Elephants have a long trunk. Pangolins are scaly. Snow leopards are fluffy. Tuesday Reading: note-taking

Note-taking is an extremely important skill to learn. When you take notes, you do not copy down every piece of information. Instead, you record the most important facts which are the bits you don’t want to forget.

For example: Below is an extract taken from a website about tigers:

Tiger Tigers can reach a length of up to 11 feet (3.3 metres) and weigh as much as 720 pounds (330 kilograms). That’s heavier than a piano. Have you ever tried to lift a piano? Don’t do it alone as you’ll probably hurt yourself. That is one heavy cat. Imagine your cat at home being as big as that, there would be no space for them!

To take notes on this piece of text, we need to work out what the most important bits of information are. You can do this by highlighting key facts.

Tigers Tigers can reach a length of up to 11 feet (3.3 metres) and weigh as much as 720 pounds (330 kilograms). That’s heavier than a piano. Have you ever tried to lift a piano? Don’t do it alone as you’ll probably hurt yourself. That is one heavy cat. Imagine your cat at home being as big as that, there would be no space for them!

Now, we are ready to list the key facts (these are the notes). They do not need to be full sentences. A lot of the text above is not important. It just adds extra information to make it more interesting.  Tigers are v. large It is also okay to shorten words when you are  Length of 3.3m & weight 330kg taking notes! & = and v. large = very large Tuesday continued

Your note-taking task

 Read the text below about elephants (or ask an adult to help you).

 Highlight the most important information in each paragraph.

 Write the most important fact or facts in each paragraph (these are your notes - remember it is okay to shorten the sentences).

All About An Elephant’s Trunk An adult African elephant's trunk is about two meters long! It's actually an elongated nose and upper lip. Like most noses, trunks are for smelling. When an elephant drinks, it sucks as much as 7 litres of water into its trunk at a time. Then it curls its trunk under, sticks the tip of its trunk into its mouth, and blows. Out comes the water, right down the elephant's throat. Since African elephants live where the sun is usually blazing hot, they use their trunks to help them keep cool. First they squirt a trunkful of cool water over their bodies. Then they often follow that with a sprinkling of dust to create a protective layer of dirt on their skin. Elephants pick up and spray dust the same way they do water—with their trunks. Elephants also use their trunks as snorkels when they wade in deep water. An elephant's trunk is controlled by many muscles. Two fingerlike parts on the tip of the trunk allow the elephant to perform delicate movements such as picking a berry from the ground or plucking a single leaf off a tree. An elephant can also use its trunk to grasp an entire tree branch to pull it down to its mouth and to yank up clumps of grasses and shove the greenery into their mouths. Elephants are social creatures. They sometimes hug by wrapping their trunks together in displays of greeting and affection. Elephants also use their trunks to help lift or nudge an elephant calf over an obstacle, to rescue a fellow elephant stuck in mud, or to gently raise a newborn elephant to its feet. And just as a human baby sucks its thumb, an elephant calf often sucks its trunk for comfort. If you’re interested in learning more about elephants, follow the link below to watch a video which will tell you more interesting facts about this incredible creature! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86YW3Bo9Sqc Wednesday Research and note-taking

Later on this week, you will be writing your own non-fiction text about an endangered animal of your choice. Today, you will research facts about your chosen animal and practise your note-taking skills.

Remember:

 When you are note-taking, you just record the key facts

 It is okay to shorten sentences

1. Choose any endangered animal 2. Search for the animal online by typing the name of your animal, followed by “kids” e.g. “Tiger kids” Websites I recommend:

 National Geographic Kids https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/

 Animal Fact Guide https://animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/

 WWF - click on “wildlife” https://www.worldwildlife.org/

 DK Find out https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/more-find-out/special-events/endangered-animals/ 3. Use the guide on the next page to help you to take notes on your animal. 4. Search on YouTube for more information about your animal by typing the name of your animal, followed by “ video facts kids” e.g. “Tiger video facts kids” Wednesday continued If you aren't able to print out this sheet, just use Try to fill in all of the boxes with your notes. the subtitles in each box to help you to guide your research. Name & what it looks like: How many are left in the wild?

Habitat: Diet:

Why is it becoming endangered? What is being done to help it?

Interesting facts: Anything else:

Thursday & Friday Write a non-fiction text

Today you will begin writing your non-fiction text about your chosen animal. Sometimes in school, we present our work on a double page like this one:

What to include:

 Introduction - Here you will need to include a few facts about elephants. You want to make it interesting so that the reader wants to read on. You will also need to think of a suitable subheading.

 Extra information - Include additional information about your animal. You might write a paragraph or you might choose to include a “quick facts” box like in the example above. You will need to think of a suitable subheading.

 Why are they endangered? - You must include a section which explains why they are endangered. You should also explain what is being done to help them. You must:

 Write using correctly punctuated sentences  Use subtitles  Have neat presentation  Include a drawing of your animal

In school, it would normally take us two English lessons to complete a piece of writing like this. It is your choice if you would prefer to do it all in one day or spread it out over two. It should be a high quality piece of writing and should not be rushed. Don’t forget - you must leave time to edit your writing and check for errors at the end! Work should be emailed to: year[email protected] - we love to see it!