English - Explanatory Writing
Continuing from our explanatory writing planning from yesterday, we will now begin to write our explanation. To achieve this successfully we will use the grid below to highlight the features of explanatory writing:
Today we will try to write a title, introduction and the first step - this mirrors how we would approach the task in school.
Title is straight forward - what are we explaining?
How Ice Cream Is Made
An opening statement gives an overview to the explanantion. It could be general:
Ice cream is a tasty treat we all enjoy at the beach.
Or you can use the video for inspiration:
100 years ago, home freezers were invented so everyone could enjoy tasty ice cream treats!
Now we can move into step 1 (look at your plan from yesterday - it is a picture of the ingredients being mixed together). The main way we would adapt this for the range of ability is the level of detail in each sentence.
1. Simplest - just explain the step:
Cream, milk and sugar are mixed in a pot.
2. Trickier - add in time connectives (first, then, next, after that, finally) to help show order and adjectives for detail. It is worth noting that explanations do not use numbers for steps as instructions would do:
First cream, powdered milk and sugar are mixed together in a pot.
3. Trickiest - add a causal connective (because, so, which) to explain why each step is performed:
First cream, powdered milk and sugar are mixed together so the ice cream is ready to be cooled.
And that is that for today - spending time on the first step should ensure the subsequent steps are easier tomorrow.
Maths - Fractions of Amounts
Yesterday we talked about finding half and quarter of an object by dividing it in half. Today we will extend this to finding half and quarters of an amount of objects. If I am finding 1 half of 8, I can take 2 approaches:
1. Practical sharing - first gather a number of objects equal to the amount you are finding half of (counters, pegs, pasta tubes, pencils) - in this case 8.
Secondly, look at the bottom number of the fraction (the denominator) - this tells you how many groups we share between.
Finally, count 1 group - this is your answer. Two points here: first check - are all the groups equal? Secondly, (and really only for Year 2's) the top number of the fraction (the numerator) tells you how many groups to count to find the answer. Normally this is only 1 but it helps explain later how we find three quarters of amounts.
2. Drawing method - if you do not have resources or you want a potentially quicker/easier way to solve these problems we show the Year 2's in particular this approach. First look at the bottom number of the fraction (the denominator) - this is the amount of groups we share between so we make a set of boxes to match this number. Then look at the amount you are sharing and draw in this amount as dots, putting 1 in each box as a time. So if I was finding 1 half of 8 it would look like this:
Here are some problems you can have a go at solving using the above approaches:
Problem 1 - A good starting point. Watch out when in changes to quarters! To make this task easier, only focus on finding half.
Problem 2 - A bit trickier. Look carefully at the denominator so you know how many you are sharing between.
Problem 3 - Super hard! Calculate the amounts and then make Mr Crocodile eat the biggest amount!
Good luck and I wish you all a fabulous day!
KS1 Team
