5 + 5 Activity Resource (No. 4) – 5 Independent & 5 Cooperative Learning Activities to Try!

 

Welcome to week 4 of our 5 + 5 Activity Guides where I suggest 5 independent and 5 cooperative learning activities you may like to try with your children during the week ahead. As always, I include a mix of subject ideas and suggestions to keep your children busy and learning at home.

 

Independent Learning Activities

Geography

As volcanoes have been in the news this week with the eruption of Krakatoa (and with three more Indonesian volcanoes—Mount Kerinci in West Sumatra, Mount Semeru in East Java and Mount Merapi in Central Java—showing elevated activity), now is a timely moment for your child to learn more about these fiery mountains. I have gathered some resources together such that (s)he can carry out some independent research into this topic. Click to access your free Volcano Resources.

 

 

History

This week marks the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. Children continue to be fascinated by the tragic tale of this incredible ship. Why not have your child/ren learn more about Titanic’s fateful journey and the lessons we have since learned? National Geographic Kids marks a good starting point and I will upload some additional free resources and teaching ideas to supplement this topic so keep an eye on our shop page.

 

English

Is your child confident with their grammar? Now might be a good time to review various parts of speech. Can your child tell you what a noun is and explain the different types?

 

• Common noun: refers to people or things, e.g., woman, dog, city, month, happiness.

• Proper noun: identify a person, place or thing and are denoted by capital letters, e.g. Dumond Education, Malaysia, April.

• Concrete noun: a noun which refers to people and to things that exist and can be seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted, e.g., horse, house, helicopter. 

• Abstract noun: a noun which refers to ideas, qualities, feelings and conditions i.e. things we cannot see or touch, e.g. sadness, truth, danger.

• Collective nouns: refer to groups of people or things, e.g. audience, family, government, team, jury.

 

A noun may belong to more than one category and may be countable or uncountable.

• Countable nouns refer to something that can be counted.

• Uncountable nouns (or mass nouns) do not typically refer to things that can be counted and so they do not regularly have a plural form, e.g., rain.

 

Turtle Diary has lots of games to support your child/ren in learning all about nouns.

 

 

Maths

Problem-solving in mathematics is a very important skill, yet one many children struggle with. Why not have you child practise solving problems this week? There are various levelled challenges available in the Solve It video section of Maths Playground.

 

PE and Movement

Oti Mabuse and Marius Lepure are uploading daily dance classes on YouTube. Why not join in and learn some new moves?

 

 

Cooperative Learning Activities

CardEd

Once again, I include a week’s worth of CardEd challenges and a daily page from our CardEd workbook. I have taken this week’s cards from CardEd Set 2. If you would like further inspiration and ideas for using our cards, you can download the Bumper CardEd Activity Guide. Learn more about CardEd in this blog post.

 

 

 

English – Oral Language/Writing

A great way to engage children in conversation and to encourage them to write is through creating lists. I have collated lots of List-Making Prompts in this PDF for you to try with your child/ren. I also suggest how you can turn such a task into a working memory challenge.

 

 

Art & Craft

Many homes may have lots of Easter egg boxes, foil etc. to be disposed of this week. Why not try to create some art from such items. Darrell Wakelam is a UK artist specialising in making art from such materials. On his Twitter feed (linked), there is lots of inspiration to be found. I love this Titanic artwork. As this week marks the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic, expect a bonus resource and activities upload based on this topic.

 

STEM – Science

As it is still the holidays for many children, why not try an activity aimed at developing an understanding of life outdoors? STEM.org has an activity pack based on seed dispersal and the adaptation of bird beaks related to food choice. I particularly like the experiment to test the best bird beak for eating particular foods. Access the workpack on seeds and fruit adaptation (sign-up required but this is free). Supplement this learning by going on a nature walk if this is permissible where you live. Can you child photograph some birds with beaks of different kinds? Alternatively, can your child collect some images of birds with different beaks and create a PowerPoint to teach others about this adaptation?

 

 

STEM – Maths

One of the activities I suggest in our CardEd download this week is to investigate hexonimoes. I am also including it here as I believe it makes a really interesting maths investigation, allowing children to explore probability. Hexominoes are figures you can form using six squares laid out in different combinations. Can your child/ren figure out how many combinations are possible? Use blocks or square pieces of LEGO to investigate different patterns of laying out the squares. Have them draw these on squared paper to record the learning as they go. Another option is to draw the hexonimoes on squared paper and cut them out. See the combinations here.

 

 

I hope this is helpful in giving you lots of ideas for the week ahead. Please let me know if there are particular themes or topics you would like suggestions for.

 

Take care and stay safe all!

 

Get your free resources:

CardEd Weekly Challenges

List-Making Prompts PDF

Free Volcano Resources PDF

 

Image Source: Pixabay