Week 31 What have we been doing in class?
English
Cloze test
About Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard, the pirate).
The internet would have you believe that cloze tests were invented in America in the 1950s, and I am sure they were. But I also have examples from 1930s 11+ papers which have cloze tests in them. I expect that somewhere there are ancient Babylonian cloze tests in cuneiform on clay tablets.
A cloze test involves many English skills, comprehension, spelling and vocabulary included. Cloze tests also require patience and process rather than rushing at it and falling into traps. Always read the list of words and the passage first before you start. Unpicking problems in these tests is always really difficult and time consuming so don’t adopt a trial and error approach.
11+ Cloze Test: Water in Wales
11+ Cloze Test: The Crow and the Pitcher
Prefixes
Generally you just have to know these. I am sure that there are rules, but:
- the opposite of available is unavailable,
- the opposite of action is inaction,
- and the opposite of agree is disagree,
- and yet they all start with a.
Plenty of reading or listening to audiobooks or the radio will iron out any problems. Sorry it is not a quick solution.
Maths
Long division
Sarah Beswick 11+ Free long division classes
Which is longer; a metre or a yard?
Answer a metre. These general knowledge questions are easy if you know them and impossible if you don’t.
Multiplying decimals
Weekly Wisdom week 12 multiplying decimals
Doing maths in the correct order
Weekly Wisdom week 35 Multiplying out brackets
Ratio
11+, Scholar's Course, Book 5, Maths Paper Q35
Estimating weight
Sometimes you can’t work out the answer (in this case, how much does a very, very large dog weigh?), but you can eliminate the other possibilities. So lots of weighing and measuring over the holidays and estimating the weight of food packets (do it when they are full because the weight is printed in the packaging).
Adding and subtracting fractions
Weekly Wisdom week 13 adding and subtracting mixed numbers
Proportions
If 600g = ¾ of a cake what did the whole cake weigh?
As always use the golden rule in maths: “first find one”
If ¾ = 600g then ¼ = 200g
And therefore four quarters = 4 x 200g = 800g
Pie chart
A pie chart is used to represent 24 hours. What angle do I draw at the centre to represent 2 hours?
360° in a circle
One 24th = 360°÷ 24 = 15°
Two 24ths = 2 x 15° = 30° (answer)
It is tempting to say 2/24th is 1/12th (which it is) but the children who can make that leap don’t need help: they got it correct. The ones who got the answer wrong need a rock-solid process, they will go off-piste when they are ready. Sneaky plans and clever tricks are great if you can do them and confusing to everyone else. Don’t show off!
Km hm dm m dm cm mm
Nine little videos. Get out the fizzy pop and crispies, or hobnobs and hot chocolate, put on a splash of scent or lippy, cuddle your guineapig …… feel like a hero and get this done. Play the Ride of the Valkyries or Walking on sunshine or Hall of the Mountain King. Get out your “I’m Epic” playlist (if you haven’t yet got one, make it now, you can play it on the morning of the 11+) and feel like a hero. Conquer that dragon!
Worksheet
Adding and subtracting decimals
Admittedly there are no decimals in this, but the principle is sound: in essence keep you columns tidy.
Fractions to decimals
Weekly Wisdom week 49 Converting decimals and fractions
Worksheet
Multiplying and dividing decimals by 100
Multiplying and dividing decimals by 1000
You know what you are doing here, just move numbers up and down the columns. Just be careful. Don’t throw away easy marks.
Verbal Reasoning
Homophones
What joy! Know your hair from your hare.
Q: What do you call 100 rabbits walking backwards?
A: A receding hare-line.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
The mnemonic for remembering what to look for in non-verbal reasoning is:
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M movement
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A addition
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R rotation
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S symmetry
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C counting
MARSC. You can make “scram” out of the same letters but I prefer MARSC, because it leaves counting to last. When you have exhausted all the other possibilities; the solution is counting.
In non-verbal reasoning, the children with the highest marks have the most written workings, the children with the lowest marks have no written workings. Copy the winners not the losers.
Non-Verbal Book 1 - YouTube60 videos