In class we have been learning about internet safety. We watched episodes of the smart crew.  The Livewire company are coming to teach us about Internet safety.  There is a code and it spells SMART and each letter stands for something S:safe M:meet A:accepting R:reliable T:tell. I cant wait to find out more!!! (Harriet)

In I.C.T. we are making some posters about internet safety. we have learnt some of the following:

• how to insert pictures
• to add backgrounds
• to change fonts and etc

We are doing a competition for a company called Livewire.  We have to go in a small group or a partner or by yourself to create Internet safety posters.  I am looking forward to learning a lot more.  (Abbie)

Livewire Productions

We played Safe-opoly at the Livewire Productions.   We had to go around the board like monopoly and each square had a meaning.  The squares had questions on it linked to SMART.  There was one lady called Anti-Virus (Julie) and another lady called Anti-Spam (Rosie).   Their job is to keep people safe on the Internet.  We met Mr Mess and we spoke about his personal details.  We should never tell people our personal details like our password, email, address and phone number.  We learned that people might not be what they seem on the Internet.  We should speak to a reliable and responsible adult if we are not sure.

We are really enjoying term 4 and have been very busy so far!  Our new topic is ‘Jet Setters’ and we have made our own passports and luggage tags.  Our first stop is Canada.  So far we have learned about the provinces/territories, famous buildings like the CN tower, the Niagara Falls, animals and lots more.  We have been busy making Canada flags as part of our homework.  We are looking forward to our next stop!

In maths this term we have been learning about money and using our knowledge of addition and subtraction to calculate correct change.  This week we are moving onto time.  Remember to practise telling the time at home to help in class.

We have been really excited to receive real letters from Mountain Park Elementary in Georgia, USA.  Most pupils received a letter addressed to them and have written replies.  We all have a new pen pal to write to and we hope to skype them later this month,

As part of science this term we are going to be learning about the function of the human body, investigating the skeleton and major organs.  Last week we learned about the main bones in our body.  We created skeleton pictures, labelled them and measured how long some of our bones were.  Next we will be learning about the lungs and heart.

This term in PE we are learning the skills of indoor and outdoor hockey.  We have been very lucky to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine.  Miss Mair has been teaching athletics with the class and we are looking forward to our annual sports day quite soon.

 

We liked the Vikings because we got to do a show  (Harrison and Nilav)

I’m enjoying our new topic Jet Setters.  Our first stop is Canada.  We have been learning about the territories and provinces.  We have also made Canadian flags for school.  For maths we are just ending money.  We were adding with money and taking away.  It was awesome!  For spelling our words were things you might take on holiday.  The things that we are doing right now are great! (Anna)

I hope you have all enjoyed a long relaxing weekend.  We have been very busy in class this term.  Have a look at some of the things we have been learning in class.

Maths

In maths we have been continuing our understanding of division and trying lots of different techniques to help us with division with remainders.  Continue to learn your times table and division facts at home as this will help lots in class.

Literacy

This term we have looked at the key features of a newspaper report and have written our own newspaper articles linked to our Vikings topic about the attack on Lindisfarne in 793AD.  We have learned about headings, columns and the type of vocabulary that may be used in an article.

Last week we started writing our own Viking sagas and have been using the sagas from the BBC  school radio website to inspire us with imaginative ideas.  You can access these at; http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/subjects/english/viking_sagas

We have been thinking about the importance of a setting description and beginning to structure our writing using paragraphs.  Everyone has written very exciting sagas and have shared their work with peers in class.

Up Helly Aa

On the last Tuesday in January there is a festival celebrated in Shetland called Up Helly Aa.  In class we have looked at the outfits they wear at Up Helly Aa and compared this to the real outfits that Vikings may have worn.

We were very lucky to be able to watch the Up Helly Aa procession on the live webcam in class and wear our own Viking helmet designs.  Along with P3/4 we spent the afternoon designing Viking shields in groups that included a fierce animal, pattern and use of only three colours.  It was a great afternoon and some of us were even able to watch the Up Helly Aa procession in the evening on the live webcam.

PE

In class PE we have been learning lots of Scottish country dances with P4B and have really enjoyed trying them out.  We will now be trying out a variety of dances routines in class from creative to hip hop and creating our own routines.

PE with Miss Mair will now take place on Tuesdays 10:45am – 11:30am beginning the 1st March.  With Miss Mair we have been taking part in gymnastics and using a variety of skills including balance, flexibility, strength and control.  Take a look at some of the pictures from our gym sessions.

Problem Solving Day 11/02/16

We all really enjoyed the different problem solving activities last week.  In class we tried out a variety of problem solving tasks.  We have also been taking part in paired problem solving on Monday afternoons with P5S and have enjoyed sharing our learning and using problem solving strategies in pairs.

Have a look at some of the pictures from the Happy Puzzle Company on Thursday last week.

P4C really enjoyed sharing our fun fair stalls with classes, family and friends as part of our topic.  Everyone worked hard to make their own resources, work as part of a team and provide a fun activity for all.  We hope you enjoyed taking part!

Welcome back!  I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope that you have all had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday.  I would also like to thank you for the cards and gifts received over Christmas.  This was much appreciated and very generous.

 

Timetable

Monday – PE

Tuesday – PE with Miss Mair

Block 1 – (12^th, 19^th 26^th January)

Block 2 – (1^st, 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th March)

Wednesday – Art with Mrs Brew, Swimming, Library

Thursday – PE, Assembly with Mrs Dalziel, ICT

Friday – Miss Cusick 1:00-1:45, Golden Time

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Swimming

This term Primary four will be going swimming on a Wednesday morning.  We will leave school at 10:45 after snack to be in the pool for 11:15 and return to at approx. 12:30.  Pupils must bring a packed lunch on a Wednesday.

Pupils should bring;

• a swimming costume/trunks/shorts
• towel
• goggles
• swimming cap (if you have one)
• a plastic or waterproof bag to carry belongings

Long hair must be tied back and all jewellery must be removed.

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Literacy

This term we will be mainly focussing on factual pieces of writing and have the opportunity to explore newspaper reports, leaflets and posters.  Later in the term we will continue our story writing by developing character descriptions.  We will link this with our learning about ‘The Vikings’ and write our own Viking sagas.

In literacy we will also be extending our understanding of punctuation by looking at how to use an apostrophe correctly and exploring how punctuation can make our writing more lively and exciting.

 

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Maths

We have been learning about data handling this week and have created our own bar graphs about favourite flavours of crisps in P4C.  We will continue to learn about this for the next two weeks and explore various ways to present data.

Primary four will be learning about division this term.  We will be looking at how to divide with remainders and extending our learning further.  Make sure you continue to practise your times tables and the division facts at home as this will help in class.  Later in the term we will also be looking at money and finding the correct change.

 

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Topic

Our new topic this term is ‘The Vikings’ and we are very excited to learn more about where they came from and what impact they had in history.  We will find out where the Vikings raided, settled and traded, what skills they had and learn about Viking gods.  This will provide lots of opportunities to link our learning with literacy, social studies and drama as we will be presenting a play to parents later this term.  As part of the topic we will be looking at Up Helly Aa which falls on the 26^th January 2016.  We will be creating our own Viking helmets and shields as part of this day.

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Homework

Reading novels will continue to be given every three weeks.  Make sure that the reading tasks are completed and handed in.  Pupils are to complete at least one spelling task from the back of the homework jotter and practise these words at home.  Maths homework will be given weekly as a worksheet, website or game.  Remember that pupils can access www.sumdog.com at home to help develop mental maths.  Pupils should all have login details in the front of their homework jotter. Topic homework will be given weekly.

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As part of drama we have been trying out miming.  This week we made freeze frames of imagining we were on a rollercoaster! Have a look at some of our pictures.

Everybody had great fun today at Satropshere! Hannah M

At Satrosphere we got to learn about forces.   Amber

Forces can either be a push or pull.  We also learned a new force called static electricity.  We watched Andrew spin a cup of water around his head and the water didn’t fall out! Jessica

We learned what friction means.  This is when two things rub together like our hands then it causes friction.  Maisy

Friction also slows stuff down.  Sylvie

We tried balancing magnets on top of each other.  Emily

It was fun on the exhibition floor. Ollie’s favourite part was the ping pong spinning tunnel.  Lots of us enjoyed this! Ollie

We learned how to steer ourselves like we were in space.  Orla and Nilav demonstrated for us. Orla

Andrew showed us how to do things with the wheel and tried out the experiment on a spinning stool.  Anna

Andrew showed us the steel wool and the battery experiment.  Sophie

We ate our lunch in the cafe area.  Rachel

We learned how to put a cup of water on a plate and spin it over our heads without the water falling out.  Isla

Abbie and Isla found a computer that showed x-ray pictures of our bodies. Abbie

Bob showed us different forces and talked about air resistance.  Lucy

We did science on the spot with Andrew.  Carrie

We had lots of fun playing with all the different exhibits! Georgia

Anti-bullying Week

This week has been anti-bullying week in school. We have discussed this in circle time and talked about how the worry box can be used at any time to let the teacher know if we have any worries. In class we watched the short video clip ‘For the Birds’ and discussed how each of the birds might have been feeling and where bullying may be happening in the film. As a class we talked about how important it is that we are all treated the same.

 

Topic

We have really been enjoying our topic this week.  We have started to create fun fair stalls to show to others and have begun making our fun fair stall banners.  Look at some of the very creative designs so far!

We are really looking forward to our trip to Satrosphere on Thursday!

Maths

In maths we have been focusing on our times tables, especially the 6, 7, 8 and 9.  Make sure you practise the times tables lots at home to help in class.  We have been trying out times table chimney sums in class!

 

Welcome to our new blog!

We hope you have all enjoyed the holidays and are ready for a busy term two.  As a class, we will be updating our blog regulary instead of a newsletter.  This will let us share our learning with parents, friends and family.

Our class topic this term is ‘The Fun Fair’.  We have discussed our ideas and decided on key areas we would like to learn.  There will be a main focus on science and technology, and plenty of opportunitites to use our creative skills to design stalls and rides.  We will soon be visiting Satrosphere to investigate forces and link this to our learning within the Fun Fair topic.  Please start collecting junk materials to be used in class as part our topic and bring them in.

In maths this term we have been learning about compass directions and revisiting 3D shape.  We will now be focussing on learning our times tables until the holidays.  Please revise this at home and remember you can use websites such at ‘sumdog’ and ‘hit the button’ to help.

Sumdog – www.sumdog.com

Hit the Button – http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

We will be developing our story writing skills in literacy this term. Last week we wrote Little Red Riding Hood stories with alternative story plots.  Over the next weeks we will be looking at how we can make our writing more engaging by using interesting openers, exciting vocabulary and structuring our stories with a clear beginning, middle and ending.  We will continue to use our synonym tree from last term to help us with lots of exciting words to make our writing more interesting.

In gym we have been extending our netball skills and learning the basic rules of the game.  This term we are focussing on fitness.  This will involve working on our stamina, speed and strength through a variety of activities.  Pupils will be learning the importance of positive encouragement towards others and setting personal targets for improving their own level of fitness.

Pupils from primary four encouraging each other during a fitness lesson this week.