The children were very lucky to have some American visitors today who provided them with a Prayer Space. The children got private messages from God and could share their worries, troubles and thoughts silently or out loud. A lot of children say they felt better for sharing their problems.

World Book Day today has the children dressed in either pyjamas or their favourite character. We participated in a book swap in the library which was great fun. The children were discussing which books they thought would be suitable for each other. In the afternoon, we went to visit our buddy class in Primary 2 to read with them. It was a lovely end to the day.

We had a visitor today who entered the class speaking in German! There were a few confused faces for sure. The children were read a German poem and challenged to decode what it meant in English. They were quite surprised at how much German words were similar to English. The children then created words onto a mind map which rhymed with ‘quack’ in their groups to help them write their own version of the poem. All children managed to complete a short poem and read these out at the end to their classmates. They were so proud of their work and so they should be! The learning opportunities using different languages are endless! Well done Primary 5.

All the Primary 5 pupils are working together on their topic on Jacobite’s. Currently making cut outs of a Red Coat and Jacobite soldiers. The planning stage saw each group drawing around a pupil and others designing and choosing colours. Cant wait to see the finished results!

The children were visited today by our mandarin teacher and others who helped us learn about Chinese New Year allowed us to try some traditional games from China. The strings were a huge hit and i am still learning to do the Eiffel Tower! Some of our class can do it so they will have to teach me. Fantastic learning today.

Primary 5 invented a new spelling game to practice their spelling words. They wrote their words on the back of the neon shapes and played with others in their spelling groups to try spell their words! Look out for the boom or bang though or you loose your cards!

We were outside yesterday using chalk to write our spelling words in the playground. Active spelling activities engage pupils to learn their words and sounds for their weekly homework. Apologies if pupils returned home a little “chalky!”

Primary 5 have been using Numicon to identify equivalent fractions allowing them to visualise these more easily. They worked well with their partners making different facts for each other and identifying what the answer would be and using the Numicon to “prove it!”

Today the children worked collaboratively using our class novel Billionaire Boy to help them plan and write a newspaper report. The children planned each of the sections together and each child was given a role within their group to ensure all were included and all ideas were shared. This allowed the children to have a wide variety of ideas to help them in their individual writing piece. The work produced was spectacular and I personally, cannot wait to see the finished versions!

Primary 5P newsletter – January 2019

Dear Parents,
Welcome back to Term 3. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are ready to start another term. This term, the children will continue to be supported in class by Mrs Rhodie and Miss Keith.
During term 3, we will be reading a class novel, Billionaire Boy. The children will be engaged in whole class reading sessions and will complete tasks based on the novel to deepen their understanding of the text.
In Maths this term, the children will be working on fractions and weight and volume. They will also continue to follow the “Big Maths” programme to improve their mental calculations where they take part in a weekly CLIC challenge and Total Recall Challenge to improve their personal scores.
In reading and spelling, the children follow the Active Literacy Programme alongside the Reflective Reading strategies which will improve their skills in understanding of a text. Furthermore, they will continue to follow the Big Write Programme which allows children to focus on up levelling writing by using vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation. Our new library is up and running and we are all very excited about it. We will continue to visit the library weekly so that the children have an opportunity to take books home or leave in class for ERIC time (Enjoy Reading in Class).

Just a reminder of any other information you may find useful:

• Our timetable: We have PE on a Thursday and Friday. Please ensure that your child has their PE kits for those days. A reminder that jewellery should be taken out or covered with a plaster for these days.

• Reading:

o Groups 1, 2 and 3 will have reading on a Monday and Thursday. Groups 4 and 5 will have reading on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please ensure you sign your child’s reading record when completed at home.

• Homework: Maths and spelling homework will be given out every Monday and should be handed in on Thursday. Maths homework is a consolidation of what your child has been learning in class and should never be anything new. If there is an issue with homework, please ensure your child speaks with me before Thursday to ensure it is handed in on time. Please leave me a comment in their jotter if you have any questions regarding the homework.

As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or queries.

Miss Petrie