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Category: (3) Middle Stages
Newsletter – April 2023
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March 2023 Newsletter
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January Newsletter
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P2/3 Term 3 Newsletter
In numeracy this term we will be focusing on subtraction. The children will be carrying out either 2-digit, 3-digit or 4-digit subtraction sums, using the correct mathematical vocabulary. We will be learning different strategies to support us i.e., using concrete materials, counting back on a number line/number square whilst also building our mental agility skills through active learning activities. To support the children with their learning you can write out sums for them to answer, ask them sums to work out in their head or they can play interactive games on a device such as – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/subtraction-grids. In mathematics this term we will be learning money. Our addition and subtraction skills will help us with our learning in money.
In literacy, we will be developing our writing skills through developing our ability to use a variety of openers, connectives and extending our vocabulary that we can use in our writing. We will also be improving our punctuation skills, understanding where and when you can use a comma, exclamation mark and question mark. Our topic this term is Julia Donaldson stories therefore we will use these to explore ‘Wow’ words which we can use in our own writing.
In Health and Wellbeing, we will be discussing our growing bodies and what the correct names for parts of our bodies are. We will also be discussing that my body belongs to me and learning the importance of personal space. In p.e. we will be participating in Scottish Country Dancing and then we will be learning gymnastics and how we can link actions and skills to create movement patterns and sequences.
Primary 4-5 Curriculum News – January 2023
In numeracy this term, Primary 4-5 have been practicing their multiplication and are next moving on to division with Miss Riley. This has and will involve lots of practice of times tables and the children are working really hard on this. The children will be learning about money will Miss Davie. This involves identifying coins and notes, using combinations of coins and notes to give change and demonstrating awareness of the use of digital technologies to pay for goods. The children will then be moving on to fractions, decimals and percentages.
In literacy, Primary 4-5 will be doing reflective reading with Miss Davie using Robert Burns’ poem – To A Louse. They will continue to answer questions and carry out higher order thinking tasks on their reading books with Miss Riley weekly. The class are learning their Burns Poems and we will continue to watch Newsround most days and discuss relevant stories. The children are working on responding respectfully to their peers in these situations. For writing this term, Primary 4-5 will be researching and using their notes to create non-fiction texts. Later in the term, we will be moving on to writing newspaper reports and identifying the features of these.
In health and wellbeing, the class are working on ‘me and my relationships’. This identifies the children’s important people in their lives and how to make and keep connections with these people. We are then moving on to ‘valuing difference’ which celebrates that everyone is different and brings in elements of gender, race etc. Then we will cover ‘keeping safe’ which has elements of drugs, alcohol, internet safety and road safety.
Our topic this term is Ancient Egypt, and the children are very excited to get stuck into this. We would like to learn about gods and goddesses, important figures, jobs, hierarchy, mummification and tombs, architecture and I’m sure more learning will crop up as we go! We are also going to learn a class assembly / show based on Ancient Egypt later in the term which we will invite you in to see – more information to follow!
P4-5 Update – Term 2
Hello Everyone!
Primary 4-5 have been busy this term with lots of activities such as learning about fire safety, sessions with the SSPCA about animals and mental health and making poppies for Remembrance Day.
Literacy
This term, we have been working on creative writing. The children are working towards writing a Christmas-themed story. We started with traits of characters and listened to some good examples from popular stories. Then we created our own characters to use in our writing. Next, we used the 5 senses to create a setting e.g. ‘my character can see…’. Then the children went on to plan their stories and come up with a plot. I can’t wait to read what the children write once they bring all of this learning together!
We have been talking about WOW words a lot this term and have been identifying them in popular stories. The children have been practicing saying these out loud with an accompanying action so that the words they are saying have more of an impact, for example, BELLOWING!!!
Maths
This term, in number with Miss Riley, the children have been working on the four operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication and will be starting term 3 with division. We have worked hard to learn lots of different methods to figure out these problems, so that the children can choose which methods suits them best for each individual problem.
In beyond number with Miss Davie, the children have been learning about time and money. They have been answering questions about time durations, reading timetables and working out the duration of time between two times. The children have been carrying out practical tasking using money and adding and subtracting amounts of money and giving change.
Health and Wellbeing
Primary 4-5 have been working on their gymnastics skills in PE with Miss Davie. The children have been learning to balance and link movements. With Miss Riley, we have been learning to play Kurling and Boccia and are having a little tournament against the rest of the class. The children have learned the rules of these games and how to score them.
We are also learning about relationships in health and wellbeing. The children are identifying features of healthy relationships with friends and caregivers and how to promote positive interactions in these. We are working on conflict resolution within these relationships also.
Other Curricular Areas
Languages
The children have been learning greetings in French with Miss Riley and are learning how to say a short greeting to introduce themselves.
Primary 4-5 have been learning a little Russian from Mrs Smith this term. They have learned how to say, hello, how are you? And my name is…
Now, they are learning a Russian song!
RME
The class have been learning about Hinduism this term with Miss Davie. They are learning about the main beliefs and practices of the religion and have been learning about Diwali.
Topic
Our topic this term has been States of Matter. The children learning about solid, liquid and gas and how one changes into the other. We are learning about the boiling and freezing point of liquid and carried out some experiments to determine what things were soluble or insoluble. We changed some variables such as heat and stirring and observed the effect they had on the dissolving. We also learned about saturating water with salt and sugar.
Christmas
As always, this term is choc-a-bloc with learning songs and lines for the Christmas show. The children have been absolutely excellent, and I can’t wait for you all to see their hard work on Thursday evening!
The class made some wreaths with Mrs Gatherum, Christmas cards with Miss Riley and are writing a review of their panto trip this week.
All in all, we’ve had a brilliant, busy term. Thanks so much to those of you who took the time to come and meet me for parents’ meetings. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I’ll see everyone in 2023!
P4/5 – October 22
Hello Everyone!!
Primary 4/5 have settled well into the new school year, I cannot believe it’s the October holidays already! The children have learned lots this term and made some good progress. Thank you all for signing up and engaging with our learning on SeeSaw, it really is a great way for us to keep you updated with what’s happening in the classroom in real time!
Literacy
This term, our writing focus has been letters. We have identified the difference between a formal and informal letter and the different features of each. The children have written, checked and redrafted their letters often with the support of their peers. Finished articles can be found on SeeSaw!
We have been answering comprehension questions for our reading books in class and the children enjoy reading out loud to an adult. We are working on the fluency of our reading this term and trying to add expression when reading aloud.
The children took part in a short debate organised by Mr Cormack in which the children had to put forward ideas for lunch time clubs in school and give feedback on the speakers.
Maths
In number this term, the class have been working on place value, ordering and estimating and rounding with Miss Riley. We are now working on addition and subtraction. The children found place value tricky, so more practice on this would be beneficial! We are learning to ‘carry’ in our addition and subtraction chimney sums.
In beyond number with Miss Davie the children have been working on measure. They have worked on capacity and area and have carried out lots of practical tasks to support their understanding and bring their maths in school into a wider world context.
Next term, the class will be moving on to multiplication and division. Any practice of times tables will always be great to support the children’s maths.
Other Curricular Areas
The class have loved having Mrs Gatherum working with the class – this term they have been working on creating seasonal pictures using a mixture of media. This has included watercolours and oil pastels. The quality of work the children have produced has been beautiful!
RME
The children have been learning about Buddhism with Miss Davie. They have created lots of great work including Tibetan Prayer Flags which are up in the hallway outside the classroom! They learned about the Four Noble Truths and have been practicing meditation and mindfulness – this has been great to see!
French
We have been learning to say the names of shops in French, and to identify what you can buy from these shops! The children created these, and we have started to make a little French street in the classroom.
Thank you so much for your support this term, I know we have asked for donations of items for lessons and for you to join us for our Sharing the Learning session. Once this has been published, you will all have been in to see us already so thank you in advance for that. I hope you all have a great October break, and we will see you in term 2!
Miss Riley
P4-5 Blog Update – May
Maths
Primary 4-5 have been identifying areas in maths they feel could use a little more practice. We are going to use these to target some revision over the next few weeks.
Literacy
The class have been working with Miss Davie on some debating surrounding the popular story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. https://www.literacyshed.com/3littlepigs.html?fbclid=IwAR05izKOMZ9ZiuTonn_Hh3ps7JQDUVBokPXhuLVppbrkFYKQTtEudr7az7c
As you can see it is not a clear-cut case! We have invited primary 2-3 to be our jury.
We have been looking at the structure of a discursive piece of writing and trying to follow the format. The class wrote a piece on ‘should primary school children wear school uniform?’. It was great to do this genre of writing alongside the debating as the children were well versed in the language used such as pro and con.
Health and Wellbeing
Hockey – the children have been developing their hockey skills this term in order to use these to play some games. We have covered passing and receiving, moving with the ball, getting past a player, tackling, and hitting and shooting.
Mindfulness/Art – The children have been experimenting with ‘zentangling’ a method of mindfulness and meditation that is explained like ‘purposeful doodling’. The children use black pens to create different patterns.
Music
Primary 4/5 have been writing their rap for the end of term assembly with Miss Davie. I read their lyrics and listened to them practice it last week and it is sounding fantastic – I will not give too much away by giving you any more information than that!
P2/3 Update April 2022
This term our topic is the children’s choice and the children have chosen prehistoric; dinosaurs and volcanoes. The children have identified what they already know and what they want to know more about. We will therefore be learning about when dinosaurs existed, how long they lived for, where they lived, comparing dinosaur facts and all about volcanoes. The children are building upon their technology skills to being their investigating.
In p.e. we are going to be focusing on athletics; running, jumping and throwing. The children have also been planning and designing their assault course for the other classes to complete during health week. They have incorporated skills they have learnt this year in p.e. i.e. hockey skills, ball skills, balancing and throwing skills. They have also thought about how each station can be differentiated for all stages.
For numeracy this term we are focusing on subtraction; working within 20, 100 and 1000. We have revised what we have previously been taught and have been creating subtraction stories with a partner in a variety of ways and solving them. We are now learning the inverse subtraction operation. We are also continuing to build upon our mental agility in numeracy. In mathematics we will be learning about Data Handling this term.
Within literacy our focus this term will be imaginative writing; creating interesting characters through their feelings, actions and physical description. We will also build upon our proof reading skills by reading over what we have written and ensuring it makes sense. The main focus of our comprehension will be based upon our new class novel; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
