Author: cljboyle1@glow

We’ve been doing lots of work on fractions over the past few weeks. We’ve learnt to identify fractions as parts of a whole, calculate unitary fractions, the link between fractions and division and multiplication and how to calculate a whole when given a fraction. We’ve been really busy! Next we’ll be learning about decimal fractions and placing fractions on a number line.

This week we worked in teams on some fraction problem solving. We were calculating unitary fractions of large numbers. We used the a range of strategies we’ve developed over the last few weeks including use of concrete materials, sharing out on whiteboards, creating fraction stories as well as multiplication and division calculations.

If your child would like to try some fractions games at home have a look at these links:

https://www.fuelthebrain.com/games/jelly-golf/

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/fraction-matcher/latest/fraction-matcher_en.html

http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me3us/flash/lessonLauncher.html?lesson=lessons/10/m3_10_00_x.swf

http://resources.hwb.wales.gov.uk/VTC/ngfl/ngfl-flash/fractions/fractions.html

This week we heard the final few Viking gods and goddesses presentation. P4 have worked so hard on these, coming up with loads of fascinating facts and creating amazing posters.

Well done everyone!

For homework, P4 researched a Viking god or goddess of their choice. We wrote a short talk and created fact posters too. Today and yesterday we began sharing our work with the class. We’ve worked really hard and have come up with loads of fascinating facts. So far we’ve heard about Odin, Eden, Thor, Hel, Loki and Freyja.

Big well done to everyone who’s shared their work so far. You should all be very proud of all of your hard work. We can’t wait to hear the rest on Monday!

Today is our Scots assembly, and P4 have been working hard on learning The Welly Song by Billy Connolly.

Click the link below for a look at our final rehearsal!

The Welly Song by P4B

This week we’ve been learning all about food chains. We learnt about the flow of energy, the role of the sun, predators and prey.

We had the chance to play some great food chain games set in different habitats. Have a look at the links below to construct your own food chains:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zcgbjty

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/z93vdxs

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zsphrwx

Enjoy!

This afternoon we braved the cold to explore some of the habitats in our playground. We learnt that a habitat is a place where an organism lives, ranging from cracks in the pavements to burrows underneath the ground. Habitats need to provide us with shelter, food and water. We worked in pairs identifying habitats for plants and animals, and thought about what made these good habitats.

Ask us about the habitats we found and who lives there!

 

For topic today, we’ve learnt about yet another way of classifying species. We now know that vertebrates are creatures with spines and invertebrates are creatures without spines.

We watched a clip on classification and the five categories of vertebrates. Ask your child if they can remember what they are. Check the link to see if they were right: https://youtu.be/mRidGna-V4E

After that, we played vertebrate and invertebrate dominoes in groups which was lots of fun.

As part of our habitats topic, we learnt about why scientists classify living things and how they do it. We talked about different characteristics scientists could use in classification and came up with loads of great examples. We could use these in classification keys to help us categorise living things.

We watched a video to help us understand more about classification keys. We then used a classification key to organise minibeasts. Here are some photos of us hard at work.

Next we created our own classification keys for a swan, frog and crab.

We’re experts in classification keys, ask us to explain it to you!

This week we learnt a bit about palm oil and the impact it can have on the environment and the habitats of many animals.

First we watched Rang-Tan, a poem about the affect palm oil production has on orangutans. You can watch the clip here:

https://youtu.be/TQQXstNh45g

We learnt more about palm oil and why it is used by watching a clip by Greenpeace. We were shocked to see how many products palm oil is in- especially Nutella!

We then worked together to read through arguments on both sides of the debate and sort them into arguments for and against palm oil use. We discussed our own opinions on the debate and considered how we could support our points of view.

We then used our persuasive writing skills to create leaflets about the debate. We worked really hard on these and produced some brilliant work. Have a look at just a few examples:

 

This week we did some work for anti-bullying week.

We talked about how people are just like icebergs! Like icebergs, there are only some things about us you can see on the surface, but there are lots of things going on underneath. You might not be able to see these things and you might not know about all of them but it’s important to remember they are there.

We drew our own icebergs, and thought about the things on the surface and the things underneath. We realised that there is lots we have in common, but we are all unique and should be kind and respectful to one another.

We joined the #chooserespect anti-bullying campaign run by respectme.org.uk and pledged to choose respect.

We talked about what to do if we or someone we know could be being bullied. We decided the best things to do were to tell a trusted adult and to be kind to the person who is being bullied.

Then we came up with our own anti-bullying slogans. These included “bullies ain’t big” (one of our Rookie Rockstars songs), “boo to bullies”, “no bullying”, “stand up to bullies” and “no to bullies”. We made anti-bullying wristbands including our slogans.