Miss Lewis and P4L

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you find the following information useful.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Learning focus this term:

Through our Habitats topic we will be learning about/to:

• Investigate and research different habitats
• Observe how different animals and plants are suited to their environments
• How we can help our environment
• Food chains and understand the importance of how animals and plants depend on each other for food.
• Compare generations of families of human, plants and animals to understand how characteristics are inherited.

Core Literacy:

This term we will be:

• Developing our summarising skills
• Taking notes to create new texts
• Looking at figurative language and why it is used by authors
• Using the three sharings approach (puzzles, likes/dislikes, connections) to discuss our class novel
• In writing trying to increase our vocabulary using more ambitious words
• Learning to use speech marks correctly
• Looking at features of persuasive writing

Children will continue to be given books and weekly reading homework. Please ensure your child completes this at home and remember to sign their reading diary. Encourage your child to read widely for enjoyment at home and use the three sharings approach to discuss what they have read.

Core Numeracy:

This term we will be:

• Continuing to develop mental strategies for addition and subtraction
• Looking at written algorithms for addition and subtraction
• Using counting strategies to multiply, using the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables
• Working with Mr Swan on number talks strategies for mental maths

We encourage your child to use Sumdog at home to practice their maths skills. Children should all have a copy of their usernames and passwords.

Health and Wellbeing

This term we will be:

• Participating in the Rookie Rockstars programme, which focuses on health and wellbeing as well as expressive arts and technologies. The programme will involve active learning and working collaboratively, looking at anti-bullying and promoting self-esteem, confidence and positive friendships.

This week P4L wrote and illustrated some fantastic comic strips using what they had learned about speech bubbles, onomatopoeia and other writing techniques. They did a fabulous job, many using what they had learned about adverbs as openers, speech marks as well as similes to make their stories more interesting and engaging for readers. We have decided to turn these into a comic book which will be available in our wing library for others to enjoy!

P4L have also been learning how to ask questions about pets in French with Ms Smyth and different ways they can respond. In Maths we looked at the language used in addition and subtraction word problems and created our own problems in pairs before solving each other’s.

Last week we did some work for anti-bullying week. This linked well with our Rookie Rockstar performance.

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.

This week we have been working on being Question Masters in reading, using Bloom’s question starters. We have continued our work on addition strategies in maths, including the written method or “chimney sums” as they are sometimes called. On Friday we went outside for part of the day and did some outdoor learning. We collected natural materials for completing pictures of animals from the local area.  We are still in the process of finishing these but once the final details are added we will post some pictures.

P4L also showcased their topic homework and shared their learning with the rest of the class, as well as the other P4 classes. I think you’ll all agree they did a fantastic job! They all completed a sheet with a couple of facts that they had learned from their peers.  Some people have yet to complete their homework but we look forward to seeing theirs on Monday.

 

Last week we continued with our addition work in maths. In Literacy we worked on creating similes and metaphors and continued to work as Summarisers in our Reading lessons. In Art we created some fantastic Hallowe’en themed silhouettes using oil pastels for our sunsets and spooky images using black paper. I think you will agree we did a terrific job!

 

 

 

This term we have been learning all about Islam as part of RME.

Last week Mrs Usman and her sons came in to tell us all about Islam and her experiences as a Muslim.

1. Here’s a photo of us learning how Muslims pray.

 

P4L also created Islamic patterns with Mrs Given which we have used to decorate our windows:

P4 were lucky enough to have a visit from Mr Smith this week. Mr Smith works at the Smith Museum in Stirling and came to tell us all about the river Forth. We learnt all about the geography of the Forth and the history of the bridges. We loved learning more about the Forth and it has given us lots of new ideas about what else we’d like to learn as part of their topic.

 

Miss Lewis and P4L

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope you find the following information useful. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

General Information:

We hope you all had a lovely summer holidays, P4 have already started working hard. This term Primary 4 will receive Music from the Expressive Arts team but should still bring a painting shirt as Art will take place within the class.   Brand new Red Communication poly pockets have been distributed to every child.  We ask you look out for these in your child’s school bag as it will have information about homework and be used for other school communication.

You will be able to follow what we have been doing in class each week by looking at our class blog. This can be accessed via the link on our class page on the school website.

Homework will be issued on a Monday and should be completed by Thursday. There will a selection of Numeracy and Literacy (spelling and reading) activities and occasionally topic related tasks.

Please ensure your child has an appropriate snack kept separately from their lunch.   Your child should also have a clearly labelled water bottle everyday which is filled prior to arriving at school.  Please ensure your child has a labelled weather appropriate jacket as there will be outdoor learning opportunities.

Family Learning Journals

Family Learning Journals will be issued prior to Parents’ Evening and will contain one piece of Literacy, Numeracy, Topic and a piece of work chosen by your child. This will give you an opportunity to see a snapshot of your child’s learning.

Class Dojo

To promote positive behaviour Primary 4 are using Class Dojo. Please note we cannot access the messaging aspect of Class Dojo, should you need to contact us please do so by telephone or in writing.

PE days

Monday, Tuesday and Friday

Learning focus this term:

Through our topic River Forth and Ochils we will be learning about/to:

• Explore various maps of local area.
• Re-create maps detailing various information of area – towns, roads, land, water.
• Interpret different maps, identifying key features to understand maps.

Core Literacy:

Our targets this term for reading will be:

• Distinguishing between fact and opinion
• Continuing to develop our comprehension skills
• Increasing independent reading.

For writing, we will be working on:

• Developing the ability to create a setting which is part of a bigger story, using descriptive words and phrases
• Identifying and using adverbs and pronouns.

For listening and talking, we will be focusing on:

• Listening and focus on hearing specific information that has been identified prior to the task.
• Asking and respond to different types of questions with confidence, to show understanding of the main ideas of a spoken text.

Core Numeracy:

Our main areas of focus for maths this term will include:

• Place Value
• Adding and subtracting up to 1000
• Sequencing and ordering numbers
• Mental addition and subtraction up to 100

We will also be learning about Islam and Internet Safety.

Health and Wellbeing:

As a Health Promoting school we actively encourage and teach our children to make healthy choices, to enable then to become healthy, active and emotionally resilient young people of the future.

We are delighted to be able to continue to deliver 2 hours of PE a week as well as opportunities for children to be active in our fabulous new grounds.

We would appreciate your support in promoting a healthy and balanced diet, both in your child’s morning snack and in their packed lunch. We would discourage any type of fizzy juice in school or energy drinks.  Children are encouraged to bring in a water bottle, which they can use during class time.  There are water fountains situated throughout the school for daily use.

Please encourage your child to participate in the Active Sports Clubs that are on offer at lunchtimes and after school, as well as any school based clubs that take place throughout the year. Keep looking in school bags for further information.

A reminder that all children who cycle or scooter to school must wear a safety helmet and ‘walk’ their bikes whilst in the playground. There are bike racks available.

Class Birthdays

We always celebrate if a member of the class has a birthday however we would request that birthday cakes are not brought into school to share with the class. In school, we have children with allergies who may be at risk from some ingredients. The cutting up and distributing of birthday cake also cuts into valuable learning time.

Playground toys:

We have a playground equipment for children to play with during lunchtime. Please do not bring in your own toys – except for Golden Time on a Friday – so that we can be sure that all toys in the playground belong to the school.  Many thanks for your support.

Golden Time toys:

Children can bring a ‘toy’ to school on a Friday to play with during Golden Time. Please remember that the school cannot take responsibility for the safety of these toys and therefore we request that your child does not bring in expensive/ electronic items without your consent. We appreciate your support with this matter.

Cuddle On Couch/ Book & Blether:

Please look out for further information on the dates and times for Cuddle on the Couch and Book and a Blether. These are a chance for parents/carers to spend time with their children promoting reading.

I look forward to working in partnership with you this session.

Kind regards

Miss Lewis

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