Primary 5 – Term 1

Hi everyone. This is the first term’s update on Primary 5 learning. It is a quick snapshot of what will be covered in the term ahead. The class have Mrs McCreadie on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until lunchtime and then they have Mrs MacKinnon from Wednesday lunchtime, Thursday and Friday. There is lots to cover this term and we are sure that there will be lots of fun along the way.

IDL

Our interdisciplinary topic this term is the Victorians. We have already started this and the children are enjoying  learning about what happened during this time.

Literacy

The class can now confidently distinguish between fiction and non fiction texts and are accessing both types through their personal reading time. We will continue to use bug club for homework and will also be accessing this throughout the school week. The main focus within comprehension this term will be their metalinguistic skills (understanding of unfamiliar or difficult words), their visualisation (create an image to form  an understanding of a text) and prior knowledge (use what they know already to help them understand their text).  Our class novel ‘The iron man@ has already began and the children are already enjoying the disciplinary approach to learning within the novel.

Within grammar, we will revisit some of the concepts covered in Primary 4 to ensure retention. Some of these are verbs, nouns, proper nouns and adjectives. We will also be introduced to similies, metaphors, alliterations whilst using and identifying a range of punctuation.

 Writing this term will concentrate on using descriptive language as well as report writing. Much of this will be taught through their IDL topic on the Victorians which will also look at note taking when researching different aspects of life in the Victorian era. Our tools for writing focus this term will be continue to develop our use of capital letters and full stops, commas, speech marks and we will also be learning how different conjunctions can be used to up level our writing.

Our listening and talking focus will be to listen to and follow instructions from our adults. This is something that the class need reminded of. We will also look at what ‘good’ body language is when conducting a conversation or discussion with another person.

The class will complete handwriting every week within class and we would ask that this is promoted at home in terms of homework also.

Numeracy

The entire class will continue to work on their times tables throughout the year.  We have already began working on our understanding of place value and what value each digit holds within the columns. Depending on what group the children are in for their numeracy, they will be working on place value using units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands and hundred thousands.

We will also be looking at rounding to the nearest ten, hundred and thousand. This will enable the children to develop their skill of estimating so they can then find approximate answers to calculations and problems.

In terms of beyond number, the class will begin their primary 5 year by learning about time.  This will be looking at time using 12 hour format as well as the 24 hour format.  The class will be learning how timetables can be used as well as looking at time durations.

The children will develop their knowledge of shape. Some of the things that the class will be investigating through shapes are describing triangles by their sides and defining what kind of triangle it is, for example, equilateral, isosceles and scalene. The class will investigate the symmetrical values of each shape, looking for a line of symmetry, and will learn how to make patterns and designs using these symmetrical properties.

Our whole school will concentrate on number talks throughout the year. These lessons allow children to solve calculations using different strategies. This allows children to have ownership of their own learning by using the strategies that suit their learning style best.

Health and Wellbeing

Our P.E. days are currently a Tuesday and a Thursday. We are currently learning about our fitness and how we can develop our stamina, agility, accuracy, balance and co-ordination. We will then be moving onto ball skills.

The class already have an excellent understanding on how to keep their bodies and minds healthy. We will have a focus on kindness and how we should treat others within our classroom. We will also be looking at respect, bullying and peer pressure this term developing an understanding of what each of these concepts mean.

Primary 5 already participate in mindfulness every day, this is something that the entire class benefit from and have been doing this since the beginning of Primary 4.  The children are all trained in the massage in schools programme, which means we will be able to start this straight away this term also. This mindful program allows children to tap into different strategies to deal with the stress of their day to day lives.

Our PATHS programme will help the children to develop positive relationships within the class and school.  Delving into the emotions that the children feel will help them to understand why they are feeling this way as well as giving them the tools to cope with these emotions.

R.E.

In order to link our R.E. with our health and wellbeing, we will be learning about friendship through bible stories. The class will earn some of the miracle stories that allowed Jesus to show that he was the son of God. We will continue to pray to God and ask for forgiveness when we need it and say thank you for things we are grateful for.  In preparation for mass throughout the year, the children will be learning new hymns and prayers.

Expressive arts

This term, the class will be focussing on music within the expressive arts. They will be looking at types of music genres and rhythm and beat.

ICT

Our understanding of the internet and the use of the ICT equipment has developed so much in the past year, as has our independence when using it. This terms focus will be on saving documents, using shared platforms and online safety.

 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support so far this term and look forward to everything that is to come.

Take care,

Mrs McCreadie and Mrs MacKinnon