P7 had a great time at their Science Transition event at Kilmarnock Academy on Wednesday. They got to work with pupils from other schools and visit the school’s Science Department. 
As part of their work on STEM this term, all of the P7 classes has been investigating what makes a strong structure. for the last couple of week they have been working in teams of four to build their own geodesic dome using plasticene and cocktail sticks.
How does it work? – Geodesic domes are extremely rigid. Multiple interlocking triangles form incredibly strong structures. To deform or buckle a triangle you have to compress or stretch the lengths of the sides, which is hard to do as they support each other.
As part of our work on Money this week with Miss McGill, 7Mc have been introduced to SCOOT. Around the classroom were 26 individual questions based on what the children have been learning. Using their numeracy skills and working to a time limit for each question, they had to work out the answers. At the end everyone shared their answer and strategies for solving each problem. Everyone agreed it has been a fun way to doing our daily numeracy. 
As part of work towards Gold Dyslexia Friendly Schools status, P7Mc along with the rest of the school undertook a variety of learning activities that didn’t require any writing implements. We continued to use the Active Spelling strategies we have already blogged about. We also worked in pairs to solve Tarsia Puzzles about simplifying fractions. We did this in pairs, discussing what we already knew and working together to solve the jigsaw. In the afternoon we painted our own versions of the Great Wave off Kanagawa. We weren’t allowed to sketch any of it out first and had to go straight in with paint. We are all quite pleased with our results.
As part of our work on raising awareness of Dyslexia in the school, P7Mc have been making good use of their Learning Toolkits to reinforce their work on spelling rules and patterns. The pictures show members of the class showing some of the different activities they regularly participate in as part of their learning. Some of favourites include Speed Spelling, using Scrabble tiles, Play-doh and rainbow writing with chalk. 
