Category Archives: Problem Solving

Leaders in Learning

Primary 5.1 are fabulous leaders in learning.  They planned excellent outdoor maths activities for Primary 3. They included; mental maths, volume/capacity, time, measure and weight.

Making up the games was good fun, we were very creative!

I thought it was really fun and most of the children listened very well, I think they really enjoyed our games and got better at mental maths.  Sienna

It was important that we planned well before going out to do the activities.  Working in a group to plan meant that we had to compromise.  James

I developed my teamwork, patience and kindness through these activities.  Sophia

Our team were teaching volume.

As part of our planning we created a game which involved guessing how many litres and millilitres a variety of bottles hold. Primary 3 were good at estimating.  Arlo

Our team were teaching weight.

We had three different stations; weight hunt, worksheet and balance scales.  Groups had to find objects in the playground that weighted the same. Oliver

 

Our team were teaching mental maths.

We made up a mental maths tig game. The children enjoyed playing it and were quick, it was challenging teaching but I really enjoyed it.  Jessica

 

Our team were teaching measure.

As part of our planning we played a game called measure run.  We placed different measuring equipment in hula hoops and then asked questions like ‘bring me a measuring tape’ the first person to bring it got a point. Lucy

We also made up a football game.  One person kicks the ball, the primary 3 children estimate how far the ball travelled and then measured to see who was closest.  Jamie

Our team were teaching time.

We split children into groups and gave them a time, they would have to put this on their mini clock and show it.

We chalked times onto the playground and one person would shout out a time.  Everyone would go to that time making sure it was am or pm.  Daisy

The Battle of Bannockburn

Primary 5.1 had a fabulous time in Stirling today!

Our learning context is Scottish Wars of Independence and our trip brought it all to a conclusion.

 

It was scary when you were in the 3D room.  It brought things to life and arrows shooting towards you. It was like being in the battle.  Will

I spoke to someone who gave me some information about my battle that was coming up.  Jamie

Before the trip we researched William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Margaret Maid of Norway, John Balliol, Edward II, Alexander III and we made PowerPoints to share our learning.  Visiting Bannockburn gave us a better idea of what it was like during that time.  Thalia

It was very hard, stressful and tactical.  We had to decide where to move our soldiers and try to protect our king.  Team work and problem solving skills were necessary doing this.  Joseph O

I liked going outside to look at the monuments.  Zaid

We got to try on armour that the soldiers wore and I tried on the chainmail and it was really heavy. At Bannockburn we tried on chainmail and tried to do a cheer move to see how difficult it would be.

It was so much fun.  We got to try on armour.  I learned how heavy it was and don’t know how the soldiers managed to run on it.  It was cool we got to wear armour from this time. Olivia

Bannockburn was a lot of fun, I loved trying on the armour and we learned more about Scottish Wars of Independence.  Sarah M

Will wearing armour

I liked the 3D room and the battle room.  I was the queen and it was hard for me to work my way to Stirling castle.  My soldiers had to protect me and I lost.  The skills I was developing here were to trust your team and make decisions together.  Sophia

It was really heavy and the swords were life like.  Oliver

 

Joseph O wearing armour.

It was very heavy and it must have been hard to run wearing it.

I really liked the battle game because you got to move the troops and make tactical decisions of what to do.  James

Robert the Bruce monument with our battle faces on.

 

The suit was itchy but comfortable.  I was an archer.   I knew a lot but learned more about the battle of Bannochburn,  weapons and armour.  Oli

 

 

Zaid handling the crossbow

Jamie modeling a combination of armour, clothing and weapons

Oliver the soldier

Sophia wearing chain mail – it was so heavy!

Bikeability Level 1

My favourite part was going in and out the cones because it helped me control my bike with balance and concentration.  Zaid The slow race was great because I was putting my foot down but kept on trying.  Sarah S

I was falling off a few times but I did not give up because I want to get better.  Liam The part when you had to high five each other was great because you had to balance and use different hands to control your bike.  Daisy

The Circus by J K Annand and Primary 5.1

I enjoyed learning how to speak in Scots. Jessica

I liked the Scots language and making up our own verses, we wrote the last two.  Oliver

The teamwork and getting the costumes organised was my favourite part.  I also really liked working as a whole class.  Blair

I liked learning Scots poetry.  Sarah S

It was fun while it lasted and was good because we had to work out what we wanted to be in the poem.  Oli

 

I learned to be more confident dancing on the stage and wearing a costume.  Will

I enjoyed being an acrobat because we got to wear leotards and I liked working with the acrobats and having fun.  Lucy

We were learning about Scotland and we had unicorns in our poem, they are the national animal of Scotland. Jamie

Performing in front of the parents was fun and we all got to choose what we would be.  Sarah McK

I enjoyed making the actions and teaching them to the class.  Marci

Practicing the poem was good  because we did not have to write as much but we were still learning in literacy.  Joseph O

We made lots of links to learning because we had to do literacy by reading and learning  the poem.  Maths linked to time so we are not too long or too short.  Health by working together and drama by performing.  James

I enjoyed learning to talk in Scottish and I felt confident being a clown. Liam

I enjoyed choosing what we got to be and enjoyed working together.  Olivia A

I liked sharing and giving Ben a loan of my unicorn costume, it was fun wearing them on stage.  Zaid

Performing a Scots poem was great fun, I got more confident because I thought of it as being a cheer competition.  Millie

What a wonderful Scots Verse!

Well done Primary 5.1 you all worked very hard and I am VERY proud of you all!!!   Ms P

Woodland Explorers

Primary 5.1 had a wonderful time on our Woodland Explorers visit to Rouken Glen.

Katy was our guide.

I created a face out of clay and used leaves to decorate it. Will

We were making mud cocktails and had to find ingredients to add into it.  Thalia

My mud cocktail had a fresh smell to it! Zaid

It smelt good before we added the pumpkin. Olivia and Sarah The badger was blind folded and got to hold a spray bottle so they could spray people who tried to get the worms (spoons).  I got the worm straight away and didn’t get sprayed.  It was fun.  Blair
I used my art skills to make a clay face.  Siona We found a lot of things to make our faces.  Sienna

I think my face looks really weird.  Mia

Mine looks like Clyde the Commonwealth games mascot.  Joseph More than one funny face!
I made a brilliant mud cocktail.  Liam It was fun to make cocktails, mine spelt like rotten eggs.  Lucy
Mine smelled like pumpkin guts and looked disgusting.  Millie  I was the badger and couldn’t see so had 

to use good listening skills.   Mia

It was really fun making a face out of clay because we got 

to pick a tree to make it on.  Marci

Top Left Text Here We made cocktails but were not to drink them.  Zaid and Joe
My clay face was weird but I liked using my art skills to make it.  Jessica I used a big stick to mix my cocktail up.  Jamie
It was fun! Jacob I tried to make mine smell but it looked better

than it smelled.  Finlay

You had to go round and pick things off the ground like leaves and mud and make a smelly cocktail, it was fun.  Cara I had fun making the cocktail, I think mine was the worst one.  Charlie
It was really fun and me, Thalia, Siona, Sarah and Anna all put our faces on it and called it our friendship tree.  Oli
Mine was ok but then I joined a team with Blair and made a really good one.  Charlie It was fun and I used leaves to make it have crazy hair. Cara 

 

I made a face with an open mouth and tongue out.  Blair It was great fun making a clay face. Ben
We found a den to hide ours.  Arlo
I liked my clay face, it was a cat.  Finlay

Polar Explorer

We had a visit from Fraser, the weather man to tell us about his experiences in the polar regions.

He was showing us what you wear in cold climates. The best gloves to wear are the thinest ones because grip and for work projects.  Arlo

Fraser was showing us what you have to wear to cover your face so that snow doesnt get into your eyes, mouth and nose.  Millie

Wearing layers of thin things is warmer than wearing one thick thing.  Mittens are warmer than gloves because the body heat transfers through the fingers and keeps them warm.  Daisy

Looking at different parts of the world we could see what the world was made of, hot and cold climates.  Sophia

 

More animals go to the Arctic because when it is really cold the ice joins Canada and South America and a part of Russia and they can travel across the ice.  Joseph O

Time for an experiment!

I had to put my hand in ice and see how long I can hold it under the ice water.  I managed 45 seconds.  Then I had to cover my hand with butter.  I managed to hold it under water 1 minute 2 seconds.  The butter made it not as sore to hold your hand in ice so it kept it warmer.  Cara

It felt weird!

The butter felt soft and it stinks and when you rubbed your butter hands together it felt really warm. Blair

This is how the animals survive because it provides an additional layer of fat.  Joseph O

It was slippery when you had butter hands in the water but it did keep my hand a little bit warmer.  Olivia

It was really cold when I put my hand in the bowl.  I tried to look like it didnt hurt but on the inside it was really cold.  Joe W

We recorded our findings in a table and the results show that the butter hands held it in the water for nearly twice as long. Jessica

The reason for this experiment is that Fraser said the animals have fat that helps them survive and we dont have enough fat to do this. Siona

 

We are excited for his next visit!!

Outdoor Learning

Primary 5.1 were very enthusiastic about our Planet Earth context for learning. They thoroughly enjoyed working together to create shelter after deforestation had cleared the land and taken their homes away.   The children had an opportunity to survey the limited resources and had to work as a team to build a shelter.

 

We worked together to build this shelter we call home.
It was difficult because we did not have enough resources to go round.

 

We had to talk to each other, share and problem solve.

Stem Visit

Arlo – We were challenged to make the tallest tower with spaghetti and marshmallows. It was hard.

Sarah S – The marshmallow had to be at the very top of our tower. It was interesting to find out what it would do.

Daisy – It was very tricky because it was hard to balance the spaghetti and put the heavy marshmallow on top.

Olivia – It was very hard but my group managed to do it. When we got it standing it sometimes fell but then we got it to stand by itself again.

Millie – My group and I worked together to make our building of spaghetti and marshmallows. We managed to get it to stand by itself eventually.

We were solving a problem about aliens. The problem included Bipods and Tripods.

Zaid – Bipods have 2 legs and Tripods have 3.

Sarah S – The group had 23 legs in total.

Will – We to find out how many where Bipods and Tripods. We found that there could have been 10 bipods and 1 tripod.

Siona – or 5 tripods and 4 biopods.