Hi P7a readers, I wanted to update you on what we have been doing in our most recent Learning Journey since my last entry.

As part of our Countryside versus Concrete Jungle Learning Journey we revisited parts of plants and what they require to survive. Once having been explained how fertilisers affect the development of plants the pupils then researched different types organic and inorganic fertilisers. The class then created farming maps of Scotland and made a key to label arable, dairy and mixed farming areas.  We have also partnered with the University of Glasgow and taken part in their educational programme Sci-Seedlets. In this project we did a science experiment to test and compare how maize seeds grow when given water or salty water. This was to check whether sea water would make a good alternative option to watering plants as droughts are increasing in parts of the world. We observed the growth progress of the plants over a couple of weeks and at the end of the experiment we took them out the soil to study. The pupils noticed that the roots were smaller in the salt water container and concluded that salt water could be used to feed plants but their growth would be delayed. P7A have also investigated how land is used and visited the National Museum of Rural Life.  Whilst at the museum the pupils learned about how farming technology has evolved over the years, how maths is used to run a farm and even had a chance to ride a tractor! Inspired from this trip, the pupils have been looking at local maps and commenting on how the area around the school has changed due to the construction of commercial, residential and recreational buildings and with the development of transport links. They also used Venn diagrams to compare the differences between a Scottish clan settlement with a modern day town.  P7A then evaluated sources of differing opinions on how land should be used which involved identifying the purpose, main ideas and highlighting the supporting evidence. Equipped with this information the pupils were then challenged to collaborate in groups and create presentations on their chosen stance about whether Rouken Glen Park should be replaced with homes or not.

It’s showtime!

Continuing our focus on drama, this week the class have been learning about how body language, posture and proximity to one another can help with indicating the relationship between characters. The pupils tested this by posing and recreating family portraits in front of the class. There was a lot of hilarity trying to identify the members of each family!  Another activity involved  pupils randomly selecting two words which they had to use as the name of their character and then decide why their new persona was famous. In groups, they then improvised and acted out a chat show scene where the pupils had to stay in character whilst taking part in a short conversations between themselves and the host. Following this, each group sent their main character to the ‘green room’ where all of the personalities had to introduce themselves to each other. At the end of the week the pupils were set the challenge to independently create a short performance of a TV show for a specific audience. I was impressed with the fantastic effort that went into writing creative scripts and application of drama skills to bring their characters to life! Finally, the children used the iPads and iMovie to edit their videos and insert additional features into their recordings including sound, text and images.

It has been a pleasure teaching P7a the last two weeks and I hope everyone has a great holiday – Mr Atkinson

Lights, camera, action!

This week the pupils have been eagerly participating in activities to hone and develop their drama skills. First the children shared their experiences of drama and discussed the different types of TV genres including reality, cartoon, news and comedy. Then the pupils explored how adjusting their tone, volume and pace can help to express emotions. Equipped with this knowledge, the children challenged each other to portray different feelings during conversations and had to guess which ones were being performed. After discovering how voice actors bring to life cartoon characters, the class then made their own attempt by working in pairs to create backgrounds for some unusual people including coming up with a catchphrase and a voice for them. To finish the week, P7A have been learning how to create  ‘soundscapes’ by using their bodies to produce noises.

Hello to all the P7A blog readers, it’s Mr Atkinson here! As you will know this year I am doing NCCT for P7A with a focus on developing Crookfurs Enquiry Based Learning approach so I wanted to give you an update of what we have been doing.

It has been exciting start to the year with the children utilising their new Meta Skills of leading, feeling, adapting and initiative in their sustainability design clothing challenge. First we explored the methods of paying for items in today’s society and then the children drew diagrams of the different stages in the manufacturing process. Equipped with this knowledge the pupils then formed teams and have been collaborating excellently to combine a variety of fabrics to produce a unique piece of clothing. To help them with this they created mood boards by using inspiration from their online research and are now in the final stages of their project. The teams have also applied their understanding of persuasion to create advertisement posters for their products and have written scripts describing their items which they will read out during Crookfur’s P7 fashion show.

I would like to express my thanks for everyone who donated clothing and materials to help with this project!