We have been very busy with maths this morning…we have been estimating and measuring in grams using scales and real fruit, we have been calculating money totals and finally we have been reading grid references too. We have a shop set up in the classroom now too to help us all with money and calculating amounts and change.

We are very busy in maths at the moment. One of the groups has been learning all about fractions by identifying fractions, adding fractions to make a whole and identify fractions on a  number line. We used lego to help us visualise fractions.

Another group is learning all about time and reading the time at o’clock and half past in digital and analogue form and calculating an hour before and an hour after.

In science we are learning all about magnets and their properties. We learnt that a magnet had a magnetic field and it has a north and south pole. We 2 magnets pull together, that is called attracting and when then push apart, that is called repelling. To make a magnet attract, then the north and the south pole from 2 separate magnets touch. If the same pole from 2 different magnets try and come together, they then repel each other.

Mr McDonald set up some fantastic stations involving magnets linked to our learning and we loved going round each station and applying our learning! Have a look at the pictures of us completing the stations.

During our RME lessons we have been learning about Sukkah, the Jewish Harvest festival. As part of our learning, we learnt that Jews build their own Sukkots in their gardens or balconies to host gatherings.

We used our shoe boxes that we brought in to make our own! We first of all designed with a partner what we wanted our Sukkot to look like and then used a range of materials, including natural materials such as hay to construct them.

This morning the class were developing their literacy skills by learning how to infer.

The lesson started off with some active learning taking part in some drama to infer how each other were feeling by looking at each others faces. Then Mr McDonald taught us how to infer and that you have to draw your own conclusions based on information that you can see. Can you guess from our expressions how we are feeling? How do you know this?

We then were tasked with some group tasks to infer what was happening in pictures.

We have had a very busy week in P3a this week and we are really enjoying all the new maths learning that we are doing.

One of the groups have been busy learning how to add numbers together and carry a number.

Another group has been learning their 4 times tables and completed work to help them remember their new table such as a multiplication treasure hunt, creating lolly pop stick questions and posters.

Another group has been working very hard learning how to subtract 2 digit numbers with the strategy of exchanging!

Well done everyone for all your hard work this week!

This afternoon had science and we were learning about the characteristics of air. We brainstormed first of all and discussed what we already knew about air and it turns out we already knew quite a bit!

Then we watched a video explaining the characteristics of air and we took part in an active experiment by standing up and holding our arms out. Could we feel air round about it when we aren’t moving? No! Then we started waving our arms about and suddenly we could feel the air round out arms. We discussed why this is the case and Erin gave the perfect answer…

“The faster you move your arms through the air, the more it pushes back against you.”

Finally we finished off with a wee experiment looking at air pressure, can you do this experiment at home and show your family and explain what happened?

This afternoon we had a visit from a police woman and we were learning all about how to keep safe on the roads, in the car, in the park, in school and in the playground. She taught that if we were in the car do  not open the door if someone is driving or stick your head or arm out of the window.

We also learnt about stranger danger and we now know what to do if we are approached by a stranger….

She taught us 3 important things…SHOUT, YELL and TELL. We should shout “STRANGER DANGER” too!!! We learnt that the number to call in an emergency is 999 and she gave us some homework to learn…we have to learn our address because if there is an emergency at home and we call 999 then we can tell the emergency services where to come!

This afternoon we had some fun with measurement. We were tasked with making a paper aeroplane and then going outside and having 2 attempts to throw it and then using a metre stick to record the distance that it flew.

The class were very quick to tell me that Skye is a pro at making paper aeroplanes, so Skye ended up leading the class on how to make the perfect areoplane – well done Skye.

We discussed how this task was linked to maths and Rajath explained that measurement was a very important maths skill and then Calum noticed that this task also involved symmetry because the plane needed to be symmetrical so that it could fly properly otherwise it would go to one side – great work Calum!

This afternoon we were tasked with creating our own outdoor maths games. We worked with a partner to create our game. We had to think of some important things to include in our game so first we brain stormed together to discuss things that we had to remember.

What to think about in our game design:

• to include instructions – Erin
• how many players does it have – Millie
• what will the board game look like? Should it have bright colours? – Spencer
• what pieces of equipment do you need to use? – Rajath

We then got designing…have a look at us designing away….

Tomorrow we will vote on our favourite game for P3a which will be submitted to the whole school competition and the winning design will be printed on the playground for everyone to play!