This has been a busy month for Primary 6b.

Social Studies/ICT/Art

We have been developing our research and enquiry skills through the creation of Sway presentations on earthquakes and tsunamis linked to our Social Studies topic on ‘Natural Disasters’. We have been learning all about the earth’s layers and how earthquakes are caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault line and releases energy. Olivia said, ‘I have been working on my note-taking skills when searching for information on the internet,’

This month we have all been awesome achievers by working hard on developing our entrepreneurial skills when planning for our Dragons’ Den event. Both Primary 6 classes have worked extremely hard in linking our knowledge and skills from different areas of the curriculum. The Dragons’ Den enterprise activity has enabled us to work co-operatively to share our ideas and show case our communication, creativity and leadership skills. Phoebe said, ‘I have worked really hard on my team work skills and enjoyed presenting to the Dragons.’

Our four qualifying teams presented their sales pitches to two Parent Council members and Mr Lawson. They all did such a fantastic job that all teams were successful in securing funding to make their winning designs.  Please look out for our finished products which will be on sale at our annual Christmas Fair on Saturday November 24th.

Science

We have just started our new Science topic on ecosystems and have been learning how plants and animals interact and depend on each other in different habitats. We have learned to make food chains and food webs to show these interactions and can now identify producers, primary consumers and secondary consumers in various food chains. Dougal said, ‘I now know that producers are at the beginning of a food chain.’

Health and Wellbeing

In HWB, as part of Dyslexia Awareness Week, we watched various presentations and animations on dyslexia and learned all about the different strategies that dyslexic children use to help them overcome their difficulties. We designed our own information posters to highlight the important facts associated with dyslexia.

We also enjoyed the Decco comic workshop which enabled us to think carefully about our own learning and loved creating our own comic strips and drama scenarios demonstrating our ideas, thoughts and feelings.

French

We have been learning to recognise and recall zoo animal in French. We have also been learning the vocabulary to say which animals we like and don’t like, for e.g. j’aime les éléphants (I like elephants) and Je n’aime pas les crocodiles (I don’t like crocodiles).

 Awesome Achievements

As well as developing our learning at school we have been very busy achieving lots outside of school. Iain has been very busy this month and has represented the school in football and athletics. Iain said, ‘I showed stamina in my athletics to keep going and do a sprint finish.’

Amy has been developing her literacy skills by completing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She said, ‘I have enjoyed reading over the years and will continue to read more books in my own time.’

Literacy and Numeracy

Our learning in these areas will draw upon the contexts listed above but will differ according to the needs of each class / group. Your support with consolidation of core learning through homework activities will be very beneficial to our children.

This has been a busy, productive but enjoyable month for Primary 6b.

We have particularly enjoyed participating in Maths Week Scotland. We learned how maths is employed in various jobs and thoroughly embraced the challenge of a variety of practical maths activities. We learned to use our problem-solving skills and collaborate as a team when embarking on the aluminium architectural challenge. We had to work co-operatively to design the sturdiest and tallest freestanding tower using tin foil. We also enjoyed having Mr Serafini, a P2 parent, visit our class to talk about his job as a banker. We enjoyed learning all about the world of finance, including the importance of saving and budgeting.

In Social Studies, as part of our Natural Disasters topic, we have been developing our note-taking and research skills and have used Microsoft Publisher to create our own structured information leaflets. Iain said, ‘I have learnt all about hurricanes and how they can form and the different categories there are.’

In Art, we have been learning all about monochromatic colour to make different shades.  We used different painting techniques to create a tsunami picture inspired by the work of Japanese artist Hokusai.

We have been motivated by our French lessons and have been working hard to read and demonstrate understanding of French vocabulary linked to our mini-topic on animals.

In PE, we have been developing our skills in team games.  We have been working hard in perfecting our passing and shooting skills in both netball and hockey. We have also been developing our leadership skills by undergoing Playzone training.  We have been working closely with Craig Gordon, East Renfrewshire’s Active School Co-ordinator, culminating in us leading playground games with our younger children over the coming weeks. Zara said, ‘Playzone training has enabled me to work with my classmates better and helped me with my talking and listening skills.’

We have also been busy preparing for our Inclusion Service on October 11^th. We have been writing our own poetry and learning all about the importance of embracing diversity. We hope to see you all at Orchardhill Church at 1:15pm.

 Literacy and Numeracy

Our learning in these areas will draw upon the contexts listed above but will differ according to the needs of each class / group. Your support with consolidation of core learning through homework activities will be very beneficial to our children.