We have continued to learn about the Native Americans in Primary 5B. We worked in groups to research and present information about transport, food, shelter and the different environments. Harry, Alfie, Joseph, Fraser, Declan and Finlay were very successful at making the transport poster. They learned a lot about how Native Americans used horses, and how they travelled as nomads and followed the food source.

Abeer found it interesting and fun when learning about dream catchers. We learned that the middle had a web that caught the bad dreams. It would give good dreams which the Native Americans believed would become real. We have skilfully made black line drawings of a traditional head dress and a totem pole inspired bird. As a homework task we designed our own totem poles. Each part of the pole might have a different animal or symbol on it. Rachel S and Leah learned that totem poles represent a tribe and their families and have lots of different meanings. Yousaf enjoyed making a totem pole out of paper and cardboard and he made each part to represent a member of his family.

In PE we have been learning about how to control the ball, throwing and catching. We have also played some games with the ball, such as basketball. One of Maeve’s favourite games was “Hot Potato” where you have to quickly pass the ball around without dropping it. Alzaan prefers “Ice Cube” where you need to work on your balance and keeping still. We have also started gymnastics, working on the box top, floor and spring board.

In RME we have been learning about Advent and the 4 Sundays of Advent. Sometimes churches light a candle on each of the 4 advent Sundays. Edie successfully remembered that the candles represent hope, peace, love and joy. We have been making traditional advent calendars, and Sarah felt everyone showed determination and co-operation in their groups. Fraser realised that traditional advent calendars have a bit of the nativity story with pictures of the main characters behind the doors rather than chocolate.

In Health and Wellbeing we have been learning about dental hygiene. Finlay successfully learned the names of the different teeth – molar, premolar, canine and incisor. We have successfully learned about how to avoid tooth decay and made posters about protecting your teeth. Neve felt she was successful in making her poster as she included a catchy slogan about brushing your teeth. Aleeza and Abby feel they are working hard and are getting better at understanding more about keeping their teeth clean.

In ICT we have successfully finished our coding work. We finished by animating our name on Scratch. We have also being searching the internet more accurately and skilfully. Logan and Lily learned about using speech marks before and after a key word in the search.

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.

Awesome Achievers

November’s awesome achievements included lots of helping out around the home, particularly with putting up Christmas decorations. We have also been learning about weighing ingredients accurately, and even cooking a Sunday roast!

Sport continues to feature in our achievements, this time with some backward shots in badminton, learning choreography, developing football skills in different teams, diving into the swimming pool, swimming an extended distance, gymnastics flips and skiing lessons.

Music talents are being developed, with some learning guitar chords and ongoing instrumental lessons.

Our latest house challenge was an opportunity for a different type of achievement. We had some winning designs within our class – they were very resourceful!

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

Our class assembly focused on team work and co-operation as this is what our RME lessons had been about.  Rachel S learned that TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More.  As it is the centenary of the end of WW1, we were keen to find out a bit more information. Sarah found it interesting how the soldiers in WW1 had to show co-operation to keep their spirits up. We learned that the trenches were awful places where the soldiers lived and fought. Maeve thought this would be a hard place to live. In response to a short video clip, we wrote emotive poems. We used Green Screen technology to create a short film demonstrating team work and co-operation set in WW1. Fraser, Yousaf, Rachel M, Aleeza, Christopher and Aaron took a lead role playing the characters. During Art, we created a sunset using paint, then we drew a silhouette outline of a cross and/or soldier. To complete the art work, we added paper poppies to the picture. Ella enjoyed making poppies out of tissue paper, whereas Abby preferred using the red cupcake cases to make poppies. Well done to everyone for learning their lines and speaking confidently in the assembly.

We have finished our swimming lessons and our PE focus is now ball skills. As part of this we are excited to have a specialist visiting to teach us cricket. Leah has enjoyed playing a game called Jail Break as part of this input. We have been learning dribbling and passing skills with basketballs.

During ICT, we have started to look at coding using the programme Scratch. We have been following instructions to guide us through a whole module, with the aim of creating a memory game. Alfie said it was enjoyable but it was hard to make sure you didn’t make a simple mistake that means the code doesn’t work properly. We’ll need to go back and check some of the code really carefully! Neve and Raymah said they enjoyed the coding because it was a challenge but it was complicated at the end. However they are happy because they finished the module. Aleeza and Hannah said that it got easier with each session because they were more familiar with the programme.

In Social Studies we have continued to learn about Native Americans. We were able to successfully write a short story using picture symbols, and we are now familiar with some of the tribal names. Next, we will research similarities and differences between the different tribal areas in North America.

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.

Awesome Achievers

Primary 5b continue to work hard in various sporting clubs – climbing, gymnastics, football tournament, running, swimming, cricket and karate! Some of us have become a bit more adventurous, trying go-karting, tree trekking and cross country. With the more autumnal weather, there have been delicious pancakes and cookies being baked, as well as opportunities to help around the house and take the time to practise our musical instruments.

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

Welcome to Primary 5B

Our Social Studies topic for this term is the Native Americans. Our mapping skills have already improved by studying world maps, and will further develop by identifying the geographical features that had an impact and influence on their society. We will then study the impact the European settlers had on the Native American people. Through this context, we will have lots of opportunities for art and music work.

In Science, Miss Convery has started teaching us about mixing and separating mixtures. We will be learning about dissolving, filtration and creating a hypothesis before carrying out experiments. We have already had fun timing how quickly four different types of sugars took to dissolve.

As part of our Health and Wellbeing focus, Mrs Campbell is looking at Food and Nutrition with us. So far we have learned what a balanced diet looks like and have looked at the Eatwell Plate diagram. We look forward to finding out a bit more detail about the nutritional values of foods we eat regularly.

Our PE focus this term is on fitness and we have already had lots of sore legs from doing lots of workouts and stretches! We have watched a video of Joe Wicks to help us see how stretches and exercise should be done properly. We look forward to creating our own fitness workouts based on what we learn. We are also partway through our swimming block where we are learning different techniques and developing our swimming. It is lots of fun!

In Digital Technologies this term, we will be studying how to stay safe online, using the CEOP resources online.  As part of maths week we also started to look at our computer science coding work on Hour of Code.  Throughout the term we will continue to use digital technologies to support other curricular areas.

As part of our RME context, we are using BounceBack to explore team work and co-operation. As this topic develops, we hope to link this to our upcoming assembly in November. Similarly, we are excited to lead part of the Inclusion Service at Orchardhill Parish Church in October. Later on in the term, we will be looking at how different religions celebrate weddings.

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.

Awesome Achievers

We have been very busy achieving lots of different things inside and outside of school.  Several of us have joined new teams and clubs for football, gymnastics, cheer competition and art class. As well as this, we continue to develop our skills in existing clubs and have learned how to do an illusion in gymnastics, tumbling in swimming, roulette turn in football and shuffle hop step in dance. Our love of the outdoors continues, as some of us successfully climbed some Munro mountains. We were proud to see several Blue Peter badges being awarded within our class, including a diamond badge. At home, our baking skills are coming on nicely with lots of cakes, scones, brownies, biscuits and fudge being baked.

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

We have been working very hard since our return from the winter holidays.

During Health and Wellbeing lessons we learned about emotions. We confidently discussed in groups the things that make us angry, frustrated and sad. We have started to create an advice leaflet of strategies to deal with these emotions in positive ways. Ella said “We confidently discussed ways to deal with frustration in our groups”.

In PE lessons we have been learning about Gymnastics. We have been developing our movement skills. Pair work was important in helping us to learn and advance to partner balances. We have been working together to create sequences of movement. Logan said “I can perform a one footed balance on the bench”. We continue to do our daily fitness and enjoy challenging each other to beat our personal best. During February we will be working to improve our badminton skills.

We have also been studying Food and Farming in the 21^st century within Social Studies. We have learned about food journeys. We confidently sequenced the journey of milk after taking notes from a clip that we watched. We researched in groups the journeys of: strawberries, potatoes, beef and rice. We demonstrated our learning to the rest of the class through the creation of an iMovie. Fraser said “We successfully sequenced the journey of milk from farm to shop”.

During our Art lessons we confidently created a Pop Art self-portrait. We used lines to make sure that our features were in proportion then added bright colours. Some pupils challenged themselves to make more complicated designs by creating a repeated pattern. Leah said “I can successfully use line and colour to create a Pop Art image”.

During lessons in ICT we were starting to develop our coding skills. We have been using code.org to practise using block coding. Most of us can confidently to carry out block coding independently. Alfie said “I can independently use block coding to create a programme”.

RME lessons have focused on Sikhism. We have been finding out the story behind the start of Sikhism.  While exploring Sikhism we discovered the importance of the 5 K’s. We have been confidently discussing Sikhism with our peers.

Achievements – We have celebrated our achievements outside of school. Some of us are very excited to say that we can now do some cooking at home. Some of us have been climbing mountains, very successfully, with our parents. We have progressed in levels within our clubs; swimming, badminton and skiing. Some of us can now do jumps while skiing. We have taken part in dance exams and passed with flying colours. We have also been winning lots of football games.

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

Welcome to our final blog for this term, we have been working very hard and learned lots of new skills.

During Health and Wellbeing lessons we learned about: healthy eating, peer pressure and food journeys. We created a balanced meal plan and a guide to help other pupils deal with peer pressure. Harry and Edie said “eating a balanced diet gives us energy to do the activities we like”.

In PE lessons we have been learning about basketball. We have been developing our skills: bounce pass, chest past, dribble and shooting. Team work and pair work were important to help us to learn and develop these skills. We also learned about sportsmanship and cooperation while playing team sports. Fraser explained that sportsmanship was “being fair to the other people you are playing with and playing by the rules”. We continue to do our daily fitness and enjoy challenging each other to beat our personal best.  Next term we will be learning gymnastics and badminton skills.

We have also been studying Weather in Science. We learned about the different types of clouds; Cirrus, Stratus and Cumulus. We have explored climate and how it affects animals and foods.  We researched and then produced a non-chronological report about different types of Weather.

During our Art lessons we confidently created a tile and made Escher patterns. We made our patterns into animals which were a wide variety of styles. Some pupils challenged themselves to make more complicated designs.

During lessons in ICT we developed our skills in editing word documents and putting images into a word document using the internet. We took part in hour of code during Coding Week. We demonstrated good team work by helping each other to code our games. Yousaf said “I got to level 10 then asked Alfie and Fraser to help me get to level 12”.

RME lessons focused on Christmas around the world we discussed the traditions that are used across the world. We used our advent calendar to find out a new fact each day. We have been confidently reading out the facts to the other pupils in our class.

Achievements – We have achieved some great things outside of school. Some of us are very excited to say that we can now tie our shoe laces. We have progressed in levels within our clubs; swimming, badminton and skiing. We have taken part in gymnastics competitions. We have also been winning lots of football games. Some of the class have been working very hard during their dance lessons and can really see the improvement in their skills. We even used them during the school talent show.

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

Welcome to our second blog of the year, we really enjoy sharing our learning with you. We have continued to work hard and have been developing our skills.
During Health and Wellbeing lessons we learned about: road safety, making choices and types of medications which help people. We used our writing and creative skills to draw a plan to suggest ways to make our playground more Eco friendly. Alfie and Aaron said “We used area from Numeracy within our Eco plans”.
In PE lessons we have been developing our rugby skills. We have learned to; throw, pass and receive the ball. Changing pace while moving is another area that we have worked on. Team work and pair work were important to help us advance our skills. We have been pushing ourselves to run further during daily fitness. Next we will be working towards improving our basketball skills and we will end the term with dance lessons. Raymah said “I worked hard during rugby lessons”.
We have also been learning about Sound within Science. We learned about pitch and vibrations. We made string telephones and instruments. We can now confidently explain how pitch can change and what you can do to make this happen. We have started to learn about Weather, we are excited about it. George said “I like learning about Science”.
During lessons in ICT we have been learning to successfully send emails using our glow accounts. We sent emails to other pupils within our class and they replied. We are beginning to learn about editing Word documents. Ella said “I successfully sent an email through glow”.
RME lessons focused on: trust, honestly and supporting our friends. We have now started to learn about the Shabbat.
During our Art lessons we confidently incorporated Numeracy by creating tilling patterns using 2D shapes. We also skilfully made some scratch artwork showing fireworks. We will be expertly creating Escher tiles then using them to make our own pattern.
Achievements – We have achieved some great things outside of school. We have taken part in gymnastics competitions. Some of us are really proud of the number of books we have managed to read at home. We have also been winning lots of football games. Some of the class have been working very hard during their dance lessons and can see the improvement in their skills.
Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

We have had a busy start to our year as Primary 4b!

We started by learning about Growth Mindsets and the power of “YET”. We have all selected a goal to work towards for the term, displaying them on gold stars in our classroom. During our lessons we learned that everyone can improve as long as we work hard and challenge ourselves. Some of the things we want to get better at are; Numeracy, Literacy, Art, PE and Daily Fitness. Abeer said “I think we are getting much better at having a Growth Mindset”.

During Health and Wellbeing lessons have been working hard exploring what our school values mean to us and how we can show them every day. We made a class charter to remind us of the things we can do to make our classroom a nice place for everyone to learn. We also made fantastic comic book strips and story boards to present to the other Primary 4 class. Rachel S said “I loved learning about the class charter”. Leah said “We have used our school values to make the new people in our class feel happy and welcome”.

Our class assembly has been one of our highlights, we are very proud of how confident we all were and how quickly we learned our lines. We enjoyed practising our assembly and we think we did a great job. Sarah said “Our class was very successful in our class assembly. I felt very good about my part”.

In PE we have been working very hard every week to improve our fitness. We have been counting how many of each exercise we can do in a minute to see our improvement each week. We have also been pushing ourselves to run further during daily fitness. Abeer said “We are definitely getting better at our daily fitness”. Next we will be moving into rugby, we are excited to improve our skills from last year.

We have also been learning about Food Chains in Science and we are really enjoying it. Some of us already knew a lot about Food Chains from other schools, so we were able to learn from those people too. We are excited to learn about Sound and Weather which are our other two topics for this term.

In Art we created McCoo artwork inspired by Steven Brown. We are very proud of them, they look fantastic on our classroom wall. We will also be making Escher patterns this term.

During lessons in ICT we have been learning online safety. Edie said “ICT is fun”.

Our learning within Literacy and Numeracy 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.

Achievements – We have achieved some great things outside of school. We have taken part in charity races for running, walking and swimming. Some of us have brought in our medals to show the rest of the class. We have been scoring lots of goals for our football teams. The scouts and brownies amongst us have taken part in trails and charity events.

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

P3b are just soooooo awesome. In May we acted out some plays, quite marvellously! We have been learning new skills in swimming, football and karate. We have been cooking and baking and have even been nominated for a Diabetes UK Fundraising Award!

P3b are totally awesome. In April we have been making new friends, spending time with our families, achieving sporting success and numerical successes.

March

Ella notes that we have been confident and RESPONSIBLE by reading out our parts for the Spring Service. Abby loved that we were all INCLUDED when we practised playing the glockenspiels to “Spring is Coming”, to the tune of Frere Jacques. We even recognised the notes we have learnt with Mrs Carey in Music.

We can RESPECT all people and realise that people need help in different ways. We can read the Braille alphabet and even translated a letter from Braille.

We have ACHIEVED great ICT skills and can use Excel to produce our own graphs.

We have RESPECTED people of all religions and found out more about Islam and how a baby is named. Raymah’s name is one of the 99!

Aaron knows much more about Scottish inventors and how they communicated with each other after our visitors came from the Museum of Communication in Burntisland.

Our visitors talked to us and brought exhibits from their Great Scots exhibition. We found out even more about Scottish inventors they had started researching at the start of the term – these included John Logie Baird’s invention of the telephone, Robert Watson-Watt’s invention of radar, Lord George Murray’s invention of  the shutter telegraph, James Bowman Lindsay’s invention of the incandescent light bulb,  Ian Donald’s invention of ultrasound devices, Denyer and Renshaw’s invention of the micro-chip camera and Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone.   We were able to play with very old original telephones, a replica of Murray’s optical telegraph, a Morse machine, semaphore flags and a special light-emitting device – incandescent light.

They also shared an interesting poem titled “Rough Justice” that Sir Robert Watson-Watt had wrote after he was caught for speeding by a radar gun of his own invention.

Logan knows more about places in the world because we had visiting teachers from America and Switzerland to help us with our learning. This class is able to RESPECT people from different countries. We also discovered that Miss Golding was brought up in Tanzania. She shared more about her country with us.