P3 came back to school after the October holiday ready to face the new challenges of Term 2.
The children have enthusiastically participated in all curricular areas. They finished off the term with a tremendous performance for this year’s nativity play, “The Very Hopeless Camel”. Well done children!

Literacy
The children have covered seven phonic sounds and fourteen Tricky Words this term.
They complete a Spelling Activity every day to help them spell their words correctly. This might be as a Soft Start Activity or during Literacy Time.

Term 2 Grammar has consisted of:
• Proper Nouns
• Adjectives
• Plurals – s & es endings
• Possessive Adjectives
• Homophones
• Alphabetical Order – one week using the second letter to order words and then another week using the third letter to order words
Our writing genre this term has focused on Persuasive Writing.
We have used the Pie Corbett resource again this term, with the children talking about what they are planning to do with their writing partner before any writing takes place. Like last term’s genre, the children are able to begin with a title and then an introduction, indicating their point of view. They are developing the ability to order their writing into paragraphs, and use appropriate vocabulary. Handwriting lessons continue twice a week, this term we have started to use our joins. Reading skills are mainly taught through the children’s reading books, but we have also used texts relating to the term’s topic or something which will capture their interest – animals, Halloween or other topical subjects.

This term the children were introduced to the idea of key words in a text and how to spot them.
They were also developing the ability to discuss a text with a partner, and use a different range of questioning.

Maths
Maths lessons always begin with Mental Maths activities which the children enjoy.
In numeracy work, the children have been doing addition and subtraction of TU with and without exchanging. They began with using concrete materials (cubes, counters) to help them find the answer before moving on to using pictorial representation to help them. They have all made good progress with this. Counting and multiplication tables is also a daily part of all number work. Maths work has focused on graphs, with the children using pictographs and then bar graphs to gather and read information. This was something they also enjoyed very much.

A wee message from Mrs Simmons…
I’ve worked with P3 on several occasions this term. During my visits we have focused on addition of 2 & 3-digit numbers. We started by using concrete materials- dienes, straws and place value counters. We learned how to represent the numbers with the materials and then when & how to exchange, units for a ten and with some children, tens for a hundred.
We then learned how to represent this pictorially. When adding 2, 2-digit numbers we also learned how to use our knowledge of friendly numbers to add on an open number line. Hopefully my visits will continue next term. In
the meantime, enjoy a well-earned rest and have a lovely Christmas when it comes.
Best Wishes,
Mrs Simmons

Health and wellbeing
Jigsaw Lessons are an enjoyable way for the children to finish off the week.
This term we were “Celebrating Difference”.
The children took part in discussions and heard stories about how everyone is different but how each person is valued and loved. The children also discussed how they could help if they were witnesses to mean behaviour or bullying by others. This generated interesting discussions with the children in agreement that they would seek help if they were bullied or saw anyone being bullied. The unit ended with the ability to give and receive compliments. A very enjoyable, and touching, afternoon was spent with everyone writing a compliment to someone in the class, and reading it out to the rest of the class if they wished to do so.
They also made Compliment Kites which are a colourful addition to the classroom.

Committees – Fair trade
We presented at the whole school assembly with our p6 Fairtrade team. We shared our action plan with everyone and our plan is to make Fairtrade bracelets to sell in the new year. Well done to our captain and vice captain for talking at the assembly.

ICT – IPAD
Probably the most enjoyable part of the week for Primary 3!
This term they have been using “Keynote” to create a presentation. They created a simple presentation of the nativity story, using all the great work they had put into “The Very Hopeless Camel” to good use.

IDL Topic – Cardonald Our Local Area
We began by discussing what we have seen in our local area, hopefully we will get out for our walk after the holidays. The four Big Questions that we wanted to answer about Cardonald:
• What is in our local area?
• What places of interest are near our school?
• What types of house do we live in?
• How can I be a responsible citizen in my local area?

The children talked about different buildings and their uses with their partners. To demonstrate the different ways to be responsible citizens, the children also visited the residents at Nazareth House and performed the nativity play for them, which the ladies and gentleman thoroughly enjoyed. The children continued to develop a variety of skills through this topic, such as discussion, collaborative learning and the rewards of citizenship in caring for others.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year!
From,
Mrs Mitchell