Scratching with P1-2

On Wednesday the Biggies went to Primary 1-2 to teach them a little about ScratchJr. This is a programming app for younger users. The Biggies have experience with coding with Scratch itself, micro:bits and Arcade.

Both ethe Biggies and the P1-2 workeked really hard and had a ton of fun. Some of the Biggies wrote about it on their e-portfolios so I’ve taken some quotes.

I learnt how to explain to use scrachJr to younger people and also how fun it is to use ScratchJr.I think we all used a few good different skills but I used ICT, problem solving and leadership I think I was good at all the skills I used. I loved working with the wee ones it was really fun I loved there watching the little films they were all so good.

Alex

We did use a lot of our skills to do the project of teaching the p 1/2’s to be able to use JR For p1/2 it can be a bit hard for them but we weren’t long in teaching them how to use scratchJR. We used of our skills to do so we had to use communication and our own ICT skills. And all in all it was a good chance to work with the p1/2 team.

Blair

We had to make a film or a scene it was so fun with the primary 1/2 . One of the primary one was making a car crash or float about in an iceberg it was so FUNNY.

Faith

This week we worked with primary 1/2 on ScratchJr we were teaching them how to move characters and make them say things. I liked working with the little ones and teaching them how to use ScratchJr because it was really fun and whatever they had they were happy with it. I also enjoyed it because Evie was always thinking ahead. I learned that the primary 2s were already really good at ScratchJr and that it wasn’t me teaching Evie it turned into Evie teaching me.

Juliet

More pictures on the Bairn’s Blog.

A walk around High Banton

On Tuesday, as part of out outdoor learning day, the Biggies had a walk around High Banton. We are studying the way people lived in Banton in the past so went to look at the houses and landscape.

First we had to get our selves kitted out with wellies and water proofing because it would be very muddy and wet at the bit that we would be going to. It was all the way up at drum Nessie farm in High Banton. We started by turning right at the end of the school. Road and then you fallow the road up to the cattery that is at the top of the road and then we saw what looked like a 19th century house and it had been done up it looked amazing.

Going through the cow field

Through the mud. A group of children walking through a muddy field

First we were tasked with a problem we had to go through a field full of cows. And that was the only way through so we had to we started by climbing over the gate but then we realised that the cows were all the way over at the other side of the field so we were fine.

Blair

Next we saw a garage that could have been a old house because it was built of rocks. …

We came out at the swan and got a picture of that because it first opened in 1853. Across the road from the swan there was a house that was built in 1811. We know that because it was engraved on the stone above the door.

Rebuilt 1854
Juliet
Banton Mill
Banton Mill

We then went down one of the roads out of Banton to the mill and took some pictures of it. The mill is really old and was opened in 1836 which is about 200 years ago. When we were coming back we saw the old police house that is just a normal house now but use to be the old police station for Banton. Then we were on the road the school is on and we got a picture of the newest house in Banton that was only finished this year.

In conclusion I really enjoyed the walk and it was nice to see the old houses and buildings in person and not on a screen. I was also nice to walk about and and see the old houses that people would have lived in a long time ago and still do. I didn’t really like all the muddy puddles but other than that I loved it.

Juliet
A satellite map of our walk.

In school 

When we had went back to school and we looked at all the pictures and we thought of where the were and cut the pictures that Mr J had taken and a map that he printed. We stuck the map on to a sheet of a paper and the the picture’s around the map. We had drawn lines to where the places were and if we knew the name of the place we wrote that and like The Swan and when it was made 1815.

Alex

Micro Pets

For the past couple of weeks, we have been working on a micro:bit project in class. This is the first time some of the class have used micro:bits while others are more experienced.
We took the idea of a virtual pet from the makecode site and then extended it in different ways.

We started with the idea of making the pet happy by stroking it’s logo and making it sad by shaking it.

After that the class could extend it in lots of different ways. For the beginners this involved feeding and giving the pet a drink. The more experienced pupils surprised me with the complexity of what they were doing. We had health scores, feeding to keep healthy and avoiding starvation; being sick, with the chance of illness and death and being annoyed when petted too much!

Some of the class were intrigued enough to keep working in their free time and were great at sharing techniques. I was delighted to see a good understanding of variables and repeats shown by some.

Here are a couple of examples, click the play button, ▶️, to see them in action. Be sure to turn on the sound for giggles & squeaks.

My class made micro bit tamagotchi’s if we shook it it had to make a sad face and sound also on logo pressed it had to look happy and make a happy sound. We had to add other things in .

This is what mine does , 

My pet sleeps on button a and b using a led block and repeats it 8 times. 
On button a pressed it eats using a led and repeat block  If you press button b it dies and I also used a led block a repeat block and a on button b pressed block .

Juliet
  • Sleep
  • Be happy if stroked (press logo)
  • Be sad if shaken 
  • Die (wait long enough and don’t feed it)
  • Be sick if fed to much(can be cured using b)
  • Be scared (by making a noise/blowing/filling the red bar 180+)
  • Be fed (using a)
  • Get a health check (A+B)
Nathaniel

Elastic Cars

The biggies went back to the maker space for a warm up of our engineering skills today.

Some Biggies reaction:

I learned that you don’t need a motor to make things go

Today I learned how to make changes in my work, I learned how to make rubber bands into a working motor and I learned how to improve the work I had already done!

I learned about how different weight can affect a moving thing and how different types of rubber bands can change how the speed works

I learned that you can do it you have to just believe in yourself

Outdoor Learning Day June 2023

We started the day by going to the woods to gather a bit of firewood and different things to test as tinder.

The woods have changed quite a lot since our last visit, the grass & bracken is a lot higher. Down by the Gladstone we saw a woodpecker and later on a frog.

Back in school we tried different items as tinder with our flies and steels. not much success. The only thing that really caught was some bog cotton we had picked on our previous visit.

Next we mixed up some dough to cook over the fire later on in the day.
Dough in a bowl

We then explored a new App Seek by iNaturalist , which helped us identify plants and animals in the school grounds.

In the afternoon we rolled out out dough and wound it round some twigs, while the dough was rising we set up the fire pit.

Some marshmallows might have been toasted too.

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