It was lovely to welcome the children back after the Christmas break and to hear all their excited tales. They wasted no time in getting settled back to school and class routines and getting busy with their learning. There have been many opportunities throughout the month in which they have demonstrated that they are successful learners.

Literacy 

All groups have developed their fluency and comprehension skills by engaging with their texts each week. They have read a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts but the main focus over the last few weeks has been on non-fiction. They have been learning to use the Contents page, Index and Glossary to help them find information. This will help them to be effective contributors as they will  be able to apply this knowledge as to our new IDL topic of the Romans. Please continue to support children with their spelling and phonics and reading at home as this really does help to support what the children are doing in class.

Numeracy and Maths 

The children have spent the last few weeks working on multiplication, they have used a variety of concrete and pictorial materials to help explore and develop an understanding of this topic. They have been learning the 2, 5, and 10 X Tables and been learning about multiplication as arrays, repeated addition and groupings. We are now moving on to division where the children will develop further their understanding of sharing, equal groupings, repeated subtraction and  the inverse relationship with multiplication. Children can use many household or everyday items to help with this concept, eg sharing pasta shapes into equal groups, sharing sweets among 2 or 3 people and there are many games on Topmarks and Sumdog that children can play to help them in this area.

RE 

This month and next has had a focus on the teachings of Jesus. They are learning about forgiveness and many are preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The children have been listening to bible stories about Jesus’ time on earth, how we are made in God’s image and the meaning and lessons we can take from the parables. I appreciate your support in returning Confession workbooks completed on time.

Other Curricular Areas

ICT – children are working on creating a Powerpoint which they will present to the class. They are also learning about coding and very much enjoyed this.

IDL – SCOTLAND – the children showed that they can be confident individuals when they learned and sang a song from the Disney Movie Brave called ‘Touch The Sky’ at our Burns Day Assembly – they did a fantastic job learning all the words and actions in such a short space of time. They tasted some traditional Scottish food such as haggis, neeps and tatties, shortbread and Tunnocks tea cakes, they even had a wee taste of Irn Bru (sugar free) a variety from every food group. They are at the beginning of our topic on Romans and have already learned how Rome was founded and some of the countries that the Romans conquered.

PE – our focus has been on gymnastics and the children can name and demonstrate a variety of shapes such as pike, arch, straddle and dish. They can travel safely, balancing and moving in a variety of shapes and speeds.

 BIRDWATCH – Primary 3 were also effective contributors by completing the birdwatch survey to record the variety of different birds in our local community. They spotted Crows, Magpies, Blackbirds, Seagulls, Wood Pigeons and some Robins. They recorded this information using tally marks and will learn how to interpret and display this data in Maths.

*Reminders*

Homework out on a Monday to be returned completed and signed on a Thursday.

PE Days are Monday and Wednesday.