Primary 1 have been working on   folding, cutting and joining skills this week. We have made a stand up witch and a moving Mickey. Our folding and cutting had to be so good to make these decorations work.

Friday afternoon, we went for our first visit to either Castlehead or the YMCA, to explore some skills and activities linked to different careers. Not everyone got their first choice but there were lots of interesting things going on.

We thought you would like to see some of the wonderful art that we have done.It was  linked to our Natural Disasters topic, as Hokusai features volcanoes and waves in his art. First, we sectioned pictures by Hokusai, then recreated the pictures before painting  using water colours. They look amazing!

This afternoon we continued our Growth Mindset Learning by watching a Charlie and Lola episode- Too Many Big Words. In this story Lola has just started school and is excited and happy to attend until new learning becomes tricky.  At this time she begins to avoid trying and decides she doesn’t want to go to school anymore. Lola demonstrates a Fixed Mindset and rather than confront the challenge she avoids it.  Charlie helps remind her that she has got better at things she previously found difficult.  He encourages her to adopt a Growth Mindset.  The children thought about areas of learning that they find trick.  We thought of Growth Mindset messages we can say to ourselves or our friends when learning becomes challenging.

Read our home link sheet to find out more about Fixed and Growth Mindset.

Homework tasks this week

Growth Mindset Homework-

Cut out the Fixed and Growth Mindset messages and mix them up. Take time to talk about them and decide whether they demonstrate a Fixed or a Growth Mindset.  We will go through this on Friday.  Try and provide some Growth Mindset encouragement when your child finds a task tricky.

Reading– core reader (reading book);

Spelling– spelling pattern ai– and common words (this, that, then, with- I have noticed that some children are mixing th and f sounds in independent writing)

Please encourage your child to:

Say the word   e.g. pain

Break it into the sounds e.g. p-ai-n(3 sounds)

Blend it- p..ai…n.(stretching out each sound)

Write it (whilst covering the word)

Check it (against the written format)

If possible tackle one column of spelling on 2 different nights. An active spelling grid is in the front cover of the literacy homework jotter. You should pick one to try on a third night.

There will be a spelling dictation on Friday this week.

Maths-There is no new maths task in recognition of the Growth Mindset homework task. However if you are looking for a maths task and if your feel your child would benefit please continue with the numbers to 20 activities.  If anyone is looking for extra challenge practice forward and backwards counting to 50 and beyond (this is particularly tricky over the decade e.g. count from 34- 28).  We will also be counting in 5’s this week.

Activities with numbers to 20.

Reading numbers (this could be extended to writing numbers without looking)

• Sequencing numbers– low to high and high to low using knowledge of forward and backward number word sequences to help (increase challenge level by starting at numbers other than forward from 1 and back from 20.
• Ordering numbers– from low to high and high to low- (the difference between ordering and sequencing is that there won’t be a pattern in ordering it is just placing in order 6/8 random cards)
• Find the number before/ after   1 less than/1 more than (it’s useful to become familiar with different number vocabulary) (make it more challenging by asking for 2/3 less than/more than- children will need to count on and back)
• Sorting numbers into odd and even. How do you know? (prove it through drawing? Partitioning? Other method?)
• Make an odd or even number sequence (e.g. 2,4,6,8…    1,3,5,7… )
• Partitioning teen numbers in to 10 and ___- e.g. 16 is 10 and 6

Thanks for your support with homework.

Ms Crawford

Primary 4 have been issued with their new Table Challenge sheets.  Here’s a sneak preview of how it should look in the next few weeks:

Children began their learning on Growth Mindset this afternoon. We read Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak.  We found out that the different areas of our brain do different kinds of jobs.

Cerebrum- helps us think and speak

Cerebellum- helps of move and balance

Prefrontal Cortex- helps us plan and make decisions

Amygdala- helps us control our emotions

Hippocampus- helps us store and find memories.

Our neurons are tiny brain cells that make electrical signals to send messages between areas in the brain.

We worked together to make a giant brain which shows that when we demonstrate a Growth Mindset (we practise, persevere, take on challenges) our neurons fire and we learn and grow our brains. If we don’t focus, practise new skills and give up when coming across challenges our brains don’t grow as much. We call this having a Fixed Mindset. Ask your child to see the work they coloured and labelled today. Most children have remembered to bring this home this afternoon.  We will be learning more about the difference between a Growth and Fixed Mindset over the next few weeks.

Read our home link sheet to find out about our Growth Mindset.

Homework tasks this week

Growth Mindset Homework-

Speak with your child about a time that they learned a new skill or got better at something through practice. Children will share this with the class on Friday.

Share with your child a time that you learned a new skill through practice.

Reading– core reader (reading book);

Spelling– spelling pattern ck– and common words (me, we, be, she)

Please encourage your child to:

Say the word   e.g. clock

Break it into the sounds e.g. c-l-o-ck(4 sounds)

Blend it- c..l..o..ck.(stretching out each sound)

Write it (whilst covering the word)

Check it (against the written format)

If possible tackle one column of spelling on 2 different nights. An active spelling grid is in the front cover of the literacy homework jotter. You should pick one to try on a third night.

There will be a spelling dictation on Friday this week.

Maths-There is no new maths task this week because many children will be busy with out of school Halloween activities. If anyone is looking for maths- keep going with the numbers to 20 activities which were issued last week.  Children will benefit from repeating these activities over the next few weeks- so hang on to the number cards.

As a reminder , aspects suggested include:

• Reading numbers (this could be extended to writing numbers without looking)
• Sequencing numbers– low to high and high to low using knowledge of forward and backward number word sequences to help (increase challenge level by starting at numbers other than forward from 1 and back from 20.
• Ordering numbers– from low to high and high to low- (the difference between ordering and sequencing is that there won’t be a pattern in ordering it is just placing in order 6/8 random cards)
• Find the number before/ after   1 less than/1 more than (it’s useful to become familiar with different number vocabulary) (make it more challenging by asking for 2/3 less than/more than- children will need to count on and back)
• Sorting numbers into odd and even. How do you know? (prove it through drawing? Partitioning? Other method?)
• Make an odd or even number sequence (e.g. 2,4,6,8…     1,3,5,7… )
• Partitioning teen numbers in to 10 and ___- e.g. 16 is 10 and 6

Thanks for your support with homework.

Ms Crawford

Here are some photos from our first few weeks in Primary 1. They include making paper chains for our Reading Garden, lunchtime, name writing, our role play cafe (which is now a teddy bear hospital), finger gym, litter picking with P.7, Maths day with P.7 and shape activities.