Our Day

December 4, 2021 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

Friday 3rd December…

Our class is beginning is get ready for Christmas. Each morning, we open the light bulb advent calendar we made and we also learn a new “sign” each day when we open a door on our Signalong calendar. We are taking part in the reverse advent calendar again this year and want to thank you all for your kind donations to the Shetland Food Bank too.

We started our day with a reading session. Lots of quizzes were taken with some great scores being recorded! We’ve had a new delivery of books from the Sandwick School Library so lots of pupils had a look through them and chose stories that they think they will enjoy. We have some very keen readers in P4/5/6.

We are working hard on handwriting in the class. Some pupils worked alone on joined sentences while others copied my examples from the board. Getting to grips with joining can be tricky but all pupils worked hard and did not give up! It was great to see their confidence grow in just one short session.

Maths time was spent exploring 3D shapes and their nets. We built up various shapes using construction, then folded it flat so that we could see how we needed to draw our own nets on squared paper. There was a lot of learning in this activity! It didn’t always work out but we spoke about how we’d improve on what we did next time!

After lunch we looked at two Christmas cards and spoke about the different themes that appear on them. The class have been asked to look out for this over the coming weeks at home. Do the cards link to the Christian faith and festival of Christmas or are they more winter themed with images of Santa, snowmen, robins and things we associate with this time of year?

Then we started to think about creating a Christmas card to take home. We painted the background ready to start decorating next week.

We took advantage of the calm day to go outside for a longer Class PE session while Ruben and Ryan grabbed the chance to rehearse their guitar pieces for our Christmas Play in peace and quiet. Two of our violin players also celebrated success in their individual lessons. See the photos below!

Have a lovely weekend all!

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Innes is hoping to find a treat in his advent bulb!

We used nets to create our 3D light bulbs.

Last week we explored 3D shapes using tooth picks to create the edges and play doh to hold it together. It made it easy to count vertices.

It was tricky to get the shapes to stand up. We needed patience and sometimes, a friend to help hold our structures up!

Rachel was pleased with her triangular prism. We’ve talked a lot this week about the difference between pyramids and prisms.

It’s good to work alongside friends on your Maths!

More complicated 3D shapes were easily made using the Geomags.

Our recent measuring topic came in handy as we had to draw lines of the right size, using the squared paper as a guide. We had to work accurately.

Ruben quickly realised he needed to use a protractor to measure the angles so he could draw his net accurately.

Gluing the tabs and sticking them down was tricky!

Eilidh’s construction cube and her completed net.

These two budding musicians have now moved on to playing first finger! They are very proud of themselves.

Look for the different types of Christmas cards coming into your homes over the next few weeks.

LEGO Renewables

November 25, 2021 Mrs Henderson Leave a comment

Emma Chittick, who is a STEM Engagement Advisor for Skills Development Scotland, came in to help us with another STEM wind turbine challenge., but this time we used LEGO!

She set a competition to see which design could generate the most power. The tricky part was trying to build a strong structure to set the turbine on. The class also had to consider how they attached their blades and in which direction they were facing.

Everyone was so engaged and worked well on their own or with a partner to complete the task.

Well done P4/5/6! You did a great job!

Great teamwork to build a successful wind turbine.

The design which generated the highest voltage.

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Robbie does it again!

November 22, 2021 Mrs Henderson Leave a comment

Robbie entered two races at a recent swim competition in Lerwick and won 2nd place in both races! Fantastic!

Here he is with his medals to show us.

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Well done Rachel!

November 19, 2021 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

Rachel won the Pudsey Bear Design a Bandana Competition which was judged by Mainlands Mini Market. Well done! Here she is with her prize and her cupcake, kindly made by the Pupil Council. Thank you for all your Children in Need donations and colouring entries!

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Remembrance Day

November 11, 2021 Mrs Smith 1 Comment

Today, on the 11th of November, we stopped and remembered all the people who have died in wars around the world. We also thought about those still fighting today, during our 2 minute silence.

We looked together at John McCrae’s famous poem, “In Flanders Fields.” We copied this out very carefully in our Handwriting time and used our written work to form the background for our poppies.

We had to concentrate on setting out the poem just like John McCrae did. We also had to try to use our neatest writing. Robbie did a great job… as did all the class!

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Well done Robbie and Kirsty!

November 8, 2021 Mrs Henderson Leave a comment

Some pupils in our class took part in a swimming competition in Lerwick recently. Robbie and Kirsty took in their medals to show us! Didn’t they do well!

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Wind Turbine Challenge!

November 8, 2021 Mrs Henderson 1 Comment

As part of our topic work, we have been learning about Renewable and Non Renewable energy sources. We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of these and which ones would work best in Shetland.

Last week, we worked in teams to design and create a wind turbine using a selection of materials. The turbine had to turn when we used a hair dryer on it and it also had to lift a plastic cup! Lots of things to consider in their designs!

It was lovely to watch everyone interacting and taking turns to contribute. Everyone showed consideration towards the ideas shared and compromises were made as to what the design would look like and how it would work.

It was important to try little tests now and again, to check if any changes needed to be made. Some groups found that when the hair dryer was switched on, the blades of their turbine were not strong enough and required further reinforcement. Some found that there blades were the wrong size or shape and some discovered that they needed to attach their cup differently so that it would lift without getting tangled in the turbine blades. Lots of learning going on!

We tested all the designs and everyone had the chance to add their thoughts on what they thought had worked well and what could be done to improve their designs further. I was impressed with how the children were able to make suggestions in a such a positive, caring and considerate way. Look out world…some future engineers here!

It was definitely a case of try, try and try again!

This team managed to design a turbine that could turn and lift the cup!

Brilliant social skills being developed with this group. Lots of challenges, but they took it in their stride!

Another successful wind turbine. Lots of discussion and changes to their design allowed them to make a successful design.

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Halloween

November 3, 2021 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

We hope you like the new image on our P4/5/6 Blog page! What a motley crew we are! We had a great time celebrating Halloween in class. We made toilet roll tube characters, wrote spooky story starters, created a pastel crayon bat picture, enjoyed a special Halloween themed lunch in the canteen and took part in a co-ordinates Trick or Trick game in the afternoon.

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Last day of term!

October 8, 2021 Mrs Smith 2 Comments

We have had a super last day of term! Here’s what P4/5/6 have been kept busy with!

First thing, we all did a Double Doodle Soft Start activity. Double Doodling is a great way to be creative, relax and stay in the present moment, only concentrating on where you want to guide your two pens. You draw with a pen in each hand and use them simultaneously. What one pen draws, the other mirrors. This activity is a fantastic way to engage both sides of the brain so is particularly useful before written or reading tasks. Why not watch the clip in the link and try this at home too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzVn0BF9Ow

Once our brains were active, we continued to write our National Poetry Day poems. We are still typing these up but hope to share them with you soon. Here are some starting lines to whet your appetite!

If music had the power to heal the world I would … play the piano and the piano should give the world hope. (Scott)

If music had the power to heal the world I would play every note, sing every song.
Think of the words to nature’s tune. (Georgia)

Every time a note is struck on an acoustic guitar,
A bit of litter is replaced with sand, so fine and smooth. (Ruben)

We were in for a musical treat after break when Joy came to do drumming with us. We even managed a dance outside as we moved and drummed to a Swahili song.

The afternoon saw us reflecting on what we’d enjoyed about Term 1 and what we need to keep working on next term.

Then we got the oil pastels out and created a moonlit sky background ready for a Halloween picture first week back.

It’s been a pleasure spending this term with you all! Have a wonderful holiday!