We explored electricity by building circuits this afternoon. We worked in groups to try to light a bulb using the equipment we were given. After that we investigated how to add a switch so that we could stop the flow of electricity in the circuit so that we could switch off the bulb.
We made some predictions about materials which would conduct electricity and it was fun testing them all to see if we were right!
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The end of Term 1 is almost upon us! Three of our pupils shared some exciting news with us this week, so we simply had to get a photo to celebrate their achievements.
We are lucky to have such an inviting and comfortable library in our school. What a lovely time we had on Tuesday, relaxing with our books. We hope that P4/5/6 continue to read over the holidays too!
Many of us enjoy being able to choose what we write about in class. It was lovely to see everyone working so hard to achieve their writing targets this week. We sat together on Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed sharing what we had written with everyone. It was fantastic to see how many children were excited to share their writing and give positive feedback to others.
Maths time on Wednesday morning was good fun, playing number games with our friends. We had to remember to take turns and listen carefully to each other.
In the afternoon we spent time building jigsaws in small groups. Some jigsaws were tricky and will need more time to complete, but I know that we have some determined pupils in P4/5/6 who will keep going , even when the task seems impossible!
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We tested the last of our wind powered cars today. Some groups needed more time to make slight modifications to their sail or car structure. As well as engineering skills being developed here, the pupils were working with a partner to share ideas, make decisions and persevere with the task when it didn’t always work first time. What a lot of learning going on!
Some cars didn’t get finished in time, but those pupils will still get the chance to test their sail making abilities, using a ready made toy car.
As each car was tested. it was lovely to hear the positive feedback given to each group, along with some helpful tips on how to improve on each design. Some common themes were:
With Mrs Smith, the class have been working on their measuring skills and these skills were put into good use for this task! There were lots of helpful pupils who were keen to read how far each car had travelled. Very accurate measuring from all!
All of the cars moved when wind energy was provided, even if just a little bit. However, the most successful wind powered car travelled a massive 1m 80cm!
Even when things didn’t go to plan, it didn’t matter! We had fun watching the results and learning from the process. This car was even pushed over by the wind!
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This week our new Investigators have been announced. They have been given their welcome packs and will be preparing to meet the children they will be working alongside on their first online call shortly. We wish them luck in this exciting opportunity.
We’ve started our class novel, “The Explorer,” which ties in with our Rainforest and Biodiversity topic.
We have learned about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and have used some of the most relevant Articles to help us form our Responsible Behaviours Agreement for our class. We plan to create a rainforest theme which we’ll share with you in time!
Any pupil wishing to represent their class in the Pupil Council had the opportunity to think about what would make them a suitable member and we’ll take a vote on this next week.
For writing this week, poems created in Week 1 were rewritten for display in class and there was a big effort with handwriting. Well done!
Maths this week was based around problem solving activities with pupils choosing from a wide range of tasks that involved them using strategies such as trial and error, act it out and look for a pattern. Lots of paired and cooperative group work was also needed to succeed!
In P4/5/6 this week, we have signed up to the Shetland Sumdog Competition so we made a start at climbing up the leader board on Friday. We are hoping to build on our success in the National Competition last time so it would be wonderful if the pupils could log in at home too and play along. It runs until Thursday 17th. Good luck!
These past few weeks, the class have been learning about 2D Shapes. We have found out about polygons, regular and irregular 2D Shapes, parallel and perpendicular lines, how to find the number of diagonals a many sided shape has and naming quadrilaterals.
All of this helped lead up to this week’s Maths lesson where pairs of children were given either a description of a 2D shape or a specific shape for them to describe using the correct Mathematical terms. They had to use different materials to make them as accurately as they could. I was really impressed with the team work shown and their ability to keep working when shapes did not quite come together and when clues had to be puzzled out. (Sorry for out of focus photos!)
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In P4/5/6, we have been learning how to build electrical circuits as part of our topic work. We have also looked at which materials act as conductors of electricity and which materials are insulators.
We found out that metal is a conductor, so we used tin foil to help us build an electrical quiz board for the younger pupils in our school.
We thought carefully about the focus for our quizzes and tried to keep in mind how to make the questions suitable for younger pupils.
It was amazing to see how many social skills were developed during this process: turn taking, co-operation, talking and listening, compromising and providing support and encouragement to each other. Of course, there were opportunities to develop ICT skills too. It was lovely to see so many pupils eager to pass on their ICT knowledge! What a team!
To play our games, you need to use an electrical circuit. Instead of completing the circuit, the wires at each end connect to our quiz board – one wire to a question and the other wire to the answer. If the question and answer match, the bulb will light up! This means that we have completed the circuit!
We can’t wait to show you the finished quiz boards soon and test them out on the P1/2 and P2/3/4 classes!
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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!
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What a super Transition Day we had with the new P4/5/6 class this week! Mrs Smith came in for the first part of the morning when we spent some time getting to know each other with the Find the Fib game. Everyone (including Mrs Henderson and Mrs Smith) had to think of 3 things to share with the class about themselves. BUT, 1 of them had to be a fib. We had fun trying to guess which statement was false. Sometimes it was very tricky to decide!
We spent a little time writing down all of the things that were important to us. Some people had similar interests but it was also good to point out that it’s OK to like different things too.
We then got into groups and took part in some team building games. We played Lower the Hoop, Pass the Hoop, Lego building Relay and Silent Birthday Line up. We managed to put everyone in order from youngest to oldest…without saying a word! Well done everyone! Amazing!
The afternoon was spent doing a STEM activity. Each team had the challenge of building a newspaper bridge which would be strong enough to hold a textbook. Some bridges were so strong that they were able to hold more than 10 books! It was great to see how everyone worked together as a team and took responsibility for the task.
We are looking forward to welcoming the class back in August where we can continue to get to know each other and work as a team.
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The wet and windy weather hasn’t stopped us from enjoying our new playtime equipment. The skipping has been very popular and I think it is possibly time to dig out all of those old skipping rhymes for the children to try!
It has been lovely to see the class taking turns, co-operating, negotiating and problem solving in our outdoor play area. Well done P5/6!
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In P5/6 we have been creating a list of things we would like to use at playtime. Our budget is £60, so we need to try to find the best deal for each item on our list.
We have been learning how to navigate around shopping websites, using filters so that we can find exactly what we are looking for. We found out that it was important to check how many items were being advertised and to compare products. Some products were very cheap but the delivery charge was very high!
Ethan discovered that if he looked a little further and narrowed his search a little more, he was able to find 3 basket balls for the same price as 1 in an earlier search. Well done Ethan!
Ava and Freya thought they had found a great deal on chunky chalk with 100 pieces in the pack! It’s a good job they read the reviews as that particular product had a low rating with lots of complaints! Well done for spotting that girls!
We have noted down all of the things that we think could be bought and now we have to add it all up to check that we are within our £60 budget. Fingers crossed!
