Author: gw14andersonclare@glow

What a glorious day!

We went up the Sound Brae and cut in to the Quoys Burn and walked down it. We took time to listen to the relaxing sounds, to smell the amazing variety of smells and to really look around at all the different colours and things we could see. It was very chilled out. It is a private garden so we had to be respectful and use quiet voices, this helped add to the excitement of it all.

Then we went to the playpark and the bairns had some crazy time running around! After a little play we walked down to the road and saw where the water goes under the road. We took time to blow dandelion clocks. We followed the burn down to the stoney beach and talked about where the water started and where it ended up.

A big point that I made to the pupils is that they should always have a grown up with them when visiting the beach or the burn as playing beside the water can be dangerous. 

Our outdoor learning sessions we cover a lot of areas of the curriculum and give experiences to the children that are just not the same as learning in the classroom.

We have been looking at Meta-skills at Sound School. Some of the Meta-skills that this walk included are:

• focusing
• communication
• collaborating
• feeling
• curiosity
• sense-making
• critical thinking

One of our school values for this term is happiness. There were certainly a lot of happy bairns today.

We have been collaborating in experiments on different ways of producing sound from vibrations, we looked at how to change the pitch of sound. We used cups on string as phones to talk to each other and made harmonicas using elastic bands, straws and lollipop sticks. It was tricky to get the vibrations right to make the sound.

We went on a trip to the stoney beach.

The children highlighted the benefits of outdoor learning:

• You can find things.
• Enjoying being outside and being able to skip and run around.
• You can find a lot of stuff in the sea and can play with what you find.
• You can explore the different areas including the rock pools and paddle in the water.
• Exercise while walking there and back.
• We  saw lots of animals including sheep.
• We saw some dead animals including the whale, sheep and crabs.
• We saw a sea anemone and a star fish.
• We had to balance and be careful when walking over the rocks.
• We shared what we found with each other and the other class.

 

Here is what we will be learning in term 4.

P2a Term 4 Curriculum Info

We have been learning about doubles in the classroom. We have done games, whiteboard work, practical activities, laptop games and written work on doubles. We then went outside to see if we could see doubles in nature. We spotted trees with double branches, bunches of daisies that were doubles and we used sticks to show doubles too. It was a lovely sunny day and we enjoyed exploring numbers in nature in the sunshine.

We went on a trip to the museum to learn about Lerwick in the past compared to Lerwick today.

This trip helped develop 7 out of the 12 meta-skills, including:

• Sense-making
• Creativity
• Curiosity
• Integrity
• Adapting
• Initiative
• Communicating

The class were absolute superstars and listened so well to Ailish and Donna. They asked and answered lots of questions. They even impressed Donna by knowing that Arthur Anderson was the founder of the Anderson Educational Institute. They recognised the motto Dö weel and persevere! 

We learned that we know information about the past from maps, pictures and plans.  They enjoyed seeing pictures of the Sands of Sound beach from a long time ago, before the grey house was built. They did not enjoy learning about what happened to waste before there was toilets and a sewer system in place, there was lots of screwed up faces at that part.

Sands of Sound with croft houses instead of the big house.

Most people recognised this building but said it looked a bit weird.

The pupils wondered what the big building was in the car park.

We have been making maps in class. We went to visit the Clickimin Broch before we made our own Lerwick maps. We then added in Tesco and Sound Service Station. The following week we looked on Google maps at where the Anderson High School is located and looked at the buildings at the Clickimin. It was quite tricky but the pupils added these areas on to their maps, some even added on the running track. Our last lesson on maps involved adding Sands of Sound so we decided to go for a walk first, to see with our own eyes, the size and shape and location of the beach. We walked along from the school to the stoney beach then over the fields to the Sands of Sound. We discussed the bays and Ness of Sound and pointed out the Grottie Buckie and Dinghy Beach.

We discussed the benefits of going outdoors to look at the area and the pupils shared these answers with me:

• We could see the actual shape of the beach and where everything is.
• We could see how much water and sand there is and we could see how big and where the island is.
• We could see the waves.
• Easier to know the route to the beach once we had been there and back.
• We got fresh air.
• We enjoyed the relaxing water.
• We were exercising our bodies too, it was hard climbing the hill, we were huffing and out of breath.
• We now know where the beach is, how to get there.
• Outdoor lessons are more fun.
• We learn better when we are busy and outdoors.
• It was nice going together with the people in our class.

Chloe from the Shetland Library came in to do a bookbug session with P1 and P2. We did the hello song in dialect, sang songs using Shetland words and heard the Shetland version of The Gruffalo.

All the pupils enjoyed getting to pick a book from our book swap.

We are learning o’clock and half past. We have been playing time bingo, using mini clocks and matching up the correct times.

Game used in class – Clocking In (educationcity.com)

Video to help explain time – Telling the time – o’clock and half past (youtube.com)

 

We had a visit from Clare today. She works for childsmile and regularly pops in to see us brush our teeth. Today she came in to talk to us about our teeth and how to look after them. We spoke about acid attacks on the teeth and how these should be kept to a minimum so sugary treats should be eaten after a meal rather than at snack time. We discussed what foods were good for a snack and what foods were not good for a snack. P2a came up with a list of ideas.

Healthy Snack Ideas

Banana, apple, blueberries, grapes, natural yogurt, watermelon, pear, pineapple, carrot, orange, broccoli, cucumber, breadsticks, crackers, cheese, peppers, cherries and strawberries.

Unhealthy snacks or snack that are not good for your teeth

Chewy sweets, ice cream, lollipop, jelly beans, doughnuts, oreos, fruit winders, raisins, biscuits, chocolate and anything with lots of sugar.

The class did really well and answered the questions brilliantly. They were keen to share what they knew. Clare was also very impressed with how good we were at brushing our teeth in p2. We make sure we get every tooth and know the correct order to brush all of them. We use peerie circle movements and know the correct amount of toothpaste to use. And we are getting better at not chewing our brushes!

Today P2 watched Author’s Live which featured authors Tom Nicoll and Ross Collins talking about their picture books There’s Nothing Faster Than A Cheetah and There’s Nothing Cuter Than A Puppy. The class enjoyed listening to the stories and got a lesson on how to draw a cheetah and a Blobfish. 

The Curriculum Information document below shows parents what learning is planned for the pupils this term.

The Family Learning Grid is optional tasks for you to do based on what learning we are doing in class. Our topic this term is Lerwick so several tasks are linked to exploring Lerwick. Please email me with any photos you have of your home learning or feel free to share your experiences with us.

gw14andersonclare@glow.shetland.sch.uk

P2 Optional Family Learning Grid Term 3

Curriculum Information P2A Term 3

Another snow day! Let’s hope this is the last one.

Here is Friday’s home learning grid. I hope you have enjoyed some of the activities that have been set this week. If you want to share your learning with me then my email is:

gw14andersonclare@glow.shetland.sch.uk

Thank you to those who have sent me pictures. They have made me smile!

Home Learning Grid Snow Day Friday 19th January