Lots of opportunities for maths and literacy throughout the classroom linked to Christmas.
The children have been learning about Divali this term. They made lovely little diva lamps and used coloured rice to create this Rangoli pattern on the wall.
They used loose parts, peas and beans, Numicon and counters to create Rangoli patterns which tied in nicely with our work on pattern and symmetry.
The Primary 1’s created this collage of Ravani, the 10 headed demon god from the story of Rama and Sita. He looks pretty scary!
The children have had great fun creating these aliens after reading a story in class with Miss Jamieson. There was a lot of discussion and many amazing descriptive words about their characters. The Primary two’s practised their ICT skill by typing and printing out fancy lettering for words to add to the display.
Well done Primary 123 who raised an amazing £331.29 for Children in Need today.
They organised a coin collection in the school and got everything ready for other classes to come and sort their coins into the different tubs.
The children did really well and had to ensure the correct coins went into the correct buckets.
They had spent time the day before in pairs and small groups preparing the buckets and learning about the different coins as well as where the money collected is going to.
The children had a choice of whether to re-cycle their bags into something new or to design a new Bag for Life to re-use.
There were so many amazing designs and such creativity from all the classes. It was difficult for the p123 Eco-Committee to judge but well done to Evie, Freyja, Ella, Merryn, Eve and Aylee.
The p123 did a presentation in assembly two weeks ago about how we can re-use, re-cycle and reduce waste to help the environment and announced the competition then. They showed off all their examples of how they have re-used and re-cycled their bags.
The children listened to the story of Guy Fawkes and also had a chat about being safe on bonfire night.
The children used junk modelling techniques to create their own firework to go above the London skyline.
The primary one’s used 2D shapes to make the rockets with their names on them.
They loved using the beads to make firework patterns. They also made a really good firework noise on the plastic tray!
Halloween is always so much fun and lends itself so well to the classroom with exciting fun learning opportunities. Below the children created a potion with many disgusting ingredients, using magic words and actually getting it to bubble up and overflow the cauldron. The potion made lots of weird and interesting things happen. Children are so creative and imaginative.
They wrote out their chosen ingredients and shared spells with each other.
The primary ones had to use their phonic sounds and choose the correct ingredients to read magic words.
The classroom has a Haunted House area with lots of Halloween creatures and costumes to use.
There have been a few disgusting days in the water tray with slime and goo, full of spiders and snakes. And other opportunities to measure weigh and create bottles of potions with different materials.
The children can’t wait to scare their parents with these ‘teethy’ symmetrical pumpkins!
and the spooky bat prints!
The p2 children have been learning about Magic e and practising reading and writing words. It is great revision and consolidation for the p3’s who have loved all the games and different ways to practise the spelling patterns
Recently the children worked in groups to create a map which they then went on to write about. It was great to see them supporting each other and being so engaged in writing tasks.
There are lots of spelling and literacy games in the classroom which the children play. The p3’s love the opportunity to be the ‘teacher’ in these games and take on the organisational roles.
It is such a busy environment so often difficult to capture photos of all the amazing learning that happens in the classroom.
The children are very good at using lots of practical materials to help understand place value and number concepts.
The p2’s have been working with numbers up to 100 and the p3’s learning about bigger numbers up to 1000.
There are lots of practical lessons, using materials, playing games, using technology, discussions on ‘how’ they are working out their answers and demonstrating their learning to each other.
The children are encouraged to use materials to continue to consolidate understanding. They are also very good at finding what they need themselves to work out their answers correctly.
The p2’s have been practising ways of organising items to ensure they count out the correct number. They are making a number from a card and grouping items into 10’s to count them easier. They then swap around and check each others numbers.
We have a go at Drawing club usually about twice a week.
Below are 3 examples of stories we have used this term to inspire wonderful drawings by p1,2 and 3.
It is not just about the drawing though, there are so many skills being developed through not only the delivery of the story but new vocabulary, maths concepts, phonological awareness, spelling and rhyming patterns etc. It is also a great way to focus in on the children who may need a little bit of extra help building their confidence with pencil grip, fine motor skills and forming shapes, numbers, letters etc on paper.
The children draw with me in little groups to be able to hear repeated vocabulary and have a go at creating their own masterpieces. They love it and get very excitied about Drawing Club.
The primary 1 children have been doing agreat job learning their phonic sounds. They listen to a little story and learn a song and action to go with each new sound they learn. There are then opportunities to practise the letter formation eg. on the big whiteboard, in sand, shaving foam, chalk, little whiteboards etc. They also have daily practise through ‘Speedy Skills’.
They also play lots of games using the new sounds learned eg, Sorting words beginning with phonic sounds into hoops, Whiteboard games, Bingo, Treasure hunts, Lotto, pairs games, matching games, splat the sound with fly swatters, etc.
There are also opportunities to explore and chat about their sounds as they play in different areas of the classroom.
The Primary 1 children have been so busy this term practising number formations, playing number games and learning through so many fun, active and practical ways.
With each new number we focused on they enjoyed a story and also a practical activity, game or craft activity to go along with it.
I have only managed to get photos of some of the ways the children have been learning about the numbers as it is a very busy environment with so many exciting things going on.
There are always maths activities in the classroom and shared area. Below are some examples of children measuring weight and volume in the tuff trays and water tray and there are also opportunities to learn about time and money in the classroom.
After looking at different types of boats and discussing what it is that makes them float the children had the task of making their own ones. They focused on making a hollow shape that could balance in the water.
They worked in pairs to make their designs.
Then each boat was tested to see how well it could float as the load got heavier.
They practised counting the marbles that each boat could hold.
These are the results next to the names of their boats…….
French lessons are very active and the children have a lot of fun.
There are two groups for lessons –Â p1/2 in the first group and p3/4/5 in the second group.
The children dance, play musical games and practise short conversations with each other.
They listen to french songs and stories. They love when Patrice(the puppet) speaks to them and gets up to silly stuff to keep them entertained and keen to have a go at speaking in French.
They practised the names of the colours in french by playing games, making artist pallets with paint and colouring ‘arc de soleil’ images.
During each lesson the children learn a few facts about France. They enjoyed using google maps and online sites to research information. The younger children made a start to Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe pictures using artstraws and the older children added more detailed parts.
Sophie even made an Eiffel Tower out of Lego
The younger group have been learning numbers to 10 and the older group numbers up to 20 by listening to songs, active games and playing Bingo.
The children had to build towers as tall as they could manage using a variety of different construction materials. Some children chose to work in pairs or in a small group and some wanted to build their own ones.
Willum’s tower was the tallest and he only used three blocks! Good thinking Willum. The children quickly learned that they needed to make the base of the tower larger and get smaller as it got higher for it to be more stable. Lots of great discussion and problem solving going on.
It is great to get outdoors so much with the amazing weather we have had recently. The children have such a great space behind the school and enjoyed creating some seating areas and places to sit and have their snack.
We are very lucky at Whiteness Primary to have such excellent outdoor spaces that provide rich environments for learning. Today we focused on using the loose parts in the shed to build, experiment and play. It is amazing seeing how the children use the various resources to create, solve problems and develop more flexible thinking.
Firstly the children thought about what they needed and took the materials they needed to an area they wanted to play/develop.
There was lots of discussion, collaboration and physical work to gather materials.
The children worked together to solve problems, develop ideas and negotiate. The spaces they created were fantastic and they had so much fun.
We also had snack in the new polycrub, which was lovely but quite hot.
Lots of the children were involved in using a series of pipes and guttering to get water to flow down a slope. There were so many peerie engineers helping and coming up with ideas and solutions to problems. They were so excited when each new section worked and they just wanted to make it even longer.
Another beautiful morning in Whiteness so we set off along the Strom Road for a walk and a little adventure.
The children were so sensible when crossing the road and listened really well as we chatted and played games as we walked.
We listened for the yeti’s belly rumbling and the children had great imaginations for where he would have a bath or shower and where he lived.
We headed to the ‘mountain’ where the children loved climbing and exploring.
What a beautiful place we live in. The children took time to look around them and be aware of the plants, animals, colours and landscape in front of them.
River and Willum were first to the top of the ‘mountain’.
But we all got there eventually.
The children had a STEM activity this afternoon after discussing how birds fly.
First they had some simple instructions to follow . It was lovely to see the children helping each other with the tricky bits.
once they had made them they went outside to try them out.
Today the children enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Elves and The Shoe Maker’. Last week in library time we read ‘Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe’, which was really funny.
So after some discussion about different kinds of footwear the children had a go at making their own using various materials.
The children worked in pairs and had to help each other complete the task of having a pair of shoes each. They did really well and we spoke about co-operation and helping each other.
They were so chuffed to wear them when they were finished and we now have a bit of a shoe shop developing in the classroom.
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