Category Archives: technology

Listening and Talking, literacy, technology

Beginning Phonics in primary 1

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The children learn phonic sounds and practice letter formations every day. They listen to a story and a song linked to the sound they are learning and play some games on the big whiteboard.

They then spend some time practicing the formations, in sand, on whiteboards, on infinity pads or with chalk, spaghetti or in shaving foam.

The children made tea and enjoyed investigating teabags and chatting about things beginning with ‘t’. They were also outside for a ‘t’ search which was great fun. their favourite game on the whiteboard is popping the ‘ t’ balloons as they appear on the screen.

The children loved investigating the effects of mixing ink and water when they were practicing the ‘i’ sound.

The children like matching the letters to the pictures initial sounds on the big whiteboard.

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Science, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Outdoor Learning with Loose Parts

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Great teamwork  from the children working together to create a ‘hot tub’ which became a ‘chocolate flavoured hot tub’ with the addition of some mud!

The children had a snack area and enjoyed sitting together outdoors in the sunshine.

Lots of engineering going on to make the water flow around bends and pour into different containers. Also  using the water as a force to push objects down the pipes and figuring out how to make the water flow faster and slower.

Children’s imaginations are wonderful….these vehicles were taking them all over the world and beyond!

And there is always time to do a bit of climbing amongst the trees. The children learn how to do this safely and are really good at helping each other.

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Sciences, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Go Furt Fridays

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Go Furt means get outdoors………It was a chilly 3 or 4 degrees on Friday morning but the children were still keen to get outside to build shelters and play together.

We will be heading out every Friday to make the most of our wonderful outdoor space at Whiteness. There is a shed full of loose parts which the children use to develop so many important skills including problem solving, cooperation, teamwork, etc.

It is fantastic seeing them having so much fun together and there imaginations are just the best!

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, technology

Pancake Day

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The children measured, cracked, poured, mixed and got all the ingredients combined to make a perfect pancake (dropped scones) mix.

The children learned how to look for the bubbles in the cooking pancake mix to know when to turn it. While the pancakes were cooking they all had a go at tossing a pancake in the air- great fun!

At snacktime the children chose their favourite topping and enjoyed their pancake day treat.

 

Art and Craft, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, technology

Robbie Burns Day

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The children were learning about Robbie Burns last week and prepared the food for cooking a Burns supper.

The primary 2’s peeled and chopped tatties and neaps and put them on to boil. Evie mashed the neaps when the were ready.

 

They mixed up the haggis and put it in the microwave to cook.

Everyone had a try of the food and their were mixed responses…….

They learned a little bit about the history of Robbie Burns and what he was famous for. They loved hearing the start of the poem about the Mouse.

They also looked at some scottish tartan and had a go at weaving using paper strips. Their designs look amazing.

 

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, numeracy, RME, Social Skills, STEM, technology

It’s beginning to feel festive

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Lots of opportunities for maths and literacy throughout the classroom linked to Christmas.

Busy Elves in the Christmas Corner

The Class Advent Calendar

 

Christmas Jumper Day

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, literacy, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Alien Adjectives

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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.

Listening and Talking, maths, numeracy, Social Skills, technology

Numeracy in p2/3

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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.

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, literacy, Science, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Spring Flower Science and Literacy

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The children have been learning about about flowers. They have been finding out about the different parts of a flower and how they grow and change.

They have been investigating and naming the different parts of flowers and learning about how dandelions use the wind for seed dispersal and bees take the pollen to different flowers.

This all ties in with discussions about Spring in the classroom and when we are outdoors.

The Primary Two’s used lots of verbs to write poems about Spring. They did a great job of making a good copy to display on the wall using ICT skills they have been practicing recently.

 

 

literacy, technology

Imagine………

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The primary 2’s enjoyed coming up with ideas for this poem. They really got the hang of the rhyming words, descriptive language and rhythm of the poem and were super chuffed with the results.

They also got a chance to practise their IT skills, changing the size, colour and style of font as well as centering their work and then saving and printing it.

Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Science, Social Skills, Social Studies, STEM, technology

Learning Out in the Snow

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Opportunities for using loose part to create dens. Great for developing problem solving and teamwork skills.

Collecting the melting snow from icicles dripping from the roof. Great science and STEM opportunities outdoors.

Some of the melting ice was collected in a different way!

 

 

Deciding which containers are best for different purposes. Evie’s snowman needed three different sized containers.

Opportunities to develop creativity, confidence and take risks- so many skills being developed.

Collaboration, choice and commitment in play develops so many social skills and friendships. It can also be exhausting!

 

Testing to see which snowball goes fastest- big or small? Does lifting the guttering higher or lower? So many opportunities for conversation, developing vocabulary and communication skills outdoors.

 

 

Checking out footprints and the different patterns boots make in the snow.

 

 

 

 

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, technology

A Burns Supper

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Today we were learning a little bit about Robert Burns and how people celebrate Burns Night.  The children prepared tatties and neaps to go with the haggis. They were very careful with the peelers and knives listening well to instructions.

They all got to have some of the Burns Supper they had cooked. A few loved it, some liked it and quite a lot of children did not like it at all but had a try.

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Science, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Trip to the Windfarm

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We went to the Viking Energy windfarm for a visit. So many roads, so much information and so many trucks and vehicles. They loved wearing the PPE, being on a bus and having packed lunches as part of their day out.

In the afternoon the children were in the hills and got to see the huge scale of the base of one of the wind turbines. They also had a quiz and used the information boards to find the answers.

The children brought a time capsule with them. They had all written some information about themselves and predicted what might be happening in 25 years time when it gets dug up again. The children got to choose which one of the 103 windmills it would be buried under using the map as a guide.

They chose one near to Weisdale and there will be a competition to now give their windmill a name.

The primary 2’s wrote reports on their trips, These are by Chloe and Sophie. They did an amazing job remembering all the things they saw and being able to write so many sentences about their day out.

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Sciences, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Making Soup from Scratch

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The children  used vegetables they grew in the polycrub to make soup. They pulled up carrots onions and snipped some coriander leaves to take indoors.

They washed, chopped and prepared the vegetables. The children listened so well and were very careful with the vegetable knives.

 

The vegetables went in the pan with a stock cube, the coriander and some salt and the classroom smelt wonderful.

 

 

 

A few of the children liked the soup but lots of them said they didn’t- at least they gave it a go.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, literacy, numeracy, Sciences, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Rocket Mole

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We read the story Rocket Mole in class then the children made their own little moles to launch into space!

Initially this needed careful cutting, designing, colouring and folding to make a little cone shaped mole.

The children all listened really well to instructions and loved getting their moles as high as they could by blasting them with the plastic bottles.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, numeracy, Sciences, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Day One At School

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The children had a super first day back at school and loved exploring the play provision in the classroom and shared area.

It was lovely to spend time chatting with each child to hear what they had been doing in their summer holidays and what they are looking forward to doing at school this year.

They had snack in the class and then went out to play with all the other children in the school.

After playtime they met Mr Travins the new music teacher. It was lots of fun and they sang and danced along to lots of cool songs.

We had a chat about the Zones of Regulation and the emotional check in system we use throughout the school and the children showed me all their happy, sad, angry and worried faces!

Everyone managed really well at lunchtime lining up and telling the cooks what choices they would like. Lots of clean plates and great manners.