Tag Archives: challenges

Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Social Skills

Swimming Lessons

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The classes have really enjoyed their lessons at Scalloway pool this term. Mr Kirkness was impressed with their listening and effort and both classes have made lots of progress with confidence and skills.

Each week the classes take turns at going in the pool so while the p2 group are in I teach the p1’s at the poolside and vice versa. It is quite a productive time and the children are kept very busy with maths and literacy activities.

A huge thankyou to all the parents who volunteered to come along each Tuesday.  I am very grateful for all your help.

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

Shapes

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The children have had great fun using different materials and resources to create symmetrical designs. They have been using mirrors to check for symmetry indoors and outside and also painted wonderful symmetrical abstract designs.

They have also been learning about the 2D shapes and practised counting sides and corners. They designed their own pictures using different shapes.

We are very lucky at Whiteness to have so many fantastic resources for the children to use…..some modern technology mixed with some very old puzzles.

The Primary 2’s have been learning about which shapes can tile and which ones can’t. they found examples in and around the school and might find examples at home too. They investigated tiling using the different shapes they had been learning about.

The children have also been learning about 3D shapes and using their knowledge of 2D shapes they can describe the faces they can see. They have been learning about flat and curved faces as well as counting  the vertices on the different shapes. They loved using the ‘feely box’ to describe and guess the shapes.

Again we found lots of examples of 3D shapes in the school and outdoors.

They used shapes to build models and the p1’s practiced sorting shapes into ones that could roll or not roll and ones that could stack or not stack.

 

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, numeracy, Science, Social Skills, STEM

To Start the Term…..

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The classroom has changed around a bit and they are very excited and enjoying the Halloween Shop and messy activities set up for them this week.

The children have been having fun playing literacy and numeracy games and going over some of the learning from last term.

 

 

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

Materials and Magpies

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As part of last terms topic learning about different materials the children created these beautiful magpie collages. They loved adding the shiny bits to the magpies nest to represent the treasures he found.

They also loved using magnets and finding out about how they reacted to different materials and to each other.

Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Social Skills, STEM

Go Furt Fridays

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Most Friday mornings in Term One have been spent outdoors in our Loose Parts Zone. This gives the children opportunities to develop so many skills like co-operation, problem solving, teamwork, collaboration, etc.

Each time we go out there are different ideas, children go into different groups, different friendships develop, they get more confident using the materials available and allow their imaginations and creativity to take over.

The parent council provided us with some new resources, including half round guttering pipes and some very sturdy stands to support the pipes at different levels. This has led to some amazing problem solving and water courses in the playground.

The tree area is great for the children to learn about taking risks but being safe. They love building Dens and climbing in the trees.

On these mornings we usually have our snack outdoors which has been lovely while the weather has been good this term.

And we get to play too………

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

Our Towns

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The children started building houses in the junk modelling area and got really into it, making floors, rooms, furniture etc. They began including ‘mini-me’s into the houses too.

From this they decided to make a big town with roads between the houses.

They then began to create other buildings and areas in their town. There was a park, hospital, school etc.

The toy cars were brought out so they then built garages and even a multi-story car park.

They worked in pairs to draw plans of their towns and include all the buildings they thought should be included. It was great to see the primary 2’s labelling parts of their plans and writing names on their buildings.

The children have also been learning about different aspects of safety, including crossing the road. They did some role play in the games hall and had turns at being the lollipop person.

They then re-played crossing the road safely in their ‘town’, using the toy cars and mini-me characters.

 

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.

Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Social Skills, STEM

Our Own Paddling Pool

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Friday was a really warm day and the children have been learning about sun safety. They got onto discussing drinking plenty of water and staying cool. This got onto the subject of paddling pools and outdoor hot tubs. The class decided they would have a go at making their own paddling pool as we were heading outdoors.

They worked together to roll tyres into position to make a big circle. They then helped to get the tarpaulins over the top and pegged them down.

Once the tyres were in position and the tarpaulins on the top the children worked together to fill their pool with water.  They used lots of different containers to fetch water from the water trays at the other end of the play area as the hose only reaches so far.

Once there was enough water it didn’t take long to get wellies and socks off and get in for a little paddle. The chairs made it a very comfortable place to sit and cool off. The children were so happy and excited with what they had built together.

There was a ‘changing room’ created for the children to dry their feet and get their socks and boots back on.

Listening and Talking, maths, numeracy, Social Skills

A Bit of Number

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The primary ones have been practicing their number formations in lots of different ways. They listen to stories, use craft materials, sand, whiteboards, shaving foam, playdough etc.

The other children have progressed onto numbers to 100. They have been using loads of practical materials to make tens and Units numbers, they love the interactive whiteboard games and place value basketball game on Topmarks. they have been working in pairs with playing cards and 100 squares to practise their numbers.

They love number games like Snakes and Ladders and are are really good at taking turns.

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

On Our Doorstep

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Another Monday afternoon exploring our amazing local area. A walk in the Strom Road and down to the little beach to complete  todays task…….’what can you make?’

Some groups decided to do dam building…….

Others diverted the water flow into new channels….

the children came up with so many different ideas………..

There was also time to explore the shoreline and find out what lives there.

 

 

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, maths, Social Skills, STEM

Obstacle Course to 30!

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The best way to practice counting out loud is to have lots of fun while doing it. The primary 1 children built an obstacle course and took turns at being the leader and counting to 30, controlling everybody who was running around, under, through, behind, over obstacles.

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

Sorting Data

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The children have been learning about tally marks and this has really helped improve their ability to count in 5’s.

The primary one’s collected flowers sticks and stones and created this pictograph together outside.

The children have loved carrying out surveys and asking each other questions.

The primary ones practiced sorting objects using different criteria. It could be by colour, shape or size.

They worked really well with a partner discussing how they were going to sort the objects and taking turns at different stations.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Science, Social Skills, STEM

Colour in Nature

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As part of our On Our Doorstep IDL we went to explre the areas nearby the school and find different colours of plants.

The children were vary careful and only picked what they needed to work in their IDL groups to create Colour in Nature pictures. They talked about and named different types of flowers and plants they found.

The results were beautiful…….and fun!

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, maths, Social Skills, STEM

Compass Bearings

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As part of our IDL about ‘On Our Doorstep’ the children practiced using a compass and looking for different landmarks in different directions.

They worked in their groups of four to complete the task and had great fun.

There was time left before heading back to school so they had a giant whole school game of ‘Octopus’ at the Strom Pitch.

Listening and Talking, maths

Capacity Fun

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The children have been learning about capacity. The primary ones have been great at working in pairs to measure different containers. They were great at estimating how many cupfulls it would be before they counted and checked.

The Primary Two’s compared different containers and measured them using non- standard units. Againthey were excellent at making estimates before measauring.

They then went on to learn about using litres and half litres. It was great to be outdoors for this as they loved measuring the big containers.

It was great timing for the oil delivery to the school as the children were able to see the dials and put this learning into a real life context. We had 5000 litres delivered.

Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Social Skills

Hills and Parks

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As part of our IDL topic this term the children have been out and about again………

Today the children set off up the hill to explore and appreciate the amazing views which are just ‘On Our Doorstep’.

Once at the top they found ‘First Base’ and then they went into their mixed groups to complete their task. They had to find all the markers with letters on them and put them together to solve a puzzle.

It was great to see the children helping each other and working in their groups. There was time for a little rest at the ‘second base’ before heading back to school.

Going down the hill was much easier than going up.

Last Monday the children all went over to Strom Park. This time in their groups they used some sports equipment to practise some activities for Sports Day.

in their groups they had to decide what activities to practise and set it up themselves. It was amazing to see the inclusion of all pupils of mixed ages.

 

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.