Tag Archives: communication

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.

Health and Wellbeing, Science, Social Skills

Taing Beach

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The children walked down to Taing Beach on Friday and had fun exploring in the ebb.

They found lots of shells, whelks, crabs and even a sea cucumber. It was so great seeing how curious and excited the children were about their finds.

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.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy

A visit from Becky

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We were so lucky to have Becky in visiting the class to tell us about her job as an author. She told the children about writing the stories and shared lots of great vocabulary with them. They loved listening to the story and finding out about the characters on the pages of the book.

Her latest book is amazing and tells a really great story about a little girl who is a bit of a rebel. Her illustrations are beautiful and the children had the challenge of coming up with ideas for the last part of the book for her.

These are their ideas……

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.

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

When I Grow Up….

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Children are often asked what they would like to be when they grow up. These ideas often change as they get older, but for now these paintings show what job they would like to do.

They were so good at painting in the classroom. Really great listening and careful work.

They have been enjoying role playing a few different jobs through play in the classroom and outdoors. A lot of different jobs in the hospital area, builders in the blocks, sand and Kapla and a spot of fishing in the water tray are just a few examples.

As the term goes on we will be discussing more jobs and having some parents in to tell us about their work.

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Social Skills

Drawing Club

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Yesterday we had our first go at Drawing Club this session. The children absolutely loved the story of Splat the Cat and his first day at school. These are their drawings showing Splat riding his penny Farthing bike to school.

They really liked the story ‘Brenda is a sheep’. The ‘sh’ letters and words made Brenda be more and more sneaky.

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

Our First Day Back

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The children were delighted to find a hospital area in the classroom to play in. Lots of jobs to do and great fun. Lots of the new p1’s told us last year that they are keen to be doctors or nurses when they grow up.

We got some time to play outdoors in our ‘Zone’. The weather was lovely and there was great excitement watching the tractor cutting grass in the field behind the school.

A few snaps of the children having their lunch. A great success and what lovely manners.

The children loved having the opportunity to explore and play with all the lovely things in the classroom. We are very lucky at Whiteness to have such an amazing learning space.

I loved all our class photo shots so thought I would just put them all on here rather than choose just one.

Health and Wellbeing, Science, Social Skills

more polycrub produce

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The beetroot is amazing this year. The children pulled it up and it has been picked and put in jars. They will get a taste after the holidays.

The carrots – not so amazing. They didn’t get the attention they needed and didn’t get thinned out as the seeds had been sown too close together. The children enjoyed laughing at how small they were but did manage to crunch a few of the bigger ones.

All the children got a sunflower and tomato plant to take home and there were plenty for some of the other classes too. More peas have been eaten and the other plants are getting cleared out before the end of term.

The children thought that next year they would like to have a plant sale and raise money to get some new trowels and tools for the polycrub.

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

Emergency!

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the children have been learning about the Emergency Services and how to get in touch with them.

In small groups they created little plays about an emergency when they needed to dial 999 and ask for the Police, Ambulance, Fire or Coastguard.

They have loved playing with Emergency vehicles in class, especially the ‘Oscar Charlie’ helicopter.

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.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, literacy, Science, STEM

The Crow and the Pitcher

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The children loved the Aesop’s fable called the Crow and the Pitcher. The primary ones made crow puppets and used jugs and glass pebbles to retell the story. They loved being videoed on the class ipad and watching it back.

The primary 2”s wrote the story and then read it to a partner who acted it out using props. This is Conans story. He did a fantastic job of spelling and remembering to include all the important parts of the story in sequence.