Tag Archives: communication

On Our Doorstep

The children are learning about what is ‘On Our Doorstep’ this term so every Monday we are heading out to explore.

Our first trip out was down to Taing beach. 

During each trip out the children have a little challenge or activity to do in mixed age groups of four pupils. For this first visit the children had to collect 10 shells each and work together to create a design.

it was great to see the pupils of different ages working together on this task.

measuring length

The children have been having fun learning about length. The Primary 1’s created these flowers and talked about longer, shorter, taller, tallest, smaller etc. Lots of great discussions and vocabulary used.

They used their ‘magic sticks’ to compare the size of objects outdoors.

All the children  used different body parts to measure objects eg. ‘heel to toe’ steps, and handspans. They loved doing this and got good at estimating their answers before actually measuring to check.

The Primary 2’s used different units to measure objects in the classroom and outdoors. They then went on to learn about metres and half metres.

They worked in pairs to create a snake which was exactly 1 metre long.

The primary 1’s showed their buddies how to measure objects using their sticks and the p7’s recorded the answers.

They have had fun using the playdough to make long and short worms.

 

 

Go Furt Fridays

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!

World Book Day

It was great to see the children dressed up as all different characters or wearing their pyjamas to school last week.

It was also wonderful to see how enthusiastic they were about stories and books.

During Buddying time they got to share some of their favourite books with their buddies and draw some favourite characters together.

Changes In Me

There have been visits from local babies Daniel, Kit and Orla this year so it has been great to chat about how the children have changed since they were babies.

They love playing with the babies in the role play area of the classroom and are very good at looking after them.

It was great fun to chat about and compare all the things they can do now that they couldn’t when they were babies.

Thy have also been learning about the different parts of their bodies and about how they will continue to grow and change as they get older.

Kites STEM Challenge

The children worked in pairs to create a kite using a variety of materials. Lots of skills were being developed through this activity – for example collaboration, co-operation, problem solving, listening etc.

The wind was blowing so it was great to go and test the kites. The children soon found out that in order to fly the kites well they had to work together.

Numbers to 20

The primary 1’s have been completing lots of different games, puzzles and practical activities to learn about the numbers to 20.

They can count, sequence, order and sort all these numbers using lots of different materials.

They have also been learning about addition and subtraction, again with lots of practical resources and games as well as using technology.

 

The Wind and the Sun

As part of our topic the children listened to  the fable about the Wind and the Sun. They acted out the different parts of the story.

The primary ones made books sequencing the story.

The primary 2’s wrote the story, remembering all the different parts. Below are two examples of the p2’s writing. They all did so well.

Drumming with Joy

This term the children are enjoying African Drumming lessons with Joy.  Lots of concentration and confidence building going on in these classes.

As well as drumming the children learn about the drums and where they come from. There is also time for lots of games, dancing and singing during the lessons.

Swimming Lessons

Today was the start of the swimming lessons with Mr Kirkness at Scalloway Pool.

The children did so well listening to instructions and following all the new routines. Everyone had a great time in the pool.

There is also time for snack at the poolside and also a bit of spelling, reading and maths. It is a very busy morning for the children.

Measuring Rainfall

The children worked in mixed groups to make rain gauges to measure rainfall.

They then had to find a suitable position outdoors to place their rain gauge and dig a hole to place it in to keep it stable.

There was a lot of excitement around the pond as they all spotted our very large resident frog!

We will go out at regular intervals to check on the rainfall and record the results in class.

Book Bug Visit

It was great to meet Chloe who shared lots of songs, rhymes and stories with the children. They were all so excited and engaged and really enjoyed joining in and having a go with the puppets and actions.

The primary 2’s never received their Read, Write and Count bags before Christmas so Chloe sorted that and they arrived yesterday. We will look at them in class this week, and try out the resources and ideas and the children will them home at the end of the week.

Pancake Day

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.

 

Water Experiments

The children have loved setting up and learning about the properties of water experiments.

  • They had great fun doing evaporation experiments and talking about the results.
  • They froze little creatures and dinosaurs into ice blocks and spent time chipping away and getting the ice to melt to get them out again. Learning that water can be a solid, a liquid and gas called water vapour from the earlier experiments.

They have enjoyed investigating ice and creating habitats with the polar animals.

 

Changes

This is how the children began planning for this terms topic on Changes. They thought of lots of possible ideas of things that can change and were very excited to be involved at this stage.

This created a lot of discussion and great questions from the children who worked in little groups to come up with the ideas.

It’s beginning to feel festive

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

Divali

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!

Alien Adjectives

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.