Tag Archives: play based learning

Viking Warriors

The children love learning about the Vikings and have been enjoying role play opportunities in the classroom. It is great to see them all getting on so well together using what they have been learning in their play. Below is a snapshot of Wednesday afternoon’s adventures.

The galley is now finished and they have been taking turns and sailing around the world discovering new places to settle.

Sometimes,  just their imaginations are enough. They set out chairs and rowed their longship – even before it was built.

Once in their new lands the children have been learning how Vikings trade items to get what they need. Their are jewels, gems, furs, food and  jewellery to swap, using the scales and balances to work out different amounts.

They would also need to cook over an open fire in the middle of the longhouse using foods available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These viking warriors are getting ready for another attack.

 

The children are enjoying using the Viking longships in the water tray to set battle scenes and talk about their topic.

 

 

Chinese New Year

The children have been learning about Chinese New Year. This year is the Year of the Rabbit and they loved hearing the story about how the Emperor decided how to name the years after animals.

They have been counting to 10 in mandarin and having a go at using chopsticks in our little chinese restaurant.

Long long ago

As part of their topic this term the children have been learning about how we find out about the past. They made salt dough and created their own dinosaur fossils.

They have also been having a go at being archaeologists using tools to carefully search through the sand for important clues to the past.

Numbers in P1/2

The primary ones have used a variety of materials to learn more about the numbers to 10.

They have been learning about adding and subtracting and loved making these addition towers.

The Primary 2’s having been learning about number bonds and how numbers can be constructed in different ways.

We still try to head outdoors to do maths when the weather allows us. Here the children were practising ‘Counting On’ skills and had to find the washing which was pegged out amongst the trees to be their starting numbers.

They have also been learning about the connection between the addition and subtraction processes and creating lots of ‘fact families’. They again use lots of different materials and different activities to practise this.

Making Words In Primary 1

It is so exciting to see how the Primary 1’s are using their phonic sounds to build words. Everyday we practise their sounds and do lots of games and activities to practise blending letters to read and make words.

They loved playing hopscotch in the classroom using wordcards.

More about Autumn

This little area of the classroom is all about Autumn. The children have been thinking about all the changes that happen with this season and about animals who hibernate – focusing on hedgehogs in particular. 

They have been making little hedgehog homes\nests using the loose parts.

We have been outside again spotting signs of Autumn and having discussions about  the changes we see and things we find.

Halloween Fun

The bairns have had so much fun being back at school with a Halloween theme in the classroom. They have been enjoying dressing up, reading stories, making potions and spells,  hocking out pumpkins and finding spooky creatures in some very disgusting blue goo amongst other things.

After reading the story Funnybones the children had a go at drawing skeletons. They loved learning about the different bones and feeling for them inside their own bodies. The drawing were excellent.

 

The children helped Grizelda the Witch with her spell. They put in lots of gruesome, unusual and scary things.

 

There was great excitement as the mixture began to bubble up and the children said their magic words.

The mixture bubbled over and the children thought of wonderful things their spell could do……..

The children completed some writing using their favourite ingredients for the cauldron. These are from Primary 1’s.

They loved the opportunity to scrape the seeds out of the pumpkins and get them ready for carving. This created lots of discussion, fun and mess.

 

 

 

P for Petals and Perfume

The children had great fun making perfume using petals from different flowers. There was honey suckle and fuschia as well as flowers from the school polycrub to make fantastic smells with.

They used small scissors and tiny spoons to create their perfumes in little glass jars and containers.

They were very proud of their final products. They named their perfumes and made labels for the little bottles.

Beginning Phonics in P1

The primary 1’s love hearing their new sounds. They listen to a story, sing along to a song, play games on the whiteboard and practise formations.

They practise the letter formations in various ways including, in the sand, shaving foam, with playdough and on the whiteboards.

 

They have been doing speedy skills everyday to practise the letter formations and lots of hiding and searching games. They also have had ‘s’ for spaghetti, ‘t’ for tea to play in and ‘i’ for ink experiments.

They enjoy using the Jolly Phonics books to retell the stories and find all the things in the pictures which begin with the sounds they are learning.

I love seeing how well they are doing practising their formations at home. Lots of great ideas and support.