Tag Archives: successful learners

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, maths, numeracy, Social Skills, Uncategorized

Numeracy in P1

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The Primary 1 children have been so busy this term practising number formations, playing number games and learning through so many  fun, active and practical ways.

With each new number we focused on they enjoyed a story and also  a practical activity, game or craft activity to go along with it.

I have only managed to get photos of some of the ways the children have been learning  about the numbers as it is a very busy environment with so many exciting things going on.

There are always maths activities in the classroom and shared area. Below are some examples of children measuring weight and volume in the tuff trays and water tray and there are also opportunities to learn about time and money in the classroom.

 

Listening and Talking, numeracy, Science, Social Skills, STEM

Making Boats Float

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After looking at different types of boats and discussing what it is that makes them float the children had the task of making their own ones. They focused on making a hollow shape that could balance in the water.

They worked in pairs to make their designs.

Then each boat was tested to see how well it could float as the load got heavier.

They practised counting the marbles that each boat could hold.

These are the results next to the names of their boats…….

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, Modern Languages, numeracy, Social Skills

French in term 1

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French lessons are very active and the children have a lot of fun.

There are two groups for lessons –  p1/2 in the first group and p3/4/5 in the second group.

The children dance, play musical games and practise short conversations with each other.

They listen to french songs and stories. They love when Patrice(the puppet) speaks to them and gets up to silly stuff to keep them entertained and keen to have a go at speaking in French.

They practised the names of the colours in french by playing games, making  artist pallets with paint and colouring ‘arc de soleil’ images.

During each lesson the children learn a few facts about France. They enjoyed using google maps and online sites to research information. The younger children made a start to Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe pictures using artstraws and the older children added more detailed parts.

 

 

Sophie even made an Eiffel Tower out of Lego

 

 

 

The younger group have been learning numbers to 10 and the older group numbers up to 20 by listening to songs, active games and playing Bingo.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, literacy, Social Studies, STEM

The Three Little Pigs

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The children loved hearing the story of the three Little Pigs.

The children worked in groups to create houses made of straw, sticks and blocks. They had to decide how to join the different materials and make it as strong as they could.

It was great to listen to the children sharing ideas, chatting about the story as they made the different parts of the houses. The three versions look great.

The primary 2 and 3 children used the story for writing practise and have written books of their own. below are examples of writing from three different primary 2’s.

The Primary 3’s have been focusing on extending their vocabulary and including different connectives to lengthen their sentences.

The primary 1’s and 2’s loved using the story for Drawing Club. It is amazing to see the progress in the P1 fine motor control.

The have also been using stick puppets and masks to role play the story and make up their own adventures too.

 

 

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

Rapunzel’s Towers

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The children had to build towers as tall as they could manage using a variety of different construction materials. Some children chose to work in pairs or in a small group and some wanted to build their own ones.

Willum’s tower was the tallest and he only used three blocks! Good thinking Willum. The children quickly learned that they needed to make the base of the tower larger and get smaller as it got higher for it to be more stable. Lots of great discussion and problem solving going on.

 

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

Make it fly

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The children had a STEM activity this afternoon after discussing how birds fly.

First they had some simple instructions to follow . It was lovely to see the children helping each other with the tricky bits.

once they had made them they went outside to try them out.

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

Spinning Stem

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The children listened to the story of Rumplestiltskin and then they all had a go at Drawing Club in little groups.

The children learned a little bit about forces and we focused on the spinning motion of objects which they have loved investigating.

They then made their own penny spinners and designed them so they would look really cool when they were spun around.

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

Busy Bodies

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Through role play the children have learned a lot about how to look after their bodies and what it would be like to be  a patient or a nurse/doctor in a hospital.

The children learned about their bones and loved having Bob the Skeleton in the classroom for a visit.

They created wonderful skeleton pictures using art straws and had to think carefully about where there were joints.

They also had a torso in which had removable organs. It was like a puzzle to get everything to fit in and a great way to learn about some of the different parts inside their bodies.

They learned a little bit about their heart and lungs and completed some exercise challenges to see how this effected the different parts of their bodies.

The children worked in groups to create these amazing posters spending time learning about the different things they need to do to look after their bodies.

There are so many aspects of their school day which lend themselves to the Busy Body topic this term. working in the Polycrub, growing their own food, snacktime and lunchtime are also perfect opportunities to discuss healthy food and a balanced diet and outdoor play really provides lots of exercise and fresh air.

 

Listening and Talking, maths, Social Skills, STEM

Measuring

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The children have been measuring length using different body parts, uniform objects and moving on to metres and half metres. They have really enjoyed these practical fun activities and challenges. I just haven’t managed to get many photos.

Following on from length and capacity the children have been learning about weighing objects.

The children worked really well in pairs to weigh small items using uniform objects like cubes and pegs.

They were very good at estimating and recording their answers.

They went on to use kgs and half kgs and enjoyed estimating each others weights and the adults too.

The Primary 2’s have also been learning about Area and how to cover a surface with different uniform objects and then moving onto squares.

 

 

 

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, literacy

The Hare and the Tortoise

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The children loved the story of the Hare and the Tortoise and we used the story in Drawing Club. These are some of the drawing Club masterpieces.

The Primary 2’s re-wrote the story using pictures which they had sequenced to help them remember the story order.

They did an amazing job of using exciting vocabulary, description and phrases which they picked from listening really well to the story and Drawing Club and applying this to their own pieces of writing.

They read their stories out to the class and were proud to see them on display.

The Primary 1’s made the cute tortoises with beautiful collaged shells.

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

Taing Beach Exploring

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The children had a great morning at the beach and they loved searching in the seaweed and amongst the rocks for crabs and shells.

 

Carina made this wonderful pattern with lots of similar sized whelks which she had collected on the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed at the beach for snack which is always a treat.

 

We do live in the most beautiful place with fantastic opportunities for learning outdoors.

 

Listening and Talking, maths, Social Skills, STEM

Capacity

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The children have been learning about capacity in maths. For part of this topic they have been learning outdoors so we have been glad of the dry weather.

The Primary 1’s had a variety of containers to choose from and then had to decide on a suitable ‘measuring’ container. They got the hang of making good estimations before working together to find out the correct answer.

The primary 2’s have been learning about litres and half litres. Their containers were quite big so we were glad to be able to work outside with all that water.

They worked really well with a partner and their estimations were getting pretty close to the actual measurements once they checked.

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Science

Polycrub Produce

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Today was an exciting day as we pulled up the first vegetables ready in the polycrub. These radishes will be used by the cooks in school. Carina loved taking them in and giving them a wash before delivering them to the canteen.

The children are very good at looking after the plants with daily watering, transplanting seedlings and re-potting plants.

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.

 

 

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Science

Polycrub planting

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We finally made it out to the polycrub to start planting. The soil was really dry so a lot of watering was needed and then the bairns planted carrots, onions and tatties as well as their own little pot with a sunflower seed.

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.

 

 

 

 

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

Data Handling

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The children have been doing a lot of data handling recently in maths. These lessons are always really active and busy so its difficult to capture on camera how much learning has taken place.

The primary 1’s have been learning about different ways to sort items and explaining the criteria they used to put items in different groups.

The primary 2’s have been doing a lot of surveys in the class and in the other classrooms too. They have been using this data to create graphs and diagrams.

The primary 1’s have also been creating graphs using practical materials.

by sorting the information they have they are getting good at answering the types of questions necessary to explain their data.