Primary 2 have enjoyed a wonderful Easter break and have been looking forward to letting you know what we have been learning. This term we will be getting supported for the transition into Primary 3 — we can’t believe that time is already here!

We have been working hard again since our last blog update. Here’s all the brilliant things we’ve been up to since January:

Numeracy
We loved having you in for our Maths Open Afternoon where we demonstrated our knowledge of Time, Fractions and number. Thank you to all who were able to attend.

“I like seeing Mums and Dads when they are seeing their kids because they can see what we’re doing in school,” says Kaitlyn.

In Numeracy, we have been working to peer and self assess our work.

“Peer assessment is when friends mark your work,” says Arwyn.

We have really enjoyed swapping jotters with friends to give them feedback. This has helped us to better understand our shared learning targets and the children have been so kind and constructive to their learning partners.

We have been working on adding and subtracting within 20 mentally, and within 30 using column addition and subtraction. We have found this a good challenge and have been doing hard work in our jotters.

“Once you are done your chimney sums you have to miss 3 spaces and you have to miss boxes – not anyhere you like – but with the lower number, the plus or takeaway has to go there. The big number goes on top and the big number goes on the bottom,” says Jessie.

“I’m just too smart for chimney sums!” says Leah.

“Chimney sums are really challenging but it makes adding sums easier and faster for adding,” says Harley.

In March, we have started doing Maths rotations, with a jotter station, a board game station and a Sumdog station. We have been using our in class iPads to play Sumdog regularly in class and have all enjoyed weekly tests on our number bond knowledge. We have noticed patterns between number bonds to 10 and number bonds to 20. Ask your child to tell you about what they know about their number bonds!

“When I go to Sumdog it makes me feel happy because it’s nice to do. I enjoy winning and when I lose I am still happy,” says Logan.

“It is so nice to play on the tablets because we get to play the football game,” says Olivar.

After the Easter Break your child will be issued with their Sumdog log in to take home. If you would like to use this at home to complement Maths homework, you are able to download the Sumdog app from most App Stores on mobile devices and from the Sumdog website on laptops/computers. Ms Craig will set weekly challenges which can be accessed at home and in school.

“At the weekend I remembered my Sumdog log in and I could play it. It was good because I got to do challenges at home,” says Caled.

As of April, we will begin looking at Data Handling. We will learn how to read tally marks, tables and bar charts. This will be a great, active way for us to show off our abilities to count in 5s and use Maths in context. 

“I love tally marks because they are so fun and I have to concentrate,” says Kali.

“Tally marks make Maths so much easier and I like it,” says Max.

“I liked it when we got to tell our friends our questions and we could tally marks their answer,” says Elliot.

Literacy
We have been focusing on our presentation in our Literacy jotters and have started learning 2 and 3 letter joins to make our handwriting neat and presentable.

“When we do handwriting it really helps us to be better at writing,” says Harley.

We love doing finger warm ups for our handwriting lessons and noticing the patterns between the joins we have learned. We have made such amazing progress in our presentation since the beginning of the year and Ms Craig is so proud!

In Reading, we will begin challenging ourselves with more than one book per week to help our reading fluency and enable us to use our word attack strategies more frequently.

“It is quicker to read the book when we have more than 1 each week,” says Halle.

“When I read I really like it because I get better each time,” says Lily.

“Reading helps me with sounding out my letters,” says Shea.

We have continued to do a great job with our Read to Write strategies and have started to make good connections and patterns between different books we have read this year. We are noticing what makes a good story!

In Phonics and Spelling, we have been linking the joined phonemes we have learned this year, and we are noticing which phonemes sound the same but look different. We are getting really accurate with picking which phonemes to use when word building. For example, we know ‘ay’ is usually at the end of a word and ‘ai’ is usually in the middle of a word. This helps us picks which one to use when we are writing!

“I really like the phonics work because we can read words we didn’t know before,” says Caled.

“I like trying to figure out which letters we are looking at. It’s a challenge,” says Kaitlyn.

Ask your child about the trains on our classroom wall to learn more about how we group our sounds.

In our taught Writing lessons, we have been exploring Talk for Writing and have completed some amazing first drafts of stories inspired by The Little Red Hen. We imitated, innovated and finally imagined our own stories.

“When we made our own story map it just went straight to my imagination. I could make up my own characters and I really liked that. It was good,” says Sophie.

“I really liked the writing because when we started, I thought of ideas and I could pick the best one,” says Daniel.

“I really liked it because it was a challenge and we did lots of writing in our jotters. It taught me lots of new words which I didn’t know how to spell before,” says Max.

Ask your child about Story Maps and how to use them.
After the Easter break, we will redraft and publish our stories into a whole-class book. Have a look for this book in our class library on your next school visit!
We will soon move on to Narrative writing this term, and we will use what we have learned from writing our own stories to write even more pieces of Narrative prose.

PE
We have been splitting our PE timetable between using the gym hall and the MUGA:
In indoor PE we finished playing netball and basketball and will be moving on to gymnastics for our final term. We are excited to use the mats and develop our skills in movement.
In outdoor PE we will continue to play atheltics games to increase our stamina and will begin playing fielding games, such as rounders, as the nice weather continues.

STEM 

We have continued with our Forces topic. We have moved ping pong balls through a straw, used Newton Balances to measure force and more recently investigated magnetism. The whole school also took part in a STEM Day where the children participated in many exciting activities!

“I really, really liked the finger printing because I got to put my finger in ink!” says Leah.

“I liked building the bridges with paper and I want to make one with my sister,” says Ozy.

Other Areas

Thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to attend our Reading & Relax Afternoon. We loved having you in and reading with us.

We also had a wonderful time on World Book Day where we took part in fun, active experiences to develop our understanding of reading and books.

We had an amazing time on our Easter Fun Day organised by P7 on the last day of last term. Thank you to everyone who organised this activity, we had so much fun!

We enjoyed our Expressive Arts rotations on Friday afternoons. We swapped classes and learned so much! We had 3 weeks learning about rhythm, tempo and instruments in Music with Ms Craig, then 3 weeks exploring colour and line in Art with Mrs Gilroy (P4), and finished by learning about emotions and acting within Drama with Miss May (P3). This helped us enter the weekend with a smile!
Since the Easter Break, we will be going back to our regular schedule of Homework Club after assembly on a Friday afternoon to help us all be successful in reaching our homework targets.

Ms Craig is currently organising our class trip — it will be linked to our topic of Habitats and Climates. We will be hoping to go some time in June, please stay tuned!

Thank you for reading our class blog! Send us a message on Google Classroom if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in school for any future Open Sessions and activities we may have. Your support is so important to us.

Dear Parents and Carers  

 We hope you all had a lovely relaxing Easter break.   

 We can’t believe that the summer term is upon us already and that the children are approaching the end of primary 1 – it really has flown by.  This term we will be helping and supporting the children as they prepare for their transition into Primary 2.   

  Numeracy   

 We have been busy learning to count accurately within 20, identifying numbers before after and in between and learning how to subtract within 5.  We have blown Miss Cassidy and Miss Jack away – we are so good at subtracting!  Miss Jack has been teaching us about money.  We can identify all of the coins and are learning to use money to make totals. 

 This term we will be learning to subtract within 20 and using money to subtract.  We will also be learning about time and measure. 

 As we approach the final term of primary 1, your child should be showing increasing confidence in  

• oral forward counting – starting from various numbers and counting on.  
• oral backwards counting again starting at various different numbers and counting back. 
• identification, recognition and sequencing of numbers to 30. 
• correct and legible formation of all numbers to 30. 
• matching the associated numeral, number name and amount of objects to 20. 
• identifying numbers before, after and in between within 20 
• addition within 10 
• subtraction within 10 

Literacy    

Phonics 

 We have now learned all of the single phonemes and are busy learning some joined phonemes.   

 We use our pink Active Literacy boards every day at school and they help us to build words.  You can use your pink board at home to practise making and writing words too. 

  5 Finger Approach 

 Say it (say the word)  

Make it (with magnetic letters on the pink board)  

Break it break the word up by separating the phonemes)  

Blend it (starting at the beginning, blend the phonemes together)  

Read (read the word aloud)  

Write it (write the word 2 times, remembering correct letter formation and a finger space between each word)  

Writing 

In school we are learning to write simple sentences using joining words.  We are also learning about dictation where Miss Cassidy says a sentence and we have to listen carefully and write it down.   

Reading 

We can use all of the knowledge that we have about phonemes and common words to help us to read.  We know that if a word is tricky to read we can sound the word out by saying all of the sounds and then blending them together to read the word.   

As we approach the final term of primary 1, your child should be showing increasing confidence in  

• identifying and recognising all single and joined phonemes which have been taught. 
• identifying, reading and writing all common words which have been taught. 
• correct and legible formation of all lower case letters 
• sounding out words by saying each letter in order and blending the sounds together when reading. 
• writing a simple sentence using a capital letter at the beginning, full stop at the end and finger spaces between words.  Your child should be trying to spell common words with increasing accuracy.  
• creating oral lists of words that rhyme. 

STEM 

During term 3 we have been learning about Science with different teachers.  We spent 4 weeks with Miss Cassidy learning about computer programming using the Beebots and the story ‘We are going on a Bear Hunt’.  We then spent 4 weeks with Mrs Mark learning about Engineering and we are currently spending some time with Mr Connor and Mrs Potter learning about the Human Body.  This has been great fun and we have really enjoyed visiting other classrooms and spending time with different teachers. 

Primary 1 Assembly 

This term we will be preparing for our class assembly.  This will be filmed and we will share this on Google Classroom with you at the end of May. 

 As always, thank you for your continued support.  

Miss Cassidy & Miss Jack  

Dear Parents and Carers 

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break.    

Last term was a busy term for Primary 1.  The children performed brilliantly in the Nativity with some children even taking on other parts at the last moment.  I know Mrs Kelly was so proud of the children and how hard they worked. The children really enjoyed the Christmas Fayre organised by our lovely Primary 6/7 and their Christmas activity day. 

Numeracy 

We have been busy learning to add within 10 and have been learning the number stories to 5.  Miss Jack has been teaching us how to identify and continue different patterns. 

This term we will be learning to count accurately within 20 – counting forwards and backwards and identifying numbers before, after and in between within 20.   With Miss Jack we will be learning about fractions and money 

How can you help us?   

• Using the number flashcards, help us to recognise and identify all numbers to 20 
• Sequence numbers to 20 from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest 
• Practise matching numerals to number names and a picture within 20. (o – zero, 1 – one) 

• Use toys or objects to accurately count out amounts within 20 
• Practise formation of all of the numbers and number names to 20 
• Continue to encourage us to find numbers, shapes and patterns in our environment 

Literacy   

We have now learned almost all of the single phonemes.  We will be spending a couple of weeks consolidating our learning of these phonemes before moving on to learn some of the joined phonemes (sh, th, ch…).  It has been lovely to see all of the photographs of the children using their pink active literacy boards at home to help them build words using the phonemes that they know. 

Say it (say the word) 

Make it (with magnetic letters on the pink board) 

Break it break the word up by separating the phonemes) 

Blend it (starting at the beginning, blend the phonemes together) 

Read (read the word aloud) 

Write it (write the word 2 times, remembering a finger space between each word) 

We are continuing to develop our phonological awareness.  Please continue to share nursery rhymes with us, helping us to learn these and recite these back to you.  We have also been learning about rhyming words and compound words.  This term we will be learning about syllables and clapping these out in words. 

 How can you help us?   

• Encourage us to recognise and identify all of the phonemes that have been taught 
• Practise the correct formation of all of the phonemes – doorwayonline.org is a super interactive resource for letter and number formation. 

• Encourage us to sound out and blend phonemes together to read words. 
• Encourage us to recognise, read and write all of the common words which have been taught. 
• Encourage us to identify words in our environment.  

Social Science 

Throughout January we have a whole school focus on Scotland.  Primary 1 will be focusing on Scottish weather.  We will then move onto learning about our local area later in the term. 

Google Classroom  

Please contact the school office if you are having difficulty accessing Google Classroom.  All homework activities are posted here on a Monday and are due in on the Friday of each week.  If you require any additional blank or lined jotters please contact the office on  office@neilsland-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk 

As always, thank you for your continued support. 

Miss Cassidy & Miss Jack 

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope you all had a lovely October break.  We have made a super start to Primary 1 and are excited to bring home our jotters to show our brilliant work to you.

­Health and Wellbeing

We have been learning all about the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included).  We have been learning about all of the animals that live in the Wellbeing Wood and how we can make sure that everyone is happy and safe at school.

This term we will be focusing on the Emotionworks Cogs and looking at the nurture principles.

Numeracy

We have been busy learning to count to 10.  We are learning to  recognise numbers to 10, put them in the order from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest. We are learning to count forwards and backwards and identifying numbers before, after and in between.  With Miss Jack we have been learning to identify, draw and make 2d shapes and identify 3D objects.

How can you help us?

• Use toys or objects to count out amounts within 10
• Match numeral to the number name and picture with that number of objects
• Practise formation of all of the numbers and number names
• Encourage us to find numbers and shapes in our environment

Literacy

We have been busy learning lots of nursery rhymes and learning about rhyming words – words that sound the same at the end. (hat, mat, bat, rat, fat etc).  We are learning to recognise, identify, form the phonemes and build words using the phonemes a, t, s, i, p and n.  We are also learning r, m, d, e, c, k and ck.  We have been using the 5 finger approach to build words.

Say it (say the word)

Make it (with magnetic letters on the pink board)

Break it break the word up by separating the phonemes)

Blend it (starting at the beginning, blend the phonemes together)

Read (read the word aloud)

Write it (write the word 2 times)

How can you help us?

• Help us to recognise all of the phonemes that have been taught
• Practise the correct formation of all of the phonemes
• Practise reading and writing the common words
• Help us sound out words in our reading books

Google Classroom 

Please contact the school office if you are having difficulty accessing Google Classroom.  All homework activities are posted here on a Monday and are due in on the Friday of each week.

Story Sacks

Our lovely Parent Council have very kindly made up some story sacks.  There are 8 bags which will be given out to children on a rota basis.  We kindly ask that you return the story sacks on a Friday so that the bags can be checked and given to another child on Monday.

COP26 

As part of our learning on climate change you will have a visit from a little Polar Bear for a night in the lead up to COP 26.  The Polar Bear has some ideas to help save their environment.  Can you help?

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Miss Cassidy

Welcome to the P1/2 blog.

Dear Parents and Carers

Mrs Kelly very kindly gave us some money to buy some new things for our classroom.  After chatting with Miss Cassidy, the children decided that they would like to spend the money on a house corner.  Mr Connor also donated a beautiful kitchen to us.  The children absolutely love playing in their house corner and are really good at keeping it tidy.

Beat the Street  

Beat the Street has started and runs until 28^th April.  Your child has their map and fob home with them.

https://www.beatthestreet.me/

Good luck everyone.         

Health and Wellbeing

Mrs Swinburne has posted lots of fantastic resources in her Health and Wellbeing classroom including yoga, meditation and relaxation activities.  These can be accessed at any time.  This is also where you will find more information about Neilsland CHARMS.

Google Classroom

Our Google Classrooms are an important part of our online learning.  Your child has access to the P1/2 classroom and also Mrs Swinburne’s P1/2 Health and Wellbeing Classroom.

Our Google Classrooms contains lots of resources to support your child in their learning.   All homework tasks are also posted here on a Monday for the week.   Most activities should be completed in a numeracy or lined jotter but there will be occasions when worksheets will be sent home.  Photographs can be taken of homework tasks and uploaded to Google Classroom.  I can then comment on your child’s work and return your child’s work with a comment to you.  Worksheets should not be returned to school.

Online Resources

Teach your monster to read – a fabulous resource for consolidating phonics

Get Epic – a large variety of online books including ‘read to me’ books

Sumdog – online numeracy learning

It is easier if you try to access these websites via your browser (opening a webpage) rather than via an app.

Teach Your Monster to Read

Please log in using  http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/u/4688422

You must use this link to access your account. When logging in, set Icon star (star code) to 4688422 Player name is your first name.

Get Epic – getepic.com

Click on Log in

Click on students and educators and enter class code ceb3366

Sumdog – sumdog.com

You have your individual username and password at home.

Literacy

Primary 1 have now learned all of the single phonemes and some joined phonemes.  Since coming back to school we have spent some time revising these. You can help your child by continuing to practise recognising, identifying, reading and writing all of the single phonemes.

P1 children are learning to put phonemes together to build, read and write simple CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words such as him, pet, can, mug, pot etc. and writing simple sentences.

Primary 2 are continuing to learn more joined phonemes.   You can help your child by continuing to practise recognising, identifying, reading, writing and building words using all of the joined phonemes which have been taught so far.

In school we use Active Literacy and the SMBBRW strategy for word building.

Say it (say the word)

Make it (with phoneme cards)

Break it break the word up by separating)

Blend it (starting at the

beginning, blend the word together)

Read (read the word)

Write it (write the word 2 times)

The children know this as a hand.  Please encourage your child to use this strategy when building words at home too.

Numeracy

Your child has been continuing to learn about forward number sequences.  We have been practising choosing numbers and counting on from that number.  The children are getting really good at this – ask your child to show you how well they are doing.

Since coming back to school we have been learning about money, identifying coins, ordering coins in value from smallest to biggest and biggest to smallest.  We have been using our shop to pay for items using the correct coins.  We will still be consolidating our learning of money but our focus will move on to  subtraction.  We will be learning about backward number sequences and counting back.

We have been learning to take away 1, 2, all and none.  We have also been learning to count back using a numberline and our finger frog.

You can help your child by encouraging them to count back from specific numbers and using objects in the house to create subtraction sums.

Miss Ross will be working with us as part of her course in childcare.  She started on the 8^th March and will be with us from Monday – Thursday for 8 weeks.

On 19 April Miss Paterson who is a teaching student will be with us for 8 weeks.

We are really excited to have Miss Ross and Miss Paterson join our class.

Have a wonderful Easter!