It’s been a great year for P4a and these are some of our best bits!

Rheaghan – I loved my visits to the farm

Orlaith – I enjoyed the show – Eddie the Penguin

Alex – I enjoyed doing dragon’s den in our magnet topic.

Sam – I enjoyed learning about magnets.

Hollie – I loved the fun day!

Lexi – I enjoyed the benchball festival

Lilyrose – I enjoyed all the sports festivals.

Alfie – My favourite work was writing instructions

Kyle – I really enjoyed futsal.

Grace –  I enjoyed the potted sports.

Rowan – I really enjoyed NYCoS

Sara – I loved sports day.

Lois – I enjoyed all PE.

Ehan – I enjoyed RME this year.

Luke – I enjoyed the swimming

Emily – I liked doing castles in PE.

Oskar – I enjoyed PE with Mr Jeffries.

Charlotte – I enjoyed learning about different climates.

Rosie – I loved Mary Queen of Scots.

Eva – I loved learning about recycling.

Elena – I enjoyed making the animations for our Vikings sagas.

Teigan – I like Mary, Queen of Scots.

Maddison – I enjoyed everything.

Archie – I enjoyed Mary Queen of Scots.

Daniel – I liked having my hair dyed.

Mrs Mackenzie and Mrs Collings would like to thank you all for your support and wish you a very happy summer!

This week we really enjoyed the danceathon on Thursday. We dressed up (or down!) as kids from the 2010s decade. They told us about events, the advances in technology and songs and movies from the decade. We were taught a dance by the Primary 7s and then performed it – you can see us on Twitter! At the end of the danceathon we completed a whole school conga – it was epic!

In Maths we learnt about capacity and volume and how these are measured. We had to work out what all the graduations were on the measuring jugs which can be quite tricky!

In Science we planned an experiment adding nutrients to plants to see which made the plants grow best. We added nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus which all help the plants to grow in different. Nitrogen fertilisers aid stem and active leaf growth, phosphorus helps root growth and potassium promotes flower and fruit development. We also have a control plant to observe what happens to a plant with no additional nutrients.

In learning across the curriculum, we learnt about the desert climate. We thought about what we would need to survive a trip to the desert. We would need a supply of water because the temperature is very high during the day. We would need bug repellent to stop bites and we would something to scare away snakes. We would need a sharp knife to cut down a kokerboom tree to use it as a fridge for our food. We would need a black light to see the scorpions and something warm to use at night time because the temperature drops dramatically as there is no cloud cover to keep the heat in.

Table of the week with 700 points

We were very proud of Orlaith who got our school values certificate this month. Well done, Orlaith!

We were also incredibly proud of Jude whose writing was chosen for the Stellar awards. What a big smile you have , Jude!

We’ve had another busy week in P4a with lots going on.

After a fabulous procession, the children and staff enjoyed a well-earned day off on Monday.

In Numeracy with Mrs Mackenzie we are continuing to learn about fractions. In Maths with Mrs Collings, we are learning about comparing measurements. This was very challenging for a lot of us!

On Wednesday, we visited our new classroom. Unfortunately, our new teacher, Miss Baxter, was unable to join us so we enjoyed an hour with Mr Jeffries. The children are really excited to meet Miss Baxter on Monday.

In RME we watched ‘Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat’ as we are thinking about the Christian values of integrity, wisdom, justice and compassion which are demonstrated in the movie.

In writing, we started learning about speechmarks. We know that there are rules for writing speech and conversation in our stories. These are 1) Speech needs capital letters as it is a sentence or a phrase just like any other writing 2) Speech marks go at the beginning of the words that are spoken and the end 3) We use punctutation like a comma, to separate the words that are spoken from the reporting clause (which tells you who has spoken) and 4) Speech needs to be punctuated with question marks, exclamation marks and commas just like the rest of our writing.

In Science we checked to see how our radishes were growing. We discovered that the radishes germinated in all the soils but some were much healthier than others. We didn’t think the orchid soil would let the radishes grow but they did germinate slightly. Even the seeds in the sand grew a little. The plants in the ericaeous, tomorite and the cactus soil grew best as they had more nutrients.

In cricket we played beat the ball where the batsman runs around the square trying to beat the ball which is passed from post to post.

Table of the week – with 500 points

Apologies for the late posting of this blog. The site was down on Friday.

This week has been full of excitement as we prepare for the procession. We are really hoping that the weather stays fine and that everyone has a great day. Eva and Orlaith will be on the float so keep an eye out for them!

In between all the preparations, we have been doing some fantastic learning.

In Science we are trying to find out if plants grow differently in different materials. We planted radishes in sand, orchid mix, tomorite, ericaceous and cactus soils. We are expecting to see the plants germinate soon…….

In French we learned the parts of the body and listened to heads, shoulders, knees and toes in French. You can listen here……

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RJVwMGRiZs

In Numeracy we have started looking at fractions. We moved around the classroom completing different activities. One of the activities was colouring in flags with different fractions and we played fraction cards.

In Maths we did more work on measuring length. We measured plants and insects and thought about the best units of measurement to measure different distances and lengths.

We created posters for our Reading Rave. The reading rave is when we share books, comics, write stories, in fact anything to do with reading. We hope that we will see more enjoyment from reading from the children in P4a.

Orlaith won our in-class competition for the Staedtler colouring competition. Her way of changing the world was to pick up litter to make sure it doesn’t go into the ocean. Well done, Orlaith.

Table of the week – with 970 points

This week we learnt a new strategy to combine remainders and the bus stop strategy. This helps us work out division with remainders left over.  This is really helpful for us to work out our calculations.

In writing, we wrote our own magic box poems, using Kit Wright’s poem as a framework.

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/clips/zkpmhyc

We were able to let our imaginations run wild! We are making a book of them to show our P5 teacher. Mrs Collings was very impressed with how we could make things interesting and exciting. In our poetry we also focused on creating modern similes. Mrs Collings’ favourite was busy as a teacher!

On Tuesday we went to Bathgate xcite for a fabulous day of sports run by Sky. We had a great time playing against other local schools and experiencing loads of new sports. We hope you saw our tweets about the day on the Balbardie Twitter feed. It was a fabulous day!

In French we are learning the numbers to 50, using our favourite French singer – Alain de Lait – and his reggae worms. Check them out here…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlYqz2unHKc

We are very proud of Artjom who competed in a Scottish Gymnastics competition at the weekend in vault and floor. Are the Olympics in 2028 beckoning……??

Table of the week – with 510 points

We came back to school with wonderful weather and we have enjoyed being outside for PE and science this week.

With Mrs Mackenzie, we have been finishing our cool in school work, making cool cards so that we can recognise when someone has made the right choices about their behaviour.

In Numeracy, we learnt the ‘bus stop’ strategy for dividing bigger numbers when we have run out of fingers and toes! It is quite tricky but we are all getting the hang of it.

In Writing we wrote poems to celebrate ‘Earth Day’ which is on the 22^nd April every year. We started learning about how poets and authors use similes to describe things comparing them to other objects. We wrote our own similes and then started describing a tree using similes too.

In PE we have started learning some basic cricket skills. We practised catching and throwing and bowling at a target.

In Science, we started learning about what plants need and found areas in the playground where plants are growing well and where they are struggling to grow. We took photos and will be thinking more about their conditions and why they grow the way they do.

Rowan read us the first chapter of her new book – A Hidden Cove, a witch’s tale. We are all looking forward to chapter 2!

Sarah has learnt to ride her bike without stabilisers.

Archie got a clear round in horseriding and won a rosette.

Kyle won a gold medal at Taekwando.

Elena and Teigan are looking forward to their next dance show.

Teigan was awarded a medal at ballet.

Artjom is competing in a gymnastics competition on Sunday. Good luck!

Table of the week – with 470

On Wednesday 6^th March, the P4 classes set off on ‘A Viking Day Out’. We got on the bus just after 9 and arrived in Edinburgh at the National Museum in Chambers St just after 10. The traffic was pretty bad and so our journey was long.

When we arrived, we found our base for the day and had our snacks. After snack we headed down to the Viking gallery. We had a worksheet to complete finding out about the Vikings in Scotland, their jewellery and the very famous Lewis Chessmen.

After this we went down to the early civilisations gallery and sat on some steps. Helen, from the Learning Team, showed us a Viking helmet, some brooches and a key. We were allowed to handle then and feel them. The helmet was really heavy! We thought the key might’ve been a comb so she showed us a comb too!

We then went into the main gallery and looked at other Viking artefacts which were found in Scotland. We saw a Viking grave, which is not at all like a grave nowadays. Vikings were buried with their precious possessions such as a key, a shield, a game, a comb, a brooch pin and even a pair of scissors. These were the items that a Viking would need in the afterlife.

After lunch, we went into the auditorium to watch a great show called ‘A Viking Day Out’. In the show a boy called Jason had a sleep near a rock on the island of Orkney. He had a dream where he was taken back to Viking times nearly 1200 years ago. In Viking times, he met a girl named Githa who took him as her thrall (or slave) and called him Botfus which means ‘asks lots of questions’. He met the jarl of the steading and heard a saga where Odin tried to drink from the fountain of knowledge but had to sacrifice his eye to be wise.  Githa had lost her arm ring which was her money that she needed for the book that her father had wanted to buy. Eventually she found it by the wagon stone.

We found out that most people with ginger or blond hair are actually descended from the Vikings. We have quite a few in P4 so beware!

These are our best bits:

Lucas – I enjoyed watching the clock chime.

Kyle – I liked that we saw the Viking bit and we did a quiz. It was fun.

Archie – I loved the helmet, key and brooches because they looked do real but they were 3d printed.

Lilyrose – I liked when we watched the clock because it was all moving.

Eva – I liked that we got to touch real Viking stuff. The helmet was heavy.

Lois – I liked the show because it was fun.

Orlaith – I enjoyed handling the Viking key because it looked very different t our keys.

Grace – I enjoyed the Viking play because it was interesting and fun.

Alysheeya – I liked the Viking day because I like our topic and I wonder how many Vikings lived.

Charlotte – I liked the show because it was funny.

Rosie – I had the best time of my life. The show was best because a boy when back in time to the Vikings……..

Hollie – I learned that if you have blond or ginger hair with blue eyes you have the blood of Vikings.

Sam – I loved the little Viking play because it was realistic.

Emily – I had fun at the end of the trip and it was fun.

Elena – We learned that Viking helmets were very, very, very heavy because they were made of metal.

Ehan – I liked the show from the millennium clock because it looked good.

Sara – I really liked the show. My favourite character was the girl because she was a Viking girl.

Artjom – I heard that a hairbrush is called a comb in Viking times.

Alfie – I enjoyed looking at the Viking helmet.

Daniel – I liked the chess pieces because it was such talented work.

Emma – I loved seeing Helen because she taught us about the Vikings. It was amazing.

Luke – I enjoyed the show because it was really fun.

Teigan – I enjoyed seeing the grave because I learned new things about the Vikings.

P4b

Emily – I liked it when we sat the play called a Viking Day out.

Tiana – I enjoyed on the trip that me and Grace were partners and I got a sausage roll.

Keira – In Valhalla they Vikings eat until they are sick.

Grace M – I liked it when were told about the special Viking objects. This is amber and polished amber.

Evie – I liked the Viking day out. It was a show.

Archie – I enjoyed the show about Vikings. It was a very good show. It was called ‘A Viking Day Out’.

Ava – We saw ring money. We saw a dead body.

Esther – The Vikings used ring money which is something they wore on their arms and snapped a piece off to pay.

Nina- I learned that they used to trade things and that they didn’t have horns on their helmets.

Sophie M – I leaned that the Vikings wore ring money.

Isla – I learnt that they also used pennies as well as ring money.

Eilidh – I enjoyed the show called ‘A Viking Day Out’ and the Viking bones and shields.

Eden -I loved the show that we saw. There were other schools there are we learnt a new song. My favourite bit was when we were eating lunch. There was a great high view.

Sophie A – I enjoyed watching the Viking day out. I loved it.

Lacey – I liked the swords and the gold necklaces.

Grace Mac – I enjoyed when we all went into a room and we watched a show about Vikings.

Fearne – I liked the show about the Vikings.

Dionne – I enjoyed what the Vikings ate – fish stew.

Jess – I learned about the Voicings and we watched a show about them. It was good and I noticed fossils in the ground and it was interesting.

Scott – I liked how we did the sheets to find out about the Vikings.

Luis – I enjoyed finding Viking stuff and looking at a dead Viking body. I learned that Vikings never had horns on their helmets.

Lily – I liked it when we saw the play called ‘A Viking Day out’.

We are really looking forward to welcoming parents, carers and members of the school community to our show next week. Please can all children remember that they MUST have their costumes in on Monday for the dress rehearsal and their best speaking/singing voices at the ready!

P4a – table of the week – with 200 points 

This week we have continued to work hard rehearsing for the play and we are beginning to get an idea of where everyone will stand and how we move on and off the stage. We are really looking forward to it! There are loads of songs which we hope you will enjoy!

In PE we are learning lots of skills which will help us with different team ball sports.

In Maths we have been learning how to find things on a grid using grid references. We played games revealing difference grid references and then had to locate things on a grid. Mrs Collings was very impressed with our confidence when reading grid references.

We are really looking forward to our stage trip to the national museum next week. Please remember that children need a packed lunch and snack to take with them and they should be in school uniform.

If you can, we’d love to see your photos of story reading stars as a celebration of World Book Day…

Our values certificate was awarded to Lexi this month. Well done, Lexi!

Table of the week – with 600 points

This week we used mindmaps to learn and write about Viking longhouses. First we thought about the key features of our own homes and then compared these to Viking houses. We drew mindmaps to show how they were built and what was inside them. We then drew pictures of Viking longhouses and wrote notes from our mindmaps which helped us with our non-fiction writing. Mindmaps are a great way of starting a new topic!

In Maths with Miss Graham, we learnt about how angles are formed when two lines meet or cross. We learnt that the square angle on a piece of paper is called a right angle and we made right angle eaters who found right angles around the classroom. We then played ‘Simon Says’ with our arms making right angles, acute angles and obtuse angles. Acute angles are smaller than a right angle and obtuse angles are bigger than a right angle but smaller than a straight line.

In French we continued learning about school supplies. We listened to a rap with someone putting things into their ‘sac à dos’. We had to tick things off our bingo sheet when the rapper named them in the rap. It was tricky!

In NYCoS we learnt a new game where we had to bounce a giant tennis ball the number of times corresponding to the month of the year so one bounce is January, 2 is February etc. We enjoyed it and were all quite good at it. We are enjoying all the games and rhythm activities which we are doing and it doesn’t feel like learning!
In Numeracy we are continuing to learn about multiplication using arrays, skip counting, pictures and sometimes the knowledge from our own heads.
Table of the week
with 720
Learning partners of the week – Archie and Jack

This week we have been learning about writing newspaper reports. We wrote about the Viking attack at Lindisfarne. The Vikings stole lots of treasure, killed and captured the monks as slaves and burnt down the monastery.
In numeracy, we were learning about multiplication and different strategies, with a carousel of activities. We had to roll dice to multiply numbers. We also learnt to make arrays to help us with our multiplication.
In health and wellbeing we have been learning about cool in school. We have learnt about aggressive, weak and cool responses and we made posters to illustrate these. We hope that these will help us to solve problems in the playground and in school generally.
On Tuesday, Mr Glen from NYCoS came in to teach us some rhymes and games all to do with music. We played hot potato and an apple picker game. We were learning about the beat and rhythm of the music. It was good fun!
In French we were learning about classroom objects and colours. We had to listen to instructions and colour things in the correct colours.
We also had our class performances of our Scottish poems which will be performed at our Burns’ poetry competition. Mrs Mackenzie, Mrs Collings and Miss Graham have been very impressed by the performances and it has been a tricky job choosing our class representatives.
In Maths, we played a game using our knowledge of compass points.
Table of the week – 820

Learning partners of the week – Teigan and Grace

It’s been a busy term in P4a this term and we have thought about our own highlight of the term!
Sarah – I enjoyed making the fossils cause they were really fun.
Orlaith – I enjoyed teaching Echo about reduce, reuse, recycle!
Lucas – I liked the futsal because we learnt tricks!
Jude – I liked the Christmas party.
Sam – I enjoyed making different shapes out of card.
Elena – I enjoyed reading all the nice things my friends said about me in special person.
Alysheeya – I enjoyed playing the snowman game.
Teigan – I liked PE because we
Artjom – I liked the snowman game we played for our Champions Celebration.
Lexi – I liked Maths – all of it!
Lilyrose – I enjoyed futsal because it was fun.
Grace – I enjoyed our judo taster because we learnt new moves and things.
Charlotte – I enjoyed learning about Echo and the 3Rs.
Ehan – I liked RME talking about kosher food.
Lois – I liked futsal because we did match of the week and we also did keepy –uppy!
Hollie – I enjoyed writing this term because I liked writing about Echo.
Akasha – I liked Maths because I liked the shapes.
Daniel – I liked benchball because I liked standing on the bench and playing the games.
Alfie – I enjoyed learning about what happens to dead animals before they become fossils.
Alex – I enjoyed futsal.
Sara – I liked learning about shapes because we got to make stuff out of them.
Archie – I enjoyed helping Echo learn about the three R’s.
Emily – I really enjoyed Maths this term because I feel like I’m getting better at it.
Rosie – I enjoyed making the 3d snowmen this week.
Eva – I liked the judo because we learn to do different moves.
Luke – I really enjoyed learning about the soil in science.
Maddison – I enjoyed the school fair.
Kyle – I liked learning 3d shapes because at first I wasn’t very good at them and now I’m better!
Emma – I enjoyed making stained glass windows of the Christmas story in RME.
Table of the week –
with 210 points
Learning partners of the week – Teigan, Eva and Charlotte