Pupil of the week – Sasha Brown

Table of the week – Giggly Gang

We have had two birthdays this week – Dave and Jordan who are now 10 years old!

In maths this week we have been building on what we learned about shapes and now we are able to identify angles in different shapes.

Through our topic on Victorians we have been learning how to write instructions to make toys. Some of us found it a bit tricky and we soon realised that if we miss a step out then whatever we are making won’t work so it’s important to think the task through.

We made a toy theatre this week. The class were really enjoying the task and Jay was very imaginative  and  even made a backdrop for his one!

In music we are continuing our work on the classical composer Johannes Brahms. We have been comparing the lullaby he wrote with his piano concerto. After a lot of discussion about the similarities and differences of the two pieces we realised that although they are both different they are also both waltzes. Ava and Sam danced to both pieces of music to demonstrate this.

Sorry there are no pictures this week to accompany our blog but it would seem I had the camera on the wrong setting !

Have a great weekend.

We have had great fun in the class this week. In maths we can now all identify the sides, corners and angles in a shape. We can identify shapes that tile and have enjoyed making tile patterns. We are now learning about 3D shapes and some of us have used polydron to make nets.

Sasha B – I have learned about triangles. There are three kinds – isosceles which has two sides the same length, scalene which has three sides all different lengths and equilateral which has three equal sides.

Joe M – I really like doing tessellations and that means it’s a shape that tiles.

In writing this week we have been writing a biography of Queen Victoria. We used books and the internet to find information.

Ray J – I didn’t know that I knew so much about Queen Victoria until I started writing about it and I know that’s metacognition because we have been learning about that. It’s knowing what you know and being able to show it.

Teamworking – We worked with a partner to build a paper aeroplane. The tricky thing was we were each only allowed to use one hand and the other hand had to be behind our back.

Becky H – It was really hard and the best way to get the job done was by talking to each other.

Dave J – I thought it was quite easy and lots of fun.

Jamie and Sam having fun!

Have a great weekend.

It’s the last blog of 2013!

We have had a good week in p5d learning about solids, liquids and gasses. We carried out lots of fun experiments. We are now able to identify and categorise solids, liquids and gasses using our knowledge of matter to help us. We did a fun activity where the class split into three groups and each group had to be a solid, liquid or gas and they had to travel around the room in their group. This really helped us to understand the properties of each state.

We made a potion using bicarbonate of soda, water and vinegar. Adding vinegar to bicarbonate of soda causes a chemical reaction to take place and produce carbon dioxide which made the mixture fizz up and over the container.

We had great fun learning in science!

We have finished our class novel, Billionaire Boy and eagerly await the choices for our next novel starting in January 2014.

We have used Christmas as a theme for our symmetry work in maths and everyone agrees it’s much more fun.

Well that’s it for our last week of term. I would like to say a huge thankyou to all the pupils for their hard work and I look forward to hearing all their stories of Christmas when they return in January.

Merry Christmas everyone !!

Mrs D

This week we have been finding out about the different types of rocks. There are three types of rocks – igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Sounds tricky but we have our secret weapon to help us remember them – chocolate! The holes in a Crunchie bar remind us of the lava cooling and leaving gas bubbles in igneous rocks. The layers of the Caramel Wafer remind us of the layers of sediment building up in sedimentary rocks. The Curly Wurly (which we held in our hand throughout our Chocolate Geology lesson) reminds us how metamorphic rocks are formed by heat and pressure.
We studied the characteristics found in the different types of rocks and are becoming quite good at identifying them. Many of us have been quite surprised by how interesting rocks can be. A few of us are keen to start building our very own collections.
From the Blog Post Box:

This week I discovered…..

…that there is a rock cycle where rocks can change from one type of rock to another.        Cameron
…how to add Thousands, Hundreds, Tens and Units.       Erin M
…that if I concentrate hard I get my work done quicker.       Craig
…how to recognise the different rocks.      Liam
…that obsidian is an igneous rock.      Robbie

This week we found out that Loch Ness was formed by a huge glacier. We looked at how glaciers have changed the landscape around them by eroding rocks and transporting them within the glacier. When a glacier melts these rocks are deposited to create new hills and mountains.

In our Chocolate Geology lesson we used porridge to create our own glacier. We drew stripes on the porridge with chocolate sauce and watched carefully as it slid slowly down a half pipe. We noticed that the sauce was forming a V shape. This was because our glacier was travelling more quickly in the middle. Aaron worked out that this was happening because the sides were slowing down the glacier. Well done, Aaron!

We were wondering what Nessie thought of all that ice!

Hope you enjoy this little sample of our animations:

by Emma C, Sophie and Travis

by Craig, Cameron, Leon and Ross

by Scott, Ali and Adam

From the Blog Post Box

This week I enjoyed…

…my Christmas dinner and learning to add Tens and Units with regrouping.            Abigale

…doing the animations with Ava because we made really cool backgrounds. We had fun. Thank you for letting us watch all the Loch Ness animations.      Eva

…maths because I’m getting better at calculating the missing number.          Lisa

…using the ‘Animate It’ app because it was like making a movie. It was really good fun.  Ali

 It’s almost December !!!!

WE are feeling really Christmassy in P5d this week. Making tree decorations to sell at the Christmas fayre has been great fun and a little messy.

Outdoor P.E.

This week we were developing our dribbling skills while travelling with the ball. Some of us found it tricky to move around and keep the ball under control. 

I like getting out for fresh air – Shaun H

I am getting better at keeping the ball bouncing when I move around -Sophie W

Topic-                                                                                                                             We had great fun learning about how to make a good headline for the Battle of Stirling Bridge. . We used a game on the smartboard to identify what a good headline is and then made some of our own for display.

How we are developing as learners-    We are pretty good at discussing how we know what we know (metacognition) so now we are looking at how we manage ourselves to help our learning (self regulated learning). We are all able to follow basic class routines so that we are ready to learn, now comes the hard part …..managing impulsive behaviour! We will let you know soon how we are doing.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend !

This week we participated in an animation workshop. We made use of the ‘Animate It!’ app on our iPads and, working in trios, produced animations on our own chosen themes. During our workshop we shared tips and ideas with others, offered help and advice and explored many of the creative possibilities of the app. We all learned so much – especially Mrs Mackenzie!
We then felt ready to take on our next animation challenge! This term we have been writing Loch Ness Adventures. Ten of our adventures have been selected to be made into animations. The ten authors have chosen their animation design team and have been busy planning…
Next week backgrounds, characters, props and text boards will be created, the animations will be filmed and the first screening presented on Tuesday. We can’t wait!

From the Blog Post Box:
This week I was impressed with…

…Mairi for doing well with her number 8. Emma C
…me, Abigale and Mirren because we made a really good animation. Megan
…Cameron because he was a really good basketball keeper. Emma B
…Emma B for getting onto Step 5. Erin M
…Lily, Erin and Taylor’s animation. All the animations were good but I thought theirs was the best. Abby
…Aaron’s dribbling skills. Erin H

This week we began our Chocolate Geology focus. Geology is the study of our planet, Earth; how it was made, what it is made of and how it has changed over time. Chocolate Geology is just the same but all the learning is done through chocolate! This week we explored what was inside the Earth by examining a creme egg and learned how mountains were formed using Oreo cookies. Tidying up after Chocolate Geology lessons is always very tasty!

From The Blog Post Box:

This week I learned…
…how tectonic plates can slide apart from each other or one can slide under another. This is how mountains are made. Lily
…why earthquakes happen. Aaron
..that if you cut the Earth in half you would see three parts, the crust, the mantle and the core – a bit like a creme egg! Eva
…how to play Highland Cathedral on the drums. Craig
…how to add Hundreds, Tens and Units. Erin M
…how to play basketball. Scott

Another week done!

We all deserve a rest this weekend because everyone has worked really hard in P5 this week.

Pupil of the week – Carter W

Table of the week – Minions

Maths –

We have been working really hard to identify the strategies we use when doing mental maths calculations. We have all found this a bit tricky.

Lily – This is really hard but I think I am getting better at talking through the strategies I use.

Ray – I am finding it easier to find the missing number in my sums because we talk a lot about different strategies and I know what ones I need to use.

Topic-

We have used our topic as a focus for our writing this week

Eve – We wrote a letter to a nobleman about the death of Alexander III. I think the Scottish Wars of Independence is a really good topic.

Kerry – I enjoyed making a wanted poster for William Wallace.

HWB –

We all made posters on the theme of friendship. We focussed on words associated with what a good friend is.

We all wrote a post-it note about what happiness is . Here are some of our contributions –

Lucy – Happiness is …..

the smell of a cake                                                                                                          a friend                                                                                                                             love                                                                                                                                        a box of chocolates

Catherine – Happiness is ….

teachers                                                                                                                    laughing                                                                                                                    singing                                                                                                                             family

We have all had a great week although we are sad that we have come to the end of our class novel Gangsta Granny. On the bright side we will start Billionnaire Boy next week.

This week we began our enterprise project. We are designing and making Rock Monsters. We have been busy painting stones, designing expressions and creating posters. We have also been researching gemstones to help us choose suitable characteristics for each type of Rock Monster.
We plan to sell our Rock Monsters at the Christmas Fayre on Saturday 30th November. You may want to come along early as we think these precious little creatures will be snapped up quickly!

From the Blog Post Box:

This week I enjoyed…

…painting our rock monsters but at the end I couldn’t get the paint off my hands because it was mixed with glue! Emma B
…writing because it is fun to write about Nessie. Scott
…drawing the expressions for the rock monsters. Ali
…learning about Loch Ness. Erin H
…maths because I was finding it hard but I finally got it. Katie
…making the Rock Monsters and playing Through the Forest at Outdoor PE. Drew

This week we have been thinking about all the places in Scotland that we consider to be important. They may be important because we have learned about them in our history topics, important events may have taken place there or they may be places we have visited with our families. We will include all of our locations on the Mega Map of Scotland we are creating to help guide us through our topic.

My Wee Piece of Scotland

Edinburgh,

Visiting lots of museums,

Exploring the old castle,

Spending time with my mum,

A place where I feel safe and happy,

Edinburgh will always be

My wee piece of Scotland.

By Emma C

We have also been working hard on our assembly. We look forward to seeing as many visitors as possible on Friday 8^th, 9:45.

From the Blog Post Box:

I think…………. is an important place in Scotland because…

Linlithgow …I love it when I go there for a day out.          Lily

Aberdeen …that is where William Wallace’s leg got sent!      Drew

Oban …I have lots of good memories of family holidays in Oban.  Eva

Stirling Castle …I am interested in the castle jail.           Travis

Stirling …my family goes camping there.              Taylor

Edinburgh …I have stayed there my whole life.       Craig

We’re back!!

Everyone seems to have enjoyed the holidays and we are all refreshed and ready for the new term.

This week we have discussed our new topic The Scottish Wars of Independance which we’ll start next week. This morning we had our first Big Balbardie Blether of the year. We are all excited to see  the new look house point system! We all have the chance to design a new shield to represent each house system.

Rachel is busy designing a new shield for Hardy House.

Halloween!!!!!!

Some of us dressed up in our halloween costumes to scare the teacher…..

job done !!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone !!



This week we began our new topic – A Slice of Scotland. We will be working on a West Lothian Focus with Mrs McClafferty while we explore Scotland’s geography and geology with Mrs Mackenzie.

We look forward to sharing our new learning experiences with you. Thank you to all the parents, pupils and staff who have commented on our Blog. We love hearing from you.

From the Blog Post Box:

The target I am setting myself for this term is…

…to get better at my joined up writing.           Erin M

…to remember my full stops and capital letters.       Mirren

…to reach at least Step 3.                        Leon

…to write a great Loch Ness Adventure.         Travis

…to become more confident.     Josh

…to get faster at Big Maths.        Abby

…to develop more creative ideas for writing.            Ava

…to get myself on the Dojo Board more often.         Erin H

This week we fought the Battle of Bannockburn, alongside King Robert, and won freedom for our country!

We worked in our Home Teams to create interactive maps of Bannockburn. We used our maps to describe the events of the battle. Well done Sour Lemons and Freak Out for presenting such detailed recounts of the battle. Congratulations to the Minions who were the overall winners of the Home Team Challenge.

From the Blog Post Box:               

I had a/an                        term because…

good            …I got better at Maths.           Aaron

excellent      …I enjoyed writing with Mrs Mackenzie and I really liked the science with Mrs McClafferty.                   Lisa

fantastic     …we have the nicest teachers.  Josh (Thank you, Josh.)

brilliant       …of the Bloom’s Buttons.           Liam

awesome      …we did the trebuchets. Thanks for letting us do them!   Abigale

It’s Friday again!

We have put a lot of effort into learning our times tables this week. We have lots of different activities we can choose from. Sam Davies made up a times table song at home and now we sing it every morning!

Jamie Nisbet- I like the times table song that Sam made up.

Lewis Millen – It’s fun learning the times table using the four in a row game. We have to know our times table quite well to win and it makes me practice my times tables at home.

Carter Wilson – I like the loop cards best. This week we have beaten our best time by three seconds.

Our writing this week has been focussed on recalling the facts of the Creation Story and the Big Bang theory. We linked our learning by using our diaramas to help us recall the facts of the Creation Story for our writing.

We have also learned the difference between a food chain and a food web this week. Sam said he really enjoyed making a shark food web.

Judo ! What a great time we all had.   Emma Thomson – We learned some basic judo moves. It was great fun!

This morning we invited Miss Elliott’s P2 class to join us for a harvest festival singing practice. They were very well behaved and seemed to enjoy their visit.

This is us singing the harvest rock ‘n’ roll with P2e.