dynamic earth – Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 1 8.3.19

Primary 1 have had a really busy and exciting week. On Tuesday, we celebrated Pancake Day. Mrs Steel made a pancake in front of the class, we measured the flour, milk, eggs and oil and watched and listened as it sizzled and cooked on the pan. We wrote instructions so that we can make pancakes at home.
On Wednesday we went on a class trip to Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. We enjoyed walking around the exhibition seeing how the parts of the Earth were formed through ice movement and volcanoes. We then went to a dinosaurs workshop where we learnt all about the triceratops, velociraptor and anchiosaurus. We were able to touch models of dinosaur claws, feet and teeth as well as look at fossilized dinosaur poo!
Yesterday we celebrated World Book Day. The children read their favourite book with their Primary 7 buddy and made a bookmark to take home.
Reminders: Next week there will be no PE on Thursday. We will be in contact again next week with the new PE day week beginning 18th March.
Thank you for your support
P1 teachers

Primary 1 Update 20.2.19

Hello All

We hope you all had a great February Weekend.

This week we have been continuing with our Health and Wellbeing Focus on Medicines. The children have been learning about what medicines are, where medicines should be kept, why we take them and who can give them. The children have been enjoying using their knowledge in the Dr Surgery Role Play Area and we hope to welcome some Healthcare professionals to talk to the children about their role next week.

In Maths we are continuing to work on number recognition and beginning to build mental addition strategies using doubles.

The children are still enjoying learning about a variety of dinosaurs and adding to their non-fiction fact file on a weekly basis. We are excited to be planning a trip to Dynamic Earth so please look out for letters coming home with details.

Next week part of our playground is being resurfaced and alternative arrangements have been made for pick up and drop off. Please check your child’s (or older siblings) for information about this.

Thank you for your support,

Primary 1 Teachers

Primary 1 w.b.20.2.17

Thank you to everyone who brought in their ‘Big Homework’ task this morning. The model dinosaurs look amazing! We look forward to hearing how they were made later in the week.
Our trip to ‘Our Dynamic Earth’ last week was very successful. The children took part in an excellent workshop learning about different dinosaurs and looking at models of fossils. We also had a chance to look around the exhibition, the children loved touching the iceberg.
This week we will be continuing our dinosaur topic. The children will be completing a poster challenge to show their learning over the term so far.
In maths we will be focusing on numbers to 20. The children will be ordering numbers forwards and backwards and finding the missing numbers in a sequence. Thank you for your help at home with this.
Reminders:
-Indoor PE will be on Thursday.
-Please make sure your child comes to school with a named water bottle each day.
Thank you for your support
Miss Christy, Mrs Harris and Mrs Oliver

Primary 3 3.10.16

Primary 3 had a fantastic time at Dynamic Earth last Thursday. We went on a tour around Dynamic Earth, enjoyed our lunch and completed a Weather workshop. The children learned about extreme weather, water cycle and why water is so important to us and animals. We watched videos, completed interactive activities and conducted mini experiments.

We have started practising for our Harvest Assembly. A number of children have been given words, which they need to practise. We also have a song that needs to be practised at home too please.

Please click on the link above.

A huge thank you and a big well done to all the boys and girls who handed in the weather mobiles. They were all fantastic! All the children were able to showcase their weather mobiles to the class. A number of them are now being displayed in our classrooms.

Homework:

Harvest Assembly words, Reading, Maths and Spelling

P.E for P3R- Tuesday and Thursday

P.E for P3S- Tuesday and Wednesday

Miss Rafferty and Mrs Smith

Primary 3 26.9.16

Primary 3 are looking forward to their first trip this week. We are off to Dynamic Earth on Thursday to learn more about the Weather and explore different types of weather around the world. Can we please remind everyone to have their forms and money handed in asap.

In maths we have been doing lots of addition using the 100 square. We have been using different strategies to add numbers, such as 10, 9 & 11 and 19&21. We would recommend the children to continue using this skill at home, with a 100 square. We have also been doing lots of work on Data Handling and are hoping to use these skills to create graphs to explain data gathered from rain fall and temperature.

BIG HW is due tomorrow and we are looking forward to seeing and hearing all about the children’s weather mobiles. We are sure they will make an attractive addition to our class displays.

Guided reading will continue as normal this week. The children are becoming more familiar with the guided reading set up and beginning to work a little more independently on written tasks.

Primary 3 have their Harvest Assembly coming up in a couple of weeks, so we will be asking a number of children to learn some lines and songs for the assembly. These will be handed out shortly.

Homework:

Reading

Maths

Spelling

BIG HW– due Tuesday 27th September

P.E– P3R Tuesday

P3S Tuesday and Wednesday

Miss Rafferty and Mrs Smith

Primary 4, 20.5.16

This week began with a fantastic trip to Dynamic Earth. We found out how the world was created according to the theory of the Big bang. We also learned about the phases the world has gone through in order for us to have the chemicals and products within the world. This fed into ‘Our Community’ topic as it taught is how coal and gases were formed.

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This led nicely to Tuesday where we had a visit from a lady from Library Services. She brought with her lots of artifacts from museums from the shale mining times in West Lothian. We learned about the lights they used down the mine and what it was like to live without electricity. The battery which powered their light in their helmets weighed a lot and we discussed the difference between batteries then and now. We also got to explore fossils in rocks and learned how these were made.

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On top if this, our last visitor came into school from the community. His name is PC McMahon and is one of the community officers from this area. He came to tell us how he helped the community and was able to answer questions about what he did. The children asked very good questions as a result of knowing lots of information from Mrs Vance’s visit! We definitely made him think!

We have one last visit as a result of our letters and it is Monday the 30th of May. We will be visiting Morrisons to find out what part they play in the community and to have a little tour.

There is no further progress with the butterflies / caterpillars and they are all still in their chrysalises with no change. Our worms are doing well and are creating lots of patterns for us to follow in their soil. We will probably set them free soon.

STOP PRESS Four of the butterflies have hatched and have been released today (Friday)

Well done to the Deer Park team in sports day today, however we need to find out the results from the infant sports day to see whether they are overall winners or not. Thank you to all the parents who came along to participate, and for the tug of war at the end!

Reminders:

Monday 23rd – Holiday

Tuesday – Outdoor PE Kit

Wednesday – Dress Rehearsal for the show (performing to the school)

Saturday 28th – SCHOOL FAIR

Homework:

Due Friday 27th : Spelling as normal

Reading pages plus activity:

Red – Ch 3 and 4 of The Karate Princess in Monsta Trouble

Blue – P.74 – 87

Green – P.65 – 77

Primary 4, 13.5.16

Thank you to everyone bringing in their junk…we now have a collection gathering in the corner of our classroom and it will be put to good use next week and the week after. I can’t wait to see the mini-beasts created from it as the plans are very thorough and have some excellent ideas for movable parts.

We have some very exciting news! Our caterpillars have turned into chrysalises and we watched them turn before our very eyes! One caterpillar was still choosing his position on Monday morning but the rest had gone to sleep, attached to the lid by their tails. By Tuesday we watched them turn one by one, going from this:

to this:

We will keep you updated of any butterfly appearances 🙂

Also this week we had our visitors from West Lothian Youth Foundation as well as a player from Livingston F.C Youth Team. The children were very intrigued by what they had to say and ad lots of questions for them.

Another visitor we had this week was a lady called Christine from Child Smile who came to speak about the work they do for the community. It also fitted in with our health topic this term which is healthy eating, healthy teeth and health and hygiene. She was very impressed with the children’s knowledge and hoped they were putting what they know into practice at home. She brought with her a present for each of the children. Here is a picture of us all with our gifts of toothpaste and a toothbrush:

We were out enjoying the weather this week doing a little mini bug hunt. We successfully found all kinds of mini-beasts for inspection and learned a little more about their habitats and where they like to hide. There weren’t many places to look as our allotments are no longer there. We are looking forward to our proper mini-beast hunt at Hopeton House where we will be doing a pond dip as well as a mini-beast safari. This is happening at the end of term and more information about this trip will follow.

Here we are enjoying the outdoors with some of the bugs we collected:

Remember we have our trip to Dynamic Earth on Monday. Please bring a packed lunch, those who have lunches provided will receive theirs from the school.

Sports day will be Thursday, please wear house colours (see below). It will start at 9.30am.

Reminders:

Monday 16th – Dynamic Earth, packed lunch required.

Tuesday 17th – Outdoor PE Kit

Thursday 19th – Weather permitting – Sports day 9:30am. Please wear house colours:

Raeburn – Green

Waverley – Red

Sutherland – Yellow

Deer Park – Blue

Please bring in costumes if you have not done so already.

Homework

Due Friday 20th – Spelling as normal

Reading –

Red: The Karate Princess in Monsta Trouble ch.1 and 2

Blue: p.60 – 73

Green: p.53 – 64

P4/3 Update 22.4.16

Well done to the P4s who were at Auchengillan last week. Their behaviour was great and they all took part in the activities enthusiastically. Have a look at Miss Smith’s P4 blog for some photos of the trip.
The P3s are now really looking forward to their overnight trip to Lowport next week.

We also really enjoyed our trip to Dynamic Earth this week. Unfortunately our bus got caught up in bad traffic on our way there but the boys’ and girls’ behaviour was fantastic with no complaints on the journey. We learned lots more about the rainforests and also had a tour around Dynamic Earth.

Some of the class are taking part in a schools gymnastics competition on Thursday and we all wish them luck. I’m sure they’ll have a great time and do brilliantly.

New reading homework sheets have been attached in homework jotters. These include weekly reading pages as well as tasks to be completed once a fortnight. Please have a look at these as they started this week.
Next week’s homework will be Spelling, reading and maths.

Remember indoor PE is now on a Monday and outdoor PE on a Thursday (weather permitting) so please make sure your child has appropriate kit on these days.

Your child should have brought home a letter last week informing you of the change of teacher in class. As of May 24th Mrs Gilmour and Mrs Harris will be teaching P4/3 when I go off on maternity leave.

The boys and girls in P4 and 5 have all been working hard and rehearsing for our school show. We’re sure it’s going to be great and can’t wait to see the final result.

Have a good weekend
Mrs Wallace

P4/3 update 15.4.16

What an exciting week we’ve had this week!
On Tuesday we had a visitor called Callum from a company called Cool Creatures. He came into class with some animals for us to meet. They were all animals from rainforest climates and it really helped us to kick off this term’s topic in a fun and exciting way.
We met a tortoise, two giant millipedes, two armadillos, a tarantula and a python called Bob.

On Tuesday of next week(the 19th) we are going to Dynamic Earth to learn more about the rainforests. A letter was sent home about this earlier in the week. Please can you ensure that this is returned to school before Tuesday and that children bring a packed lunch with them that day. We are all looking forward to our trip.

Some of the Primary 4’s also headed off to Auchengillan for their overnight trip yesterday with Miss Smith. We hope they are having lots of fun and that the weather stays good for them.

Those of us still in school have been busy planning Day for Change which is an event that will be taking place in 3 weeks time.

We also went outside to have a look at the construction of our new gym hall. We’re very excited about all the progress that’s been made and can’t wait until it’s finished.

A slight change has had to be made to our timetable. Indoor PE will remain on a Monday but, as of next week, outdoor PE has been moved to a Thursday and will be on a Thursday until the end of term. Please ensure your child has appropriate kit on these days.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Wallace

Primary 1 Update 8.2.16

Hello Everyone,

Primary One are really enjoying their Dinosaur topic and 2 of the classes had a fantastic trip to Dynamic Earth last week. P1C are looking forward to their trip on Thursday of this week. Some photos of the highlights are attached!

Also this week we look forward to welcoming those who can make it to parents night on Wednedsay or Thursday evenings.

The school photographer is in school on Tuesday this week so please make sure children are smartly dressed in school uniform.

We are continuing with addition in maths this week as well as learning about the language of measure through our topic comparing sizes of dinosaurs, feet, bones etc.

Thank you for your continuing support,

Primary 1 Teachers