Phonics – Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 2 4.10.21

This week Primary 2 are learning the ea sound in phonics. We will be thinking of words with this sound pattern in them and learning to read and write these words correctly.
How many ea words can you find in this silly ea song?

In maths we are learning to skip count in 3s and 4s and to find the number before and after a number. The children loved celebrating maths week Scotland last week and enjoyed taking part in activities using a wide variety of maths skills.
We are now well into our learning about Romans and the Roman Empire. This week we are focusing on what life was like for Roman citizens living in Rome. We will look at what life was like for children, what foods they ate and what they did for entertainment.
A reminder that Parent consultations are this coming Wednesday and Thursday nights on Skype. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss the progress your child is making.
Thank you for your continued support.
The P2 teachers

Primary 2 27.9.21

We hope that you all had a lovely weekend.
This week we are learning the ‘ay’ sound in phonics. The children will be spotting ‘ay’ words in sentences, reading ‘ay’ words and writing ‘ay’ words on their magnetic letter boards. Here is a video where your child can practise reading ‘ay’ words at home.

How many more ‘ay’ words can you think of?
It is Maths Week Scotland and so the children will be taking part in lots of fun maths related activities all week. Today we made 100 square jigsaws for our friends to put back together. Check out our Twitter page @Carmondean2b to see some of the other lessons we will be trying this week.
The children are loving learning all about the Romans. Today we made Roman shields using wax crayons and paint. We learnt about some of the armour Roman soldiers had to carry as they travelled about the empire. We are also going to be looking at the clothes Roman citizens had to wear later in the week.
A reminder that PE days are Wednesday and Thursdays. As the weather gets colder please make sure that your child comes to school ready for winter weather. It is helpful to have a coat every day even if the forecast isn’t for rain!
Thank you for your continued support.
Primary 2 teachers.

Primary 2 13.9.21

We have had another busy week in Primary 2.
This week we are beginning our new interdisciplinary topic looking at the Romans. Today we will be finding out what the children already know about the Roman empire and will be asking the children what they want to learn about during this topic. You might want to discuss this at home with your child over the next few days to see what they have been learning.
In phonics we are learning the sounds ck, ai, oy and oa. We are going to practise writing these sounds, reading words with these sound patterns and writing words. In writing this week we are going to be writing about a time we visited the park. If you have time to talk to your child about this before Wednesday it would help the writing process.
In maths we are learning to use a 100 square to find numbers and skip count in 2s. If you would like to practise finding numbers to 100 on a 100 square, here is a good interactive square you might want to use. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares
We are working towards our Eco schools accreditation. Here are some ways we are trying to be more eco friendly. The children are encouraged to recycle paper in the classroom and their crisp packets after snack. We are also asking the children to choose a ‘waste free’ snack on Wednesdays. Please send your child to school with a snack in a box or without a wrapper this day.
Thank you for your continued support.
Please get in touch if we can be of any help.
Miss Belleza and Miss Christy

Primary 2 6.9.21

Primary 2 have had another great week!
Last week we started our phonics program. For the first few weeks we will be revising the diagraphs learnt in Primary 1. The children’s confidence in their ability to sound out and read words with these letter patterns is improving greatly and we are very proud of their hard work. This week we are learning ‘wh’, ‘ph’, ‘ee’ and ‘oo’. We are also going to be continuing our reading work. Please bring your reading book in the homework folder to school every day since we are planning to read most days.
In maths we are continuing to work on recognising and writing numbers. We are having a particular focus on the teen numbers since many children are finding these tricky.
We are having a week long book focus on ‘Kindness is my superpower’ by Alicia Ortego, We are looking at ways that we can be kind in class and at home. If you would like to read the story at home, here is a video clip you can watch:

Homework is now being issued each week on SEESAW, passwords were given out last week to help you access this work. If you have any issues accessing or completing this work please let us know.
A reminder that children should have inside shoes to wear in class each day. It is also important that they have a water bottle for when it is hot.
Thank you for your continued support
Miss Belleza and Miss Christy

Primary 1 18.6.21

We can’t believe that there is only 1 more week of term left! This year has flown by!
Primary 1 have been working hard this past week. In phonics they have learnt the ‘oa’ sound pattern and were able to say lots of words containing this sound. Many children were able to challenge themselves to write these words in a sentence, remembering a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop. This was our last week of reading books. All books should be handed in today and new books will be handed out in Primary 2. Please continue reading over the holidays to build your child’s confidence sounding out unknown words and recognising key vocabulary.
In maths, the children have been learning about odd and even numbers. They know that even numbers always end with a 0,2,4,6 or 8 and that odd numbers end in 1,3,5,7 or 9. Here is a fun odd and even song you might want to sing at home:

In science we have been learning about space. The children discussed all that they know about the Earth, sun, moon and stars and created some excellent pictures.
This was our last week of homework and will be our last formal blog post of the year.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the support you have given this past year and to wish you a fun and restful summer.
Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 2 – 07.06.21

Good morning everyone,

We had a busy week in P2 last week and have been working very hard. We made the most of the nice weather and enjoyed our PE outside where we have been learning cricket skills. Our P2 sports day is on Thursday 10 June so please come to school wearing PE clothes and your house colours if possible. We can provide coloured bibs if you do not have anything so please do not buy anything new. Unfortunately parents/carers are not able to attend but we will make sure we take lots of photos and upload these to SeeSaw.

We have looked at Deserts as part of our social studies and have been researching Desert animals and plants. We are going to progress on to looking at other hot countries such as Australia.

In numeracy we are revising what we have learnt over the course of the year. This week we are focusing on addition and subtraction.

In Phonics we are looking at the ss/ll phonemes this week.

Last week we had great fun making up our own similies in Literacy. This week we are progressing on to explore metaphors.

Miss Rafferty, Miss Pringle and Mrs Oliver

Primary 1 1/6/21

Primary 1 are having a fantastic week and enjoyed spending some time in the sunshine yesterday. It looks like the weather is going to continue to be hot this week. Please send your child to school with sun cream on when it is going to be sunny and feel free to provide a sun hat for their time outside.
Yesterday the children were very excited to film the end of year flash mob. We can’t wait to show you the finished video at the end of the school year. The children did a great job learning and performing the dance and we were very proud of them!
In phonics we are revising the sounds ee, oo and ai. The children are learning to read and write words with these letter sounds and are making great progress with this.
In maths we are learning to skip count in 2s, 5s and 10s. Here are some fun songs you might want to listen to at home to help practise:

In farming we are learning about livestock farms. The children will be thinking about the different animals which are found on a farm and about where their food comes from.
Thank you for all your support, please be in touch if you have any questions.
The P1 teachers.

Primary 1 20.5.21

Primary 1 are having a lovely week!
In literacy we are learning the ‘oo’ sound. The children are learning to read and write lots of ‘oo’ words and have written their own books. We are so impressed by the progress we are seeing in phonics just now, the children are working so hard!
In maths we are learning to recognise British coins. Throughout the week we have introduced the children to a 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 coin. Today we are learning to order these coins from the smallest to largest value and next week we will learn how to add coins and find change.
Here is a fun game you might want to try to practise these skills
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/coins-game
In our farming topic we are enjoying watching our wheat plants grow. Small shoots are poking out from the soil and the children are taking turns to water them to help them grow.

Today we are learning about the foods which come from farms and will be creating healthy plates with food from all the main food types.
A reminder that there are 3 new seesaw activities to try this week for homework. Well done for all the work handed in so far.
Thank you for all your support.
Miss Daun and Miss Christy

Primary 1 27.4.21

Primary 1 are having another busy week!
In phonics we are learning the diagraph ‘ph’. This can be tricky because it sounds like the ‘f’ sound and so we are focusing on the children writing and reading some simple words with this sound pattern rather than trying to think of words by themselves. The children are becoming much more confident blending words and are being challenged to hear all the sounds in each word by themselves. In reading we are looking at non-fiction books. The children are learning to find specific facts using the contents page and know that the book doesn’t need to be read in order from start to finish. They are also learning to identify picture, captions, labels and titles. Non-fiction books often have more tricky vocabulary in them so please don’t worry if your child if struggling to read all the words.

In maths we are revising the numbers 1-30. The children are learning to find numbers on a 100 square (Here is a good interactive number square you might want to look at from home https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/paint-the-squares). They are also learning to write the numbers neatly and correctly and to order them. Please keep practising all these skills at home.

In science we are learning about electricity. The children have learnt about how electricity is generated and have thought about items which use mains power and items which are powered by a battery. You might want to look around your house to see if you can find battery powered and mains powered appliances.

This week our SEESAW homework is to create a 1 minute class talk on a dinosaur of your choice. Full instructions can be found on your SEESAW assignment. We will be listening to these talks next week and are looking forward to learning new facts about the dinosaurs.

A reminder that next week the children are on holiday on Monday (3rd) and are also off on Thursday (6th). We hope that you all have a lovely few days off.

Thank you again for all your continued support.

Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 31.3.21

Primary 1 have been having a great week. We have enjoyed learning all about the Easter story and about how people celebrate Easter. We have made Easter cards, sequenced the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection and are looking forward to an Easter Egg drawing competition tomorrow.
In phonics we have been practising the sounds sh, th, ch and ng. The children are working hard sorting words with these sounds and writing some short words on magnetic boards. In reading we are working on asking questions about our books. If you are reading books at home why don’t you try asking a few questions about the story after you have finished reading?
In maths we are learning the days of the week and months of the year. Please practise naming the days and months at home to build familiarity with the order. We have also discussed distinctive things that happen on each day (for example we have a half day on Fridays), and what happens each month.
We are all looking forward to the Easter holidays now. We hope that you get an opportunity to rest after what has been a bit of a tricky term. Our last day of school is tomorrow and we come back on Monday the 19th April.
Have a great holiday and we can’t wait to see you all when we come back.
Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 w.b. 15.3.21

Good morning
Primary 1 are having a lovely week so far and have been enjoying some time outside in the sunny weather we have seen in the past 2 days.
This week in phonics we are learning the sound ch. We have been thinking of lots of words with these letters in them and have been trying to blend some of these words on our magnetic boards. We are also continuing to develop skills of reading and have been teaching the children to ask a question about their book. Thank you to everyone who is practising reading at home, it is great to see the children’s confidence grow. Please make sure that your child has their book each day in class so that we can read regularly.
In maths we are learning to tell the time. We are looking at analogue and digital clocks and are learning to tell an o’clock time on each of them. Next week we will move on to half past times. The children are working really hard at this and are impressing us with their knowledge.
In topic we are learning about the diplodocus dinosaur. The children wrote brilliant fact files explaining some of the facts they know about this dinosaur.
A reminder that tomorrow is Red Nose Day. The children are invited to come to school dressed as a super hero. We will be thinking about who the money will help and will be completing some fun activities in class.
Thank you for all your continued support.
The Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 3.3.21

Primary 1 are having a great week in school! Yesterday a mysterious box arrived to our classroom with an egg inside. There was a letter from Professor Rex alongside the box telling us that he worked at the archeology department in a University and that he wanted us to look after the egg until it hatches. The children looked at some of the clues in the letter and decided that it was probably a dinosaur in the egg. We are now going to learn about dinosaurs as our interdisciplinary topic so that we can look after the dinosaur egg well. The children are very excited about this and have enjoyed looking at some dinosaur fact books in class so far.
In phonics we are learning the sound ‘th’. We have been thinking of words containing this sound and are learning to blend them with magnetic letters.
In maths we are learning to share objects into groups and to find halves and thirds. The children are working hard to make sure that the groups are equal and fair.
A reminder that PE days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Please come dressed for outdoor gym these days.
Tomorrow is World Book day. The children have been encouraged to come to school with a book from their house which they will read in class.
Homework is going to continue on Seesaw this term. This week there are 3 activities to try.
Thank you for your continued support.
The Primary 1 teachers.

Primary 1 7.12.20

Good morning.
Primary 1 had a great week last week, finishing off with a fun trip to the nursery garden for some fun in the snow and outdoor learning.
This week we are learning about h and w in phonics. The children are becoming really confident thinking of words with each sound at the beginning and are learning to blend letters together to create short 3 and 4 letter words.
In maths we are going to be learning about pattern. The children will be completing lots of Christmas crafts exploring simple shape and colour patterns.
We are also going to be learning about Christmas, looking at the Christmas story and how Christmas is celebrated in the UK.
This week we are continuing to give out homework on seesaw. There will be a few activities to complete over the week. We have been very impressed with the works we have seen on seesaw over the last 2 weeks. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for your continued support
Miss Daun and Miss Christy

Primary 1 23.11.20

Good morning
Primary 1 have been very busy the past few weeks. We have begun a new interdisciplinary topic learning all about toys. We started this topic with a virtual visit from the museum services. Maureen called us on the class laptop and spoke about some of the toys children played with in the olden days. The children were able to investigate the different materials toys used to be made from and saw the differences between toys now-a-days and toys in the past. This week we have turned our role play areas into toy shops. The children are enjoying creating toys to place on the shelves and are learning to use money in the cashiers area. We are using this topic to explore forces and have been learning about toys we push and toys we pull.
In phonics we have been learning the sounds g, l, f and o. This week we will be learning about b and u. Thank you for all the work you have been doing at home to practise writing these letters and thinking of words containing each sound.
In maths we have finished our work on addition and are now learning to subtract. We will be using lots of concrete materials to support learning in this.
Homework from now on will look a little different. We are going to be using Seesaw to post a variety of activities each week. Seesaw is a fantastic resource which allows your child to complete activities on a tablet or phone and send them back to us. Your child will come home today with a sheet explaining how to access their personal Seesaw account. Please let us know if you need any help with this. Reading books will continue to be given out weekly and should be brought to school every day to be read in class. Thank you for your continued support Miss Daun and Miss Christy

Primary 1 2/11/20

Good morning
Primary 1 had a great time celebrating Halloween last week. In class we decorated pumpkins, designed costumes and had a fun Halloween party on Friday where we made spiders webs. The children looked fantastic in their costumes!
This week we will be thinking about Bonfire night and are looking forward to creating firework pictures later in the week.
In phonics we will be revising the sounds learnt so far, concentrating on the letters r, m, d, e, c and k. We appreciate all the work being done at home to support the children’s learning of these.
In maths we are moving on to a block of learning on addition. We will be completing lots of activities in class where children have to count how many altogether from 2 sets.
A new homework sheet will be posted next Monday. Thank you for all your posts on the Learning Journals showing us what your children are achieving at home.
As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
Miss Daun and Miss Christy

Primary 1 26.10.20

Good morning.
It was lovely welcoming the children back last week after the October holiday. We hope that you all had a fun and restful time. Here is the homework grid for the next 2 weeks. Homework 26.10.20 Homework will now be given out on a Monday with 2 weeks to complete it. This should hopefully give you more flexibility and time to do all the tasks. Reading books will be continue to be issued on a weekly basis. Please can you ensure that this book is brought to school every day so that we can read in class. The reading book is to be handed in on a Friday so that it can quarantine for 72 hours before a new book comes out on the Monday.
In phonics we learnt the sounds d and e last week and will be learning c and k this coming week. We are concentrating on writing these letters neatly and thinking of words containing the sound. Thank you for all your help with this skill.
In maths we are focusing on 2D and 3D shapes. Last week we learnt about a square, circle, rectangle and triangle. The children learnt to identify each of these 2D shapes, spot the shapes in everyday objects and describe them clearly to a friend. This week we are looking at 3D shapes. Why don’t you go for a shape hunt around your house or garden looking for 2D and 3D shapes.
A reminder that PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday. It is now becoming colder and so please ensure that your child is prepared with warm clothing and sensible shoes.
There will be a PSA run Halloween party in school this Friday. Please remember to send in the permission slip with the correct money as soon as possible.
Thank you for all your support. As always, if you have any questions please contact the school and we will be happy to help.
Miss Christy and Miss Daun

Primary 1 8.9.20

Good Morning.
The Primary 1 children are continuing to do well in school. We are impressed by how quickly they have settled into school life and picked up our routines, well done! We are not giving out formal homework just now but appreciate that many parents would like to support their children at home with the work we do in class. Therefore we will be posting a few ideas of activities you can do at home on the blog each week. If you would like to share your child’s work with us you can post a photo of it on the learning journals. We will be issuing letters about how to access the learning journals in the coming days.
This week in phonics we are learning the sounds ‘s’ and ‘i’. The children are learning to write these letters neatly and to think of words with these sounds at the start. At home you could try going on a ‘sound hunt’ around your house or garden looking for objects with these sounds at the start (stick, scissors, insect etc). We will also be starting ‘reading lessons’ this week. At the moment we are reading wordless books focusing on the characters in the story and using the pictures to describe what is happening. We will not be sending any books home and so if you would like to practise these skills at home why don’t you find a book in your house for your child to talk through. Look for the front cover, the title of the book and discuss the characters, the setting and what is happening in each picture.
In maths we are working on numbers 0-5, how to form them correctly, order them and count out amounts. At home you can play https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/gingerbread-man-game. All 3 sections; counting, matching and ordering will be good learning opportunities for the Primary 1s. Please also practise writing these numbers neatly. Number 2 and 5 are particularly difficult for children.
Reminders:
PE days are Tuesday and Wednesday. Your child can come to school dressed for PE these days, however, we ask that they wear a school jumper on top of their clothes.
Please ensure that your child has a named water bottle in school each day.
It is really helpful if you name all your child’s clothing so that lost items can be returned.
Thank you for all your support
Miss Daun and Miss Christy

Primary 1 Home Learning – 22.05.20

Good morning Primary 1! Happy Friday!

We hope you’ve had another successful week of learning from home and managed to complete some of the activities on the home learning grids. If there are any activities left that you would like to finish off this morning then that would be an excellent idea. If you are looking for another extra challenge then we would like to suggest a fun phonics hunt.

First of all, practise singing your alphabet song so you can remember all of the letters in the alphabet and the correct order.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNmh4s9un3c

Can you count how many letters are in the alphabet? That’s how many objects you are going to need to find! We would like you to find one object in your house that starts with each letter of the alphabet. For example for ‘a’ you might find an apple, for ‘b’ you might find a ball, for ‘c’ you might find a cone etc. Can you write down each letter of the alphabet and place it next to the correct object? If there are any letters you can’t find you could draw a picture of something that begins with that sound. See if put the objects and letter cards into the correct order and then take a picture for the learning journals. We would love to share some of the best examples of your work!

Thank you again for your continued support. We hope that you all have a fantastic weekend and find lots of time for playing, relaxing and helping out at home.

We hope to see you all again soon,

Primary 1 teachers

Primary 2 – 12.05.20

Good Morning Primary 2,

How is everyone today? We hope you are managing to work through your learning grid activities. There were some lovely uploads over the weekend and we enjoyed catching up on those yesterday.

There are some fabulous lessons available on BBC Bitesize if you are looking for more ideas. Click the link below to take you to the correct page:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/zjpqqp3/year-1-and-p2-lessons/1

This week our Rights Respecting School article is Article 14 – Freedom of thought, belief and religion. This article guarantees every child’s right to think and believe what they choose and to practice their religion, as long as they are not stopping others from enjoying their rights.

Click below for the powerpoint that supports Article 14. Once you have explored the powerpoint complete the following task:

Imagine you have discovered a new planet to live on. What ideas do you have about how you would want all the people who live there to treat each other and their planet?

Please continue to send photos of you working on the articles – we collate all of these as evidence which will go towards our school accreditation.

West Lothian Council have also asked all our parents/carers to complete a short questionnaire about school lunches. We would really appreciate if you could take 5 minutes to complete the survey to support the council in improving our catering service:

https://www.esurveycreator.com/s/890ff1b

As always, please upload a few photos to your Learning Journal letting us know what you have been doing. Comment below or email the school if you need your username/password reset.

Have a lovely day,

Miss Pringle and Miss Rafferty

Primary 2 – 27.04.20

Hello Primary 2,

How was your weekend? The weather was beautiful so we hope you managed to get outside and enjoy it. The forecast says the nice weather isn’t going to last unfortunately. You can check out the weeks weather forecast on https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast-video.

Last week we posted two weeks’ worth of learning grids so you should now be looking at the grids beginning 27.04.20. We have also attached them to make it easier for you to find them. As always, please choose one literacy, one numeracy and one learning across the curriculum activity each day. We have loved seeing photos of you completing your tasks on your online learning journals. If you need your password reset either email the school office or comment below and we will be able to help.

Amazon audible have also made all their audio stories free while the schools are closed. There are so many stories to choose from. Visit https://stories.audible.com/discovery and let us know what you pick!

If you are looking for more number work check out https://nrich.maths.org/primary. There are lots of great online and offline resources you could use to further develop your number and mathematical skills.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please comment below to say hello or upload photos to your learning journal.

Miss Pringle and Miss Rafferty

Rex and Mufasa week beginning 27.04.20

Woody Pumba Buzz Simba week beginning 27.04.20