Category: Clan News

Blogging Friday in Bluebell

In Bluebell clan we have been working very hard on developing our narrative writing. We changed our shared writing on ‘Cinderella’ and created our very own. Pupils in Bluebell clan used their imagination to develop their characters, theme and setting. We discussed the importance of using adjectives to describe our narrative writing and learned how to use speech marks correctly throughout. We are continuing to self and peer assess our work using our genre and core targets. We used our self and peer assessments to support us to edit our writing. We focused on ‘up levelling’ some of our work by adding more descriptive language. We have developed our ‘Phenomenal wall of words’ which supported us to do this.

In addition to this, we have been excellent authors and illustrators as we manufactured our very own book! We looked at different methods of book binding, chose our materials and planned our writing before making them independently. We loved the opportunity to share this with our parents on Book Week Scotland and are looking forward to share our finished products!

We have enjoyed narrative writing that much that we have chosen to focus our next weeks assembly on our literacy! We have planned this production together and shared out the roles and responsibilities. This involved an invitation committee, a power point team, backdrops and props teams, VCOP team, choreographers for our dancing and our tech and equipment team. We also participated in drama where we learnt about freeze frames and have incorporated this within our assembly. We have been practising lots and cannot wait to share our learning with you all next week!

Clan Connects: Thistle

Thistle Clan hosted our second Calderwood Connects for families on Friday. They had been learning about traditional legends, tales and stories as part of their Literacy, Book Week Scotland Context. The children created a dramas sharing their learning in fun and engaging ways, through drama, digital videos, signing and dancing.

A huge well done to Thistle Clan, we are super proud of your performance, and the creative way you shared your learning.

Clan Connects: Ben Lawers

Ben Lawers hosted our first Calderwood Connects for families on Friday. They had been learning about the West Lothian Food Bank as part of their Calder Communities Context. The children created a drama centring around everyone needs help at some point in their life, sharing different times when families might use a food back.

 

We also welcome representatives from West Lothian Foodbank along to watch.

 

A huge well done to Ben Lawers Clan, we are super proud of your performance, and the creative way you shared this important message.

Bramble Clan Learning

Literacy

In reading and writing, we have been looking at the different building blocks that make up a story.  We have looked at the structure of a story, making sure we know all the names of the different sections and what should be included within each of these.  We even came up with our own actions to remind us what to include.  We looked at this further in our reading books and, after reading, we used the story mountain to show the plot of the story.

This week, we have been looking at the setting of a story.  After reading, we either drew or built the setting from our story, giving evidence from the text to back up our ideas.  We really enjoyed using Kapla, the building blocks and lego to build our settings.

 

Numeracy

In numeracy, we have been learning different strategies to support us when adding and subtracting.  We have been learning about the ‘round and adjust’ strategy and found this was an efficient way to add numbers if one of the numbers is close to a multiple of 10.  Some of us realised this might be a strategy that gets us to the answer quicker than if we used a different one.  We will continue to explore selecting the most efficient strategy in order to answer a calculation quickly.

We have also explored addition and subtraction word problems.  We used the method RUCSAC to support us in solving problems. 

R-Read

U-underline the words

C-circle the numbers

S-select the correct operation

A-answer the question

C-check the answer.

We worked in partners to solve the word problems.  Some us decided to act out the word problems which helped us to fully understand how to solve them.  We will continue to develop this in our learning.

IDL

In IDL, we have been learning about Myths and Legends.  We have been working across the clans and visiting other clan rooms and champions to develop our relationships with each other.  We have been able to work with others in our area and get to know each other better.  In each clan room we have been exploring what a fable, myth or a legend is and then listening to different stories from our champions.  We enjoyed listening to the story of the Kelpies this week and enjoyed building a scene from the story and including information about the origin of the story.  We have realised that stories change over time and are very different from the original!

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Bluebell Clan

Over the last few weeks we have participated in various creative activities to further develop our team working skills, use our critical thinking skills and listen attentively to each other as well as instructions. Have a look at some of the activities below:

Diwali

For Diwali we read the story of ‘Rama and Sita’ where we clearly understood why it is known as the ‘festival of light’. This festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. We made ‘diya lamps’ together in small groups where we took turns to add the ingredients, mix them together and divide the mixture. We also helped each other mould them into a bowl shape. In addition to the vital teamwork, we also had some problem solving to do. We realised that if the mixture was too dry we need to add more water and if the mixture was too wet we need to add more dry ingredients like salt and flour. Once our diyas were baked in the oven, we decorated them and added a tealight before taking them home to show our families!

Block Play

As part of our Stag Starts, we have participated in block play challenges. This involved working in pairs and small groups to re-create a monumental building or design our own bridge! This involved co-operating with one another, but most importantly taking turns to talk by sharing our creative ideas and listening to one another. Alongside team working skills, we used our problem solving skills to manipulate the blocks and create the design we had in mind. We also used our mathematical knowledge to create patterns and use symmetry for the structures. Miss Ali was very impressed by our outstanding creations!

Literacy

One of our literacy tasks this week was to re-create the setting of our reading books. Again we worked in teams to design the setting and find the words that builds the setting for the reader. We sat in our small groups, discussed what the setting was and used the small blocks to create the setting and used the post-it notes to label our settings. We showed respect to one another and listened to the different point of views of my team members.


NYCOS (National Youth Choir of Scotland)

During our weekly Nycos visits we get to participate in a variety of active singing games which not only helps to develop our musical skills but also enhances our numerical, linguistic and social skills. We showed attentive listening to Miss DeLuen as we copied the beat and rhythm. We are developing our listening skills by focusing on good looking, sitting still (when required), staying quiet and listening to all the words of the instructions given.

In Bluebell Clan, we love being creative and love the opportunity to present and share our ideas and work. We look forward to further develop our team working skills throughout this term!

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