This week, we have decided to give our classroom a makeover. We have been learning to measure and calculate how much space there is in our library. We would really like some more seating so we are all sitting comfortably there. We would like 2 small benches. We have measured the space available, and we have found some we like, and then we checked that they would fit.
P.E
Our week began with some Scottish dancing in P.E. We were learning the ‘Gay Gordons’. The children picked this dance up pretty quickly. They all worked collaboratively in their pairs and showed each other respect. It certainly got us moving, especially when we added the music.
Anton: “I enjoyed dancing with a partner”.
Anna: “Learning the dance was a fun challenge”.
Maths and Numeracy
In numeracy we were continuing with the addition of whole 3-digit numbers without carrying. Next week we will start to look at carrying numbers over using the column number strategy.
In maths we continued to use our time story book to challenge our learning. The focus this week was the time in 24hr. The children worked really hard during this session. I am sure our class could be heard cheering each time we got a right answer!
Kiera “It was very hard but we all worked together to find the correct time”.
Health and Wellbeing
This weeks focus within our celebrating difference topic was around bullying. The children were asked what they would/should do if they were to witness any signs of bullying. They were also asked to discuss the difference between bullying and falling out with a friend. As this sometimes is something that gets misunderstood. We spoke about how as a school we should always use kind words and respect one another.
Science
In science this week, P3/4 and P4 got together to learn all about viruses and how they can be spread. The children watched part of ‘operation ouch’ to gain a deeper understanding of how viruses spread and how we can avoid this happening. After, Mrs Morrison and I demonstrated what happens when we all sneeze using a balloon, some flour and a very sharp pencil. This was a really fun experiment. Lets just say my carpet wasn’t blue for long!!
Kara: “I loved it when the balloon was popped and the flour went everywhere”.
Literacy
The children learned about similes this week, they really enjoyed coming up with their own and sharing these with the class. The class will be set the challenge to begin to use these in their creative writing.
For writing this week we worked on the final part of our series of lessons. We used our work from last week to help us create our first drafts of our fantastic Viking stories. The class were able to look back at their characters that they had created and the settings that they had described to help them hook their audience. Before the lesson had ended pupils shared some of their stories and peer assessed others work.
Sophie “I really enjoyed this task, it was fun and interesting”.
Emily “I learned about similes this week, I was able to include them in my writing”.
P3/4 have worked really hard again this week! Well done everyone!
Our classroom has turned very festive this week. Have a look at the decorations around our room!
As part of the festivities starting, we all have a pair of Christmas reading glasses. We each chose a pair from the selection and wear them when we read with our friends, when we read the class novel and when we read our reading books. Check out how cool we look!
For art this week, we each took turns to make a batch of salt dough. Once we measured out the ingredients and mixed them together, we printed our hands into the dough and have left them out to dry ready to be pained next week. Can you guess what we are going to paint on them?
We also created winter landscapes. We began by choosing colours that are appropriate to winter and then sketched out our winter scenes. Then we brought them to life using oil pastels. Once finished with the oil pastels, we learnt the technique of flicking paint off our fingers to create a snowy effect – this is harder than we first thought! We challenged ourselves not to give up and in the end we created some wonderful winter landscapes.
During health and well-being this week we have had a look at different things. Firstly, Jigsaw Jo explained to us what bullying is and how it has a big effect on people. We collaborated in small groups to come up with solutions to different bullying scenarios. Jigsaw Jo asked us to think about how people may feel when they are being bullied and how we could help someone who might be in this situation.
Secondly, we had a lesson designed by the NSPCC on how to keep our bodies safe and private. We watched a video all about Pantosaurus – a dinosaur who sings a very catchy song to help us remember the PANTS rule. We all designed our very own pair of pants and had a discussion about the importance of privacy and what to do should we feel the PANTS rule has been broken.
This week, we had a super challenging lesson involving STEM. We had to use our collaboration, communication and problem solving skills to build a boat to help take Bracho the dinosaur safely back to Dinosaur Land. We had a choice of materials and had to predict which material we thought would be best to float in water and hold the weight of Bracho. We had so much fun during this lesson and only one of our boats capsized – however there was a lot of soggy cardboard by the end!
This week was Participation Friday. As a class, we had a look at the results of our questionnaires that we sent home last month and we have decided on the products that we will be selling at the spring fayre in April. We also used our numeracy skills to work out budgets, costs, and selling prices of the products. Keep an eye out to see what we will be making!
We are all looking forward to another fabulous week in P2 next week!
It has been another busy week in Deans Den. Mrs Wallace visited the den on Wednesday as Mrs Morrison was working in P4. During her visit the children discussed the emotion’ scared’ and’ frightened’ and talked about what makes them feel this way.
” The dark makes me frightened sometimes” Max
Spiders and monsters make me scared” Maddison
“My Mummy helps me when I’m scared” Charli- Mae
” Mummy and Daddy help me when I’m frightened” Andrew
