We have been doing a choral count almost every day. We take pictures and put them on our Numeracy Wall. We like to spot number patterns and we write them beside the choral count.
We like to change the numbers each time we do it. On this one, we were counting in 4’s. Sometimes, the people that are really confident find harder patterns. Miss Marra would say the first number and then we would say the second, then it keeps going for our choral count.
by Emmi
We have been taking part in stations this week to help us read and write “ou” words. We enjoyed our learning activities and could talk about how they help us to remember how to read and write our words.
We used play dough to make our words.
We completed a word search to help us read our words. We enjoyed trying to find our words, especially the ones that were hidden very well. Miss Marra gave us some extra words to challenge us too!
We also looked for our words in books. We then wrote the words we found using a strategy of our choice. Some of us chose to write our words on our Literacy Learning Wall.
Some of also practised writing our words in hieroglyphics to challenge ourselves further. We enjoyed linking our learning in Literacy with our Ancient Egyptian Topic.
Article 29: We have the right to develop our talents and abilities.
We have been taking part in “choral counting” in Number Talks. We count together as a class, usually skip counting, and then we look for patterns. Miss Marra asks us the questions “what do you notice? What do you wonder?” This gives us the chance to talk about patterns and share our strategies. In this choral count, we were skip counting in 3’s.
I noticed all the number going up in order, adding 3 each time. Lexi
The first digit of each number gets higher to show that the numbers are getting higher e.g. 1, 2, 3. Struan
I noticed that in the bottom row when you add the digit in each number together, they make either 6 or 9. Finlay
We are continuing to practise reading and writing Fry’s words in class. On the weeks when we are working on a Phonics sound, we still practise reading and writing Fry’s words during Smart Start. We love writing our words on the desks because it is a fun way to write them and it helps us to practise spelling them correctly.
We are enjoying our Ancient Egyptian Topic and we have been provided with opportunities to lead our own learning. We asked Miss Marra if we could learn more about mummification so we watched a video, explaining the process and then we had a go ourselves. We mummified dolls and we even had a go mummifying our partners. Luckily no organs were removed! We remembered to start from the head down. Two of the most important skills we had to use were communication and teamwork. This is what we said about our learning.
I loved it so much because it was so much fun! Aria
That was so good. I remembered to start at the head. Tyler
I started at the feet by mistake but then I started again and remembered to start at the head. Isla
I’ve learned more about what mummification is and how they do it. Emmi
I already knew lots of facts about this but I liked sharing what I know. Peter
Article 13: We have the right to find out things and share what we think with others.
We were so excited to participate in a taster session with Destination Judo on Wednesday. We had to use some very important skills such as teamwork and resilience. Some of the moves were quite tricky but we worked hard and helped each other.
Some of us enjoyed the session so much that we would like to start going to Judo in East Calder each week. We can certainly say it was a success! Miss Marra was also very impressed with our listening skills and we were all so focused. Well done everyone!
Article 29: We have the right to develop our talents and abilities.
We are learning to divide numbers and make equal groups. We use counters to share equally and then we write the division calculation. We have been working with a partner to practise dividing by 2 and 3. We have been taking part in whole class learning activities and stations. We love sharing our strategies and we have learned some new vocabulary to add to our Numeracy and Maths Working Wall. Tyler should be proud of himself as he used the word “equal” when talking about his division strategy. We added this word to our wall to remind us that is an important word that can help us with division.
We have also been working hard to practise skip counting. We are learning to understand the link between multiplication and division. We use the ipads on a regular basis in class and we love using them to support our learning in Numeracy. One of our favourite games is “Whack a Mole” where we can practise skip counting. We can also alter the settings so we can challenge ourselves by skip counting in different numbers.
This group of amazing learners demonstrated great teamwork skills as they completed a five times table pencil task. They listen to each other’s strategies and they were able to confidently share the tools and strategies that helped them.
We take part in Number Talks daily where we engage in lots of learning activities to talk about numbers and share our strategies. We recently took part in “String Questions” to practise addition strategies.
“To work out 5 + 25, I added 5 + 5 which equals 10. Then I added another 10 to make 20. Then I added another 5 to make 25.” Finlay
“To work out 25 + 15, I started adding 25 + 5 = 30. Then I did 30 + 10 = 40. So 25 + 15 = 40.” Sophie B
Article 12: We have the right to be heard.
Article 28: We have the right to learn.
We are learning to write an explanation text. We have been working hard to explore the features of an explanation text and this week, we created our own. We used our “magic box” to choose a random partner and we wrote our first explanation text on the desks. We love writing on the desks with white board pens.
We explored “why a police officer’s job is important.” We worked together as a class to create each section of our explanation text and we wrote our sentences with connectives and the correct punctuation. We also took pictures of our writing and displayed them on the smart board to help us talk about our learning. We are excited to plan and write a new explanation text in our Literacy jotters next week.
Article 13: We have the right to find out things and share what we think with others.
We take part in Guided Reading on a regular basis throughout the week in P3B. Sometimes, we work with Miss Marra in our Reading group and we take part in “Echo Reading” or “Choral Reading.” We also identify words in a text and ask and answer questions about the book. We also love taking part in Paired Reading with a partner. This helps us to develop our independence and support each other with reading. We read our reading book; however, we sometimes choose a book of our choice too.
Article 29: We have the right to develop our talents and abilities.
In Numeracy, we have been using our new geo boards to help us learn multiplication. We always use a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach and we talk about the groups we make to show a calculation.
We have been using the geo boards to make arrays. Last week, we worked hard to make groups of 10 and we could talk confidently about the arrays we made. The photo at the bottom shows Finlay’s creativity with the geo boards. He used the elastic bands to show a calculation in a different way and he enjoyed sharing his strategy. This started a new trend in class as his peers started using the boards in the same way. Well done everyone!
Article 13: We have the right to find out things and share what we think with others.
“10 x 3 = 30.”
We have been working hard to develop ball control skills in P.E. We enjoyed taking our P.E outside on Wednesday for the first time in a while. We used the basketballs to bounce to a partner and the aim of the game was to try and make sure the ball only bounced in the hoop once.
We had a discussion about the skills we were using and we all agreed that teamwork was one of the most important skills. We also identified “adapting” as a skill we used as we had to use a growth mind-set, especially if our partner won more points than us. We are excited to use our skills to play team games.
Article 24: We have the right to be healthy.
We love a challenge in P3B! This morning, we took part in a new learning activity to practise reading and writing our Fry’s words. We learned how to create a word search. We each created our own word search, however; we worked with a partner and Miss Marra saw lots of great teamwork. In Smart Start tomorrow, we are going to ask another group to find the words. We enjoyed our learning and would like to do more word searches to practise reading and writing our words.
Article 13: We have the right to find out things and share what we think with others.
Our new phonics sound in Literacy this week is the “sh” sound. This morning, we had the opportunity to be word detectives to help us spell “sh” words. We worked with our partner to spell “sh” words using the letters written on the sticky notes. We challenged ourselves and some of even used extra letters to extend our words.
We were also very excited to work in randomised groups for the first time. This means we didn’t choose our partner and Miss Marra didn’t choose our partner either. All our names are in a tub, and we picked a name card out. The name on the card was our partner. It was exciting to have a surprise when we found out who we were going to be working with. We were all engaged in our learning and on task. Miss Marra was very proud of us all.
Article 13: We have the right to find out things and share what we think with others.
Lucas was very proud of himself for creating the word “shrimp.” 
