Tag: Literacy

Word Detectives in P3B

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.”

P3 Literacy

Something strange was in our mystery box this morning. A few of us tried to guess. Some said a number 2, which was quite a good guess. Others couldn’t find anything. After lots of discussion round what sort of shape it was, Harris worked out it was a question mark. We looked at the shape then tried to draw a few ourselves. We were allowed to draw it on our desks!! Then we thought about words that could be used at the start of a question. We wrote them on our desks too and then discussed them as a class. Next we had to think of questions we could ask, using these words.

Relax and Read in Primary 3B

In P3B, we love our “Mindfulness Moment” after lunch every day. This is our ten minutes of quiet time where we choose to read, draw, use play dough or build a model with construction. We have started taking part in “Relax and Read” once a week during Mindfulness Moment. This is when we find a comfy spot in the classroom with a book to read for enjoyment.


Miss Marra took photos for our reading display and she asked us to explain what we love most about reading. Here are some of our responses:

I love reading because I love to learn new words.

I love reading because it is relaxing and it helps my brain.

I like reading because I like looking at the pictures.

I like reading because I like to learn new facts. I like non-fiction books.


Article 13: We have the right to find out things and share what we think with others.

 

Learning in P 2/1

P1 have been continuing to learn our sounds – i and t. We have been practising to form our letters and numbers (up to 5).
P2 have been continuing to learn about addition and have enjoyed reading our new reading books in groups.

P1 were excited to meet their buddies on Friday and had a great time together in the library.

We all discussed reusing, recycling and reducing rubbish as part of keeping our environment clean and tidy for wildlife and designed posters to show our learning.
We have been thinking about ways to be healthy and drew our favourite healthy meal. Some of our meals looked very tasty!

 

Listening and Talking

At the start of this session classes will be focusing on our Listening rules and will refer to these daily.

Listening and talking skills are essential for good communication. We aim to give learners a wide range of opportunities to listen and talk for different purposes both at school and at home.

Many thanks to all of you who popped in to see us at our recent Meet the Teacher event. You might have picked up a copy of our school Listening and Talking leaflet.

We have included a copy on this post for those that might have missed it.

Listing and Talking Leaflet

 

If you have any concern’s about your child’s speech, please see details below of West Lothian’s Speech and Language service where you can get information about any concerns you might have.

 

Working hard in P3B!

Article 29: We have the right to develop our talents and abilities.

We had a very busy week in Primary 3B last week. We were learning to read and write Fry’s words in Literacy and we also learned to identify nouns and adjectives. We are going to be learning to write descriptions in Writing and we will find lots of nouns and adjectives in descriptive texts.

 

We had a very exciting morning when we found a mystery box in our classroom. It was full of words inside, along with a note asking us to find the other missing words. This sent us on a word hunt around the classroom! We then realised that all the words were nouns. We used these words and a power point to help us write sentences using nouns and adjectives. We worked with a partner and wrote on white boards.

In Numeracy, we have been exploring Place Value and we have been learning to order and sequence numbers to 100. Some of us have been ordering and sequencing three digit numbers to challenge ourselves more. We engage in games, smart board games, white board tasks and pencil tasks to support our learning. We use concrete materials such as cubes, counting sticks and counters to help us if we need them. We also use number squares and we have been developing our confidence using 100 squares to identify the value of a number.

We also take part in Number Talks every day and on Thursday Miss Marra wrote a missing number addition calculation on the board for us to solve. We used concrete materials, number lines or number squares to solve the problem and we enjoyed sharing our strategies.

Spring Sway – Nursery

Get all the latest updates and find out what our youngest learners have enjoying and learning in our Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) setting by clicking on the link below to our ‘Spring Sway’.

Go to this Sway

A Busy Week for P5/4

In P5/4, we have had a very busy week with all our learning. On Thursday, it was World Book Day and we celebrated by starting the day with “Relax and Read.” Our favourite thing about this is choosing where in the classroom we would like to read (as long as we choose a safe place.) As you will see from our photos, we chose some interesting places to enjoy a book.

We have been learning how to see ourselves as readers and we know that we enjoy reading more when we get to choose books we like. One of the highlights of our week was our first visit to the library. Unfortunately, Miss Marra forgot to pictures as she was enjoying it so much too. Caitlin proudly cut the ribbon and we were so excited to enjoy our new space. It was hard to choose from so many comfortable and exciting places to read. The choice of books was amazing too. Some of us even chose to read some nostalgic books from when we were younger. One of our favourites was Stick Man and Elmer. We can’t wait to go back for our next visit.

Another highlight in our learning this week was when we engaged in Drama to clarify our understanding of a text. In class, we have been reading the Harry Potter series as our class novels. We are currently reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We engaged in a “Hot Seat” learning activity in which we chose to be in role as a character from the series and everyone had to ask us questions. Miss Marra modelled our learning first by being “in role” as Draco Malfoy which everyone found hilarious. Our Drama skills were very impressive and we used our knowledge of our chosen character well to engage in this learning activity.

We engage in Mental Maths daily and we have been working hard on using division to solve problems. We are developing our confidence using the “Bus Stop Method” and this is helping us apply our knowledge to word problems.

Our new Maths Topic is “Time.” We started our topic by having a great class discussion about why we need to learn to tell the time. We use time so much in our daily lives! We have been practising some of the different times we already know e.g. o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to. We engage in outdoor Maths and Numeracy every Thursday, and this week we practised telling the time in the playground. Struan did the honours, drawing a large analogue clock with our chalk. We then practised different times with some of us representing the hands. We had to jump to the correct number and we were able to talk about why this was the correct number, using the Numeracy skills we know and our prior knowledge of time. Our next step is to move on to five minute intervals.

Article 29: We have the right to develop our talents and abilities.

 

 

 

Coming soon .. our Library opening event ..and World Book Day!

As part of our Reading Schools Award we are working to promote reading for pleasure and enjoyment.

A growing number of studies show reading can have a major impact on on children and young people’s attainment, self-confidence and well-being.

Next week we will be opening our  long awaited, refurbished library (just in time for World Book Day on Thursday 4th March) We hope everyone will enjoy reading and exploring all the fantastic books we have. Classes will be invited along for an opening event and then will have an allocated time each week to spend in the library.

This is what our library looked like before..

Each pupil has been given a token for World Book Day which can be exchanged at participating retailers (Waterstones book shop in Livingston is one) for a selection of short, free books or used to discount other books by £1.  The tokens can be used from now until 27th March.

NEXT FRIDAY  4th March we will be celebrating World Book Day by dressing up ..or down .. if you wish. We would really love to see some characters from books!

We are looking forward to a fun…and book-filled week ahead!

Article 31 (leisure, play and culture): Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

Scots whae hae!

Over the last few weeks all classes have been working on Scots language activities.

A knowledge and understanding of Scots language and Scottish texts allows children and young people to explore and appreciate Scottish culture. Learning Scots can often improve learners’ engagement in learning and their development of wider literacy skills.

In the nursery I enjoyed reading a story in Scots to the boys and girls. Some  made beaks and built a ‘waa’ for the three ‘Craws’. The Primary ones have made some super displays about ‘The Teeger that Cam for his tea’ and ‘Katie Morag’. Primary 2’s and 3’s have been learning and using lots of Scots words. Primary 4-7 have worked on creating their own Scots word lists and dictionaries. They have even been writing in Scots!

Primary 4-7 also took part in a live author event about Robert Burns with author Victoria Williamson. Primary 7 are really enjoying reading her novel ‘Hag Storm’.

We have been learning Scots poems and 2 pupils from each class were chosen to recite their poem at one of our two Scottish Assemblies. Well done to everyone who read aloud at assembly or in their class. It’s not easy to speak aloud in front of an audience.. and a special mention to Primary 1B for their amazing performance of ‘There was a wee lassie who swallowed a Midgie!’

We are currently working towards our Reading Schools Silver Award and part of our action plan is to celebrate books and special reading events. We now have lots of fabulous displays to demonstrate our learning of Scots language. Fantastic work everyone!

Article 30 I have the right to use my own language and culture.

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