As we approach the end of another busy week, we are reminded about all of the fun learning that has taken place through the week.

Our week has had a data focus and we have been finding out different ways to collect and display data. We even created human block graphs to show our favourite foods (Mr Reed is obsessed with food). We carried out surveys in class as well as a whole school survey about St. Joseph’s favourite pets. We then used this data to create a block graph. We had to think about the scale we would use as there were lots of responses to take into consideration.

We enjoyed our Futsal session and through the games we played, it was clear that we have learnt lots of new skills.

The alevins have changed lots over the week and are developing markings and fins. They have begun to lose their yolk sack so will soon be needing to be released into the river for the next stage of their life.

We are looking forward to our educational visit to the Loch on Monday and are excited to see Rosie again and learn from her more about life around the loch.

Mr Reed keeps dropping hints about another school trip that will be happening very soon, although he still has not told us exactly where we are going. All we know is that it is somewhere Charlie would like to go!!!

Primary 5

It was ‘Scotland loves languages’ week and Primary 1 did an amazing performance of ‘Frere Jacques’  in French and Polish to the School at assembly.  We are embedding French through our routines and are getting really good at saying the days of the week.  We listened to the story of ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and used playdough and a variety of materials to make a story map.  We also created our own ‘Hansel and Gretel’ house.  We are working on subtraction in maths and are very good at using the numicon to show our understanding.  We used a variety of natural materials to create a ‘Fairy house’  we were very creative.  We used a pointillism technique in art to create Valentine cards for our mums and dads.

As we arrived at school on Monday, we were eager to see how many of our two hundred eggs had hatched into alevins. We couldn’t believe that almost all of them had hatched over the weekend. They are each about 2 cm long and can swim at speed already. We had the opportunity to observe them closely using magnifying glasses and a plastic science dish. Observing them we were able to see their spines and even see their hearts beating. This was amazing; the heart was beating so fast. We used this time to attempt to draw the alevin at this stage of its development, a task we will be doing each week to see the changes week by week.

We have been busy writers this week and have been learning how to include the feelings felt by our characters at specific times in a story. We now have all the skills for our story writing which will be to write our own version of Robinson Crusoe.

During our maths work this week we have been trying to work out the missing digit by using our knowledge of addition and subtraction, this has been tricky but we are proving we are all great mathematicians.

It has been a great few weeks but we are ready for a long weekend, we think that Mr Reed is as well.

Primary 5

Another busy week in Primary 1!  We have been continuing to learn our vowel digraphs, our new sound this week was ee/ea.  We are getting really good at segmenting and blending to read and spell words!  Through our topic on houses and homes we have been learning to describe and sort different materials according to their properties.  In preparation for ‘Scotland loves Languages Week’ we have been singing Frere Jacques in French and in Polish! In Numeracy we have been using picture mats to tell addition stories and we listened to the story ‘What’s New at the Zoo’ an animal addition adventure.

It was a disappointing start to the week as we had hoped to arrive at school to find our fish tank full of little fish swimming about in the tank, but we were reminded that it should take about a week until we see the eggs begin to hatch. We still need to take great care controlling the temperature of the water and need to replace the ice bottles every few hours.

Tuesday was safer internet day 2019 and as a class we spent the day discussing and sharing our ideas about how to keep ourselves safe when using the internet. To show our learning we each created a poster to inform the rest of the school about what we had learnt. Ms Redican created a fantastic display outside our classroom using all of the posters. We hope that they help others know more about internet safety.

On Thursday we spotted that two of the eggs had hatched and it was clear to everyone that the eggs had changed and you could clearly see the shape of the alevin inside the eggs. Mr Reed placed two eggs into a science dish and using magnifying glasses we had a close look at the alevin inside the egg. This was amazing as you could clearly see its spine, eyes and even the outline of its body. We have been able to keep the water temperature constant all week with only the slightest of change, our reading of thermometers has improved significantly.

On Friday morning several more of the eggs had hatched although we did find a few eggs that had died. We understand that this was likely to happen and discussed the purpose of so many eggs being laid at any one time.

We are excited to see how many will have hatched by Monday morning.

Primary 5