The Kirkhill Chatter

We have had another busy week in P3 and have been working so hard.  In literacy we have been continuing to look at adverbs.  We have learnt that adverbs are the words that describe an action word and can be used to make our writing more interesting.  We wrote fantastic poems using adverbs and Miss Stevens was so impressed with the brilliant adverbs we used.

In Maths we have been looking at addition and thinking about the different strategies we can use to help us.  We have been putting our rounding skills to use for the addition of numbers with a 9 or 1 at the end.  We found that if you round the number to the nearest 10 and then either add 1 or take away 1 we can find the correct answer a lot quicker.

In our France topic, we explored the work of the famous French artist George Seurat.  We discovered that he created his pictures using small dots of pure colour.  The coloured dots would then blend optically to create different colours.  E.g.  dots of blue and yellow would look green to the eye.  We then put this knowledge into action by creating our own works of art using Seurat’s technique of pointillism.

Nativity practice is in full swing and P3 have been doing a brilliant job as the choir.  Letters have been sent home with regards to costumes for the choir.  We ask that if the children have any Christmas jumpers, clothing or accessories, that these can be brought into school for dress rehearsals and the performances.  These can be brought in a clearly labelled bag with the child’s name and stored in school.  Miss Stevens will have some spare accessories if required.

Book week starts on Monday and we have lots of fun activities planned! On Tuesday there will be a “swap shop” in which the children bring an old book from home and swap it for a different one.  Books can be brought in on Monday or Tuesday.  We will also have some visitors coming in to read to us and Dianne from the library is coming to speak to us.  On Thursday there will be the “big bedtime read” so don’t forget to wear your pyjamas to school and bring a cuddly toy if you wish.

This week P4 have managed to pack a lot of learning into 5 days!

On Monday, we had our session with Miss Mulholland from NYCoS (National Youth Choir of Scotland).  We have been working in groups to come up with our own rhythms and this week we decided on the pitch for each note.  We use the pitches la, so and me.  We have learned where these come on the stave in relation to each other, so were able to write the notes on the stave.  We are very proud of ourselves for writing our own music!

In maths, we are continuing to work on multiplication.  We have looked at the vocabulary of multiplication – including times, lots of, groups of, multiply.  We then looked at different ways we can represent multiplication visually – including arrays and number lines.  We are able to show and explain that it doesn’t matter which way round the numbers come in a multiplication problem, and we are now using this to help us solve problems!  For example, some of us are not sure of 5 x 8 as we haven’t learned our 8 times table – but we all know our 5 times tables so we can turn it round to 8 x 5 which we find easier!  We also looked at some problem solving this week, involving patterns and looking for a rule.  We found it quite tricky!

In literacy, we are continuing to develop our knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns to help us become successful and independent spellers.  We will continue to work on this and will try to use what we have learned in all our work.  In reading, we are using Reflective Reading tasks such as Spot the Silly Word and Blankety Blank.  We found Blankety Blank – where we have to work out the missing word in a text – quite tricky at first but we are getting more confident with practice.  We really like that you can get extra points for suggesting extra answers!  We also worked on a Task Mat for our class novel, Really Weird Removals.Com – where our favourite task was ‘Create Something Great’ as we got to draw and write about a new creature for the RWR to work with.  In grammar we learned about prepositions, and worked in groups to make preposition dice to help us create some fun sentences.  We also used prepositions in our writing this week, to help us develop our setting descriptions.  We are using the short film called ‘Marshmallows’ to help inspire our writing and Miss Thomson is very impressed with our work on this so far.

In topic, we are working in groups to create interactive posters to share our learning about Spain.  We think it sounds like a very interesting country and would love to visit some of the festivals – including La Tomatina!  The food also looks delicious!

To finish off a busy week, we attended a cluster Benchball Festival at Broxburn Academy.  We played against teams from other primary schools and had a fantastic time.  Miss Thomson was very proud of our effort, sportsmanship and behaviour at the festival.  Well done, P4 for representing our school so well!

Next week, it’s Book Week!  We have lots of activities to look forward to including our Book Swap Shop (please bring in a book you no longer need/want and swap it for a new one!), Aidan from BUSC will visit and tell us a story, a visit to Strathbrock Library, The Big Bedtime Read and Fairytale Friday.  The ‘Big Bedtime Read’ will be on Thursday and children are invited to wear PJs/Onesies to school and bring a cushion/blanket/teddy to cuddle up with to read – don’t forget your book!  However, as our trip to Strathbrock Library is also time-tabled for Thursday it’s important that everyone wears suitable shoes and coats for the walk!