All posts by Mrs Murray

Transition: P7 CDT lesson

November 20, 2015 Mrs Murray 4 Comments

This week Primary 7 group 1’s had a visit from the high school CDT teacher, Dr Cherry. He was here to help us with the transition to High School and show us some of the skills we would be learning when we get there.

We learned to draw straight lines without using a ruler, for example vertical, horizontal and diagonal. He also taught us a technique on how to draw squares, using only horizontal lines and then turning your paper to a different angle. He gave us a top tip – to use all the joints in our arm when drawing free hand straight lines. This will help us control our lines.

We all look forward to his future visits to primary school and we are especially excited about visiting his workshop at West Calder high school in 3 weeks time. We will keep on practicing our techniques until then!

“I liked drawing the lines free hand!” – Chiaro

“I liked it when he taught us the proper names for light lines and heavy lines” – Michael

“It helped us feel more comfortable and confident about moving up to high school” – Holly

“Dr Cherry made us feel comfortable about the lesson and trying new skills. He also told very funny jokes! – ‘Have you ever heard of the magic tractor? It turned in to a field!’

Primary 7

P7/6 Remembrance Assembly

November 16, 2015 Mrs Murray Leave a comment

Primary 7/6 showed their respects to the men and woman who have lost their lives because of war. They performed their parts confidently and read some of their thoughtful, emotional poems that they had written in class. The other classes learned a lot more about Remembrance Day and why it is still important 100 years on. Well done!

Expressive Arts, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 7

Japanese Cherry Blossoms

October 4, 2015 Mrs Murray 4 Comments

LI: We are learning about Japanese cherry blossoms and why they mean so much to the Japanese culture.

SC: I can discuss why the cherry blossom are important to the Japanese people.

SC: I can create a cherry blossom, using water colour and printing.

The children researched why the cherry blossom trees were so important to the Japanese people.They found that in much of Japan, the flowering cherry trees (which the Japanese call sakura) come into full bloom around the beginning of April. April is the month when the new school year starts for Japanese children; it’s also the month when companies start their new business years and when many new graduates start to work. So the cherry blossoms make people think of new beginnings.

P7/6 commented on how beautiful and bright the cherry blossoms were, so we decided to create our own. The children chose either hot or cold water colours and used these to create the background. Next, paying attention to line thickness, they used black paint to create the sweeping branches. To make the pink blossoms the children chose to either use their finger or use the base of a bottle to print. You can see the different effects on the photos below.

Health & Wellbeing, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 7

Super Sushi!

September 24, 2015 Mrs Murray Leave a comment

LI: We are learning about traditional Japanese foods.

SC: I can discuss the different foods that Japanese people eat

I can listen to and follow instructions on how to make sushi

Today Japan came to P7/6 and so did the smell of tuna!!! We are loving our new topic on Japan. We have already learned about the Japanese flag, Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms. We have researched the natural disasters that are common to Japan and have created an informative poster detailing facts, causes and ways to keep safe. It was now time to learn more about the traditional foods that Japanese people eat and to make some sushi for ourselves!

Our class were set off on a food challenge to find more information about sushi using the netbooks and Mrs Murray called out small groups to the class ‘kitchen’. First, we boiled the sushi rice. It was so stodgy and sticky. We used bamboo sushi mats to place our nori (seaweed sheets) on. We then had to place the rice on 2 thirds of the nori sheet. Our top tip when touching the rice is to always have wet hands, because we found that if our hands were too dry, the rice stuck to them. Next we used our finger to create a thin dent across the middle of the rice, this is where our filling went. We chose tuna and cucumber. Then came the tricky bit……rolling the sushi! We had to be very gentle and delicate with our hands. Once we had our long cylinder shaped sushi roll we moved over to the chopping board and cut it in to smaller pieces. We then added some soy sauce and ate it! Most of us were quite surprised at how much we enjoyed the taste. Some of us didn’t like it at all!

This was an exciting lesson where we had to use lots of different life skills. We had to listen, follow instructions, have the confidence to taste new foods, follow safety rules when using sharp knives, sharing space and utensils and of course we then had to clean up afterwards! A fantastic day, full of lots of fun and learning.

Primary 3

P3 trip to the Transport Museum

June 10, 2015 Mrs Murray 1 Comment

P3 had a fantastic day at the Transport Museum in Glasgow last week. It was an opportunity to see some of the types of transport we had been learning about in class, but also to learn more from the displays and work shop. We loved walking down Main Street and visiting the old shops. We also enjoyed ‘Saddlers’. Because there were so many horses used for transport many years ago, they needed a shop all to themselves. It’s a bit like a petrol station or garage now a days! The subway was very noisy and the rats were everywhere. The Tall Ship was fantastic. The children scrubbed the decks, rang the bell and even jumped in to one of the bunk beds!! We finished off the day with an interesting workshop with Lucy. She showed us a real life penny farthing and told us more about Percy Pilcher and his attempts at flying! What a brilliant day, we would love to go back again soon!

Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 3

P3 Mid Calder Village Walk

May 24, 2015 Mrs Murray Leave a comment

LI: We are learning more about our local community

SC: I can understand the history of Mid Calder

SC: I can identify differences in the local area from then and now

P3 had a lovely, sunny walk to Mid Calder village last week. We have been learning about the history of Mid Calder in class and we were surprised at how much we didn’t know about the history of our local area. The children were excited to take their learning out of the classroom and take a closer look at the buildings we pass every day, but don’t pay much attention to!

Throughout the walk the children were focused, while using their observation skills to find the answers to questions on their clip board. They transferred learning from maths lessons to the outdoors, using tally marks to gather information on shops in the village and they used mental maths to find out how many years older the Black Bull is than the Torphichen Arms.

The best part of the trip was when we reached the Kirk of Calder on the way back to school and we stopped to sketch the building. The children were fascinated by the detail and produced beautiful pieces of art work. The work completed on this trip will be used to create a frame of our work on Mid Calder village and will be displayed near the school on the Gala Day.

Healthy Families, Healthy Children 2015

P3 Tesco Trip

April 30, 2015 Mrs Murray Leave a comment

P3 had a fantastic day at Tesco Bathgate. We were learning more about the journey our food makes before it lands on our plate! We had already completed a lot of work in class about this topic and the guides, Paul and Tracy were very impressed with the children’s knowledge, but this was a super opportunity to enhance our learning with really practical activities. The rainbow activity showed all the colours of fruit and vegetables and the children got the chance to try some that they had never tasted before. Mango, coconut and avocado were new to some and most children enjoyed them, although Paul was ready with his bag just incase!

We then explored the seafood we eat and learned some interesting facts. Did you know that pearls come from oysters and prawns have ten legs? Moving to the delicious smells of the bakery, we watched the machines working hard to make bread rolls and some of the children linked our recent maths topic of measure to the work of the bakers. You will see in the photos that we then got to take on the role of the baker and made our own bread rolls, topping them with tiger paste, poppy seeds, sesame seeds or cheese. This was a really exciting activity, particularly when Tesco dropped off our rolls to school in the afternoon, still warm from the oven. We visited the warehouse, fridge and also made a brief visit in to the freezer that was -23 degrees!

Our final tasting activity was cheese. This wasn’t as popular as the fruit and vegetable tasting, especially when some tried the stilton! The whole morning was very informative and extremely enjoyable. Well done P3!

Expressive Arts

P3 Spring Flowers

April 2, 2015 Mrs Murray Leave a comment

LI: We are learning to create 3D spring tulips using paper folding.

This week the children have been brightening up the P3 area with beautiful and colourful spring flowers. The children created the flower petals by carefully folding the paper three times. They managed this very well and chose lovely colours for their petals to match their vase shape. The children really enjoyed this art lesson and were extremely proud of their art work on display.

Expressive Arts, Primary 3, Religious & Moral Education

P3 Nativity

December 12, 2014 Mrs Murray 1 Comment

LI: We are learning to sing and play music with growing confidence and skill. We are learning to create, choose and accept roles, using movement, expression and voice
SC: I can sing with others, keeping time and in pitch
I can be aware of my audience and perform with confidence
I can use a loud, clear voice when performing

This week P3 have been learning nativity, nativity, nativity! We have been singing the songs and saying our lines with confidence and expression. The stage is ready and Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper, Wise Men, Shepherds and of course all the animals have been learning where to stand, sit or lie down! The narrator is will tell you the Story of Christmas in a beautiful voice with lots of expression and the Angels have been learning to dance! The Travellers are coming to the party and are very excited to share our performance with you next week and look forward to seeing you then.