Category Archives: English & Literacy
Pirates of the Curry Bean – Introduction
Pirates of the Curry Bean
Visitors travelled from across the UK and even Europe, to Mid Calder Primary School this week to view the Primary 6 and 7 production of Pirates of the Curry Bean. The Primary 6 and 7 pupils and staff have worked very hard over the past 6 weeks to pull everything together, it was great to see the pupils taking a lead in everything from acting to singing, lights to dancing, props to prompting … a true team effort from the pupils who were facilitated by their teachers and school staff. It definitely was better than ‘alright on the night’ with the pupils being the true stars of the show! We received lots of lovely feedback from our guests who commented on how it was nice to see the pupils being so involved in the production, the jokes were great, a fantastic show and a it was a real feel-good show.
A big well done to all the pupils, staff and parents for their team effort in making the show such a huge success.
Watch this space for some video clips … coming soon!
P2/1’s Dictionary Escapades!
P2/1 have been very busy learning about alphabetical order and how to to use a dictionary to find out the spelling and meaning of different words.
P1
We are learning about alphabetical order.
I can order letters and words alphabetically.
P2
We are learning how to use a dictionary.
I can find words in a dictionary by their beginning letter.
Our P1’s have been practicing ordering words alphabetically by their beginning letter and we hope to soon be able to do this without support. Our P2’s have used their knowledge of the alphabet to quickly locate the correct section of the dictionary and find the word. Next, we are aiming to apply our skills by using a dictionary to support our spelling and comprehension of words across our learning.
Finlay Fr commented ‘‘You have to look closely for words in a dictionary. I check that I have the correct beginning letter first before I look for the words.”
Ferne said, ”I started by using a smaller dictionary but now I’m using a thick one!”
Emme advised, ”You can use a dictionary to help you spell words. I like them.”
Matthew stated, ”In a dictionary, if you read alongside the word it tells you what it means.”
We have all been very enthusiastic in learning to know and apply our alphabet skills. Well done everyone.
Outdoor Spelling
This week we took our spelling class outdoors. We wrote out our new spelling words and discussed the patterns.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
This week M & M productions visited us to put on a performance of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The pupils enjoyed the performance and will now follow this up in class with a piece of writing around the play.
P5 Mock Election Campaign
What an exciting couple of weeks in P5…not only has there been a National Election – P5 have been learning through a truely interactive approach about the Why and How elections happen.
Learning Outcomes:
- Explore the general election process through role-play
- Understand key terms such as constituencies, candidates, polling stations, political parties, manifestoes, and coalitions
- Consider different areas of policy and set priorities
- Discover different methods of campaigning
- Practice their communication skills by writing and delivering a campaign speech
Success Criteria;
- I can take part in an election campaign
- I understand what a candidate is, where polling takes place and how, is part of a ‘political party’.
- I can help write a manifesto and understand what (priorities) we are including and why.
- I will help develop different methods to campaign for my party and take part in my parities campaign
- I can help organise the ballot process
A visual story of our learning
Term 3 Star Writers
Once upon a time in Primary 4/3…
Learning Intention: We are learning to explore characters using evidence from the text.
Success Criteria:
I can recognise features of a traditional tale.
I can pick and choose the correct words to describe my character.
In P4/3, we have been learning how to best describe characters from the traditional tale of Hansel and Gretel. We read through the tale and discussed the different features in our talking partners. We mentioned features such as the good and bad characters, the setting, problems faced, different objects and traditional phrases used. Working in pairs, we then looked at different adjectives to describe the specific characters in the tale and what words were the best words, the OK words and the worst words and placed them on a target board. Some of us then read some of our chosen adjectives for our character out to the class to see if anyone could guess who we were describing- it was fun!
“I enjoyed putting adjectives on a target board to describe the character of Hansel”- Kiera Brown.
Through the week we then followed this lesson by listening to the characters from the tale and talking about different words we could use instead of ‘said’ to describe how the characters were speaking e.g. “I’m always so hungry”, moaned the stepmother. Individually, we looked at different phrases and picked suitable verbs such as cried, laughed and whispered. Some of us then read out a phrase in a specific manner to see if the class could guess the character and how the character was speaking.
“It was really fun and interesting learning to use different words instead of said”- Cailin McKenna.
Katie Morag visits P2/1
P2/1 were very excited last week when a visitor arrived in class. Her name is Katie Morag McColl and she comes from the Isle of Struay. We have made Katie feel very welcome at school and we have taken her home too. In class, she especially likes to sit beside her new friends Mr Tickles and Ted!
Emme took Katie Morag home to meet her family. She said ”Katie liked meeting my friend who is also called Katie! We went out on my scooter together and I tucked her into bed beside me every night‘.
Through reading, watching, talking and listening we have been enjoying learning all about Katie Morag and her island life. We have learned what an island is and the common features of one. Through learning about the Scottish Isles, we have discovered life on an island is very different from the mainland. We used all our new knowledge to design our own islands which were very creative indeed!
Emma worked with Eilidh to design an island. She said ”We drew a street with a charity shop on it and a play park too. I think this would be on an island”.
A particular book we enjoyed reading was Katie Morag and the Grand Concert. In this, Katie was preparing to perform a song called ‘You Cannae Shove Your Granny off a Bus!’. We also enjoyed preparing and performing our own songs at the P2/1 Grand Concert. With so many talented pupils, keep a look out for their names in the future!
Sophie spoke about her singing performance with Charlotte, ”I felt happy but a little nervous singing to my class. I enjoyed it because it felt like I was at a real concert and I liked doing it with my best friend”.
