Category Archives: Interdisciplinary Learning

Events, Primary 3, STEM 2017, Uncategorized

The Primary 3’s had fun at our Brilliant Baby Gym Assembly!

May 5, 2017 Miss Clark Leave a comment

Last Friday Primary 3 presented an assembly all about our Baby Gym Challenge. We had to work really hard when designing, building and selling our baby gyms so we couldn’t wait to share our learning with everyone.

Ignatius: “I was so excited to go on stage and hold up my ‘nose’ picture!”

Lewis C: “When I was doing the Boss Baby Rap I was really nervous but I enjoyed it!”

Carla: “I enjoyed doing the Boss Baby Rap because I got to do some funny dance moves.”

Ben: “At first I didn’t want to be a Boss Baby. But once I had done it I wasn’t so nervous and enjoyed it after all!”

P3 BABY GYM ASSEMBLY

Anytime Anywhere Learning, Events, Primary 5, Primary 7, Technical Troopers, Technologies

Dishing Out Our Digital Knowledge

May 3, 2017 Miss Sherlow Leave a comment

Today, representatives from Eastertoun Primary visited our school to find out some of the ways that we use digital technologies to enhance our learning. Primary 5B showed our guests how we share our achievements on our iAchieve blog, as well as how we have used some of the Glow tools to support and challenge us across the curriculum. We shared how Bring Your Own Device works in Mid Calder, and also gave them a tour of our class Yammer pages, explaining the different ways in which we have used these.

Next, pupils from P6 and P7 who were involved in the process of MCPS becoming a Bring Your Own Device school shared this journey with our visitors. This offered an excellent opportunity for questions to be asked and answered by pupils from both schools. Our guests also popped into Primary 4B who shared their new knowledge of the language of coding with them.

The visit ended with a chat with some of our Technical Troopers who explained some of their roles and responsibilities and how they have helped to support digital learning across the school.

We hope that our guests found their visit valuable and we look forward to hearing how they progress in their own journey using our new collaborative Yammer page.

Anytime Anywhere Learning, Information for Parents, Technologies

Bring Your Own Device in P4

April 28, 2017 Miss Sherlow Leave a comment

Bring Your Own Device started in Primary 4 on Monday following a parents open session last week. You can find the information shared during this meeting below:

https://www.slideshare.net/midcps/p4-parent-open-afternoon

Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 5, STEM 2017

Mission Accomplished!

April 18, 2017 Miss Sherlow Leave a comment

As part of their IDL context, Kidnapped, P5B have been working hard in their investigation teams to compile, sort and analyse the evidence in the case of the missing Green children. Now, we’re proud to announce that we have solved the mystery! In the lead up to the discovery, we had to take part in a series of missions:

Mission 12: The Hideout
The kidnapper got in contact with Chief Anderson and we were given one hour to meet their demands. We listened to a voice recording of the message the kidnapper left, and although their voice was heavily disguised, we were still able to get some clues. Chief Anderson also gave us a link to a map that the Special Police Squad had put together following their investigations in Wick. We used Google Earth to look at each place closely, and linked it with clues from the phone message. Based on the evidence, we decided to lead the police squad to an abandoned hut in the woods and waited for news.

Mission 13: A Final Clue
We learned that our suspicions were correct and the children were found safe in the abandoned hut- phew! They were discovered along with one final piece of evidence- a bank statement left by the kidnapper. After analysing the final clue, we had our suspicions about Martha Goodwater due to the payment into her account from Save the Wildlife and the purchase of walking boots. But, we pulled together all of the intelligence we had been gathering throughout our investigations, and most of us still believed that this pointed towards Austin Black- the tyre track, the handwriting analysis and his police interview was hard to ignore!

However, a final package containing CCTV footage from Green Manor was delivered, and it was confirmed that Martha was the one who took the children! We’re extremely glad that the Green children are safe and sound, and we hope that the police team manage to catch Martha quickly!

Maya commented, “I really liked the Kidnapped topic. I liked that you had to solve a mystery and I really liked the experiments we did. I did suspect Martha at the end but I thought it was Austin Black or William Baker.”

Ben said, “I really liked the topic but I still think there is a bit more to it. I think it wasn’t just Martha Goodwater, I think all of the suspects were involved. I think they were walking round the other side of the house so they weren’t on the CCTV camera.”

Rebekah added, “I liked learning about what it is like for people being kidnapped and what the police have to do to solve crimes.”

Community, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 1, Technologies

Building Site

April 2, 2017 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

This week, as part of our IDL STEM Topic, Primary 1 went to visit the Robertson Homes Building Site.

We set off from school and walked all the way down to the building site. Although it was a long way, everyone did very well. At last, we saw our destination up ahead, and our excitement grew. On reaching the site, we climbed up into a cabin and gathered in the meeting room where we met some representatives from the site. They were to be our guides for the morning.

First of all, they spoke to us about the kind of things we might expect to see and hear on a building site. They asked us about possible dangers too, and talked about the kind of things we would have to look out for as we walked around. Mrs Smith was very impressed with the answers we gave, and with the questions we asked too!

Next, we put on our orange hi-vis vests and hard hats, and set off to have a look round. We correctly identified a number of different vehicles and machines as we walked over to see the digger digging out some foundations. Then we looked across to see a house that was a little bit further on in the building process. It was surrounded by scaffolding, and we discussed how the scaffolding helped the builders work at higher levels.

Finally, we went inside a house that was almost finished. Here, we learnt about insulation-what it is and why it is important. We also talked about the materials that were being used for different parts of the building. Again, we were able to make lots of connections between our learning in the classroom, and what we could actually see around us.

Looking around, we could see that the skills of plumbers, electricians and painters would all be very important over the next few weeks too.

All too soon, it was time to leave and head back to school. We would like to say a huge thank you to the Robertson Homes staff, who gave us such an interesting and informative tour of the site. Thanks also to the adult helpers who kindly came along to help and encourage us during the visit.

Primary 3, STEM 2017, Uncategorized

The day Baby Ailish and Natalie came to visit Primary 3!

March 31, 2017 Miss Clark Leave a comment

Primary 3 received a letter from Natalie and baby Ailish asking us to design and build a baby gym. We decided to make the Baby Gym Challenge our topic this term.

We have enjoyed working in small design teams to design and build the ultimate baby gym to meet baby Ailishs’. needs. We worked hard to create 4 toys to help develop Ailishs’ sense of touch, smell, hearing and sight.

This week Natalie and baby Ailish came to visit and look at our baby gyms. Here are some pictures that show this lovely visit:

Maths & Numeracy, Sciences, STEM 2017, Technologies

Space Exploration with P4B

March 29, 2017 Miss Prior Leave a comment

This week P4B have been working in their space teams to investigate space travel from specific key dates. We have used our research to start creating a timeline of space travel in the form of a whole class sway and a class timeline book. During this activity we have developed our research, team work and digital technology skills.
We can’t wait to complete our timeline Sway and book after the Easter Holidays.

Community, Events, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 5, STEM 2017

Cracking the case with the Constable

March 28, 2017 Miss Sherlow Leave a comment

Today, Primary 5 had a special visit from Constable Graham McKenzie who gave us an insight into the different roles the police would play in an investigation similar to the one in our IDL context, Kidnapped. He explained different useful ‘intelligence’ or clues that the police would look for at a crime scene, and how they would gather the evidence. He also explained how he and his colleagues might use this to solve a crime and catch a suspect.

Constable McKenzie also gave examples of the different roles he has taken on within the police, and examples of crime scenes he has attended. We also had the opportunity to touch some of the vital equipment an officer requires to keep themselves and others safe. We even got to try some of it on- the body armour was much heavier than we expected it to be!

A big thank you to Constable McKenzie for coming to talk to us and help us with our investigations.

Events, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 5

P5 Trip to Dynamic Earth

March 26, 2017 Miss Sherlow Leave a comment

On Thursday, Primary 5A and Primary 5B took a trip to Dynamic Earth to consolidate our learning about natural disasters. As well as feeling the ground shuddering as a molten lava flow sped towards us as we watched volcanoes throw clouds of ash and gas into the sky, we also had the chance to travel back in time, touch an iceberg and fly above the Polar ice caps. We took part in a workshop where we were able to show off our knowledge of different natural disasters, as well as learn new and interesting facts as we created our own tornadoes, held real moon rocks and tried to construct a building that would withstand an earthquake.

Thank you to our parents helpers for your help throughout- what a fantastic trip!