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Category Archives: Learning Stories
Digital Learning Week: Sumdog Contest
P1-7 have been entered to take part in Sumdog’s special Scottish contest to celebrate Education Scotland’s National Digital Learning Week. This runs from 12-18th May and can be played at both home and at school using the Sumdog website or app. All pupils should have their Sumdog log in their homework diary/ book.
The children have to answer 1000 questions and their score is based on accuracy, not speed or winning games. There are also prizes to be won and certificates will be given out at assembly for those children in the top 50 from across Scotland.
Good luck everyone!
Digital Learning Week: Supporting Learning at Home
Sum Dog and Purple Mash are two online resources we have purchased to support learning and teaching in Maths and Language. These resources can be used in school and at home. The PSA have helped us to purchase Purple Mash.
Teachers may set homework using these resources, however if homework has not been set parents can use these resources to support Maths and Language development at home.
Sum Dog
P1-7 have a Sum Dog Reading and Maths account. They can access this account at home by using the log in provided in their homework diary/book.
To access Sum Dog go to: http://www.sumdog.com/
If you have an apple device you can download the Sum Dog app for free.
Purple Mash
P1-7 have a Purple Mash account. They can access this account at home by using the log in provided in their homework diary/book.
To access Purple Mash go to:
https://www.purplemash.com/sch/midcalder-EH53
To find out how to use Purple Mash on your tablet you will find information here: https://www.purplemash.com/#app/documents/purplemash_on_tablets
To find out how to use Purple Mash with iPad apps you will find information here:
https://www.purplemash.com/#app/guides/mashificationguide
Information to support parents/ carers: using-ict-to-support-maths-and-language-updated
#digitaldifference
P2/3 Scary Assembly Preparations Piccies
P2/3’s Scary Assembly on the 12th of May 2017
P2/3 were busy preparing for their Assembly last week. They made some multi-media presentations with the help of Kevin and the Technical Troopers (Ben< Jamie, Myah and Rhuaridh). We made a thrilling music video in the style of Michael Jackson. Our bones were moving in the Skeleton Dance and some of the moves from the Thriller original. We presented facts that we had learned from our Healthy Bodies IDL topic and we put these into our own words. We worked in groups to edit our presentation to match the pictures to the script we had made. here were some of the fascinating facts that we researched:
Jessica found out that your bones grow until you are 30 years old.
Daisy D. – You cannot see your skeleton but it holds your body in shape. Like a giraffe you have 7 bones in your neck.
Naomi – The bones are healthy. They are good. They keep you strong. Your heart beeps. Here is a question: why does your heart beat?
Answer:to pump blood around your body.
Daisy F. – Without bones you would be as wobbly as a jellyfish.
Our key questions that we are learning about are:
1. What are the main organs in my body and how do they function in a healthy body? HWB 1-05a, SCN 1-12a
2. What is a healthy body? How do I look after my body? HWB 1-15a, HWB 1-28a, SCN 1-12a
3. How does the food I eat affect my body? TCH 1-04a, TCH 1-04c, HWB 1-15a
4. What is a healthy mind? How can I look after my mind and who can I look to for support? HWB 1-05a
5. What is the link between the mind and body? HWB 1-05a, HWB 1-15a, HWB 1-28a
Many thanks to Annalise’s Mum and big sister for helping with the stage make-up. The ghouls and skeletons were very scary indeed!
Thank you for everyone who came to our Assembly.
How does your garden grow?
LI: We are learning to explore the life cycle of plants.
We are learning to investigate what helps plants to grow.
SC: I can state the different ways that plants can reproduce.
I can design an investigation to test the effects of fertiliser on plants.
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Last week we kicked off our new topic ‘How does your garden grow?’ and over the last fortnight we have been busy learning all about how plants grow and what might help them grow faster. Last week we looked at what a plant actually needs to grow, they’re not much different from us as they need food, water, air and sunlight. We thought that we could investigate whether fertiliser made any difference to the rate of growth so we planted our own sunflowers, watered half with just water and half with plant food mixed with water. We also decided to see if compost made any difference so we dug up some soil from the garden in the playground and used some that to plant too. It only took a few days for our sunflowers to start growing and we can see a difference in them every day. We will let you know the results of our experiment when they are fully grown. Once our sunflowers are fully grown we are going to plant them in the gardens within the playground.
This week we have been learning to explore similarities and differences between two outdoor areas. The children were split into groups and were each given an area of the playground to explore. Armed with a clipboard and paper and an ipad, the children had to explore what was in their designated area, draw a sketch and take some photographs. Back in the classroom the children mapped their area onto an A3 sheet of paper where they had to replicate their area using the information they had gathered. Each map had to have a key so that we knew what was on their map. The children all worked very hard on their map using all sorts of resources to highlight different areas and they all look amazing. Once the children had created their maps they then had to present their findings to the rest of the class. All of the children’s presentation skills have developed since the beginning of the year and were confident in presenting their findings.
Newsletter
Dear Parents / Carers,
What an exciting but extremely busy term ahead for everyone involved with Mid Calder Primary School.
Primary 7 have begun the countdown for transition to High School and the nursery children have started transition arrangements for moving up to P1. It is an exciting but nervous time for them and I am sure as parents you will experience the same feelings.
Learning about Spring in the Nursery
Follow our learning about Spring by looking at the Sway below.
P2/1 Pirates
Learning Intention:
- We are learning to use books and texts to find and select useful information about the clothes and objects a pirate owns and discuss their purposes.
Success Criteria:
- I can select key information from a text to help me identify and describe the different items of clothing worn by a pirate.
- I can select key information from a text to help me identify and describe the objects owned by a pirate and share my own ideas about their purpose.
- I can use key information to help me label and draw items on a diagram of a pirate.
As part of P2/1’s new IDL topic we have been learning about what a pirate might look like and about key objects they may own.
First, we listened to a selection of pirate stories and we identified and discussed the key vocabulary and information that we would need. Then we invited a few of our class members to come to the front and dress in pirate clothing. They demonstrated how the different objects or equipment would be used and shared their ideas about why a pirate would need or want to use them.
After this, we had a class discussion about other items of clothes a pirate may wear and other objects they may own. We made a chart of our ideas on our class board.
Finally, we used the information we had identified and gathered to help us label parts of a pirate and draw any missing items.
P2/1 Robertson Building Site visit
On Thursday the 30th of April, P2/1 went to visit the Robertson Building Site in Mid Calder as part of their IDL STEM topic for term 3.
The children demonstrated that they were responsible citizens by displaying excellent behaviour and using their road safety knowledge to cross roads sensibly and safely.
On arrival, we entered the meeting room where we met the site manager and some of Roberson Building Site team members. First, they gave us an important safety chat where we discussed the clothing and equipment builders and the children would need to keep them safe on the building site. Then we spoke about some of the things we might see and hear on the building site and any potential hazards that we would have to look out for. The children also got the chance to share their knowledge from their topic and ask their own questions to the experts.
Then, we put on our safety equipment (orange hi-vis vests and hard hats) and set off on our tour around the building site. The class could successfully identify and talk about different building materials and different machines they could see as we walked to look at the foundation stage of building.
After this, we went to see a house that was further on in the building process. We discussed the scaffolding outside, the wooden frame and how it was pieced together, what insulation was and why it is important, the layout of the upstairs and downstairs and finally the wiring and position of the lights.
The children did an excellent job of asking questions and linking their knowledge from our topic to this real-life experience. They could identify different tools and speak about the different types of roles involved in building a house (plumber, electrician, painters etc.).
The class really enjoyed the experience and we would all like to say a huge thank you to the Robertson Homes team and all our adult helpers that came along to support the class in our learning during the visit.
