Category Archives: Learning Stories
Fairtrade Fortnight 2018 at Mid Calder Primary School
Over the last two weeks we have been celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight by taking part in various activities, competitions and experiences. The children have embraced learning about Fairtrade and enjoyed sharing their learning.
Each class was assigned a Fairtrade product to find out about. Have a look at what each class got up to!
Nursery
We have included a picture of our floorbook, comic life and pictures of the children exploring the fairtrade items Mrs Murphy had brought in from the Fair Tradewind shop in Linlithgow. After seeing the worry dolls the children asked if they could make their own worry dolls.
Primary 1: Bananas
P1 learned about Pablo the Banana. He taught the P1’s about what Fairtrade means and also about the journey of the banana. We then designed our board games for the competition.
Primary 2 and 3: Coffee
P2 learned about coffee and other Fairtrade products. They were able to colour and label Fairtrade products from around the world and then draw a Fairtrade product that they have seen or tried.
Primary 3 learned about what Fairtrade is and why it important before researching their Fairtrade product, coffee. We used the netbooks to find out interesting facts and shared them with a partner. As we have been learning about fact and opinions in our reading lessons, we then using the Glow tool Forms to create a fact and opinion quiz about Fairtrade.
Primary 4 and 5: Brazil Nuts
P4 and P5 learned about the Brazil Nut. We found out about the story of the Brazil nuts by:
- Finding out where and how Brazil nuts are grown and gathered
- Looking at the rainforest and the factors needed to grow Brazil nuts
- Talking about Fairtrade and how it can help Brazil nut gatherers to get a better deal
Primary 6: Tea
P6 had a great time looking at a tea planting community in Malawi as part of Fairtrade Fortnight. We learned about how Fairtrade pays their workers fairly and also provides money to benefit the whole community. Pupils worked in groups to decide how money should be spent within a community (e.g. Food, water, healthcare, education etc). They had to decide which needs were most important- a difficult decision!
Primary 6/7: Footballs
Primary 6/7 took part in their own competition to ‘Design a Fairtrade football’. The Fairtrade Junior Leadership Team had a look at the fantastic designs and picked 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! Have a look at some of the designs:
There was lots of other fun things happening around the school too!
Nurture group: Baking with Fairtrade products
The nurture group worked with Mrs Kellner to make a Fairtrade banana loaf. They had lots of fun following the recipe, measuring the ingredients and mixing everything together! A delicious smell filled the corridors of the school and it tasted delicious!
Fairtrade breakfast: Bananas and Chocolate!
This week during breakfast club the children had the opportunity to taste Fairtrade bananas and chocolate. The boys and girls enjoyed dipping their bananas in the rich dark chocolate and it was smiles all round!
Fairtrade competition
The Fairtrade Junior Leadership Team launched a competition to design a Fairtrade board game. Lots of children across the school entered the competition and the JLT had a difficult decision trying to pick a P1-3 and P4-7 winner. They played some of the games to help make their decision. Winners will be announced next week! Have a look at some of the fantastic competition entries!
Visit from Lush Livingston
Lush in Livingston kindly offered to hold an assembly for the school to talk about their fresh handmade cosmetic products and give pupils the opportunity to purchase some of their fantastic range! However, due to the untimely Spring snow the visit has been re-scheduled. We will update you with this visit soon!
Tidy Toilets!!
Our House Captains and Vice Captains were keen to improve the school toilets for everyone and they’ve been working with other members of the school community to improve things and ensure they are a nicer place to be! After discussions at House Meetings, they decided on rotas and rewards and put this in place a couple of weeks ago. After counting up the scores today, they announced that the Upper Girls Toilets and the Infant Boys Toilets had the highest points. They will have ‘fancy’ toilet paper and hand wash in their toilets next week. A very big well done to everyone for trying hard and leaving the toilets as they would like to find them! 
P7 Indoor Curling
As I encounter new challenges and contexts for learning, I
am encouraged and supported to demonstrate my ability to
select, adapt and apply movement skills and strategies,
creatively, accurately and with control.
HWB 2-21a
P1P Get Squeaky Clean!
LI: We are learning about the importance of cleanliness.
SC: I can demonstrate how to wash my hands thoroughly.
I know that I have to wash my hands after touching an animal, and before preparing or eating food.
I can talk about key points in the day when I have to wash my hands.
This week in P1P, we have been getting prepared for our farm trip next week. We discussed the importance of washing our hands after touching animals and before eating or making food to prevent the spreading of germs.
We took part in germ experiment. Miss Prior squeezed glitter paint into our hands and we then had to shake hands, hi 5 and pass a pencil between us to show how easy it is to spread germs. We found that the group that washed their hands straight away didn’t spread any germs. We then made safety posters to let other people know how important it is to wash your hands.
Look at our Outdoor Adventure Sway!
We are continually updating our Sway that shows our outdoor adventures. Please have a look at it here:-
Primary 1 Term 3 Sways
Roman Mosaics in Primary 3
We are learning about Roman mosaics
- I can observe and discuss the different colours, patterns, shapes and symmetry found in Roman tiling/mosaics
- I can create my own tiling/mosaic design in the style of the Romans
- I can include symmetry in my design.
Primary 3 have started their new IDL context, The Rotten Romans, and this week we have been focusing on life in Roman times. We learned about how rich Romans often decorated their homes in mosaics as a sign of wealth. We explored the colours, patterns and shapes they used, as well as how they were created.
We then used digital tools, 2D shapes and squared paper to explore and create our own mosaics. In our maths lesson this week, we have been learning about lines of symmetry and symmetrical patterns. We applied our learning when we were creating our mosaics, making symmetrical patterns in the style of the Romans.
We also applied our knowledge of mosaics and symmetry in writing and spelling this week. In a spelling task, we were challenged to find lines of symmetry in letters and then write words and sentences using only symmetrical letters. In writing, we have been learning how to write a diary entry of a day in the life of a Roman and, if we decided to be a rich Roman, we talked about our beautiful mosaics and making our slaves sand them down until they were smooth for us. We are really enjoying learning about the Rotten Romans.
Nursery are Winter Ready!
Hello boys and girls,
We hope you are having fun with your family and friends on your snow days! Your teachers have been busy in the snow and have even set themselves a bake off challenge today. Look out for photos in our floorbook!
Here are some activities that you might want to do at home:-
- First things first…… ‘Do you wanna build a snowman?’ Give him/her a name, put a photo on your learners journey and tell us about your new friend!
- Use junk to make your snowman a friend indoors.
- Bake some tasty treats and look at the numbers on the recipe. Can you measure the ingredients correctly?
- Go for a number hunt around you house and local area. Where can you see numbers and why are they important? Take some photos and put them on your learners journey.
- Practice writing your numbers in the snow. Can you use your footprints to make dotty patterns?
- We have been using tally marks at nursery. Sort your lego in to colour groups and then record how many of each colour there is using tally marks.
- Look for shapes around the house. Can you make some shapes using sticks, straws, playdough or go outside and make big shapes in the snow.
- Practice writing your name. If an adult writes lots of names on a piece of paper, can you find your own name?
- Read your favourite story. You could choose 2 books and show your family how we vote for our favourites in story time.
- Play a game together – take turns, and look out for dotty patterns on the dice.
- Go on to the RSPB website and find the recipe for making bird cake. This will help the wild birds who might be finding it difficult to find food.
- Make ice balls – fill up balloons with water, hang them from a tree and leave them in the cold for a while. What do you think will happen? Take off the outer balloon and what are you left with?
Most importantly, stay safe and keep warm. We are looking forward to seeing your smiley faces back in nursery soon!
The Nursery Team
Snow Day Suggestions P5
*Esta nevando! – It’s snowing!
Continue to practise the Spanish we have been learning in class.
Greetings:
Hola – hello
Buenos dias – good day
Buenas tardes – good afternoon
Buenas noches – good evening
Que tal? – How are you?
Bien / muy bien – good/very good
Fenominal! – Great!
Asi asi – so-so
Mal – bad
fatal – very bad
Hecha Polvo – I have turned to dust!
Go online and find one of the many ABECEDARIO songs/rhymes to help you practise your Spanish alphabet – try spelling out your name or another family member’s.
- Continue to practise your times tables – challenge yourself to try tables you’re not confident with yet. Get someone to time you and see if you can improve your speed.
- Take some photos of what you get up to in the snow – write a diary bout your activities or make a video.
- Think about the debating skills we have used in class and write a list of ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ for the following – ‘Snow days – good or bad?’
- Write a list of as many snowy/wintery words as you can and practise spelling them using some of the games we do in class, e.g. Kim’s Game, dictionary Race, Hangman
