Category Archives: Primary 2
Whizzpopping Digital Readers of P2 and P3
P 3/2 and P3 were watching The BFG this week as part of their digital literacy IDL topic. We thought of themes and questions to form our own research questions about measurement, friendship and different animations about giants.
We enjoyed our treats of popcorn and whizztastic sweets!
P2/1 Plan their New Topic
LI: We are learning to share our ideas to plan our learning
SC: I can share what I already know and what I would like to learn about a subject or stimulus.
SC: I can contribute ideas and suggestions about the types of resources and learning experiences I would like.
This week P2/1 have been planning their new topic, based on the fiction book Cops and Robbers by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. They took turns to choose an object or image from the ‘talking tub’, and discussed what they already knew about each object. For example, Rose told us that her dad is a police officer and even brought in his handcuffs and an old fashioned truncheon. She explained how and when these might be used by police officers. Sharing their prior learning helped them to sort and link each object on a 3D mind map. The children recorded some of their thoughts on strips of paper, and placed these where they thought was appropriate on the 3D mind map. We discovered some very interesting things from and about each other!
The children then discussed and decided lots of different things they would like to learn more about, and how they would like to learn them. They added black pen drawings of their ideas to the 3D mind map too. As well as exploring the story and its characters and plot in more detail, they decided that they would like to learn more about the work of police officers and how they help to look after us. They agreed how they would like their small world and role play areas to be set up, and also decided some other resources they would like to find or make. For example, they would like the role play area to be set up as a police station, with a desk, telephone, maps and wanted posters, police hats and uniforms and handcuffs.
Everyone is excited to get started!
Linhouse PJ Party!
Congratulations to Linhouse who won the House Cup in Term 1.
The pupils and staff of Linhouse joined together for a PJ party today organised by Jamie and Freya. The party included corners, games, dancing and lots of yummy food. A big well done to the house captain, vice captain and all the Primary 7s who helped to organise and run the party.
Well done Linhouse!
Halloween Discos
In Thursday evening the PSA organised our annual Halloween Discos. A big thank you to everyone who supported this event and to the parents and staff who helped out on the night.
Authors Live
Primary 1 – 3 logged in the BBC and Scottish Book Trust Authors Live event today with the author Tracey Corderoy and illustrator Steven Lenton from the Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam books. We even had the opportunity to draw our very own Slippery Sam’s and we got very excited when they mentioned Mid Calder Primary live at the event.
This is part of our whole school focus on reading.
You can watch the event again by clicking here.
P2/1 Almondell and Calderwood Country Park Trip
Yesterday Primary 2/1 went to Almondell and Calderwood Country Park to discover if it would make a suitable home for Buddy Bear. It was a fantastic opportunity for us to apply and extend our learning about living things.
In the morning, we worked in groups to build shelters out of natural materials collected in the woodlands. On the way we looked for lots of things which Buddy Bear could use to survive, including examples of food and water. Some Primary 2 pupils also spotted parts of woodland food chains, like a caterpillar munching on a leaf. After lunch, the children also had the opportunity to play together the play park. The Rangers then led us on a nature trail, where we collected and compared different shapes of leaves, spotted a bat box and mole hills, and learned all about squirrels.
Here’s what some of the children had to say about what they learned:
“I learned to build shelters. You have to have a tree that’s got branches on it. You put sticks on the branch and make it into a triangle and then you put leaves on it. Then you have to test it out.” Grace
“My favourie part was when we were trying to catch leaves falling out of the tree.” Emily
“We learned about squirrels. They look behind them when they are digging to bury their nuts to see if there are any other squirrels. Sometimes they just pretend to dig the hole and put the nuts in.” Amber
“My favourite part was hiding the squirrel food and then finding them.” Cayla
“My favourite part was playing in the play park.” Finlay
And here are lots of pictures of our day:
Thank you very much to all the Rangers and Parent Helpers for making the trip so valuable!
October Newsletter
Dear Parent/Carer
Where has a full term gone?
Throughout the school the children have been learning about many different topics and the classrooms are looking bright and inviting. Some children have been experiencing outdoor learning this term and the children were very excited when they came back to explain what they had been doing and what they had seen. It is great that new opportunities arise which keep the children enthusiastic about their learning and give them ownership of how to take the learning experience forward. It also gives them the opportunity to explore different ways of learning; sometimes the classroom is not always the best place to enthuse children. I would like to thank the parents who helped on these trips because without helpers these outings could not go ahead. If you are a parent/carer with a few extra hours and feel you could offer help please call at the office and complete a PVG form and we could add you to our list of helpers.
We are almost at a full complement of staff and following very recent interviews we, hopefully, will have a new teacher starting soon. This will be after all West Lothian Council checks are carried out and when they can be released form their own school. This will give class teachers a regular professional dialogue opportunity through time out of class with our support for learning also back to a full balance of hours.
I hope everyone has a lovely break and I look forward to seeing all the children back on Tuesday 25th October 2016
Mary McKenzie
P2/1 Money Week
During this year’s Money Week the P2s have been revisiting recognising all of the coins and notes, and making totals within 20p. The P1s have also been learning to sort and recognise different coins. As well as conting 1p coins to pay for items in play situations, they are also beginning to make totals using 1p, 2p and 5p coins.
P2/3 Forest Foragers
Primary 2 and 3 Forage in the Forest 28th September 2016
The walk was brilliant – it is amazing how much more incidental learning happens when you get outdoors. We saw birds migrating, found cep boletus and examined the parts of the fungi, created journey sticks and transient artworks, recorded interesting finds on talking tins and i-pads, and gathered data from layers of the forest as tally marks. Some tasted brambles for the first time! On our next adventure this week we gathered rosehips to make a healthy syrup.
