On Thursday 7th March we celebrated world book day! We came to school in our pyjamas and started our day with the ‘big booky breakfast.’ We ate some toast and read stories to our friends. After break time we got to read together with P4/5, we had lots of fun. We also carried out lots of reading related activities such as making bookmarks and watching bbc’s authors live. To finish  our day some of our parents came into school and we read with them too. We loved sharing and talking about all things books!

In topic this week we were put into cooperative learning groups called ‘Island families’. In our families we used the Ipads to research and find out about traditional Scottish surnames. We then decided on a family surname and in our families used different technology to research and find information about the Isle of Coll. We used different websites to help us find information and explored the island through google maps and images.

On Friday in our family groups we were set a STEM challenge to set up a cup pyramid using string and elastic bands but we were not allowed to directly touch it with our hands. We spoke about the process of construction and that the first solution may not always work so it is important to go back and reflect on what could have been improved. We are going to be working on our challenge on Friday.

On Monday 11th February primary 2/3 showcased what they have learnt so far on Scottish Islands at their assembly. Miss Gill was very proud of the confidence and enthusiasm that all children showed and the children were very proud of their performance too! We have been continuing our topic and have been taking our learning outside to look at our school and local context and compare this to the primary school on the Isle of Coll (where our Katie Morag stories are based on). We used art to draw what we seen when we looked outside of our playground and then used google maps and images to compare what the children on the Isle of Coll primary school might see. Our next steps are to then widen this and compare the features of Craigshill with other Islands around Scotland.

In numeracy we have been looking at fractions. We have been placing fractions on a number line and have also been using fractions to half quantities and numbers.

We are continuing to use a range of strategies in reading to help us when we come across words that we do not know. We have also been looking at making connections between what we are reading and our experiences. In writing we have moved onto persuasive writing and have been looking at different techniques for persuasive writing such as positive words, rhetorical questions and bossy verbs.

In art we have been looking at the work of Steven Brown. We looked at examples of his work and spoke about their features using art vocabulary and discussed our opinions of his work. We then created our own McCoo’s using a range of different colours and lines.

Primary 2/3 have had yet another busy week! On Monday we began our investigation into our new topic, Scottish Islands. Prior to this we all had a discussion as a class about what we thought we already knew about islands, what we wanted to find out and how we could learn it. Some of the most common answers were that children wanted to find out about how islands are formed and about life on an island. Children are also keen to research this information through using technologies as well as atlases and information programmes. We have also been enjoying the Katie Morag stories which tell us all about a little girl who lives on the Isle of Struay. We are going to be sharing some of this information that we have learnt at our assembly on February 11th!

In numeracy we have been looking at telling the time. We have been making our own paper clocks and had a discussion about the different vocabulary associated with time. We also spoke about what we do at different time intervals during the day and the importance of time in our everyday lives.

In literacy we are moving onto the new reading skill of making connections. Making connections while we read enables us to make better sense of what we are reading as we can connect with the text. It also encourages us to draw on our prior knowledge and become more engaged in our reading.

Our first week back in P2/3 began with a discussion about New Year and resolutions. We then set our own resolutions and personal goals for the coming year and have thought about what we could do in order to achieve them. On Friday we also started our learning logs that we will fill in every Friday morning. They encourage us to think about what we have been learning that week and will also help us to keep track of our goals.

In numeracy we have been continuing to think like mathematicians and use mathematical language through our number talks. We have been encouraged to think about whether we agree or disagree with our peers answers and how we can prove that our own is correct. We have also been looking at rounding numbers.

To finish off our Charlie and the Chocolate Factory topic we completed a book review to evaluate and share our opinion of the book. We learnt what the word ”evaluate” meant and spoke about some of the reasons why book reviews are carried out. In writing we looked at a newspaper article and spoke about some of the features a news article contains. We then looked at another article and worked together as a class to create actions for each part of the story to help us remember it.