Author: Miss Harrison

This week, as part of our ‘Relationships’ focus, we have been learning about food chains. We have been exploring different food chains and learning about how animals and plants depend on each other for food. On Tuesday, we learned that each food chain starts with a producer and that the arrows show the flow of energy. We created food chains using the small world animals, stacked cups with different animals to make a food chain, played a Food Chain Challenge game on the Promethean board and drew different examples of food chains.

In writing we learned to write a procedure. We listened to a story called ‘Ronald the Rhino’ and discussed the events and characters in the story. One of the main characters was a python. We explored an example of a food chain featuring a python and for our plan, drew the food chain using arrows to show the energy flow. On Wednesday we used our diagrams to write about our food chain. We used words such as ‘first’, ‘then’, ‘next’ and ‘finally’ to order our writing.

In Numeracy and Mathematics, we have been learning to add coins to 50p. We have been adding with 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p coins and we have been making different money amounts using these coins. Some of us have also been adding coins to £1. This week we also looked at using different ways to make the same money total. On Thursday we completed our work with time and learned to sequence the months of the year. We listened to a song about months of the year and then we put the months of the year in the correct order. In Number Talks, we have been exploring the strategy ‘Making Tens’. Miss Harrison put some beads on a rekenrek and we discussed how many beads we could see and how we could see them. Sometimes there were 6 and 4 beads or 7 and 3 beads and we used our knowledge of number bonds to work out that there were 10 beads. Then Miss Harrison put some more beads on the rekenrek and we made 10 beads first and then worked out how many extra to count on.

This week we revised the sound ‘u-e’. We wrote different ‘u-e’ words on our whiteboards and we self-assessed our work. After each ‘u-e’ word, Miss Harrison told us the correct spelling and we checked our own words and marked our work! We also wrote sentences containing ‘u-e’ words. Some of us were also revising our common words.

In PE this week, we continued to develop our movement skills. We played ‘Shark Attack’ as a warm-up activity and then we rotated round different stations which helped us to develop skills such as throwing, catching, skipping and jumping. Afterwards we had a whole class game of Benchball. Miss Harrison had to play as well to make the teams even! It was an interesting game!

In Art we looked at adding detail to images using different media. We don’t want to say anything else about our art work as it will spoil the surprise! Miss Harrison did say however that we worked very hard with our work and put in a lot of effort!

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that we can share our learning with you again soon and we send lots of love and wishes to everyone during this difficult time.

Take care.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

This week P2B went back in time to the 80s! On Thursday we had a whole school 80s day! We came to school in fancy dress, participated in an 80s fashion show and completed a Jane Fonda workout!

In class, we learned about toys in the 80s. We watched a video about toys in the 80s and then we designed our own 80s toys! We created new pound puppies, rubik’s cubes, care bears, glo worms and transformers. At the end of our lesson, we played some 80s video games such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders. Miss Harrison wasn’t very good at Pac-Man!

During PE on Thursday we played some 80s games. We played Stick in the Mud, Kerby (using marking spots), Wall-y and Please Mr Crocodile.

This week our new sound was ‘o-e’ and we were also revising our common words. We made ‘o-e’ words, played an ‘o-e’ spelling game, played ‘Snap’ to identify and read our common words and we made our common words on our magnetic boards. Some of us have been writing our common words during play.

In writing this week we learned to write an explanation. On Tuesday, we listened to a story called ‘Spot’s Favourite Toy’ and we discussed our own favourite toys. We drew pictures of our favourite toys and on Wednesday, we learned how to write an explanation. In our writing, we explained why our chosen toy was our favourite toy. We used joining words to link our ideas and we put our ideas in a clear order.

In our Short Read lesson we watched a video about how Lego is made. Using what we had learned from the video, we read a text and identified the silly words. We worked together to suggest a sensible word to replace the silly word.

This week we finished our work on subtraction. Using our knowledge of number bonds and different subtraction strategies, we completed two subtraction to 20 assessments. Our scores were so good that we are going to move on to learning about money next week! In Number Talks, we explored different number sentences and explained which strategy we used. For example, when solving 6+6 we used the strategy ‘Doubles’. When completing ‘9+7’ some of us used ‘Counting On’ or ‘Making a Friendly Number’. Miss Harrison has been very impressed with how well we can explain our addition and subtraction strategies.

In Expressive Arts this week, we explored the work of Andy Warhol. We looked at Pop Art and discussed the use of repeated images, repeated patterns and bright colours. Miss Harrison showed us some of his Toy Series paintings. Afterwards, we created our own Pop Art toy images.

In Science with Mrs Begarnie, we were investigating mystery powders by looking at what happened when the powder was added to water. The flour went cloudy, the icing sugar dissolved and the baking powder was foamy.

Thank you very much for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

We have had a busy two weeks in P2B!

Last week we created our own characters for Toy Story 5! We watched a clip of Toy Story 4 and looked at the character ‘Forky’. Using adjectives, we labelled a picture of Forky. Afterwards, we worked with our learning partners to share our ideas for a new toy for the film. We drew and labelled pictures of our new character. On Wednesday last week we used our labelled pictures to write a detailed character description. We used adjectives to describe our characters and we used joining words to link our ideas.

During our IDL focus last week we learned how toys were made in the past. We explored different materials used to make toys and then how toys in the past were made and how they moved. We also compared how toys were made in the past compared to how toys are made in the present. Afterwards we drew pictures of toys which are made of wood, plastic and metal under the correct materials heading.

This week we investigated forces on toys. We watched a video about push and pull forces and discussed how we can make toys change their speed and direction. Afterwards, Miss Harrison put us into groups and we went around the classroom exploring how to make different toys move and work. Using a sheet on our clipboards, we recorded whether the toy worked by a pull force, a push force or both.

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have been concluding our work on subtraction. We have been solving different subtraction facts to 20 and we have been using subtraction vocabulary such as ‘minus’, ‘less than’ and ‘find the difference’. This week we have also been learning to link our addition and subtraction facts. For example, if we know that 9+2=11 then we can use this addition fact to solve 11-2. In Number Talks last week we looked at using ten frames.  We worked out how many dots we could see and explained how we could see them. We used strategies such as ‘doubles’, ‘near doubles’, ‘counting all’ and ‘counting on’. This week we explored dot images. Again, using our Number Talks strategies, we discussed how we saw the dots.

Last week we revised finding half past times on digital clocks. We played a game where we had to match the times to the digital clocks and then we created our own digital clocks showing the correct times. This week we were learning to write o’clock and half past times on an analogue clock. We had to use a ruler to draw on the hour and minute hands. Next week we are going to be using these times and finding one hour after.

Our new sound last week was ‘i-e’. We made ‘i-e’ words on our magnetic boards and we drew and labelled ‘i-e’ pictures.  This week we wrote ‘i-e’ words on our whiteboards and we wrote sentences containing ‘i-e’ words. Some of us were also revising all of our consonant blends.

In PE we have been developing our movement and co-ordination skills. Over the last two weeks, we have been playing different games to help us to keep an eye on an object. We enjoyed playing Dodgeball and Treasure Chest. Both weeks we have also played some team games of Benchball to develop our throwing and catching skills.

Thank you for reading our blog post.

We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

This week we have been learning to write adverts for toys. We watched a Lego advert and discussed what we liked about it. Afterwards, we looked at different posters advertised toys and explored some of their features such as an interesting title, a detailed picture and eye-catching and bright colours. On Tuesday, we drew pictures of our chosen toys on our posters. We also gave our posters a title. On Wednesday we looked at using persuasive language to persuade people to buy our toys. We used adjectives to describe our toys and statements such as ‘The best toy in the world’. Miss Harrison said that she would buy all of our toys!

This week we have been learning about toys in the past. Miss Harrison showed us some photos of a tape cassette, an Etch a Sketch, a VHS player, a Tamagotchi and a disposable camera. With our learning partner, we discussed what we thought each object was used for. We had some interesting answers! Afterwards, we learned about toys from the past. Using Keynote on our iPads, we sorted photos of toys on a timeline. We also created our own Venn diagrams to record toys from the past, toys from the present and toys from both past and present.

Our sounds this week were ‘a-e’ and ‘tw’. We drew our own ‘a-e’ pictures and wrote the words beside the pictures and we wrote sentences containing our common words and ‘a-e’ words. Some of us made ‘tw’ words on our magnetic boards and wrote a sentence containing ‘tw’ words.

In our Short Read lesson this week, we completed a ‘Picture It’ activity. We listened to a story called ‘Robot Rumpus’ and we answered different types of questions about the story. Afterwards, we read a text about a different robot. Using key information from the text, we drew a picture of the robot.

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have been learning subtraction facts for 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.  Some of us were also learning to subtract a two-digit number from a two-digit number. In Number Talks, we are looking at counting on using Rekenreks. We looked at how many beads we could see on the Rekenrek and how we could see them. This week we also revised half past times. We played a game called ‘Stop the Clock’ and matched half past times to analogue clocks.

This week was Scotland Loves Languages week. We learned numbers to 100 in French and on Wednesday morning, Mrs Gordon and two of our Language Ambassadors taught us a game called ‘Poissons pêcheurs’. To revise our numbers, we also played bingo on Thursday afternoon. On Thursday, one of our friends taught us some words in Russian. We learned how to say ‘hello’ and ‘bye’.  This week we also created a poster as a class displaying our favourite words in another language.

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

This week we have started our new IDL focus on the history of Toys. We started by looking at toys in the present so we can make comparisons. Using our iPads, we looked for our favourite toys on Safari. We added our photos to our iPads and then opened them on an app called Puppet Edu. Using Puppet Edu, we recorded ourselves talking about our favourite toys. We enjoyed using digital technology to enhance our learning.

For writing this week we have been creating our own imaginative stories. We read a story called ‘The Toy Shop’ and we discussed the events and the characters in the story. Using our own experiences of toy shops and knowledge of toys, we planned our own imaginative stories and drew pictures of the beginning, middle and end. On Wednesday we used our pictorial plans to write our stories. We worked hard to ensure that we included a character throughout, used connectives to join our ideas and used adjectives to describe our characters. Afterwards we shared our fantastic stories with the rest of the class.

In our Short Read lesson we explored the trailer for the film ‘Toy Story’. We watched the trailer and then we answered different types of questions about the characters and the setting. Afterwards we played ‘Blankety Blank’ and we were able to work together to find the missing words from the trailer.

This week we had a special visit from our P6 pals. They have been creating their own quiz games and they wanted to share these with us. We enjoyed seeing our P6 pals and playing their quiz games – we even gave them constructive feedback about their games!

Our new sound this week was ‘a-e’. We have been looking forward to learning the ‘magic e’ patterns. Using our magnetic boards, we made ‘a-e’ words and on Thursday, we wrote sentences containing ‘a-e’ words. Some of us were also learning the sounds ‘st’ and ‘sw’.

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have been learning subtraction facts for 13, 14 and 15. We have been continuing to discuss different subtraction strategies and we have been using these strategies to solve missing number sums. Some of us have also been learning to subtract a teen number from a two-digit number. This week we also started to learn to tell half past times on digital and analogue clocks. We revised telling o’clock times and then we learned how to identify half past times. At the end of our lesson, we played a game called ‘Clocking In’ on Education City.

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

 

In our Short Read session this week, we read a story called ‘The Reiver Rat’ (The Highway Rat in Scots). We explored the Scots words in the story and then used clues from the text to work out their meaning.

In writing, we learned to describe a character in Scots. We worked together to list adjectives to describe the reiver rat. To help us to plan our writing, we drew detailed pictures of the reiver rat. Using our pictures and a word bank, we used Scots words to write a character description about the reiver rat. We were very resilient and worked very hard on our reiver rat descriptions in Scots.

This week we have continued to explore the work of Steven Brown. We looked at his ‘McThistle’ painting and discussed our thoughts and feelings about his art work. Afterwards, we looked at his ‘Lady McNessie’ painting and explored his use of vibrant colours. We created our own wax resist ‘McNessie’ paintings. If Steven Brown ever needs any help then we would definitely be up to the job!

On Friday we had a Scottish assembly. We have been learning the song ‘Loch Ness Monster’ with Mrs Bain in music and we performed our song at the assembly. Our singing was fantastic!

This week we revised all of our consonant blends and common words. Some of us also learned the ‘sn’ and ‘sp’ sounds. Next week we will begin to look at the ‘magic e’ patterns.

In Numeracy and Mathematics, we have been continuing to explore subtraction. This week we learned to subtract a single digit from a teen number, bridging 10. We used a number line to subtract to 10 (a friendly number) and then we worked out how many we still had to count back to find our answer. This week we also learned subtraction facts for 11 and 12. Some of us have also been learning to subtract numbers to 50.

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

 

 

This week we started our Scottish Focus in P2B. Every class in the school is learning about a Creative Scot and we are learning about the artist, Steven Brown. When we looked at his art work, we discussed how it made us feel and some of us realised that we had his paintings at home! We learned that he uses bright colours in his work. On Wednesday, we used bright oil pastels to create our own McCoo and McZoo pictures. Don’t they look amazing?!

In Literacy this week we learned the sounds ‘st’ and ‘sw’. We created our own sentences containing these sounds and made ‘sw’ words on our magnetic boards. Our common words this week were ‘find’ and ‘kind’. Some of us were also learning the sounds ‘sk’ and ‘sm’.

In reading, we have selected our own reading target. Some of us are using our sounds to read words, some of us are using expression when reading aloud and some of us are using our common words to help us to read. We have been working on our targets when reading aloud in class. In our Short Read lesson this week, we played a game called ‘Blankety Blank’. We listened to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’  and then we looked at a character description for the wolf. Miss Harrison had covered up some of the adjectives. If we were able to fill in the blanks with the same word as the text, we got two points. If we suggested a different word from the text but it still made sense, then we got one point. We enjoyed playing ‘Blankety Blank’!

In French we were learning to say the months of the year. We listened to a song, learned the words for each month and played a game on the Promethean board. In groups, we worked together to match the month in English to the month in French.

In Numeracy and Mathematics, we learned to subtract a single digit from a teen number and twenty. We also learned to subtract a teen number from a teen number and how to subtract a single digit, bridging 10. During Number Talks, we have been explaining which subtraction strategy we have used to each other and we are using these strategies in our numeracy lessons.

In PE we explored balancing in different shapes. We had dice at each mat and when it was our turn, we rolled the dice and balanced on the number of body parts shown on the dice. To make it more challenging, Miss Harrison then gave us a bean bag and we had to form different balances whilst balancing the bean bag!

At last week’s assembly, Mrs Hocknull showed us a video called ‘Birds on a Wire’. Some of the birds weren’t displaying our school values. We discussed ways that we could display our school values in the playground. This week, Mrs Hocknull gave us a little bird each and in their tummies, we wrote ways that we could demonstrate our school values in the playground. These are going to go up in a display in our school.

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

Happy New Year! We have had a busy first week back at school!

This week we have been exploring winter as a season. On Tuesday afternoon, we read a story called ‘Home in the Snow’ and we looked for clues about cold weather in the pictures. Afterwards we discussed different words to describe ‘snow’ and then using these interesting words, we worked with a partner to create a snow acrostic poem. Our poems are going to be displayed in our infant area.

On Wednesday and Thursday we created our own winter landscapes. We looked at some famous paintings of winter landscapes and  discussed how they made us feel. Miss Harrison showed us how to mix paint to create light and dark shades and then we created our own winter backgrounds. On Thursday (once our backgrounds were dry) we explored how to create lines of varying thickness and length and added detail to our paintings. We were very proud of our winter art work!

This week our new sound was ‘tw’. We made ‘tw’ words on our magnetic boards and used our knowledge of our letter blends to solve jumbled ‘tw’ words. Some of us also learned the sounds ‘pl’ and ‘sl’. Our common words this week were ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘why’. We were able to create questions using these common words.

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have started to look at subtraction. At the beginning of the week, we revised our subtraction facts to 10. We also looked at how to solve missing number sums such as ?-2=6 and 9-?=5. To revise our subtraction facts, we played ‘Sten’s Party’ on Education City and discussed subtraction strategies during Number Talks. On Thursday we learned to subtract a single digit from a teens number. We used subtraction facts that we already knew to help us. For example, when calculating 17-4 we used the subtraction fact 7-4. Some of us used cubes and number lines to help us to solve our subtraction sums.

In PE this week we developed our movement and balance skills. We played a game called ‘Zoo Animals’ where we had to move around the hall as different animals! Afterwards we played ‘Frozen’ to develop our balance skills and then we moved around an obstacle course exploring different ways of balancing whilst moving.

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a lovely weekend.

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx