Springfield Primary School and Bonnytoun Nursery School

March 13, 2020March 13, 2020

Array, Array P3A

We began a new topic in numeracy this week as we move onto multiplication. To help us to understand the concept of multiplication we created arrays so we had physical representation of what multiplication actually is. We used lots of resources to make our arrays – Numicon, stones, Lego, counters, to name a few. We also have a some tuff trays set up in the classroom to allow us to practise during our learning through play time. We revisited counting in 2s, 5s and 10s, counting both up and down. We will be practising the 3 and 4 times tables next week. If you would like to do some at home, Education City website would be good for this – www.educationcity.com

We made an array wall display, making the windows on buildings into arrays. We made sure our rows and columns were straight! They look really effective, good job everyone.

We continued with imaginative writing this week. As we enjoyed watching Mr Benn during 80s day, we wrote our own Mr Benn adventures. We chose what he would become and where he would go as he went through the fitting room door. There were lots of great ideas, he became and dog walker, a soldier, a driller on an oil rig, a scientist and a zoo keeper… to name a few! The children are really beginning to check their common words using our word wall display and the word mats they have on their tables, these have improved a lot recently which is great to see. Through imaginative writing our descriptions have become more detailed and a lot of us are using joining words to make our sentences more interesting. Some children are beginning to learn how to use speech marks too.

Our Reflective Reading task was a ‘Blankety Blank’ on a non-fiction text called ‘Wild Weather’ We read the book together and then read extracts taken from the book with words missing. We filled in the missing words and then suggested other words that would fit to help expand our vocabulary. Good collaborative work, reading aloud and discussing vocabulary really helped our learning.

In French we have been learning months of the year, we are really good at it now – ask us to see if we remember 🙂

Have a good weekend everyone. P3A and Mrs Kennedy

March 13, 2020

Well, hello there from P7B!

Where to start with everything that has been going on in P7B over the last two weeks…

After showcasing their outstanding musical theatre talents in the FAME! performances, P7B have been settling back into their classroom routines (while also showing Miss Kennedy the Springfield ropes!) and showcasing a whole range of other talents.

Mysteries have been the name of the game in our Maths learning. In Number Talks, using clues to estimate, justify, challenge and defend answers have been key to solving the ‘Esti-Mysteries’. Meanwhile, multi-step word problems have caused a Maths Curse, with everything in our day becoming a potential Maths problem. Fear not though, P7B know exactly what strategies to use to approach these problems now, not only solving them but demonstrating their understanding by writing their own. They are well on their way to breaking the Maths Curse!

In Literacy, we have been investigating the structure, features and literary devices used to write theatre reviews.

Our week started with a very competitive ‘Blankety Blank’ Short Read. Our ‘Blankety Blank’ champions from this week even earned a Classroom Economy bonus for their efforts (more of that later). We have started to look at the Reading skills needed for a Long Read activity, with a focus on the Read and Understand and Explore Some More skills sections of the Comprehension Compass. In preparation for writing our own theatre critic reviews, we also started to experiment with ‘SPAGHETTI Sweeps’ to analyse texts, looking for features and literary devices to include in our own.

To test our understanding of persuasive literary devices (A.F.O.R.E.S.T), we watched this….

How many persuasive literary devices did you notice?

Our class novel ‘Shadow Jumper’ by J.M. Forster has been inspiration for other areas of our learning too. In Art, we discussed the element of form and used this to create models of the main character, Jack. Our poetry from last week, using the literary device of personification, was also inspired by the main character’s love of ‘shadow jumping’. We also spent some time researching and understanding (and experimenting with) the sport of Parkour.

In Science, we are preparing to submit our entries for the ‘If You Were An Engineer What Would You Do?’ competition. After identifying a problem that we thought could be or needed to be fixed, we explained our ideas using annotated diagrams.

In our Learning Through Play, we had a chance to test our logic, team work and perseverance skills!

And finally, a couple of new additions to P7B, the introduction of ‘First Chapter Friday’ to share and discuss new books that will be added to our class library. And, the first pay day from the Springfield Savers Bank as part of our Classroom Economy. Full employment, saving and spending starts next week!

Phew…..it’s a lot! Now time to relax and enjoy the weekend.
P7B and Miss Kennedy

March 13, 2020

Author Visit and Fraction walls

Our week started off brilliantly with a visit from M.G.Leonard and Sam Sedgman. They told us how they wrote the book – right from the planning when they came up with the idea of a mystery adventure set on a train to how they researched information about trains and then eventually were ready to actually write the book. We were enthralled and some of us bought the book, so have already started to enjoy it. Mrs.Burton has bought the book so we will be reading it as a class very soon.
In Numeracy we have continued with fractions and some of us have made fraction walls so that we can workout equivalent fractions. We are getting good at calculating fractions of numbers and not just the easy ones.
This week we planned and wrote a newspaper report. Our subject was a Viking Raid. They were very good and it certainly appealed to some of us as we could actually write about the violence of some of the Vikings.
In hockey this week, we started to play mini games which we enjoyed. Our skills are really progressing well.
Our short read this week was finding the silly words which we always like to do and we answered questions on a text, using our deductive skills.
At NYCOS we focused on reinforcing the stave and ta rest and then the new pitch La was introduced.
So a busy week for everyone. Have a lovely weekend and keep well.
From P4B and Mrs.Burton

March 13, 2020

P3B go on an adventure with Mr Benn

This week we have been writing an exciting story based around the adventures of Mr Benn to improve our imaginative writing techniques. For this week’s challenge we all had to choose a job for Mr Benn that he had not done before. We had to decide which outfit he would need to wear which would be suitable for the job we had chosen. When Mr Benn changed into his outfit and walked through the door we had to tell the reader all about the adventure he went on. We then had to decide how he would get back to the clothes shop and what object he would bring back to remind him about his amazing adventure. We are looking forward to reading and sharing our stories with each other in class.

In Maths we have been learning about multiplication. We have been using arrays to help us with this and have made fantastic “array houses” showing different multiplication calculations. Using the array we learned for example that 2 x 3 is the same as 3 x 2 as the array pattern still has the same amount of symbols within it. We also used a coat hanger to show this as well by spinning it around to show for example that 4 x 3 is the same as 3 x 4. We then used our new Numicon number resource to make different array patterns and solve the multiplication sums.

In non-number maths, we have been learning how to read timetables for trains and buses. We found this very tricky especially when Mrs Fleming was asking us to calculate how long between stops. This would be a great thing to practise the next time we get a bus or train with an adult.

In Health and Wellbeing, following on from learning where food comes from, we have been learning about the 5 main food groups. Ask us to name them and see if we can remember! Answers at the end of this post 😁. We cut out pictures from food magazines and had to sort them into the correct food groups.

In French, we have started learning common weather phrases. Mrs Fleming will be asking us to describe the weather in French when she is in class.

Mr Ritchie, Mrs Fleming and the Tiggerrific P3B’s

ANSWER – 5 main food groups are: Fruit+Veg, Carbohydrates, Proteins, Dairy and Oils+Spreads.

March 13, 2020March 13, 2020

Primary 5/6 Week – beginning 9th March

Following P5’s obstacle courses last week the class were organised into groups and created their own mazes with building bricks. Using these mazes their task was to code the Sphero’s through from start to finish. They did a great job and every group managed to complete the challenge! Next week we hope to complete the Chariot Challenge!

P5/6 have been loving their digital literacy and this week we focused on creating a Microsoft Team for our class. This is a super learning tool that we can use when completing homework tasks and working collaboratively in class.

In Numeracy this week we started learning about Fractions. We have explored the meaning of the numerator and denominator while beginning to identify equivalent fractions. The class will investigate this further next week.

We are continuing to learn about the Scottish Wars of Independence and this week we were learning about Robert the Bruce and his journey to becoming the King of Scotland.

While the P6’s were enjoying their after show treat the P5’s had fun trying to replicate some Celtic art. We discussed the intricate patterns that can be seen and how we could create our own. It was a challenge!

Have a nice weekend everyone

Primary 5/6

March 13, 2020

Looking after a baby (P2B)

This week we started our ‘Relationships’ trail in P2. We will be learning about the tasks required to look after a baby, talking about how the type of food we need changes as we grow and exploring food chains. To begin our ‘Relationships’ focus, we looked at the tasks involved in looking after a baby. We thought about our own personal experiences and discussed if we had helped to look after a baby before and what we did to help. Afterwards, we learned about the tasks required when looking after a baby and we drew pictures of things a baby needs and things a baby doesn’t need.

In writing we created instructions on how to look after a baby! On Tuesday, we drew four different pictures of tasks involved in looking after a baby to help us to plan our writing. On Wednesday, we looked at creating a list of equipment needed and we learned how to use bullet points to list our ideas. Our challenge was to explain why each item was needed in our instructions. We created fantastic instructions which were clear and we used bullet points to list each item and step.

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have been learning to make money amounts using different coins. We had to tick the coins we needed to make different money amounts and we had to lay out and list the coins to make totals to 20p. Some of us also learned to make money amounts to £1. We played ‘Show Me the Money’ on Education City and ‘Toy Shop Money Game’ on Topmarks to revise our learning. On Thursday, we learned to calculate time durations in hours. Using digital clocks, we learned to find times one hour before with o’clock and half past times. In Number Talks, we have been using the strategies ‘Doubles’ and ‘Near Doubles’ to solve different number sentences.

This week we learned the ‘u-e’ sound. We made ‘u-e’ words on our magnetic boards and we used our blending skills to spot which words were real ‘u-e’ words and which words were nonsense words. Some of us were also revising our common words. We played a common words Snakes and Ladders game and we played Bingo to help us to identify our common words.

This week we have been continuing to explore non-fiction texts. We discussed the difference between fiction and non-fiction and we looked at the contents page, glossary and index. There were also different diagrams which helped us to find information. One of our non-fiction books was about the solar system so we used it alongside EaRL to name and locate each planet.

This week we have been continuing to use EaRL during play to create programs and to learn to correct errors/bugs. We have also been exploring simple electrical components. Some of us have also been busy creating images and models using different materials. There is always so much going on in P2B!

Thank you for reading our blog post. We hope that you have a happy and healthy weekend,

P2B and Miss Harrison xxx

March 13, 2020

A Magic Train Ride in P1B

This week we went on a magic train ride to lots of imaginary lands! We drew pictures of what we could see out of our train window and then we wrote about our adventure. We did this independently so that Mrs Bell could see how we are getting on with sounding out words and writing in sentences. Mrs Bell was so impressed!

Here’s a link to the Magic Train Ride story:

In Numeracy and Maths we worked on finding the difference and giving change using subtraction to help us. For example, if I pay for an item that is 7p with a 10p coin, I can do a subtraction sum to find out the change: 10p-7p = 3p

Here are links to some games to practise giving change:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/toy-shop-money

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=howmuchleftv2

Next week we will be revising the digraphs we have learned so far and continuing to work on finding the difference.

Have a lovely weekend!

Love P1B and Mrs Bell x

March 13, 2020

Primary 6 – w/e 13/3/2020

This week we have explored money. Some of us have been adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing money, using formal methods to record our answers. Others have been solving problems involving money. A few of us have begun to explore the numicon resources we have in school.

We had our after show party yesterday, where we had lots of fun with a silent disco and nerf gun war.

We have created a plan for a story about Lazy Jack, which we will write next week!

In grammar, we were identifying and using adverbials of time.

We have also had an interesting discussion around ‘fake news’ and how to identify what to believe and what not to believe.

We should all now have a user name and password for both Glow and Sumdog. There is a Sumdog SPS challenge that you can be participating in this week!!

In music, we were learning to read music from a stave.

Have a great weekend.

Kind regards

Primary 6 and Mrs Kerr

March 13, 2020

Back to (semi) normality in P7a

After all the rehearsals for FAME, this week we were able to focus more on our class tasks and upcoming activities.

In Literacy we wrote newspaper reports on FAME, these were well written and it was good to read everyone else’s point of view. Then we wrote our draft letters to the STEM Editor as part of the Young Engineers Competition. We also finished our invention designs and annotated diagrams. We are hoping that one of us is picked and our design is made.

In Maths we started to work with equations and replacing numbers with letters. This was tricky to understand at first, however we are now all more confident in what we are doing.

As part of our transition to the Academy we have set up Teams accounts. One account is for both classes to talk to each other, the other is just for P7a and we will be using this for work and ideas as we get ready for the move S1.

On Thursday afternoon we had our treat for doing so well in FAME. The Nerf battles were great and the silent disco (not so silent!) had a great 80’s sound track.

Today we had an assembly were we reminded to be kind, use ICT appropriately and to stay calm and carry on. We are a bit disappointed that skiing has been postponed to April 28th, however we will have better weather now to ski in 🙂

Have a great weekend, hopefully the sun will shine.

P7a and Mrs Newton 🙂

March 13, 2020

Money and Magic ‘e’ in P2A

We have had fun learning a new sound, finding out how to look after a baby and buying toys with money from a toy shop.

Please have a look at what we have been doing in our play based learning this week…

In Health and Wellbeing we have started our Relationships topic for the next couple of weeks. This week we looked at how to look after a baby. We had great discussions about when we have helped look after a baby and what we did. We even carried out a class survey using tally marks to see who had a baby in their family or had little brothers/sisters. We then looked at the basic needs of a baby. Why they cry, why they need love and why they need cared for. We were able to draw and write what a baby needs and doesn’t need. This helped us with our writing this week too, keep reading to find out what we wrote.

In Literacy we have looked at magic ‘e’ and some of us have been revising our common words. We have been learning what ‘u-e’ sounds like with help from Geraldine the Giraffe. We did really well using the magnetic boards to sound out and blend ‘u-e’ words. Some of us even came up with our own such as rule. We also completed a task where we had to find out real and nonsense ‘u-e’ words. Some of these made no sense at all! We liked playing Bingo when revising our common words. We even played common word snakes and ladders which was really fun. Some of us have also been creating different magic ‘e’ words using Lego. In writing we wrote instructions of how to look after a baby. First we read a story about a princess called Polly who was going to be a big sister. We then drew 4 pictures of tasks involved when looking after a baby. We all put lots of effort into our pictures because they would help us with our writing. When we were writing our instructions we used bullet points to show what equipment would be needed and how the equipment helped to look after a baby. Some of us even explained why it is important to do these tasks.

In our Money topic for Numeracy and Mathematics we have continued with adding different amounts of coins within 20p and £1 to make a given total. We played a game called Toy In The Bag where someone from the class closed their eyes, picked a toy from the bag, checked the price tag then the class helped by using coins to pay for the toy. We have really enjoyed the games on the board to help us with our learning. Our favourite one this week is the toy shop money game where we buy lots of different toys. Some of us were even choosing to challenge ourselves and go beyond £1. In Time this week we have been looking at one hour before a given time. We wrote our answers in digital time and some of us even wrote it in analogue time too.

In Science with Mrs Bergarnie we did our last lesson in melting and freezing. We completed a task where we had to organise what freezes and what melts. We used words like solids, water vapour and condensation.

We hope you enjoy the weekend. See you soon!

P2A and Miss Muir 🙂