Tag: Social Studies

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P5 Weekly Blog

Here’s a summary of our slightly shorter week than usual…

Literacy and English

This week in our shared reading of Holes, Stanley Yelnats has made his escape from Camp Green Lake. He stole the water truck before ironically crashing it into one of the holes he had dug. As he struggled through the desert he has been reunited with Zero in the upturned shipwreck of Mary Lou. We’ll find out next week whether they make it to God’s Thumb or not…

In comprehension, we tackled varied questions based on our reading. Mr Logan has been impressed with the improvement in our responses to these. We have been providing evidence from the text to further explain our point and give additional detail where possible.

Our writing this week has been to apply the features of a newspaper article. We were writing our final drafts of an article about the life of outlaw Kissin’ Kate Barlow from Texas, USA. Next week we will be creating wanted posters

Numeracy and Maths

In Numeracy and Maths we have been using formulae to find the area and volume of 2D and 3D shapes. We found that the perimeter is the total distance around the outside of a shape and area is the space inside a shape. We had to show our units of measurement, formula used and all working to evidence our strategies and thinking.

To demonstrate our learning of volume we made mocktails using a recipe sheet. Have a look at the pictures of this below!

Learning Across the Curriculum

Art and Design – Our learning this week has been about an American artist called Keith Haring. He creates blob characters that move in different ways along with basic symbols. This ties in with our Science work around the human body. Bold colours are used to create contrast along with bold outlines to make things stand out. We will be completing these next and displaying our work in class.

Science – “We were building electrical circuits with Mrs Doran. We were then shown an example and started planning how to build an electrical game for P1s that contained questions, answers, titles, wires, a bulb, buzzer and motor. We had to describe what theme we wanted. My group decided on an animal quiz.” (Sarah)

P.E – “In futsal we warmed-up by playing a game of handball in teams of 6. We did this to speed up our passing, get into space, help our teammates and communicate. Then we got split into teams and given a number from 1-15. When Neil called a group of numbers you would plat against the other team to score first. In boccia, we started off by learning the rules and playing a game to warm-up. There were three different hoops and each was worth different points. We then played a proper game and were aiming for the white jack ball. Whoever got closest earned points for their team, either red or blue.” (Sarah)

Social Studies – Our work as Dr Robert Know continued this week as we studied the respiratory system of our bodies. The heart and lungs are responsible for this and we found out the journey that oxygen takes as we inhale before it is used by the body. As we exhale, we get rid of a waste product called carbon dioxide. We have been putting together Burke and Hare timelines during Social Studies this week. We researched their crimes and placed these chronologically on our design. Whilst researching, we found that some dates were unknown such as William Hare’s date of birth.

Spanish – This week we had a visit from Jessica, our language ambassador from Linlithgow Academy. She worked with small groups to consolidate our nunbers from 1-30. Next week she will be teaching us about colours in Spanish.

Coming Up

  • 14.2.20 – February holiday
  • 17.2.20 – February holiday
  • 18.2.20 – February holiday
  • 21.2.20 – Achieving Assembly
  • 4.3.20 – Reflective Reading information evening (7-8pm)
  • 4.3.20 – School Show (1)
  • 5.3.20 – School Show (2)
  • 5.3.20 – World Book Day
  • 6.3.20 – BEAR reading event (am)
  • 9.3.20 – Author visiting school (P4-6)
  • 10.3.20 – 80s Dress Down Day for Fame
  • 11.3.20 – Primary Dance Competition (selected pupils)
  • 13.3.20 – P5 Class Assembly (Sport Relief)
  • 25.3.20 – Parents Evening (1)
  • 26.3.20 – Parents Evening (2)
  • 3.4.20 – Easter Service at St Michael’s Church (am)

Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Written by Mr Logan, Sarah and P5

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P7a Weekly Blog

What a busy week in P7a, gone with a flash…

Numeracy and Mathematics

We have been further exploring concepts of Shape, Position and Movement this week in Numeracy and Mathematics, with a particular focus on both symmetry and 3D shape. At the beginning of the week, we took some time to consolidate our existing knowledge of symmetry by identifying both single and multiple lines of symmetry across different axes. We understand that ‘perfect symmetry’ is only achieved if both sides (or quadrants) are mirrored or reflected to create two sides that are exactly the same. After doing so, we created our own symmetrical designs across both a horizontal and vertical axis. Alongside this, Pythagoras group were working on using angles of elevation and depression to create scaled drawings. The conversion from the scales provided was tricky and we were surprised at just how precise we had to be when measuring  both angles and lengths. To end the week, we were presented with a 3D shape design challenge. Mr. Logan asked us to design a new kitchen and produce a scaled version of this using the nets of 3D shapes. The appliances, storage and additional features had to match his exact specifications. We did an excellent job for him and you can see some pictures of these below!

Literacy and English

We’ve continued reading Goodnight Mr. Tom this week and used this context when learning about adverbials and modal verbs. These can be used to assess the likelihood of something happening and allowed us to rate the probability of our predictions transpiring within the text. An example of this would be; Willie’s Mother probably won’t bother to write him many letters. Probably is an adverbial and won’t is a modal verb. This is something we’ve probably always used within our own writing, however, we weren’t actually aware of what this sort of ‘likely language’ is referred to as.

In writing this week, we created explanation texts to convey information to a reader and explain a process. We all drew detailed, annotated diagrams of a ‘teacher pleasing’ machine that would make the lives of Mr. Logan and Mrs. Matos easier. Following on from this, we used visual organisers to plan for our writing with a clear structure before giving a detailed, step-by-step account of what our design actually does. Coffee on draught and a feature that marks all of our work instantly? Mr. Logan is sold, where can he purchase one?!

Mr. Logan has been particularly impressed with the quality of questions posed to our visitors in class and the higher order discussions which have been taking place around our shared reading of Goodnight Mr. Tom. We have worked hard throughout the year to articulate our ideas and contributions clearly and involve ourselves more actively in class questioning and discussions.

Health and Wellbeing

Both our footballers and netball team were in action this week with league meetings taking place against other cluster schools.

On Monday, the netball teams played in their first competitive fixtures of the year and were a pleasure to watch. Springfield 1 sit top of the league currently after winning every game, and Springfield 2 lie in joint 3rd place after showing real grit, determination and team spirit. Well done to all concerned, it was an absolute joy to see you all excelling in these games and proudly representing the school! Your training and hard work has paid off; thank you to Mrs. Matos and Miss Harrison for leading this.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the football teams also performed well in our second league meeting of the year. We have a mix of boys and girls from both P6 and P7 playing and there was a significant improvement in their play from 4 weeks ago. Mr. Logan was impressed with the fluid, passing football, creative flair and willingness to win in every match against some strong opponents. Again, well done to all of you and thank you for being such assets to our school.

Learning Across the Curriculum

We’re beginning to get excited for P7 school camp at Ford Castle and heard more at this week’s information evening. More information is available on their website (https://www.ford-castle.co.uk/) if anyone would like to see more of what we’ll be getting up to! Here’s the link for anyone who missed the presentation:

https://glowscotland-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/wlewan_logan_glow_sch_uk/EbTMoOYvrXRMqYnxIsjpRSEBA_90ST3AB01TdzUEeWvIcQ?e=1UMSah

In Social Studies this week we had Mrs. Manlove, Paul’s Mum, in to speak to us about some members of their family who survived The Holocaust and the ways in which these Jewish people were persecuted because of their race. It was a fascinating yet horrifying insight into how people were treated by both Germans and the British during this era.

As part of our Skills for Learning, Life and Work programme this week we have been visited by Mrs. Guest (a dietitian), Mrs. Burgess (a Secondary Teacher at Linlithgow Academy), Professor Manlove and Sofiat (University of Glasgow – Computer Sciences and Maths) and John MacCartney (GE Power). Thank you to all of you for agreeing to visit us!

Coming Up…

  • 1.4.19 – After school football training from 3.15-4.15pm outdoors
  • 2.4.19 – P7a pupils (x4) to St Michael’s Day Care Centre
  • 3.4.19 – Linlithgow Academy blazer fitting (optional purchase) at 10.45am
  • 3.4.19 – P7a park visit as House Treat for all reaching 1,000 Springs
  • 3.4.19 – Parents Evening from 4.30-7.30pm
  • 4.4.19 – Parents Evening from 3.30-6.30pm
  • 5.4.19 – End of term 3, Easter Holidays begin

One week to go… Keep up the great work P7a, I’m incredibly proud of you all!

P7a and Mr. Logan

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P7a Weekly Blog

Numeracy and Mathematics

Our learning this week has progressed from angles to compass points before rounding off the week with coordinates. We have been reading and plotting points in a single quadrant which we discovered is called a Cartesian grid system, based on the theories and work of mathematician René Descartes. It was important to remember to mark our x and y axes with an evenly distributed scale, label them and plot our points precisely. The line where the two lines meet is called the origin (0,0) and a point will never be named O to avoid confusion. We extended our learning to reading and plotting points in four quadrants using negative coordinates before reflecting across both the x and y axes.

Literacy and English

The two reading techniques we have explored this week are pathetic fallacy and dramatic irony. We found that dramatic irony is when the reader of a text is aware of something that the character isn’t. For example, in Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, we used context clues to infer that Bruno should not enter the concentration camp but he was naive as to the dangers that this entailed. We found that pathetic fallacy is when the author reflect human emotions and the mood through inanimate objects, such as the weather. In the penultimate and final chapter of the novel, John Boyne builds tension and atmosphere through persistent heavy rain and a storm approaching.

In writing this week, we have been compiling book reviews of Boy in the Striped Pyjamas that incorporate persuasive techniques and include the main features of this genre of writing. We used questions at the beginning to hook the reader and ensured there was a short summary of events within our initial paragraph. Without giving away the ending, we described the plot and main characters through the use of powerful verbs and adjectives. To conclude, we provided the reader with our personal opinion on the text and gave examples of what we had particularly enjoyed. I think we’d all agree that Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is well worth a read for older children and adults alike!

Health and Wellbeing

In P.E this week we have been developing the accuracy of our slingshot and underarm throw within dodgeball whilst incorporating some thinking skills through Better Movers and Thinkers work. We played in 1v1 situations to strike a central target using both our stronger and weaker arm to throw before moving up or down the league depending on our success. Whilst exchanging dodgeballs we had to ensure that both our feet were off the ground as we received the ball. This led to some interesting methods of catching, including sitting on the ground with our feet up to do so!

The Sports Committee were defining ‘achievement’ this week within a sporting context and coming up with examples of what this may look like. For example, Ellie has achieved through leading her peers, Callum achieved by showing bravery and courage to try a new discipline within fencing and Sarah achieved by persisting for over a year to master a move in gymnastics. We collated our ideas on the board and came up with a ‘recipe for success and achievement in sport’ at Springfield Primary School. This will be displayed in our gym hall in the coming weeks.

Learning Across the Curriculum

Here are some photos from our learning across the curriculum this week, including STEM and Skills for Learning, Life and Work…

Coming Up…

Here are important upcoming dates for the P7 diaries…

  • 11.3.19 – Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood lessons begin in Health and Wellbeing
  • 12.3.19 – Grant Armstrong and Scott Brown visiting P7 for S1 transition talk
  • 12.3.19 – Deborah Paton (Sustrans) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 12.3.19 – Jennie King (NHS – Nurse) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 12.3.19 – P7a pupils to St. Michael’s Day Care Centre (x4)
  • 13.3.19 – Scottish Opera performance from 2.15-3.00pm (1 x guest per child)
  • 14.3.19 – P7 Information Evening for children, parents and carers at Linlithgow Academy
  • 15.3.19 – Natalie Boyle (Eye Surgeon) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 19.3.19 – Richard Vereker (Rope Access Engineer) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 20.3.19 – Denise Schofield (Kilt Maker) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 21.3.19 – Tom Robison visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 22.3.19 – Pupil Voice Committee meetings

Have a great weekend everyone!

P7a and Mr. Logan

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P7a Weekly Blog

What a busy week in P7a! Here’s what’s been going on…

Numeracy and Mathematics

Our learning this week has allowed us to extend our knowledge of angles. We started on Monday by recapping on our prior knowledge of angle types and identified examples of these in school, the playground and the wider built environment. These were acute, right angles, obtuse, straight lines, reflex and complete turns. Following on from this, we were able to measure and draw angles of varied sizes using a protractor. Angles can be named using the letters representing the arms (lines) and vertex (where the lines meet). The vertex must always represent the middle letter, e.g. < ABC where B is the vertex. We have also been introduced to complementary, supplementary and vertically opposite angles. Complementary angles add up to 90°, supplementary to 180° and vertically opposite angles are always the same.

Literacy and English

Yesterday, we finished reading Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which has been our shared reading text over the past few weeks. We discussed different symbols within the text and the themes that they represent. For example, Ethan commented on the fact that the striped pajamas symbolised the persecution and dehumanisation of Jewish people. A fantastic and worthy contribution! There were a number of context clues within the final chapters which we used to infer what was going to happen. We found the ending to the story incredibly powerful and rather upsetting. Although it was hard to listen to, we all agreed that the key learning point to take from the story relates closely to the final line; “Of course, all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age”. Always be kind to others and treat people fairly. Race, religion, skin colour, gender, physical appearance and sexual orientation are irrelevant. We are all human beings, so celebrate diversity and allow equality to prevail. On Thursday, Miss Baillie and Mr. Ritchie visited class to see what a writing lesson looks like in P7a. We were writing letters from the perspective of a child evacuee in WWII whilst attempting to portray their feelings and emotions during this traumatic experience. Finley was chosen as our Star Writer for February and we’re incredibly proud of him. What a great addition he has been to our class and school!

Health and Wellbeing

Our football season kicked off on Tuesday at Xcite, with 30 of our footballers in action. Mr. Logan was incredibly impressed with the positive attitude, enthusiasm, sense of fair play and skill level demonstrated by all children. He’s incredibly confident that it will be another successful year for our football teams, as they follow in the footsteps of last year’s trophy winners. Thank you to Miss Baillie, Mrs. Tomczynski and our former pupil Robbie Tomczynski who assisted with the coaching on Tuesday afternoon. We couldn’t have managed without them!

In P.E this week, we were continuing to develop our skills in dodgeball before applying these in different match adaptations. Below you can see some of us practising our throwing and catching. In between each throw, we had to create a finger-tap sequence (our fingers were numbered 1 to 4) before catching the ball. As we improved our ability to do so, we added in 5th and 6th numbers to our sequence before sharing these combinations with a learning partner. In game situations, we developed the accuracy of our throw by not only trying to eliminate opponents but also striking targets on our opponents’ side of the court. Next week we aim to further improve our peripheral vision, spatial awareness and positioning.

Learning Across the Curriculum

As part of the Developing the Young Workforce initiative (DYW) our Skills for Learning, Life and Work programme continued this week with four more visitors in class. We welcomed in Marlous Peterse (a Theatre Manager), Ben Johnson (an aircraft engineer), Joe and Claire from Sygenta (agrochemicals) and Iain Fyfe (volunteer in school, retired HR Manager and ex-professional referee). These visits have been a fantastic learning experience, allowing us to extend our knowledge of the variety of careers, occupations, business and workplaces out there. The important message this week was not to assume that everyone leaves school, goes to college or university then finds a job in that field. Our visitors alluded to the fact that everyone’s journey into work takes a different route and there really is no right or wrong way to get there. Find something which is suited to your unique skill set and make sure you’re passionate about it! We look forward to hearing from more visitors next week including a Procurator Fiscal, Defense Lawyer and Policewoman.

Coming Up…

Here are important upcoming dates for the P7 diaries…

  • 4.3.19 – Deborah Demick (Procurator Fiscal) and Neil Hay (Defense Lawyer) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 4.3.19 – After school football outdoors from 3.15-4.15pm
  • 4.3.19 – Football kit to be returned please
  • 5.3.19 – Scottish Opera workshop (all day)
  • 6.3.19 – Claire MacPherson (Police Scotland) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 7.3.19 – P6 Fairtrade Bake Sale
  • 8.3.19 – World Book Day assembly
  • 8.3.19 – Pupil Voice Committee meetings
  • 11.3.19 – Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood lessons begin in Health and Wellbeing
  • 11.3.19 – Fidelma Guest (Dietician) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 12.3.19 – Grant Armstrong and Scott Brown visiting P7 for S1 transition talk
  • 12.3.19 – Deborah Paton (Sustrans) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 12.3.19 – Jennie King (NHS – Nurse) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme
  • 14.3.19 – P7 Information Evening for children, parents and carers at Linlithgow Academy
  • 15.3.19 – Natalie Boyle (Eye Surgeon) visiting P7 for SfLLW programme

We’ve lots to look forward to! Have a great weekend everyone!

P7a and Mr. Logan

 

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P7a Weekly Blog

A short week in P7a this week, but still lots of learning to report on…

Numeracy and Mathematics

As we progress towards the end of term 3 and our transition to S1, we have been introduced to some areas and concepts that will be covered within Third Level Numeracy and Mathematics. This week we have continued learning about algebra and solving equations. We began by discussing what algebra we had already been exposed to (without even realising), such as ‘number machines’ and ‘missing value’ type questions. Having consolidated our knowledge of these it allowed us to further extend our learning to replacing values with symbols, finding the value of ‘x’ (or an unknown quantity), simplifying expressions by collecting like-terms and evaluating expressions by substituting known values such as a, b or c. We discovered that one theory behind the use of ‘x’ to represent an unknown quantity came from a 17th century French philosopher, scientist and mathematician called René Descartes. Can you find the values below?

Literacy and English

In Boy in the Striped Pajamas this week, Bruno encountered Shmuel, a prisoner at Out-With, whilst exploring and we have been drawing a comparison between them. Although the boys share the same birthday, we discovered that the similarities stop there. We examined extracts of their conversations and journeys made from the text, highlighting evidence and annotating points of interest.

Another journey we have found out about this week, is that of child evacuees during World War II. Whilst being introduced to Operation Pied Piper we used bullet points to take notes relating to key information shared. These notes will be used to inform our writing planning next week when we write letters from an evacuee’s perspective. To begin entering this mindset, we prepared and delivered a short drama in groups that portrayed the experiences and emotions of these children.

Learning Across the Curriculum

As part of our Skills for Learning, Life and Work programme, we had Pamela Barnes and Teresa Waddington in class to speak to us this week. Pamela works with a local community development trust and Teresa is a Plant Manager with Shell.

We have been continuing to rehearse our songs for our Scottish Opera performance, 1719, which commemorates the Jacobites’ risings where they fought alongside the Spaniards against the Hanoverians. The singing sounds fantastic as we look forward to our workshops and final performance in March.

In Science with Mrs. Tulloch, we completed our STEM invention drawings and continued to construct our moveable buggies. In the coming weeks, these will be finished and our buggies judged on whether they can make it up a series of ramps with varying gradients. A huge thank you to Mrs. Tulloch who works tirelessly to spark our interest and curiosity in engineering.

Finally, it was sad to say goodbye to M last week who moved to her new school. We wish her all the very best and thank her for being such a kind, lovely and warm-hearted member of P7a. We will all miss her!

To all of P7a’s parents, carers and families, have a lovely weekend!

P7a and Mr. Logan

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P7a Weekly Blog

Numeracy and Mathematics

This week we have been extending our knowledge of capacity and volume. We started by establishing the difference between the two concepts and found that capacity is the maximum something can hold where as the volume is the amount of space that a substance or object occupies. We can now confidently compare and order different volumes of liquid using millilitres (ml), centilitres (cl and litres (l) and can successfully convert between these units of measure. We found that there are 10ml per 1cl, 1,000ml per 1l and 100cl per 1l. Having developed this knowledge we then applied our skills to play some estimate, check and record games against a partner. We chose measuring cylinders depending on the volume of liquid required and noticed that our estimates became increasingly accurate we the game progressed. Finally, to round-off our learning for the week we made ‘mocktails’ using recipes and instructions provided. In order to do so successfully, we used measuring cylinders with 1ml scales, ensured they were flat to the table and recorded the liquid line, rather than the bubbles or froth. Have a look at us in action…

Literacy and English

Now that we have began learning about World War II, all of our Literacy and English work in class is based around our shared text, ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ by John Boyne. Last week we made predictions and assumptions about the plot and storyline, and continued this week with a focus on characterisation and profiling. We discussed each character in detail, including their relationships with others, behaviours, personality traits and developing roles within the story. During our discussions, we used inference to analyse each character at a deeper level and provided evidence or quotes from the text to support any statements we made about them. By skimming and scanning the text, we were able to find some context clues that clarified our thinking and highlighted some key themes. These included; persecution of others, discrimination, racism, naivety, innocence of youth, conflict, relationships and moral justice.

In writing this week, we analysed the story from Bruno’s perspective and considered the impact that moving to Out-With has had on his happiness. We wrote informal letters using the features of an email to one of his three best friends (Karl, Daniel or Martin) or his Grandmother in Berlin. Within these pieces of writing we were able to structure our work appropriately using an email format, build detail through the description of Bruno’s surroundings, apply our skills developed last week to write in the ‘first person’ and share his feelings and emotions to create reader empathy.

With Mrs. Gordon, we continued our learning in French this week by presenting our own ‘la météo’ forecasts to discuss the weather.

Health and Wellbeing

It was Safer Internet Day 2019 this week, and we have been continuing to learn about the ways in which we can stay safe online and use the internet responsibly. Our focus this week was on passwords and security to protect online accounts and data. We understand what a strong password is having looked at examples of weak ones and predicted the passwords people may choose based on some basic details about them. A strong password must contain symbols, upper case letters, lower case letters and numbers. A lot of us admitted that we may have to go home and increase the security of our social media accounts.

In P.E, we have continued with our block of dodgeball. Now that we understand the rules and roles of players within a team, we have been improving our throwing technique and playing variations of the end game to apply the skills we have developed. P7 have really enjoyed this so far, and we may well need to extend the initial 6 week block!

Social Studies

This week we have been creating a World War II timeline and learning about the uses of propaganda. For our timeline, we researched key events that took place during the 6 years and a day of World War II with the aim of placing them in a chronological sequence on our wall. We heard Neville Chamberlain’s radio broadcast declaring war on Germany after Hitler refused to withdraw troops from Poland and the events which took place as a result of this. After being introduced to the definition of propaganda and discussing the themes and messages behind some examples of it, we started creating our own examples. These are looking fantastic and we will share them with you once completed. You can see our blacked-out World War II living room below with some interesting objects and artifacts from this era.

Coming Up…

  • 11.2.19 – Skills for Learning, Life and Work programme begins
  • 11.2.19 – After school football for P6 and P7 outdoors from 3.15-4.15pm
  • 14.2.19 – Rotary Quiz for selected pupils
  • 25.1.19 – Academy staff to visit P7 re. S1 transition
  • 26.2.19 – Football league meeting (1) at Xcite from 4-6pm
  • 5.3.19 – Scottish Opera workshop for P6 and P7 pupils
  • 13.3.19 – Scottish Opera performance of 1719 for parents, carers and families at 2.30pm
  • 14.3.19 – Parental Information Evening at Linlithgow Academy re. S1 transition
  • 26.3.19 – Football league meeting (2) at Xcite from 4-6pm
  • 27.3.19 – Ford Castle P7 camp information evening in school hall at 6pm
  • 3.4.19 & 4.4.19 – Parents Evenings
  • 4.4.19 – Skills for Learning, Life and Work programme ends
  • 5.4.19 – Easter holidays commence

Have a lovely weekend!

P7a and Mr. Logan

 

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P7a Weekly Blog

Literacy and English

To tie in with our Brazil learning, this week we have been creating rainforest tankas in writing. Tankas are Japanese poems, similar to haikus, but have two additional lines. They have 5 lines split over 2 verses and always add up to a total of 31 syllables. Often tankas are written about nature, love or sadness and portray strong feelings or emotions. We discussed deforestation and the feelings that this may evoke for both the animals and indigenous tribes living there, as well as the impact that this is having on the natural environment. When reading examples, we also identified the regular use of simile, metaphor and personification within tankas and were encouraged to incorporate figurative language into our own work. Please read one or two of our efforts below:

We have also been working as groups to research the Brazilian city that our tables are named after. Firstly, we had to identify the location of our city on the Brazilian map before marking this on our class wall display. Using our notes and relevant information from our research, we started creating informative posters about each city that detailed various aspects of life in that location. Some of us chose to focus on landmarks and places of interest, whereas others opted for a focus on the natural environment or the artistic influence that can be seen there. These will be completed next week and we will share some photos of the finished articles in our next blog post.

Z and J passing on their knowledge of tanka poetry to M, J, L and F

Numeracy and Mathematics

This week we celebrated Maths Week Scotland as well as continuing to extend our knowledge of multiplication. On Monday and Tuesday, we consolidated our learning of multiplying 4 or 5-digit numbers by a single digit using a standard written method before applying specific rules to effectively multiply by 10, 100 and 1,000. To build on this further, we multiplied decimal numbers by 10, 100 and 1,000, paying particular attention to how many places our decimal place would move to the right. Next week we will continue to strengthen our knowledge and understanding in multiplication before making the link the the inverse operation, division. As part of Maths Week Scotland, we took advantage of the good weather on Wednesday morning to team up with P7b and do some multiplication orienteering. Various multi-step word problems we positioned in 15 different locations around the school grounds where we worked with a partner to solve these using the written method taught earlier in the week. If we failed to do so, or did not include units of measurement, we were given a time penalty or asked to recalculate. Zak and Ambra were our winners, just pipping 2 other groups to the prize.

Health and Wellbeing

We have been focused on one value this week in P7a, resilience. Throughout the week we took the time to refine our class assembly and develop our confidence when presenting to an audience. We hope that you all enjoyed it and would like to thank you for coming along to support us. If you couldn’t make it along today then please feel free to have a look at our presentation by clicking the link (P7a Class Assembly). Resilience is something we are all looking to build during P7 as we prepare for our transition to S1. Next week, we are looking forward to a visit from the RNLI to speak to us about water safety as part of our Keeping Myself Safe learning with Mrs. Newton. We are hoping to further our knowledge of how to respond in an emergency situation near water.

On Wednesday, we teamed up with those in our leadership groups to finalise what our remits will be for this year. From newspaper writers to sports leaders, we’ve got a number of areas in which we will be working hard to develop across school. Each group will be allocated one hour per week to carry out their responsibilities and we’ll keep you updated with our progress over the coming weeks and months. As our new upper school display states there really is a leader in all of us, and we’re beginning to demonstrate the skills and qualities that a great leader might possess:

  • Effective communication
  • Enthusiasm
  • Boldness
  • Self-assurance
  • Intuitiveness
  • Teamwork
  • Empathy
  • Charisma

Thank you for all showing up in such numbers for both Meet the Teacher and our class assembly this week. Both the children and I appreciate it.

Have a great September holiday everyone!

P7a and Mr. Logan

 

 

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P7b Weekly Blog

Numeracy and Mathematics

We have been learning about weight and measure this week, firstly using the comparative size of familiar objects to make reasonable estimations, check these using an appropriate measuring device, read scales accurately and record our results in the correct unit. As we extended our knowledge of weight, we linked this learning to rationing during World War II by researching the amount that each person would have been allocated of specific items per week in ounces (oz). Ounces (oz), pounds (lbs) and stones are examples of imperial units of measure which would have been used in this era, which contrasts to the metric system of measurement used more regularly nowadays, e.g. grams (g) and kilograms (kg). Once we found out how much of each item was rationed, we used formulae to convert these amounts using decimal notation from ounces to grams by multiplying by 28.3, and then from grams to kilograms by dividing by 1,000. This allowed us to consolidate our knowledge of place value as we moved the decimal point three places left.

Literacy and English

Now that we have finished reading The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, our group text, we have been studying it in more detail to further extend our comprehension and understanding whilst developing our reading skills and strategies. We began by discussing the most prevalent themes throughout the story, coming up with some excellent suggestions such as the loss of innocence, friendship, relationships and family, division, good vs. evil, abuse of power, leadership, religion, war and conflict. From this we analysed a chosen theme in greater detail by examining where this was explored in the text. This week we accessed the story through an ebook to vary the way in which we interpret information. We were also introduced to the notion of cause and effect; the cause being why a key event occurs in the story and the effect being how this impacts upon characters and triggers other events as a result. This is often referred to as the ‘butterfly effect’. When reading various statements, we distinguished between fact and opinion before providing our own examples of these. Hitler expressed a number of strong opinions during World War II, but there was no evidence to suggest these were true or factual. Finally, we tackled a range of questions based on the text and word processed our responses within our reading group’s Yammer page. This opened up some interesting dialogue between the class to promote further discussion and debate.

Health and Wellbeing

The second workshop of our tobacco education delivered by Michelle from West Lothian’s Drug and Alcohol Service took place on Monday. We further explored the damaging effects that smoking can have on our bodies and were able to witness this first-hand. Through our research, we found that chemicals such as butane are found in cigarettes. Butane is flammable and also found in petrol, and is created as a bi-product of smoking to ensure a cigarette stays lit. ‘Smokey Sue’ was setup in the front playground with a test tube of water to replicate the moisture in our lungs before smoking one cigarette. We were shocked to see that the water was turned yellow as a result, and a build-up of tar could be found on the glass. Michelle also posed us with various ‘tempting situations’ and we were asked to move to the left if we were not tempted to smoke, or to the right if we were tempted to smoke. The idea of peer pressure was mentioned, and the children assessed the impact that risk-taking behaviour such as this could have on their health.

Have a relaxing weekend everyone! P7b, make sure you rest and recuperate before school camp next week! No late nights!

P7b and Mr. Logan

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