We have had another busy week of learning in Primary 6S. Here are some of the highlights to share with you, and some news for next week.

LITERACY

We have been learning how to write an exposition text, which is a one sided argument. The children had to persuade me (The Grinch!) to have a Christmas tree in the class! A series of arguments were created and shared. Let’s see next week if they have persuaded me. Some of the children are sharing their learning using Clicker as a writing tool – this allows for spell checking, pictures to be put in, and self assessment of writing through listening back. Here is an example.

We joined in the Reading Challenge Authors Live with Rob Biddulph and all drew a Christmas sausage dog while practising our listening skills. For Free Writing Friday, the advent calendar activity was writing either a Christmas or festive tale.

Our shared text has been “Friend or Foe” by Michael Morpurgo. We have linked this to our emotional literacy by considering what we would do if we were Tucky and Davey. The children showed some really thoughtful responses to the boys’ dilemma of what to do about the German airmen.

NUMERACY AND MATHS

We have been learning about time and perimeter this week, including consolidation of reading digital and analogue time, and duration of time. We have also been using maths daily calendars to carry out a variety of different numeracy and maths activities.

OTHER CURRICULAR AREAS

The children have continued with their research into Victorian life. We learned about Victorian inventions and enjoyed a Kahoot quiz about this. With Mrs Sutton, the children learned about the legend of St Nicholas. We completed our winter art pictures and they are on display in the learning area outside of the classroom.

WEEK COMMENCING 13TH DECEMBER

Christmas lunch and jumper day – Wednesday; Christmas Party day – Friday; Christmas raffle – a winner each day.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Sutherland and P6S

This week the children have been completing activities from the Reading Challenge advent calendar. They had to guess the author of the wrapped up book from the class library. They wrapped up warm and read outside in the winter sun. It is great to be able to be outside and we want to grab every opportunity at this time of year!

This week we finished A Little Princess, and have started our new novel, The Secret Garden.

We continue with our topic of The Victorians, and the children are researching different aspects of live in Victorian times. We will be learning about reliable sources of information, and using different ways of presenting learning.

The areas outside the classroom are being enjoyed by the children as either a quiet space or to allow for art and different group work. The colour chart can be used by the children to show how they are feeling, as this fits in with our Zones of Regulation practice. The surprise hit in the reading area has been the Ikea catalogue!

Reward tokens were exchanged today for some Friday Fun outside which included games, drawing and making paper aeroplanes.

Amy won the Readerpillar competition and Logan was in the Top 50 of the West Lothian Sumdog competition – well done to both of you, and to everyone for working so hard and being a super class. Mrs Sinclair will be very proud of you.

We have had another very busy week in Primary 6S. Here is a snapshot of some of our learning activities.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Mrs Kinnear is our Health and Wellbeing expert! Have a look on the school Twitter page for the posters the children have been creating with her. We have also created our own stories based around “The Koala Who Could”. This was a lovely tale of a character who overcame difficulties. The children wrote their own stories based around this theme, and their imaginations and ideas were so good. These will be displayed in our Health and Wellbeing area in the class, and also shared with the younger children. Here are some of their stories:

Here are some of their koalas:

With Mrs Creaney, the children have been practising circuits … in the hall! At last! For outdoor PE this week, we put a modern twist on games which Victorian children would have played, including hoops, skittles and hopscotch.

LITERACY

Our “Ten Minute Text” at the moment is A Little Princess. The children are really engaged with this story of childhood and school in times gone by, and are using all of their reciprocal reading strategies to help with understanding of the story. It is also an opportunity for vocabulary development.

The class submitted their entries for the class library competition and worked together to create a wishlist. Some very good choices and an understanding of budget displayed! Here are some of their library area designs:

MATHS AND NUMERACY

We have continued our work on fractions this week, using cuisenaire rods to display fractions of a whole. The class is also entered in the West Lothian Sumdog Competition which runs until Thursday 2nd December.

OTHER NEWS

There is a new working area outside the classroom, where the children will be able to carry out their learning; there is also a quiet corner with some mindful activities. Pictures to follow. The children will be introduced to this on Monday. Thanks to parents and carers who have supported their children to post learning from home – feedback on the way.

The children in Primary 6S have been very busy over the past few weeks. They revised how to write blog posts by looking at some of the posts from their Primary 1 teachers which included some funny photographs of them as they started school.

The class worked in pairs and trios to create representations of their learning. We hope you enjoy sharing this.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

One of our pupils finds that drawing helps him to be calm and ready to learn. He is a very talented artist and draws on his knowledge to create these super pieces of art.

STEM

With Mrs Creaney, the children have been exploring the world of engineering and technology through the use of Lego. They worked together using skills for life, learning and work to build models.

REMEMBRANCE DAY

On Thursday 11th November at 11.00am, the class very respectfully and responsibly took part in a two minute silence to remember those who fought for their country. They created and displayed a silhouette and poppies for the classroom window.

TOPIC

Our class topic this term is The Victorians. The children have really engaged with this and are quite horrified at what life was like for Victorian children! They have shared their learning so far with some written work including mindmaps. Look at the William Morris wallpaper on our display board. We will be looking at Victorian toys next.

NUMERACY

We have been revising fractions we already know and exploring new ways of understanding and representing fractions. We have had a Kahoot! quiz to show what we know, and have used Numicon boards and pieces to show how to cover up a fraction of the board. Numicon is an excellent “concrete” resource which the children can move around and piece together on the board.

The children have become very engaged in our Number Talks, for which we have been using EstiMysteries. These look like simple guessing games – but oh no! The children are becoming very confident at sharing their strategies for decisions made, and are using their times tables knowledge and 100 squares very efficiently to eliminate the incorrect possibilities.

LITERACY

We have been using the descriptive bubble in our Writing. This encourages the children to think of certain criteria to uplevel their work – colour, size, number, shape, doing, position, texture. They created pieces of writing using only a picture as a starter, so had to think creatively. Their writing has been made into a book which is on display in the classroom.

For our Ten Minute Text (after lunchtime) the children have watched a series from 1974! Mrs Sutherland used to watch this after school when she was younger. Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce has been a great hit with the children, and has given them an opportunity to apply their reciprocal reading skills including prediction and summarising.

Very many of the children are regularly achieving Outstanding or Good Day. This is great Primary 6S, and Mrs Sinclair will be delighted with your hard work and attitude. Well done.