In P4, we have been thinking and learning about learning! We have been thinking about how we feel when we are “stuck” and when we have learned something new. We made a list of what we can do to help ourselves get out of “The Learning Pit”. We have also been discussing attitudes to learning and sorting growth and fixed mindset statements.
Just as the title says… a small group of us in P6 worked hard this morning to teach Mrs Gray how to use Minecraft (well!). Her prior knowledge was zero, so we are starting by just setting her simple tasks. Today we showed her how to use ‘Creative’ world and build a house.
Her Homework task she is eagerly awaiting…
I loved Hopetoun House – Kayleigh.
I really, really, really enjoyed making the News Report at Sky – Alexander.
I thought Christmas Lunch was YUMMY! – Olivia.
I loved making the news report at Sky, particularly using the camera – Lochlan.
We’ve been getting on really well this week with our #RandomActsofKindness – have you seen us around? – Daisy.
At Hopetoun we got to make butter and buttermilk – in class we then tasted this on pancakes and crumpets! I’d give it 10/10! – Shefali.
Come to our class to see more….!
P6 have had a busy few weeks and are now preparing and thinking about our responsibilities when we start P7. Most of us have been given a new P1 as a buddy; some of us met our buddy last week and enjoyed getting to know them. We have discussed the responsibilities that go with this job and we are all committed to ensuring that our new buddy is happy and enjoying their first year at Williamston! The rest of us can’t wait to meet our buddies when they come for their visit in a couple of weeks! In other news, we have been working hard to learn plural rules and apply this in our writing; we have learned 8 different plural rules so far and we all feel much more confident about singular and plural rules! We also enjoyed our recent group activity where we were asked to source materials to make a sukkot. Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God protected them under difficult desert conditions. Jewish families will build an open air structure in which to live during this holiday. The essential thing about the hut is that it should have a roof of branches and leaves, through which those inside can see the sky, and that it should be a temporary and flimsy thing. We think our attempts were very successful, although not life size, this activitiy really helped with our understanding of this Jewish festival.
P7 had a great time learning more about budgeting with Mrs Smith from Standard Life. We explored the meaning of income, budget and expenses to help us learn more about managing our money. We explored how income can be used and how we can save money for things like cars and university. We will be able to use these skills now and in the future!
Primary 6 have had great time learning about the brain in an interactive and engaging way! We made our brains using various materials to demonstrate the parts of the brain that are vital in controlling how our body moves and perceives the world around us! The brain is a very complex and powerful control centre, and our hats show that different parts of the brain are in charge of different things in our body! Ask a Primary 6 more about the brain and its important functions!
P7 were visited yesterday by Martin Bailey an Engineer from Wyman – Gordon in Livingston. After hearing all about his job and how he became an engineer the pupils had their own chance at designing and building rockets. Pupils were split into groups of three or four and set about creating their own rockets. Each rocket was given an astronaut (an egg, eggstronaut!) which they had to land safely after their launch. After presenting their rockets and features and how they were going to keep their eggstronauts safe they tested their rockets, launching them in the field outside. You will be pleased to hear that all our eggstronauts made it back safely. Well done P7 engineers.
The afternoon nursery have been part of a project that explores the impossible task and how young children deal with challenges. We have worked with Miss Clarke who is helping us explore these ideas. Miss Clarke is helped by ‘Pilot Bear’. Some ideas we have explored have been to do with our bodies: can we stand on one foot? Can we touch our noses with our tongue? Can we touch our elbow with our tongue?
Some children were able to do these! We then read ‘How To Catch A Star’ by Oliver Jeffers. This helped us think about the wider world and we came up with our own ideas for how we could blow away the clouds and how to poke the sun out of the sky. One pupil brought in a rocket to see if we could fly into the sky but sadly we all couldn’t fit into the rocket. The project continues with pupil taking Pilot Bear home to look at more impossible tasks.
During art today, P5b took learning outdoors and combined textiles with natural materials, found outside. Weaving the coloured wool around some dried sticks and branches, we learned some weaving techniques. We enjoyed taking art outdoors and although sometimes it was tricky, for many of us it was a relaxing activity that challenged us in many ways! It’s amazing how you can create some vibrant, interesting art from the simplest materials! Some of us took them home today to hang somewhere nice…some of us even liked the idea of using it as a ‘good luck charm’!
