On Wednesday P5-P7 had a fabulous visit to Alloway in Ayrshire to learn more about social history and the famous poet Robert Burns. We visited the flagship museum after our sunny walk that weaved through the village, along the Poet’s Path, taking us from historical buildings to landmarks known to Burns. We also stepped inside Burns Cottage after our workshop, where Robert was born in 1759. Our favourite part was dressing up in character and the interactive museum.
We had a fun afternoon session with Limelight music. They are here for 16 weeks and today was amazing! We started off with a few drama and singing games before learning a few notes on the Djembe drum. Lots of meta- skills in the session, including creativity, communication, collaboration and we are very excited for our future sessions.
Today we have had a fantastic morning at West Lothian College in their fabulous play area. The children got to be creative baking cupcakes, build with the blocks, create clay models, dance to the music, make bracelets, craft and participate in lots of imaginative play. We can’t wait to go back again for a visit to their sustainability activity week in March.
This morning we had a special visitor in from West Calder High School. We had an Italian lesson full of fun games and lots of learning.
This afternoon we joined the University of Edinburgh online to participate in the Internet project involving the sensors. We had a chance to read lots of data and then to investigate 4 different readings and where they might have come from! Lots of great discussion, thinking skills, creativity and collaboration. This was exciting and we are looking forward to the secret sensor challenge next!
The investigation analysis
Reading data
Secret Sensor Challenge
Today we were thinking about our learning this term on higher order thinking questions. We had the opportunity to create our own game in trios and base the game on our current group novel or Scotland topic. The questions on the game should include a mix of HOT questions in order to move through the game to the end. The best part was making up the rules and swapping them with another trio in the class. Lots of creativity involved, collaboration, communication and critical thinking skills! Well done P5-P7.
Today we had fun playing the game Guess who with our partners. The aim is to guess the character after working out the equivalent fraction or simplifying the fraction. This helped us to consolidate our learning this term and challenge each other before we move on to the next learning intention. Lots of creativity, collaboration and communication!
This week as part of our Outdoor learning, we had fun decorating our journey sticks. We used a variety of collections from outdoors, arts and crafts and memorabilia from home. We worked together to share ideas and collaborate before getting creative! The next step is to share our journey sticks with the class reflecting on achievements, memories, challenges and growth experiences they have had this academic year.
We have been practising our HOT questions this term to encourage critical thinking and go beyond basic comprehension skills across the curriculum. Today as an assessment piece we read an extract and then individually we created a variety of questions on our Jigsaw template, using a specific pen colour for specific HOT questions, eg Creative question, analysis question or understanding question. This was great fun and we enjoyed writing with our new pens too!
On Friday, our classes came together to celebrate Burns Day with a fantastic assembly filled with Scottish culture, music and tradition. It was a wonderful tribute to Robert Burns and showcased the talents of our pupils. Both classes performed Scottish songs such as ‘The Jeely Piece Song’ and ‘Coulter’s Candy’, we heard various Burns poems read aloud which brought his famous words to life and we discussed the life of Robert Burns and the traditions of Burns Night, including the famous Burns Supper, complete with haggis, neeps and tatties!
To end the assembly, we all joined in a Scottish dance which was a fun and fantastic way to honour Burns’ influence and enjoy a bit of Scottish tradition together. A huge well done to everyone – ye did yersels proud!
