March 2023
The Primary 5s have had a busy term full of hard work, they are definitely ready for some rest during the Spring holidays.
Literacy
Primary 5 have been learning about context clues, these are hints within the text that help them to find the meaning of unfamiliar words. They have been using this to be able to access texts of increasing difficulty and to help develop their vocabulary.
The pupils have also been exploring different examples of poetry. They have used their context clues to help them understand what some of the authors have been describing. The pupils have been inspired and able to create their own pieces of poetry.
"I found context clues were fun and challenging because we had to look at the clues in the text." Cameron
"I found poetry fun because we got to try to make them rhyme and learn about different types of poems. The poems could be about anything like mine was called the deep deep sea." Annie
"I think that the Haikus were really good because we got to share our thoughts and ideas about spring and connections which was fun." Finlay McE
Below are some photos from when the pupils were creating their instructional writing pieces.
Numeracy
Some of our pupils have been learning about DMAS which is the order of operations. They have been learning that there is a correct order when solving questions: you must divide before you multiply, multiply before you add and add before you subtract.
There has been a theme of Time in our class this block as we have had multiple groups learning about it. From revising how to tell the time in 24 hours and 12 hours, to calculating time durations, learning how to accurately count forward and backwards the pupils have been busy. Time can sometimes be a challenging concept for children to become comfortable with and if you have a chance to at home it is always one worth practising. You could get them to calculate the finish time for a meal that you are making or work out how long they have to get ready.
Another group has been practising rounding different numbers and using this to help them to estimate the answer to different questions. They have had to round to the nearest 10,100,1000 before they then add or subtract to be able to get to an estimated answer. It has even been helping to develop some pupils confidence in their mental agility.
"It was difficult at first because I didn't understand the link between speed, time and distance but after a bit of practise I found the questions easier." Murray
"It is useful to be able to round because it makes calculations easier to work out." Zander
"I like that we get to solve the questions and we get to estimate the answer because we can check how close we were." Lewis
"I like DMAS because it tells me what to do first so I know what I am doing and it is good to practise the operations." Ethan
Other Learning
We have been exploring different religions this block and learning about their celebrations. During this spring time there are a lot of religious holidays and pupils have been learning about why the holidays are significant and what people do to mark the occasion. We have been learning about Holi, Ramadan and Easter.
"I liked learning about Ramadan because we got to learn about the importance of it for people and see how they celebrate it. It's nice to see how everyone is different." Georgia
"I liked learning about Ramadan because we have been able to learn more about the holiday and have used card to build our own mosques." Finlay McK
"I like learning about Ramadan because Ramadan is special for me and Muslims." - Shanzay
"Easter is about when Jesus was crucified and was brought back from the dead and we have learnt about the importance of it for Christians." Adam
PE
This block the pupils have been working on developing and improving their hand eye coordination. They have been joining in with a range of activities to help support this such as: rounders, king ball and crab cricket. The pupils have been doing very well with this and hopefully with warmer weather on its way we will be able to take advantage and spend some more time outdoors getting some exercise in the fresh air.
"I think I am getting better at my hand eye coordination and now crab cricket is my favourite because it's funny." Charlotte
"The games are really fun but at the same time they are really helping us with our hand eye coordination because it doesn't necessarily feel like we are practising it but we are." Murray
"I like learning how to hit the ball and to aim better. It was really funny to have to do the crab walking." Julia
