january blog
Burns Night
On Wednesday 25th January we celebrated Burns Night in class.
First, we did a Numeracy task where we had to plan a Burns Supper for four people with a budget of £20. We used Chromebooks to find out how much different things cost at different shops and compared the prices to see which was the cheapest. We had looked at traditional foods that you would eat at a Burns Supper for starter, main and dessert such as haggis, neeps and tatties, cullen skink, trifle, shortbread, Tunnock's teacakes etc, so we knew what sort of things to include in our meal. We all managed to stay under the budget of £20 and some of us even managed to buy drinks too!
Next, we did Literacy where we looked at Scottish phrases and words such as aye, bairn, bonnie, blether and chancer. We also listened to Robert Burn's "Toast to the Haggis" and some of his other famous poems. We then had two choices. We could either write Robert Burn's poems over the top of a portrait of him, or we could write in a blue pen on the Scottish flag using Scottish words and phrases. It was really fun but took a lot of concentration.
At the end of the day, after gymnastics, we got to try some Scottish classics - Tunnock's tea cakes, caramel wafers and Irn Bru. We really enjoyed our treats!
By Samantha
Numeracy - Percentages
Our new focus in Maths is percentages.
We started by looking at all the different areas of our lives where percentages are used every single day - sports, shops, school, road signs, device battery levels, business profits, clothing labels, weather, food nutritional information etc. We were surprised by how many things there are that include percentages! We hadn't really thought it before.
We then focused on how to convert between common fractions, decimal fractions and percentages. In the photos you can see us working in teams to match common fractions and their equivalent percentages. Most were easy because they were numbers such as 1/5 or 1/3 that we already knew. But some were quite difficult like 17/20 because they were ones we hadn't seen before.
We have also been learning how to calculate percentages of an amount, especially using what we already know to calculate difficult percentages.
For example, to work out 42% of an amount, we would first find 10% then multiply by 4, then find 1% and double it, and finally add those together.
We have enjoyed learning about percentages, but it sometimes takes us quite a while to do the calculations.
By Waleed
P.E. - Gymnastics
This week in gymnastics we were looking at different body shapes and balances.
For our starter, we had to jog around the hall and then touch a certain numbers of body parts to the floor.
Then we got out the mats and had to make a range of shapes with our bodies - T, L, Y, star, pike, bridge and many others. My favourite one was the straight where you had to keep your arms as straight as you can above your head.
After that, we put our mats together and worked in pairs to create a sequence of movements. We had to include at least 5 of the body shapes from the starter activity, linking them in an interesting way and had to try at least one partner balance. We had looked at examples before the lesson but could also create our own.
We then performed our sequence to the rest of the class and got feedback. Everyone did a fantastic job, have a look at the photos!
At the end of the lesson we were split into two groups and had to use our bodies to spell out a word for the other team to guess. Can you work out which words we chose?
Overall, we all had lots of fun and we're excited for next time.
By Aileena
Numeracy - Scale
In Numeracy we looked at scale.
First, we thought about all the different places in real life we might use a scale - maps, designing buildings etc. We used scale to convert lengths from a house plan into the correct measurements for a builder to use. It was quite difficult because we had to measure every single wall, both inside and outside the house.
We then linked scale to the Solar System, thinking about the gigantic distances between the planets. We researched the distances using Chromebooks and thought about a scale to use to make the numbers smaller and more manageable. Then we had to work out what we wanted to use to represent the planets.
We went down to the atrium and set up our Solar Systems, making sure we used metre sticks to accurately measure the distances in between the planets. Some of us used sports equipment from the P.E. cupboards such as basketballs and footballs, and some of us used planets that we'd made in the classroom out of paper.
It was quite fun but also challenging. I liked working with my partner and it was fun using all the equipment out the P.E. cupboard. We did a good job measuring accurately.
By Rai
P.E. - Gymnastics
In P.E. this block we have been focusing on gymnastics. This week we had four stations set up to explore movement.
Station 1 - take a run up, jump on the spring vault and onto the vaulting box, then jump off onto the mat. We started with two tiers then added the third to add more challenge. There was a big mat at the bottom to break your fall. We had lots of fun jumping off the top of the vaulting box!
Station 2 - walk up the bench, balancing as you go, onto the agility table then do a star jump, pike jump or tuck jump onto the mat. We had to make sure we jumped off safely.
Station 3 - forward rolls using the triangle mat. If you wanted more challenge you could add another mat on top to make it higher. I really enjoyed this station because forward rolls is something I'm confident with, but not everyone agreed as they can be quite difficult.
Station 4 - here we had to take turns doing different rolls along the mat - teddy rolls, pencil rolls, tuck rolls. We liked the tuck rolls the best. It was quite hard to do the pencil roll and stay in a straight line, we kept going sideways off the mat.
At the end we chose our two favourite stations (not surprisingly the two with the big jumps) and had more time on those. We enjoyed showing off different jumps from the tops of the tables.
By Alexander
The last few bits of December...
Christmas Problem Solving Challenge
On December 21st the Primary 7's came to run a Christmas themed problem solving challenge for us.
We worked in teams of two to solve a range of different problems as fast as we could. Some questions you could attempt as many times as you wanted, but some you only had one chance. There were even trick questions like the one about the angel and the right angel instead of right angle. It was really funny watching everyone singing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes to count the amount of body parts mentioned in the song!
There were 3 winners - most points (Aileena and Angela), best teamwork (Samantha and Zaina) and determination (Blake and Rai).
We had a great time! Thank you to P7 for helping us!
By Vincent
Nativity
On Tuesday 20th December we got to go and see the Primary 1, 2 and 3 Nativity. They did a fantastic job of retelling the story with funny narrators, fantastic dancing and brilliant acting skills, and we had a lovely afternoon. Our favourite part was watching them dancing and singing along to the songs.
There was even a performance from our very own Samantha as part of the violin group!
By Zaina
Panto
On Monday 19th December it was panto time! We went to see a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk in our very own gym hall. The four actors played all the characters in the show and kept having to do quick changes behind the scenes. The giant was made from inflatable hands on sticks - it was very strange to see!
My favourite part of the show was when they used a doll instead of a human to show Jack climbing up the beanstalk - it was so funny!
Thank you to the Parent Council for giving us such a fun-filled afternoon!
By Ruaridh