Welcome to our class blog!

Welcome to our class blog!  Here you’ll find lots of information about what we have been learning in school, as well as updates about what we hope to be doing next.

Parents – feel free to comment – children love to know that you have seen their blog posts.

Children – you can show off what you have been doing here on the blog, and follow links to websites where you can learn more (make sure you’re supervised online).

Visitors – find out about what learning looks like at Dunvegan in the E4-7 class and let us know what you liked best!

 

Designing Earthquake-Proof Buildings

As part of our natural disasters topic, children have been learning about how people are adapting to live in earthquake zones around the Earth.
From Japanese pagodas which have withstood tremors for hundreds of years, to modern skyscrapers in Los Angeles, we have learnt that there are a number of ways in which buildings can be designed to cope with the movements that earthquakes cause.

With this in mind, children set about building their own earthquake-proof models.  They needed to include at least two storeys, a lightweight roof and firmly fixed foundations.  The children had to consider:
– how to absorb the movement of the ground so that the building would not topple
– how to make joints which would not twist apart
– how to use the materials given by measuring, marking, cutting and sawing.

The slideshow below shows how their buildings came together!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Armagh Rhymers

We enjoyed a visit from the Armagh Rhymers last week, who told the story of the giant Finn MacCool, using fantastic woven willow masks, props, music and lots of audience participation!

Where there’s a spark…

A big congratulations to all the class today – we made fire!

In our Forest School session this afternoon, many children used a flint and steel for the first time, and everyone managed to make enough sparks to light their tinder (some cotton wool).  Some of the children found it tricky and had to persevere for some time before getting their cotton to catch alight, while others had to overcome some nerves before getting stuck in, but all the children managed to get a good set of sparks in the end.

We are hoping to use these skills next week to do some campfire cooking – fingers crossed for drier weather so we don’t end up with soggy snacks!

 

500 Word Story Writing Challenge

Our class are entering the 500 word story writing challenge this year.  (see www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rfvk1 for more details!)
The children are not often asked to create a story of their own from scratch, so we have been practicing how to combine settings, objects and characters in different ways to create endless story possibilities.

Today the children were using storytelling dice as a warm-up before writing.  After rolling, they needed to combine the images to make a simple story, or part of a story.  They told the story to a partner, who would then take a turn to roll & tell a story of their own.  This simple game allows children to play with characters, settings and objects, and because nothing is written down, the ideas flow easily.

Look out for the children’s finished 500 word stories, which will be posted on the blog soon!

Money, money, money…

We are solving problems using money this week in maths.  Our P4s began today by using coins to make given amounts, and adding collections of coins to find a total.  They enjoyed setting each-other challenges to solve!

Term 3 Topics

Welcome back – we are well into Term 3 now, and the P5-7 children are working hard on their swimming skills in their daily sessions in the pool this week.  Thank you very much to our volunteer drivers who are getting us there and back every day!

This term our topics include:

Maths: Fractions, decimals and percentages, shape and patterns
Writing: Newspaper reports and information texts
Science: Growing plants
Social Studies: Natural Disasters
PE: Swimming and ball sports (the badminton and basketball festivals will be this term)
Health & Wellbeing: Using kind words
Music: YMI & Kodaly teachers will be visiting this term

Children will also be taking weekly P4C (Philosophy For Children) sessions with Miss Miller on a Thursday, French with Mrs Allen, Gealic with Mrs Sinclair and Art with Mrs MacVicar.

As before, children will be bringing home weekly homework activities which reinforce learning in class, and a group-reading book with a chapter or two to be read during the week.  These come home on a Monday and need to be returned on a Friday.
Children will usually have Forest School on a Wednesday afternoon, so will need wellies and layers to stay comfortable whilst working outside.  PE kit should be brought every day (this could be kept in a bag on their school peg).

Colour Wheels

We have made our own colour wheels in class, practising mixing our own paints to make secondary colours and arranging these between the primary colours on the wheel.
We also practised creating different tones of colour by adding more water to a colour we had made, gradually making it paler each time we did so.
Our colour wheels will help us to remember which colours we can mix to make new colours when painting in art sessions.

Flour Babies

We’ve been learning about the tasks needed to look after a baby this term in Health and Wellbeing.  We have been readig Anne Fine’s book, Flour Babies, in class, and made our own flour babies to look after for a week.

Children made their baby on Friday, using a bag of flour for the body and stuffed tights for the limbs and head. We attached a photo of a baby’s face and dressed our flour babies in baby-grows and blankets.  On Monday morning, the pupils became parents for the week, carrying their flour babies with them at all times and keeping them warm and dry.  The pupils learnt how to change a baby’s nappy and the essential things that babies need to keep them healthy and happy.

The class also took their flour babies home to look after for the week, bringing them back to school each day.  It soon became obvious how much responsibility is needed to look after a baby carefully, but many of the class rose to the challenge and really impressed with their mature and caring attitude.  Some of the class chose to keep their flour baby even after then end of the project (although one baby was destined to become scones!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Blythswood Shoebox Appeal

The children worked together as a whole school to pack and wrap boxes of gifts to be distributed by Blythswood Care this Christmas.  Children had brought in donations of warm clothes, sweets and healthcare essentials to make practical gifts for those in need.

All together we completed 14 boxes for donation!

Young Leaders

The P6&7 children have been undergoing ‘Young Leaders’ training with Sarah Ross from Portree High School PE department.

This will enable them to run sports clubs and activities with the younger children in school.  Some of the children have already planned and run successful sessions with both Nursery and P1-3 children, learning a lot about the organisation and leadership skills needed to direct a group!