This week we have done revision in all areas of our learning.
All activities were linked to the Christmas theme: our morning challenges, numeracy and literacy. In Maths have been working on addition and subtraction (to 10, 30, 100) and in Literacy we have worked on comprehension skills answering written questions about a given text. Our PE focus has been on games. We also had a Christmas tree challenge using Kapla.
We had lots of exciting activities across the school: fun run, Christmas quiz in houses, Carol singing, Window walk, etc.
We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2024!
We are looking forward to seeing you all in January.
We hope that you enjoyed our Carol singing performances on Wednesday. We have had a very busy week in P2!
Important Information
Please send in a carrier bag on Thursday 21st December. We intend to send home all indoor shoes and spare clothes on that day. This should give you time over the holiday to check that items still fit. Some of the velcro on the gym shoes has lost its ‘stick’ and they are becoming unsafe, especially for PE. Please feel free to send in an existing pair of trainers from home which can be used for the classroom as well as indoor PE if it saves you buying a pair of new gym shoes.
There has been a problem with the recording of the Christmas carols so we will need to refilm this on Monday. If possible, please could you send your child to school wearing their Christmas jumper on Monday. Thank you!
We will not be sending reading books home this week. Please send in any books you may have at home to allow us to collate the sets in time for the new term in January.
Here is a summary of our learning
Literacy
We wrote letters to the elves asking about their jobs.
In phonics our focus has been on the final consonant blends ng and nk. We have been finding this really tricky! Examples of words with these sounds are ring, king, tank, sink.
In spelling we have assessed all children on their spelling of tricky words.
Ideas for learning at home:
Here are two fun videos to watch to reinforce the ‘ng’ and ‘nk’ patterns.
Please continue to practise reading and spelling the tricky words. An idea is to play Kim’s Game. Write some of the words on separate pieces of paper. Ask your child to read the words. Turn the pieces of paper over and ask your child to remember what was written on each one. Try it with different words.
Here is the link to the website we use for handwriting. You can watch the animations at home and ask your child to practise the formation.
You could also practise making symmetrical models with lego or other building bricks. Or even making symmetrical pictures of funny faces or patterns using small objects from around the house.
Other Curricular Areas
We had lots of fun at the Christmas party on Monday.
We have been enjoying teamwork games in PE.
We enjoyed performing our Christmas carols.
We have been busy making baubles and Christmas cards.
We hope you have received the lovely letter from your child inviting you to our Carol signing on Wednesday 13th December at 9.00 and 2.30. We are looking forward to seeing you all. Please don’t worry if can’t make it as we have recorded our performance to P7 for you to enjoy. This will be sent via email.
Please return as soon as possible all the reading books. We are missing a few books already.
Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Some children took them home after needing them in but haven’t returned them back to school. Please label all the items.
This is a summary of our learning this week:
Literacy
This week we have learned the final blends: nt, ft, sp, lk.
This video is good for revision:
We have practiced our reading skills: prediction, inference, summarising, etc. This will be the last week that reading books will be sent home. Next week we will be reading in school but not sending books home.
We have revised the words from block 4. It would be very helpful if your children practice reading and writing these words and previous blocks.
In writing we wrote a letter to invite you to our Carol singing. The children were very proud of their letters and worked hard on them as they knew they were for you.
In our cursive handwriting we have practice g and q. See the link below of the formation we are practicing at school.
Please ask your child to read the school reading book at home.
Ask your child to write and read these words: loft, lift, soft, daft, raft, left, gift, sift, lent, hunt, mint, went, shunt, rent, bent, hint, dent, belt, milk, kilt, crisp, wasp, gasp, wisp, etc. You can write the words and ask your child to look for the final blends and circle them.
Please continue to read stories to your child at home.
Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. It is important that children practice reading every day.
Maths
We have done a final review about time. We have been learning about sharing equally, arrays (columns and rows).
Ideas for learning at home:
Ask your child to explain to you:
Please continue to talk about time. Ask what time it is and related to day-to-day events.
Sharing equally:
Playing games which include sharing out cards, items etc. Ask your child to share the cards/items equally between the number of players (can be 2 or more) and initially explain that ‘sharing equally’ means everyone will have the same amount/number of items at the end. Then when playing the same game again or a different one, ask your child how s/he will know the items have been shared equally.
Possible games: card games, Snap, Dominoes.
Using everyday objects and sharing items between 2 or more people, e.g. sweets, biscuits, segments of an orange. Ask your child to share these items equally between the number of people who are going to have them, e.g. sharing 10 sweets between 2 people:
How many sweets do you have?
Can you share them equally between your sister and you? What does ‘share equally’ mean? How are you going to share them?
If your child does not know, then prompt by saying, “I wonder what will happen if you shared them out one at a time?”
Your child might have his/her own idea, so let them have a go (even if it is not right). If they share the items and they are not equal amounts, ask your child if s/he have shared the items equally. If your child says, “No,” then ask them why they are not shared equally and how s/he are going to solve the problem. Talking through a problem and coming to a solution is a great way to learn, so let your child make mistakes.
Your child might immediately say 5 and 5. Ask him/her how they know and s/he might say “5 and 5 altogether makes 10” or “Double 5 makes 10.”
Once the items have been shared equally, count/say how many items each person has or ask your child how s/he know the sweets have been shared equally. Promote the language, “We both have the same amount.”
Then use language, such as, “10 shared between 2 is 5, each person has 5.”
Share items up to 10 initially and then up to 20.
Share between more than 2 people, but make sure the amount can be shared equally between the number of people.
Sharing board: place different numbers of items (up to 10/20) in the first box for the children to share equally between the 2 boxes below.
Items can be things found around the house, e.g. pasta shapes, buttons, raisins etc.
Encourage your child to use the appropriate language in their explanations.
Learning Stories have been sent home today. Please look through the evidence of your child’s learning this term (worksheets) and read the teacher comment sheet. There is space at the bottom of this page for you to write a short comment and sign to acknowledge that you have received this. Please return the Learning Stories with the report inside as soon as possible.
Next week P2 are organising a collection for the Edinburgh Foodbank. If you are able to, please send in a packet of instant noodles before Friday 8th December.
We have loose parts on Friday 8th December. As the weather turns colder, please ensure that your child brings enough layers that day and wears suitable footwear.
Our P2 Carol Singing will take place on Wednesday 13th December at 9.00am and 2.30pm. It would be great to see you there!
Here is a summary of our learning:
Literacy
We wrote letters to each year group asking them to donate a particular item for the foodbank collection.
In handwriting we have been learning to form a and d in cursive script.
In phonics our focus has been on final consonant blends: rk, nd, st, mp, lt, sk. Examples of words with these sounds are lark, hand, must, lamp, felt and mask.
In spelling we have been recapping the Block 4 words as a whole class. We then worked on the particular block we are focussing on (block 1, 2, 3 or 4).
Ideas for learning at home:
Please continue to practise the spelling block your child is working on. Some of us did a ‘Scribble Spelling’ activity this week which we enjoyed. This photo explains how you could do it at home too.
To practise phonics it is a good idea to ask your child to read nonsense words containing the sounds covered so far. This means that they cannot guess the word, they must instead use their knowledge of letter sounds. Try to write down some nonsense words and hide them around the living room or lay them on the stairs. Can your child read them accurately using their decoding skills?
Examples of words to write: gark, pand, fust, somp, lolt, nisk.
Please go over your child’s reading book with them at home. This will help to build their fluency. You could ask these questions to check for understanding.
Can you retell the story in your own words?
Could the story have a different ending? What could it be?
What makes this story different to other books you have read?
What kind of person do you think the main character is?
Here is the link to the website we use for handwriting. You can watch the animations at home and ask your child to practise the formation.
We are continuing to work on reading both digital and analogue clocks focussing on o’clock and half past. Some of us are extending our learning to quarter to / past.
In our number work we have been working on sharing out objects into equal groups. Some of us are linking this to counting in groups e.g. counting in 2s or 3s.
Ideas for learning at home:
Try to find real life examples where your child can work on sharing out objects. For example, can they share out items to each plate at the dinner table? You can also use toys, for example, laying out soft toys and using building bricks to be pretend food. Can they share out items equally?
Reading clocks is proving challenging so please practise as much as possible at home. Here is a fun game you can try at home.
Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Some children took them home after needing them but haven’t returned them back to school. Please label all the items.
This is a summary of our learning this week:
Literacy
This week we have learned the initial blends: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr.
Look at this video (From minute 8.27)
We have practised our reading skills: prediction, inference, summarising, etc.
We have introduced new tricky words from block 4 (last of block 4): house, also, friend. It would be very helpful if your children practise reading and writing these words and previous blocks.
In writing we wrote the story of Jack and Jill. We wrote what happened at the beginning of the story, at the middle and at the end.
In cursive handwriting we worked on t, x, z and c. See the link below of the formation we are doing at school.
Please ask your child to read the school reading book at home.
Read, write and make the words: brick, brown, brain, broom, drain, dream, droop, dry, drew, craw, crown, cream, crowd, train, treat, try, tram, tree, free, fright, fry, green, grain, grow, grew, greet, pray, pram, pry, etc. You can write the words and ask your child to look for the initial blends and circle them.
We hope that you have had a good week. Here is a summary of our learning.
Literacy
In phonics we have been learning to recognise and spell words with the au and aw sound. For example, Paul, haul, saw, draw. Here is a fun video to watch at home related to this week’s learning.
In spelling we were introduced to 3 new words from Block 4: little, most and old. We then worked on the particular block we are focussing on (block 1, 2, 3 or 4). We enjoyed a rainbow writing activity to reinforce the words we are finding particularly difficult to spell.
We have been learning what nouns are as part of Grammar. We are learning that nouns are naming words. For example, nouns can name a person, animal or thing.
Our writing was an imaginative piece of writing based on an animation called ‘The girl with the yellow bag’.
Ideas for learning at home:
Please continue to practise the spelling block your child is working on. Here is an idea for an activity you could try. If you have lego or other building blocks at home you could ask your child to build their spelling words. For example, see the picture below.
Please go over your child’s reading book with them at home. This will help to build their fluency.
Here is an online game to revise phonics. Please select au and aw to practise this week’s focus but also two other sounds which we have covered already.
Ask your child to investigate how many numbers between 0 and 100 have the digit 3. Once they have created their list, ask them to say whether the 3 is a tens digit or a ones digit (include the number 33 which has both).
Other
As part of Scottish Book Week we enjoyed a visit from Morag Hood. She told us about her job as an author and illustrator. Then she read us two of her books and did a ‘draw along’ session with us.
In PE we continued to work on dribbling with basketballs as well as team work skills.
In Health and Wellbeing we continue to work on the ‘Keep Connected’ unit of work. We are learning about the importance of having caring relationships. We have been thinking about the special people in our lives. These people are our ‘Back Up Team’. Please see the home learning sheet which is coming home today related to this.
Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Some children took them home after needing them in but haven’t returned them back to school. Please label all the items.
Here is a summary of our learning this week:
Literacy
This week we have learned the vowel diagraphs ou/ow. Here is a video that you could watch at home if you would like to revise the learning:
Here is another video:
We have practiced our reading skills: prediction, inference, summarising, etc.
We have introduced new tricky words from block 4: word, world, work. It would be very helpful if your children practice to read and write these words and previous blocks.
In writing we wrote a continuation of the story The Storm Whale. We read the beginning and we had to think about what was going to happen after.
We have started to practice cursive handwriting. This week we have practice i and l. See the link below of the formation we are practicing at school.
Please ask your child to read the school reading book at home.
Read, write and make the words: mouse, house, loud, sound, shout, south, round, count, out, ground, cow, town, powder, flower, etc. You can write the words and ask your child to look for the ou/ow letters and circle them. Ask your child how many letters the word has and how many sounds.
– Please continue to read stories to your child at home.
– Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. It is important that children practice reading every day.
Maths
We have been working on angle, symmetry and transformation. We have been learning to use technology and other methods to describe, follow and record directions using words associated with directions and turns including, full turn, half turn, quarter turn, clockwise, anticlockwise, right turn, left turn. We have used Bee bots and the Bee Bot app on the IPads to reinforce our learning.
At school the children have enjoyed playing this game:
How to get from the kitchen to the toilet (and from different rooms to other rooms). You can pretend to close your eyes and your child has to give you instructions (step by step).
How to get from the school to the park.
Blindfold Game: Create a maze for your child using items like cushions, pillows, bed sheets and other items that won’t harm or hurt your child. Now blindfold your child and give them directions, like “turn left,” “walk straight,” etc., until your child comes out of the maze. Now blindfold yourself and ask your little one to give you the correct directions. This fun activity will help you to teach directions to your child easily.
Other areas
Art
We made Rangoli patterns linked to Diwali.
PE
We have been dribbling using the basketballs.
RME
We are learning about Bible stories. This week we have learned about Jonah and the whale.
We also enjoyed being creative with a box Mrs Imrie gave us. We were to think of a way to use it which could not be its original purpose. We decided to make puppets and put on little shows.
It was great to see so many of you today at the drop in.
Important Information
Please remember to send in a change of clothes for your child or to refill their change of clothes bag if they use their items. Please note that these do not have to be school uniform.
Here is a summary of our learning:
Literacy
We read the book Aaaarrgghh Spider! Then we did our main piece of writing around this.
Our phonics focus this week was oo and ew. Examples of words with these sounds are: book, look, few and drew.
In spelling we were introduced to 3 new words from Block 4: have, give and live. We then worked on the particular block we are focussing on (block 1, 2 or 3).
Ideas for learning at home:
Please continue to practise the spelling block your child is working on. Here is an idea for an activity you could try. Write the words they are finding difficult on a bit of paper but with a letter missing. Write the missing letters on the opposite side of the paper but in a jumbled up order. Your child is to find the correct missing letter and draw a line to connect the two.
To practise phonics have a look through books at home to find examples of oo/ew words. You could also ask your child to spell these words: few, new, drew, dew, book, look, moon and cool. Can they write a sentence using one of these words? Do they remember a capital letter and full stop?
Please go over your child’s reading book with them at home. This will help to build their fluency.
Numeracy and Maths
We have been learning about positional language. We are more confident now in using the words above, below, left and right.
We have continued to work on place value. Most of us are working on tens and ones but some of us are working on hundreds, tens and ones.
In particular we have been ensuring that we have a solid grasp of the importance of the digit zero. It is very important to keep a place in a number where there are no tens or hundreds in that column. I hope that you found the drop in session useful to see some of the games we have been playing to develop our understanding of the digits in a number, their position and value.
Ideas for learning at home:
Please continue to practise using left and right. Can your child give you directions from one place to another using left and right correctly?
Place Value Game
Choose 3 different single digits. For example, 2,5 and 8. Ask your child to write all the different 2 digit numbers they can make using only these digits. For each 2 digit number, they should partition the number and give the value of the digits. For example, 52 = 5 tens and 2 ones = 50 + 2. For more challenge, try this with 3 digit numbers.
Other areas of the curriculum
We learned about Rishi Sunak, the current UK Prime Minister.
In PE we worked on our hockey skills: holding the stick correctly and a simple push pass.
We have been learning about anti-bullying week in assembly.
It has been lovely to see the children back after the holidays.
Important information
Loose Parts on Friday 3rd November.
Drop in for Parents on Friday 3rd November.
Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Some children took them home after needing to use them but haven’t returned them.
As usual your children will be taking home their reading books today. This is a showcase of their learning. We have been reading the book at school so your children might find it ‘easy’. Please return the reading books on Monday: this is essential so books can be used by other children across the school. We have a few books missing and this means that a set of books cannot be shared with a group of children.
This is a summary of our learning this week:
Literacy
This week we have been working on the sounds oa/ow. Here is a wee video that you could watch at home if you would like to revise the learning:
We have practiced our reading skills: prediction, inference, summarising, etc.
We have introduced new tricky words from block 4: other, mother, another. It would be very helpful if your children practice to read and write these words and previous blocks.
In writing we wrote a recount of the Owl Babies story.
Ideas for learning at home
Please ask your child to read the school reading book at home.
Read, write and make the words: boat, goat, road, load, toad, foal, oak, coach, soap, soak, loan, bow, row, show, mow. You can write the words and ask your child to look for the oa/ow letters and circle them. Ask your child how many letters the word can has and how many sounds.
Can your child recognise and say the number words for numbers from 0 to 100? You can ask your child how many digits a number has, what each digit tells you.
Grab a stack of reusable paper cups. Number them from 0 to 9 on the visible edge. Then stack the cups in various configurations. Discuss place value as you stack and restack the cups.
Use Lego/ Duplo
Simply write number values on your Lego with a dry erase marker. Then when you are done you can simply wipe the numbers away.
Other areas
Black History Month
We have been learning about the life of Samuel Coleridge Taylor.
French
We have been learning birthday vocabulary.
PE
We enjoyed PE stations this week working on different skills such as throwing, balancing and dribbling.
We hope you had a lovely week. Looking ahead to the week after the holiday, please remember that Monday 23rd October is an in-service for the staff, so we look forward to welcoming the pupils back on Tuesday 24th October.
We have a session of Loose Parts on Wednesday 25th October. Please come dressed for the weather!
We have worked on our reading books in class this week but will not be sending them home over the holiday. We are still waiting for some to be returned so if you have a book at home, please return it as soon as possible to enable other groups to use the set of books.
Here is a summary of our learning.
Literacy
Writing – We wrote a final set of instructions. This week it was themed around a magic spell! There were lots of creative ideas as well as the bossy verbs, capital letters and full stops required!
Reading – We have been working hard on our new reading books in class. There have been lots of good discussions on how to work out new words.
Spelling– We all now know which block of tricky words we are working on. This week we made wordsearches and swapped them with a partner. At the parent consultations we handed out a list of the tricky words so please continue to work on these at home too.
Phonics – We have been learning to recognise igh and y. For example, high, sky, fly, right.
Ideas for learning at home
Continue to practise reading and spelling the tricky words that your child is working on. One idea is to play snap. Use 2 sets of cards with the words. Lay out a large piece of paper and a pen in the middle of the table. When the words match, rather than saying the word to win the cards, you have to grab the pen and write the word to win the cards.
Look for igh and y words in books and in the environment. We found lots of these in our reading books this week! Ask your child to write a simple dictated sentence using the sounds for example ‘A bird can fly.’ Or ‘I am right.’ Do they remember capital letters, full stops and finger spaces?
Maths
We continued to read and interpret pictograms and bar charts.
We have been revisiting how to form the digits 2,3,4 and 5. We did this on whiteboards and then into our handwriting jotters.
We have been recognising and ordering 2 (and in some cases 3) digit numbers. We focussed particularly on the difference between teen and ty numbers. For example 14 and 40 sound very similar but are very different!
Ideas for learning at home
We have really enjoyed using this game on the interactive whiteboard.
Practise forming the digits 2,3,4 and 5 in particular. You could use chalk, coloured pens, paint, anything to keep this fun! This is the correct formation:
Other Areas
We continued to develop our rugby skills in PE as well as other ball skills.
We enjoyed using paint to create autumn trees in art.
We enjoyed assembly which was about climate change and also a relaunch of the school house system.
Buckstone Primary School 