Category: P2MD Mrs McFarlane and Miss Davidson

P2M Blog 24.03.23

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

We have a session of loose parts on Tuesday. Please come dressed for the weather!

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you have had a good week. Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy 

We have continued to learn about compound words and to use our knowledge of sounds to read and spell them.  

At home you could challenge your child to draw pictures to show the 2 elements of a compound word. Then they could write the word underneath. 

For example, they could draw rain + bow and then underneath spell the word rainbow. 

Here is a list of suggested words: 

• blackbird 
• firelight 
• catfish 
• speedboat 
• batman 
• daytime 
• lipstick 
• snowdrop 
• hotdog 
• starfish 

The tricky words for reading this week were: know, walk and talk.

At parent consultations this week we gave you a copy of the tricky words (spelling) that your child is working on in class. Please practise spelling these at home.  You could use pavement chalk, paints or simply a pencil and paper to do the Look, Cover, Write, Check method.  

Reading books were sent home on Thursday. Please continue to ask your child questions about the text to check for understanding. There will be no books sent home on Thursday 30^th because the following week will be the Easter holiday.

In writing we worked on retelling the story of Little Red Riding Hood. We are working hard on using the past tense as well as making a beginning, middle and end structure.

Maths 

We have been revisiting a range of number skills covered this term. Here are some activities you could do at home to reinforce these skills. 

• Practise sharing out items. For example, give 3 dolls 2 cakes each. 
• Ask your child to design a simple dot-to-dot picture. They could count in 1s, 2s, 3s or 10s. 
• Roll a dice. What number do you add on to make 10?  

We have also been learning to count in 3s and 4s and have enjoyed singing these songs.

Counting by 3s – YouTube

Counting by 4s – YouTube

Remember you also have your SumDog log in details. We have set a new challenge for you to try. It is titled ‘Term 2 Number Work Revision’ and it goes live tonight! 

Other areas of the curriculum

• We enjoyed a session of loose parts on Monday.
• We finished up our block of gymnastics in PE.
• We enjoyed activities related to Little Red Riding Hood.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

What a week we had!

The show kept us extremely busy. We practised and performed in front of P3, P1 and, of course, in front of you parents/carers! We hope you had a great time and you enjoyed it as much as we did.

All children did an amazing job. We are very proud of them!

Here is a summary of our learning:

Literacy

This week we have continued our work on compound words and reinforced the syllable concept.

Our tricky words this week are idea, answer and usual.

On Wednesday both classes worked together at spelling time. Please continue to practise how to read and write spelling words at home. Your child should know which block they are working on at school. It would be very helpful if you work on the same block at home as well as revising previous blocks.

In writing we worked on retelling the story of the Gingerbread man. We are working hard on using past tenses and using beginning, middle and end structure.

Ideas to do at home

• Ask your child to think about compound words and write them. Cut them and try to mix with other words and see which other compound words they can make.
• Ask your child to count the number of syllables in familiar words. Can they work out how many syllables are in the name of each family member? What about their favourite foods? You can clap or alternatively, hold your hand under your chin to count the number of syllables if finding it tricky. Clap the syllables.
• Reading books were sent home today.

Maths

We have continued to work on 3D objects names and properties.

We also have worked on numeracy skills such as addition and subtraction. If you wish, use your Sumdog account to revise these skills.

Ideas to do at home

• Choose a 3D shape and ask your child to find as many objects as possible with that shape in a given time.
• With everyday objects explore how the number of faces, edges and corners/vertices.
• Use last week’s maths grids.

Other areas

As mentioned above our main focus has been the show.

In PE we have worked on gymnastics.

Other

• Please remember that next week we have Parents Consultations on Wednesday and Thursday.
• Loose parts on Monday.

The children have shown great creativity this week with the Kapla resource. Here are a couple of their wonderful creations.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs McFarlane

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you had a lovely week.

We have had a few children bringing in toys and jewellery from home. We do not want any toys to get lost or damaged so please do not allow your child to bring these in. Whilst friendship bracelets / necklaces are given out with kind intentions, this can lead to upset when others are left out. We would really appreciate if these items could be left at home as they are more suitable for playdates rather than school. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy

We have continued to work on compound words (e.g. cupcake, football, starfish).  As part of this, we have been clapping and counting syllables in words.

The tricky words this week are those, buy and first.

In writing we retold the story of A Squash and a Squeeze. We had to order the events and retell it from the point of view of the little old lady.

Ideas for home:

Write some simple sentences and ask your child if they can identify the compound word within it. For example:

• I like my bedroom.
• I want a skateboard.

Ask your child to count the number of syllables in familiar words. Can they work out how many syllables are in the name of each family member? What about their favourite foods? You can clap or alternatively, hold your hand under your chin to count the number of syllables if finding it tricky.

Reading books were sent home yesterday. Please also work on the coloured key word walls which will help with fluency when reading aloud. Please note that due to the show next week, we will give reading books home on Friday rather than Thursday.

Maths

We have been learning to name 3D shapes: cube, cuboid, sphere, cylinder and cone. We talked about edges, faces and corners/vertices.

In our number work we have been practising our subtraction skills. We have also been working on saying the number before and the number after. Some of us are doing this within the range 0-30, some 30-100 and some beyond.

Ideas for home:

Play a game of true or false. Write down 10 sums. Some of them should be correct and some of them should be incorrect. Can your child use their subtraction skills to work out which ones are which? The children love spotting when the teacher makes a mistake on the board so this can be a fun game to play at home. 

If you have chalk at home, you could write a 2 digit number on your garden path. Can your child write the number before and the number after? You can make it more tricky by crossing a decade. For example, with 80 in the middle, can they say the number before?

Other areas of the curriculum

• We have been very busy with rehearsals for our P2 show. We can’t wait to perform it for you next week!
• We enjoyed a session of loose parts on Tuesday afternoon in the sunshine.
• We have continued to work on the ‘Have a Goal’ unit as part of Health and Wellbeing.
• We are continuing to enjoy gymnastics in our PE lessons.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents/ Carers,

We hope you are well.

Although this week has been a short week at school, we have been very busy learning and we have started to prepare our P2 show.

Please, if you haven’t done so, check your child’s purple folder today. If they have asked for a speaking part in our forthcoming show, then they were given their lines to take home on Monday. Please could you help them to practise their lines at home. We will have rehearsals in school, but we want them to feel as confident as possible.

Literacy

We have continued to work on compound words. Our main focus has been on tricky words. We have been working on reading and writing different blocks. Please continue to work on these at home.

Our tricky words from block 6 this week are: won’t, don’t and both.

In writing we created a new flow chart about lunch. We are learning how to write a basic flowchart.

Ideas to do at home

Please practice your tricky words (reading and spelling).

Ask your child to read their reading book from this week. Ask your child questions about the book.

Compound words hunt: Do a hunt around the house or/and outdoors and create a list with them. You can use two colours to point out which two words make the compound words. Count the syllables. The children loved this video:

Maths

We have continued to work on our number skills counting forwards and backwards, number before and number after a given number. We have continued to work on subtraction (from 10, 20 and beyond for some).

Ideas to do at home.

Here is a video to help with subtraction

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwv39j6/articles/ztpmrwx

Games

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/handyCounters/index.htmln

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/fireFly/index.html

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/difference/index.html

Remember you also have a sum dog account. We have set a 2D shape challenge and an addition and subtraction challenge for you to try.

It is very important that when practicing addition and subtraction at home your children use different ideas. A good mathematician always uses scrap paper to work out their findings!

Please find attached different ideas to work on numeracy skills  (counting, adding, ordering, arrays, etc.)

Other areas

PE focus on games.

As mentioned above we have started to prepare our assembly about Katie Morag and Scotland.

World Book Day. We had the opportunity of reading our own favourite books at school.  We also enjoyed a World Book Day quiz! Your child can bring their own book to school anytime for BEAR time.

Other

• Loose parts on Wednesday 8^th March.
• Please see separate email about the show dates and costumes.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you had a lovely week.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

**World Book Day Thursday 2^nd March**

Please feel free to bring in a book from home to enjoy reading in class.

Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy

We have started a unit of work on compound words (e.g. cupcake, football, bedroom). This week we talked about words with two syllables and we practised clapping and counting syllables in words. In this block the children will also have the opportunity to revisit the vowel digraphs which were taught in Block 2. For example, in the word ‘rainbow’ the children will be revisiting ai and ow and applying their knowledge of syllables and letter sounds to spell the whole word.

We watched this video clip in class which provided us with some examples of compound words.

Alphablocks : Plusman – Series 4 – Episode 03 – YouTube

The tricky words this week are eye, even and above.

In writing we made a very basic flowchart about choosing when and what to have for snack.

Ideas for home:

What are compound words? – BBC Bitesize

The ability to split a word into syllables is very important in this unit of work. Below is a link to an online lesson which has a video and 3 follow up activities.

Counting syllables – English – Learning with BBC Bitesize – BBC Bitesize

Practise reading and spelling the first 3 tricky words for Block 6. These are eye, even and above.

Maths

We have been learning to name 2D shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle, pentagon and hexagon. We are learning to describe the properties of each shape using the vocabulary of sides and corners. We also used the vocabulary of long, short and equal sides.

In our number work we have been learning to subtract. We are also using the terms take away, minus and equals.

Ideas for home:

What are 2D shapes? – BBC Bitesize

Play a game of ‘Who am I?’ Give some clues about a shape and ask your child to work out which shape you are describing.

Subtraction games online:

Number Line Subtraction Game – Fruit Splat – Basic Operations Math – Sheppard Software

Once you are confident you could try this game. Select Number Bonds then an appropriate level.

Hit the Button – Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)

Remember you also have a sum dog account. We have set a 2D shape challenge and an addition and subtraction challenge for you to try.

Other areas of the curriculum

•     We have started to think about our P2 show. There will be one performance on the afternoon of Thursday 16th March and a second performance on the morning of Friday 17th March.

•     We have been learning songs for our show.

•     We have continued to work on the Have a Goal unit as part of Health and Wellbeing.

•     We are enjoying gymnastics as part of our PE lessons.

Have a great weekend.

Dear Parents / Carers

We hope you had a nice week.

Here is a summary of our learning.

Maths

This week our focus has been on addition (to 10, 30 and 100 for some). We have been working on understanding the link between a digit, its place and its value (focus on tens and units). When adding two-digit numbers we need to add first the units and then the tens. We are still using, when needed, the counting on strategy when adding a two-digit number with one digit number.

We have worked on place value.

Ideas to do at home

– We have been using this game in class to work on place value.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=diennesandcoinsv3

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/place-value/place-value-charts https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/placeValuePieces/index.html

When working at home ensure your child works on writing the sum using the correct symbols for add/plus and equals. Write simple sums and ask your child to write the answers and explained how she/he has worked the answer. A couple of these a day would be good.

– Addition to 10 https://www.arcademics.com/games/alien

– Adding two-digit numbers https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/depthCharger/index.html https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math/addition/fruit-splat-game/

(level 6)

Literacy

We have been learning about soft g. Soft g is when the letter g makes the ‘g’ sound. Magic e is making the i say its name. Also, when ge come together the sound is always s and the e is silent. Examples: page, smudge, hedge.

Tricky words: eight, money, learn

This week we are not sending reading books home. This week we have been doing assessment of the sounds we have been working on this term.

We have continued to work on reading skills such as : looking for new vocabulary (talking about its meaning), inference (make and justify inferences using evidence from the text), prediction (Predict what might happen from the details given and implied), explain, retrieval of information (Retrieve and record information and identify key details from fiction and non-fiction) and summarising (summarise the main ideas from more the book) . When reading books at home please ask questions to your child about the text.

In writing we wrote descriptions of Katie Morag. We are learning to use interesting describing words. During the week while reading books we have made a bank of describing words (adjectives).

In handwriting we have worked on writing cursive letters h and b.

Ideas to do at home:

– Please practice the tricky words from Block 5 that we have worked on at school: write, great, move, story, does, done, school, before, because, people, again, four, eight, money and learn.

– Please ensure your child is confident at reading and writing all the tricky words from previous blocks.

– Please keep working on tricky words from previous weeks. Look, cover and write strategy is a good one to use at home.

– Words to read at home to practice soft g.

– Practice cursive letter formation. Please reinforce how to hold the pencil correctly and the right letter formation https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive-beginners-choice-1.html

Other areas

PE we have been practicing gymnastic skills and learning new games to work on following instructions.

Social Studies: We have continued to learn about life in an island through Katie Morag and Robert Burns.

RHSP We have discussed the Friendship topic: When friends fall out.

Following our Building Resilience program, we have worked on ‘Have a goal’.

News

– Please check your child’s bag as they will have their login details to access Sumdog (website for Maths) and all the information about how to access it.

– Next week it is the February break. We are back on Monday 20th February.

– Loose parts on Monday 20th February.

Here are a selection of photos taken over the last few weeks. Have a wonderful break!

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents/Carers,

It was lovely to see so many of you at Wednesday’s drop in morning. We hope that you enjoyed this session.

Here is a summary of our learning this week.

Literacy

We have been learning about soft g. Soft g is when the letter g makes the ‘j’ sound. Also, when g and e come together the sound is always j and the e is silent.  Examples: age, stage, badge.

Tricky words: people, again, four. 

Our reading books are non- fiction books. We are learning to identify the features of non-fiction texts.  

We have been working on comprehension skills: read a text, look for key words from it, answering questions about the text, etc. This is proving to be hard as the texts get more complex. When reading books at home please ask questions to your child about the text.

In writing we wrote descriptions for someone in our family. We are learning to use interesting describing words.

In handwriting we formed the letters n and m.

Ideas for home learning:

• Please practise the tricky words from Block 5 that we have worked on at school: write, great, move, story, does, done, school, before, because, people, again, four.
• Words to read at home to practise soft g: cage, wage, stage, page, rage, huge, bulge, plunge.
• Practice cursive letter formation. Please reinforce how to hold the pencil correctly and the right letter formation.

https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive-beginners-choice-1.html

Maths

This week we have continued to work on our addition skills (to 10, 30 and 100 for some).

We are talking about different strategies which we can use to solve these calculations. Some of us are using the counting on method and some are using a number line or mental strategy.

Ideas for home learning:

If you have a deck of cards at home, choose one of the games below to play.

MEMORY  BONDS

Learning Outcome

I am practising my number bonds to ten.

Equipment

At least 2 players and 1 pack of cards with Jack, Queen & King removed.

Instructions

• Place all of the cards face down, in a grid formation.
• The first player turns over two cards and adds them together to see if they make ten. If they do, the player keeps them. If not, then they should be put back in the same place as before.
• The next player has a go (remembering what has been uncovered before).
• Keep going until all of the number bonds to ten have been found.
• The winner is the player with the most cards at the end of the game.

• THREE  UP

Learning Outcome

I am practising adding a single digit to a two-digit number.

Equipment

2 players and 2 packs of cards with Jack, Queen & King removed.

Instructions

• Make 3 piles of cards, face down.
• The first player turns over the top card from each pile and places the first two cards together to make a 2 digit number.

The player adds the single digit as quickly as possible.

• If they are correct, they keep all three cards. If not, the second player adds them together to work out the correct answer.
• Keep going until you have used up all of the cards.
• The winner is the player with the most cards at the end of the game.

     FASTEST  HUNDRED

Learning Outcome

I am practising my number facts to 100.

Equipment

3 players, 1 pack of cards with Jack, Queen & King removed and a calculator to check your answers.

Instructions

• Chose one player to be the judge. The other two players are opponents.
• The judge turns over two cards to make a two-digit number.
• The aim is to be the first person to shout out what has to be added to that number to make 100.
• If you are the first to answer and you get it right, you keep the cards.

If you are first to answer but get the answer wrong, the cards go to your opponent.

So, think carefully before you answer!

• Keep going until you have used up all of the cards in the pack.
• The winner is the player with the most cards.

Other areas of the curriculum

• We have continued to work on gymnastics in PE.
• We enjoyed a session of loose parts.
• We enjoyed a visit from a parent who is an electrician to reinforce the learning we have been doing in Science.
• We have continued to learn about island life through our Katie Morag topic. We have also been learning about Robert Burns.
• In Health and Wellbeing we have been learning about the importance of kindness and empathy in making and sustaining friendships.
• We have also started our new unit for Building Resilience: Have A Goal. In this unit, we will be learning that:

•Setting a realistic goal helps to motivate us

• Learning to overcome setbacks helps us cope with future ones

• It is important to celebrate our successes

Ideas for home learning:

Talk to your child about a goal you set yourself and how you dealt with setbacks and failures along the way.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents / Carers

We hope you had a nice week.

If you haven’t returned your child’s learning story to school, please do it as soon as possible.

Here is a summary of our learning this week.

Maths

This week our focus has been addition (to 10, 30 and 100 for some). We have been working on understanding the link between a digit, its place and its value (focus on tens and units).  When adding two-digit numbers we need to first add the units and then the tens. We are still using, when needed, the counting on strategy when adding a two-digit number with one digit number.

Ideas to do at home:

• We have been using this game in class to work on place value.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/place-value/place-value-charts

• When working at home ensure your child works on writing the sum using the correct symbols for add/plus and equal. Write simple sums and ask your child to write the answers and explained how she/he has worked the answer. A couple of these a day will be good practice for your child.

• Addition to 10

https://www.arcademics.com/games/alien

• Adding two-digit numbers

https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/depthCharger/index.html

https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math/addition/fruit-splat-game/

(level 6)

Literacy

We have been working about soft c. Soft c is when the letter c makes the ‘s’ sound. Magic e is making the i say its name.  Also, when ce come together the sound is always s and the e is silent.  Examples: space, bounce, chance and spice

Tricky words: write, great and move. 

Our reading books are non- fiction books. We are learning to identify the features of non-fiction texts.  

We have been working on comprehension skills: read a text, look for key words from it, answering questions about the text, etc. This is proving to be hard as the texts get more complex. When reading books at home please ask questions to your child about the text.

In writing we wrote descriptions of Granny Island. We are learning to use interesting describing words.  During the week, while reading books, we have made a bank of describing words (adjectives).

In handwriting we have worked on writing cursive letters n and m

Ideas to do at home:

• Please practice the tricky words from Block 5 that we have worked on at school: write, great, move, story, does, done, school, before, because.
• Please keep working on tricky words from previous weeks. Look, cover and write strategy is a good one to use at home.
• Words to read at home to practice soft c: space, chance, bounce, grace, face, lace, blaze, ice, dice, rice, mice, dance, prince, since, ounce, etc.
• Practice cursive letter formation. Please reinforce how to hold the pencil correctly and the right letter formation

https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive-beginners-choice-1.html

Other areas

PE we have been practicing Scottish Dances. We are really good at them and we are having fun.

Social Studies: We have continued to learn about life on an island through Katie Morag. We have enjoyed setting up a Post Office role play to link with our learning about Katie Morag. We also have talked about Robert Burns.

RHSP We have discussed the Friendship topic: What is a good friend, how can we be friends and the fact that we can be friendly to others even though we might not be friends, etc.

News

• Drop in Session for parents on Wednesday 1^st February (see school email).
• Loose parts on Friday 3^rd February.

Photos

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents/Carers, 

Today your child brought home their Learning Story. We have added a termly newsletter and a sheet with targets for your child this term. We would be grateful if you could return the Learning Stories on Monday. Thank you. 

Here is a summary of our learning. 

Maths 

This week we have been continuing a pattern by looking at the order of the objects and the rule they follow. A pattern can involve shapes, symbols or numbers. 

We have also been working on addition. In particular we have been writing sums using the plus and equals signs. We are trying hard to hold the big number in our heads and count on the rest. For example, 12 + 3: start on 12 then count 13, 14, 15.  

Ideas to do at home: 

Listen to the Banana Banana Meatball song. Banana Banana Meatball Song | Songs For Kids | Dance Along | GoNoodle – YouTube Can you come up with your own active pattern like some in the song? For example, chocolate, chocolate, penguin! Make sure there is a repeating pattern.  

Shape Patterns (topmarks.co.uk) 

Use pasta or beads to make 2 groups. Ask your child to add the 2 groups together to find the total then write it as a formal addition sum, e.g. 9 + 3 = 12 

Addition Fruit Splat Game – 7 levels – Math Game (sheppardsoftware.com) 

Literacy 

We have been learning about soft c. Soft c is when the letter c makes the ‘s’ sound. Magic e is making the i say its name.  Also, when ce come together the sound is always s and the e is silent.  

Tricky words: story, does done. 

Our reading books are non- fiction books. We are learning to identify the features of non-fiction texts.  

In writing we wrote descriptions of ourselves. We are learning to use interesting describing words.  

Ideas to do at home: 

• Practice the tricky words: school, because, before, story, does and done. A set of flashcards were sent home on Thursday to help you with this. 
• Ask your child to spell nice, mice, ice. Can they explain the soft c rule? 
• Practice cursive letter formation. Please reinforce how to hold the pencil correctly and the right letter formation. 

https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive-beginners-choice-1.html

Other areas 

In PE we started to work on our gymnastics skills. 

We enjoyed Scottish dancing in the hall. 

The class have shown an interest in Chinese New Year so we have been enjoying activities related to this.

In Science we have been learning about Energy. 

We enjoyed Loose parts. 

As part of our Social Studies topic, we have been enjoying learning about Katie Morag and the Isle of Struay. We have also been singing Scottish songs and learning about Robert Burns.  

We have revisited our commitment to be Ready, Respectful and Safe at all times.   

Other information 

• Please ensure your child has indoor shoes at school.  
• Please label all your child’s items (including gloves, hats and water bottles). 

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McFarlane 

Dear Parents/carers,

We hope you had a lovely week.

Important Information

We sent home indoor shoes at the end of last term for you to check that they still fit. If you have not either returned or replaced the indoor shoes, please could you do this as soon as possible. Thank you for your support with this.

This week we have been learning:

Maths

This week we have been learning about pattern. What is a pattern, follow a pattern, finding the rule of a pattern, etc. A pattern can involve shapes, symbols and numbers.

Ideas to do at home:

Look for patterns at home or when on a walk. Ask your child to try to find the rule of the pattern.

• Websites:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns

https://www.coolmath4kids.com/manipulatives/pattern-blocks

Please continue to practise number formation as we are finding that children are reversing numbers when writing them.

Literacy

We have been learning about soft c. Soft c is when the letter c makes the ‘s’ sound. Magic e is making the a say its name.  Also, when ce come together the sound is always s and the e is silent.

Tricky words: school, before, because.

Our reading books are non- fiction books and we are focusing on reading for information.

The writing focus this week has been ‘My home’. Children are learning to use interesting describing words. We will continue to develop this skill for several weeks.

Ideas to do at home:

• Practice the tricky words: school, because and before.
• Watch this video:

• Practice cursive letter formation. Please reinforce how to hold the pencil correctly and the right letter formation.

https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive-beginners-choice-1.html

Other areas

In PE we have started to work on our Fitness skills. We have focused on landing.

In Science we have been learning about Energy.

We enjoyed a session of Loose Parts, despite the rain.

As part of our Social Studies topic, we went for a walk observing the features of our local area.

We had our very first live assembly with other classes in the school hall today!

Other information

• Loose Parts on Friday 20^th January. Please come dressed appropriately!
• Please label all your child’s items (including gloves, hats and water bottles).

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McFarlane