I hope all of our Primary 3 families enjoyed some rest and relaxation last week.

I have uploaded all of the activities for next week and they should be released this evening. I have tagged some of them with a day and will add a weekly timetable here, but that is just for guidance – feel free to dip in and out as you choose.

T4 W7

Also this week’s Google Meet groups (also posted in the classroom):

Google Meet Groups w_c 25.05.20

This week we are following up our IDL wildlife and habitat work with a closer look at rainforests. There is an activity posted for each day and some suggestions for additional/alternative activities in order to try to appeal to all.

There is an introduction to the reading strategy of ‘prediction’, which builds on nicely from all of the inference activities the children have been working on.

I have kept the maths focus on ‘Telling the Time’ and ‘Money Maths’. I am more than happy for you just to continue with practical activities for both, but I have provided textbook work and worksheets for those that prefer this. I have broken the work down into two groups, and have left it accessible to all, but I do not expect every child to complete all of the work. I have included activities which the majority of the children should be able to complete independently; the extension activities are for the more confident children who require a challenge. It looks like a lot of work but, to be honest, there is not a lot of work involved in the textbook pages and I can see the children firing through them quite quickly. The additional worksheets can be dipped in and out of and worked on at your leisure. The shoe sizes will be used for some Information Handling activities next week.

There are new spelling words for each group, and Basic Facts are there as usual.

Please remember there is absolutely no obligation to complete any/all of the work. Just go at your own pace, do what you can and use what works for you and your child. I would rather give you more/a choice than too little, but learning outside and time for fun should always be the priority. Please let the children know they can use the Private Comment boxes again this week; I’ll be back to posting comments and feedback there too.

A little message from me to the children, if they missed it on the stream on Friday.

Feel Good Friday!

I genuinely could not be more proud of your children. Thanks, as always, for your continued support at home.

We would usually have year group photos during term 4 and we would love to recreate this.
Our plan is to create 2 photo collages for each year group:

• 1 where pupils are wearing school uniform and smiling (as they would for a normal school photo)
• 1 where pupils are wearing whatever they want (casual clothes or a costume) and holding a sign with a message to their class.

We thought this would be a lovely memento for everyone to have as well as keeping our classes as connected as possible during this difficult time.

If you would like your child to be included in their class collage then please upload your photos to this Google Form before 27.05.2020 and we will get started on the collage creations ASAP!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfeyB30SuLJkNloe9KVbVkE4WKOOeOdMOnoSV7s98DbTesSSg/viewform?usp=sf_link 

A message from Miss Earnshaw:

Have you got a talent that you think is worthy of the Crown’s Got Talent Show 2020?

We always have a talent show during term 4 and we don’t see why this year should be any different. It is such a lovely way to celebrate each other and this is more important than ever during these uncertain times. This is why we have decided to organise a virtual talent show this year.

We would love to see your amazing talents, whatever they may be! Please film your talent (e.g. dance routine, singing a song, playing an instrument, doing a magic trick etc.) and upload it to the attached Google Form by 29.05.2020. Please keep video entries to 3 minutes or less.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf20ew63vz2Q83HhI6tWgA9p8bMhshvDxioCDCAikscLFXb_g/viewform?usp=sf_link

All entries will be compiled to create one amazing Crown’s Got Talent Movie which will be released on 01.06.2020!

We can’t wait to see all of your amazing entries!

Welcome to Wellbeing Week!

The children continue to impress and amaze me with their commitment to their online learning and I am wholly grateful for all the support behind this at home.

This week is all about taking a moment to breathe, and do whatever makes you happy. I have attached the Creativity Challenge Grid here for you, as well as attaching it to Monday morning’s post in the Google Classroom.

Crown Challenge Week – P2 and P3 Creativity Challenges Grid

I’ll be available on the stream at 11.00am and 2.00pm and look forward to catching up with the children at our regular group Google Meets. I’ve changed the groups up a bit, so that the children get to see different classmates. I thought we could have a little bit of ‘Show and Tell’ this week – perhaps the children would like to share/talk about one of their wellbeing activities.

Google Meet Groups w/c 18.05.20

Finally, if your child was enjoying all of our Scottish Wildlife and habitat work last week it might be worth tuning into www.cairngormsnaturebigweekend.com  for ’10 BIG days packed full of activities, videos, blogs and competitions to inspire, educate and amuse!’

I have attached a little more information about Wellbeing Week here.

Crown Challenge P2 and P3 Pupil and_Parent info

The only real difference is that the suggested activities are all about good health and wellbeing; taking time to ‘step away’ from the screen and engage in more creative, relaxing, feel good pastimes.

As I will also be engaging in Wellbeing Week, connecting with colleagues and developing my own skills away from the computer, I will not be as active online. I will tune in for 15 minutes at 11.00am and 2.00pm to respond to any pressing queries, and to comment on the stream if the children have shared any work. Registration and group Google Meets will continue as normal. The children will not need to ‘hand in’ any work as such, so there should be no need to use the ‘Private Comment’ email boxes. I really enjoy sharing personal comments on the children’s work – please be assured that the usual level of interaction will resume the week after next.

Wellbeing Week is a really positive opportunity for everyone to refresh, re-energise and fire up the feel good endorphins.

 

You may well have picked up from the main school blog that next week is going to have a slightly different slant. There will be a whole school focus on Wellbeing in order to ‘re-set , re-energise and re-focus our learning for the next few weeks, and give an opportunity to spend learning time away from a screen, if that’s what you choose to do.’

We are using NHS Five Ways to Wellbeing headings as a guide through the week.

There will be a daily whole school activity, which will be posted both on the school blog and in the classroom, and a menu of 12 creativity tasks which the children can pick and choose from over the course of the week.

The children will register as normal, and the group Google Meets will still take place.

I will post additional information here over the next couple of days.

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely long weekend!

Here is a look ahead to our learning for this week.

T4 W5

I have based the Literacy activities around Scottish wildlife, habitats and food chains (we will be looking at rainforests and polar environments in the coming weeks). We have had a lot of imaginative/creative writing activities, so I thought it would be good to have a change. The children have such diverse interests, so hopefully this will appeal to the more factually minded! As always, feel free to make the resources work for your child. If what they really want to do is write me a creative story about their favourite Scottish animal, or make a poster, that is absolutely fine too.

I’m keeping ‘Telling the Time’ on the agenda and introducing a little bit of ‘Money Maths’. I have added links for online games and attached some paper activities, but practical application is really the best way to get ahead with these life skills. So, make fun family timetables, set up a shop etc.

There is a lovely idea for a ‘Things to look forward to’ jar, and some art and craft ideas for later in the week.

I will release all of the work again this evening, but have separated out some of the documents so that it is a bit easier for the children to submit them when they are finished.

Please do not feel any pressure to complete all of the activities – that is not my expectation. Hopefully there is enough for children who want to take everything on, and enough variety to pique the interest for everyone else somewhere along the line. It really is a pleasure to see the children’s busy work.

Google Meets went without too many hitches last week; it was absolutely lovely to make some direct contact, and the smaller groups were much more manageable. For ease of access I’ve placed a timetable, which the children can view, in with this week’s classwork.

Finally, for anyone having problems accessing, or finding their way around, the Classroom, several parents have very generously agreed to be a supportive port of call. You can find contact details on the main school blog.

I hope you all have a good week. As always, many thanks, I greatly appreciate all of your support.

I hope you have all enjoyed a lovely weekend.

It’s a short week this week, as we have our ‘May Day’ holiday and VE Day 75th Anniversary rolled into one this Friday.

Following parental feedback via Ms MacDonald’s online questionnaire I have made the decision to release all of the materials for the week on Sunday evening. I will continue to share a weekly timetable for those who prefer a bit more structure.

T4 W4

There is a lovely clip from ‘The Literacy Shed’ this week, with seven pick and choose activities (including a non-fiction Science based writing task), a focus on Symmetry and Time for Maths and a couple of editable reading tasks. Spelling and Basic Facts are also there as usual. The ‘Ready, Steady Cook!’ Health and Wellbeing Challenge will require an element of support/supervision.

The resources for ‘Time’ range from o’clock to one minute intervals. The children were all at different stages in their learning in class and so I will leave it up to you to select the resources which are most appropriate for your child. I have given guidance on the order in which we would normally teach time and would use the teaching clock first just to ascertain how confident your child is. By the end of P3 most children should be able to read o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to however, every child is an individual, so work at a pace that suits them. Teaching ‘quarter to’ is always a challenge, so don’t feel discouraged if this doesn’t happen right away! You child may well pick things up quicker if they are working with you.

Google Meets

Thanks to all who supported their child with our first foray into Google Meet on Friday. It was certainly a new experience for me, and an absolute joy to see the class again.

I have now organised the children into smaller more manageable groups and will be having two meets back to back on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at 2.00 and 2.20pm. I will notify the groups in the morning via the live Stream and then schedule the release of the code, again on the live Stream, for the arranged time (with a reminder to give it a minute before they hit the code to let me get there first). I have kept the second slot on Thursday free for any children who have experienced problems getting on earlier in the week.

To avoid over anticipation/disappointment I will let the children know tomorrow afternoon which day their meet will be on. I know that some children are going to the hub at Millburn on certain days and would ask that those parents contact me on Monday morning via any Private Comment box to let me know which day would be best for their child to join in – I’ll then organise the groups accordingly.

As always, many thanks for your continued support.

I have shared this with your children in the classroom this morning.

‘You are all so good at coming on for a chat that I think it is time we tried a Google Meet. This afternoon at 2.00pm a link will appear on the latest message on this stream. It will also appear in the box at the top where you can see Emmett and Robert. It’s really important that you wait a few minutes before you click it to give Miss Gray time to set up the chat. Once you have clicked on the link you should see a button inviting you to join the meet. It might be a good idea to have a parent or older brother or sister there to help in case you need to turn you microphone on etc. All I need you to do is come on, give us a wave and say hello.
There is sometimes a problem with Miss Gray’s internet connection on the laptop, so don’t worry if it doesn’t work we will just try again next week. If you have problems please don’t start firing lots of messages here, because I won’t be able to answer everyone at once.
It will be very busy and noisy if everyone comes on, but I just want to check that the link works and you can use it. We will only meet for 15 minutes, you do not have to stay on for the whole time. I have got smaller groups organised for chats next week. Keep your fingers crossed it works P3! 😁👍😃’

I’d really appreciate it if you could keep them off the link for a couple of minutes to let me get on first. It would also be great if you could be there in the background just in case your child requires any help, and to support them if it just doesn’t work. My biggest worry is that I will not have an internet connection and the children will be let down. If I am having problems I will put a post up to let you know.

I have timetabled Numeracy for Thursday and Friday again this week. In response to parental request, via Ms MacDonald’s questionnaire, the resources will be released tomorrow at 4.00pm to allow parents to print/copy any resources they might need in advance.

Please don’t worry if printing is an issue, I am also more than happy for the questions to be written into/answered in a jotter.