P7M

21/1/16 – What we’re getting up to in Primary 7M – quite possibly the best class in the whole school!

Well, we’ve made it to term 3 and already we have been busy little bees!

Class Topic

This term our class topic is “What Does It Take To Be An Inventor?” and we have already been finding out about some iconic inventions like the aircraft- which have helped shape the world as we now know it.

Everyone prepared… did a short talk on ‘The Devleopment of the phone’. It was clear the children have picked up some great facts about Alexander Graham Bell, but as a class we recognise we have to be more prepared for class talks in the future, to allow us to be more confident and speak for longer.

 

Language

In reading we are really focussing on “Reading For Information” and our understanding of reading. We do this through reading non-fiction texts, as well as our class core-reader stories, and answering different kinds of questions. Our main target is to ‘recognise when an author is inferring something’ without saying it directly. This means we are training ourselves to be literacy detectives and spot the clues! 

In our writing we are moving on to look at secondary style essays and are currently debating topical issues in class, to help us think about both sides of an argument. We then use what we’ve learnt to write a balanced an un-biased argument, only stating our own opinion in the conclusion!

 

Maths

In maths, all out groups are on different topics and work at a different pace. However, we all complete mental maths activites every morning (apart from Tuesdays) and we STILL need to work on getting all our times tables up to speed! Any help from home, would be greatly appreciated!

 

Final Reminders

Please can everyone remember the following:

•  P.E is on a Tuesday morning and children MUST have a full change of clothes (i.e. t-shirt and shorts/trousers).
• Homework goes out on a Monday and is due on a Friday– without excpetions! PLEASE see Miss MacQueen if you are stuck or lose it BEFORE Friday!
• We are trying hard to go paperless- and as such, more notes will be being emailed home. Please check your emails and let the school know if we don’t have an email contact for you.

 

 

21/9/15- Time Travelling with Primary 7M – quite possibly the best class in the whole school!

What a surprise to arrive at school only to find you can forget the usual maths, writing and reading -(yep Monday’s are our toughest days in P7M) because the year is actually 1939 and you have just been EVACUATED!!!

And it didn’t stop there! Down to the station (hall) went our poor evacuees, to be lined up and examined by complete strangers- who would decide whether they would be willing to take care of them for the duration of the war.

Our first visitor, willing to take care of two evacuees was Mr Cook. He spoke to Mary and Joe and decided that they seemed hardworking and polite and he would be willing to take care of them, during their evacuation and time away from their real families.

However, for the rest of the class it was a real waiting game…and sadly when no more willing families showed up at the station – they were simply sent to their new Primary School, Hilton Primary, with the local authorities promising to find homes for them all by the end of the school day.

The evacuees found the WW2 classroom quite different to what they are used to and because of the overcrowding not everyone had a space at a desk.

Their teacher Miss MacQueen was very strict and raised her voice a lot. The evacuees had to stand to say good morning and the boys had to salute. They then had to remain standing while everyone bowed their heads to remember all the British men fighting far away.

WW2 Miss MacQueen made the whole class chant their times tables and if anyone got an answer wrong they all had to stop. Miss MacQueen also picked on evacuees at random shouting “Boy/Girl stand!” and then asking them a maths question e.g. “4 x 3”.

If someone fidgeted or laughed or smiled and Miss MacQueen saw it – they were sent to the back of the room and had to stand and face the corner.

It wasn’t just P7M and Miss MacQueen who had gone back in time- check out Mrs Richardson’s outfit! Yep- herself and Mrs MacLennan had gone back in time too!

After all that hard work of maths- Miss MacQueen got the children to do some handwriting and explained the phrase “Careless Talk Costs Lives” – I wonder if any of the evacuees remember what it meant or if they were too scared to concentrate..?!

After break time, the evacuees received typed notices from the local authority who had managed to place them all with local families. However, poor Jamie wasn’t on the list- and he still had the worrying job of just waiting and hoping someone kind would take him in.

At last the evacuees were allowed to write a letter home to tell their families all about their experience so far. Miss MacQueen then marched the children round to the local post office to post their letters

In the morning, before break time, Mr Cook came back in to see the class. It turns out he was not a real stranger after all but Miss MacQueen’s grandpa! He was 6 years old when the war started so P7M were able to ask him lots of questions about growing up during the war and they listened very well to all the answers.

After lunch, we time travelled back to 2015, but we still spent the rest of the day learning about WW2, using the smartboard and even learning some wartime songs!

Below are a few of our favourite photos from the day!

We know you didn’t get selfies back then! But…we couldn’t resist!

 Miss MacQueen would like to say a special thanks to a few different people for helping make our surprise time travel day in P7M possible.

Thank you to Mrs Lambert and Mrs Lisle for letting our crazy plans become a reality, and for Mrs Lisle’s brilliant acting at the railway station.

Thank you to ‘Grandpa Tommy’ for being such a good sport and not only playing the role of an evacuation guardian but also coming back to speak to the class about your own WW2 experiences.

A BIG thanks to Eden Court Theatre, Inverness for the use of so many fantastic costumes and props.

Another BIG thanks to Mrs MacLennan and Mrs Richardson for all their help and enthusiasm behind the scenes to get the classroom transported back to 1939.

Lastly a HUGE, BIG thanks to all the pupils of P7M for their enthusiasm, energy and over all good behaviour – without which none of our WW2 time travel would have been possible or enjoyable!

7/9/15 –   4 x table!

One of our targets in P7, is for everyone in the class to be completely confident in all their ‘times tables’ before moving on to Secondary school. This week we will focus on the 4 x table! To try the ‘moon maths’ game to help you with your times tables – try the 4x table  Click Here!

1/9/15-  Primary 7M – quite possibly the best class in the whole school!

As we get started in Primary 7, the following are a few things to remember each week:

Mondays- Yep, it’s time to BIG write! We’ll be honest it’s a real, hard working day and a bit of a slog, so make sure you come in with your brain switched on and ready to hit the ground running!

Tuesday- P.E and French in the morning (remember GYM kits!).

Wednesday- Growing/Citizenship Groups at 11am

Thursday- Drumming throughout the day and Rugby in the afternoon (remember to take GYM kit).

Friday – Or as we like to call it FUNday! We’ve worked hard and the week is nearly at a close. It’s time to finish off our week’s tasks, nominate a star of the week and enjoy structured golden time: a ‘thank you’ for a week of hard work and excellent behaviour!