PLHS - Support for Learning

This week sees our school Christmas concert and the Senior Citizens’ lunch and concert. It also is the time the school canteen serve up a traditional Christmas lunch - and the Learning Support team intend taking a small group of pupils to enjoy this occasion. The canteen will be providing Christmas Lunches on 12 and 13 December. (The canteen will be providing Christmas Lunches on 12 and 13 December - more information to follow).

Elsewhere this week we will be…

Science

This week in Science we will be taking a look at how animals cope in an East Lothian winter. How do they survive cold weather? What do they do for food? We will be making our very own bird feeders and a bird cake for the Japanese Garden. We will be both chefs and architects - firstly making the cake from raw ingredients and then going on to put it in our DIY bird feeder made from recycled milk cartons.

Extension learning targets will include the use of the terms “hibernation” and “migration” if possible.

Maths

In maths this week our priority is finishing our 2008 calendars. We have nearly completed this enjoyable task and there will soon be a number of brightly coloured gifts winging their way round the school and the community.

<Newsflash> One of our calendars has found its way to Haddington and a certain Mr Ledingham when a young lady in our class decided he “really needs one of our calendars if he is the boss of schools in East Lothian”.

English

This week we have continued with our Jolly Phonics and Oxford Reading Tree programme. In addition, we have had some reading time with our Leap Pads - more fun with Scooby Doo and Shrek!

A new thing we have learned this week is how to use mnemonics to help us spell words. Two of our favourites were…

People eat omlettes people like eggs (people)

Laugh at ugly goats hair (laugh)

Mnemonics are often verbal, something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something.

Art

Art continues the Christmas theme this week - more glitter, tinsel and santa!

Cross Curricular project

After Friday’s wonderful trip to the Winter Wonderland in Edinburgh and, in particular, the German Market, we come back to complete our own Christmas enterprise project this week - in time for the big day. We have received a number of orders from staff, pupils and parents for bracelets, necklaces and calendars. The children very much appreciate the support they have been given for this venture. We would remind parents that orders can be despatched home at any time - but only once payment has been sent into school with the pupils. We are sure there will be many happy grannies and wee sisters when they find their lovely hand made gifts on Christmas morning!

French

In French this week we will be continuing to practise our weather phrases through song, repetition and art…perhaps we might be best to concentrate on il fait froid!