Week beginning November 24th 2008…

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 21st, 2008 in ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

This week we will be busy working towards our enterprising Christmas Fayre!

ELP ASDAN

Mrs Hoban and Miss Strachan have begun helping us to make salt dough Christmas decorations (a bit like the ones above, only better!). We will be continuing this creative adventure during our Asdan periods and are enjoying making such lovely traditional decorations for our Christmas Fayre.

ELP Maths

In ELP Maths this week we will be continuing to look at calendars and time. It has been useful for us to refresh our memories. Miss Balsillie has kindly ordered us some calendar templates and we will be using them to create our own calendars and some for us to sell at our Christmas Fayre. Some of us will also be working on symmetry -it’s a bit like looking in a mirror and copying what you see.

ELP Social Studies

This week in ELP Social Studies we will be exploring more tropical Fairtrade produce and looking at how we can make our Christmas Fayre count towards helping the poorest people. What sort of organisations help the poor in the Third World? Could we help them in their work by donating the proceeds of our craft sales? And what will be our fabulous Fairtrade Fruit this week?

ELP Gardening

In ELP Gardening this week we will be monitoring the progress of our bird feeders in the school garden and constructing some water fountains for the birds. We also will be listening to more fun adventures from Harry the Poisonous Centipede.

ELP Science

This week we are going to start investigating Sight and Sound. We had a short introduction to the eye last week and we will continue with some work on the parts of the eye. It is also our intention that we investigate whether we can bend light! Who needs the CERN Particle Accelerator experiments, Dr Voge? ;-)

ELP Cross Curricular

Our jewellery production line is at full capacity. Tiffany’s eat your heart out!

ELP CDT

We are almost finished our wishing well. We cannot wait to put it into the ELP Garden. Mr Cruickshank is helping us add the finishing touches this wee. Watch this space for photographs in the near future.

 

Welcome to the dragon’s den…

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 18th, 2008 in ELP - Social Studies, ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 1 Comment

This week in Social Studies our fruit from the Third World is a very spectacular and unusual one. A picture of it can be seen above. Do you know what it is called?

Here we take a closer look inside. Are you any clearer about what it might be?

A few clues to help you…

  • The fruit grows in Mexico and Central and South America
  • Also grows in Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Malaysia
  • they have large white fragrant flowers of the typical cactusflower shape
  • they have a creamy pulp and a delicate aroma

Still not sure? Here is the flower.

Tune in after Tuesday’s Social Studies lesson to find out more…

It’s that most wonderful time of the year…

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 18th, 2008 in ELP - Maths, ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

 

The run up to Christmas sees us once again concentrate on time and date in our maths lessons.

In the coming weeks we will be looking at the new calendar for 2009 - and making our own special calendars to be sold nearer the Festive Season. We will also be making our classroom advent calendar and reminding ourselves of the special and particular job they do. What is different about them? Why do they only go up to the Number 24 or 25?

We will take the opportunity to spend some more lessons looking at time - revisiting things we have learnt in the past and trying to expand our understanding with some new work on “quarter to” and “quarter past”.

 

Des legumes…le jardin de la vie

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 18th, 2008 in ELP - French, ELP Gardening, ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

matching-activity

 

In French recently our theme of the Garden for Life has found its way conveniently into our lessons with Ms Russell. We have been finding out all about “des legumes”.

Please see the attached link for details of the new vocabulary we have been learning.

 

Feed the birds (slightly more than tuppence a bag)…

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 17th, 2008 in ELP Gardening, ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

make-a-bird-feeder

make-a-bird-cake-bird-survival-in-winter

As part of our gardening programme we will be looking at what happens to living things during the winter time. Last year we successfully fed the birds in the school gardens with home made fat balls, milk carton feeders and juice bottle water troughs.

We are repeating this exercise this year - we still want to look after our feathered friends!

See attached links at the top of the page for the methodologies.

 

Week beginning November 17th 2008…

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 17th, 2008 in ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

(Parents are going to thank us for this…sorry folks!)

The countdown to Christmas for Santa’s Little Elpers begins this week. With only 5 weeks of school left before the holidays we have had to make a start on our preparations for the big event. There is so much work for Santa’s Little Elpers at this time of the year. Read on in amazement at the wide range of activities they are required to undertake :-

  • design and produce a range of locally themed advent calendars
  • design and produce a range of locally themed calendars for 2009
  • design and manufacture a range of exclusive designer jewellery
  • design and manufacture a range of traditional salt dough Christmas decorations
  • develop a marketing strategy for these goods
  • negotiate a lease for a stall at this year’s school Home Economics Christmas Fayre
  • organise the stall for this event
  • work on the stall at this event (handling money and marketing wares)
  • agreeing a benefactor for our fundraising in line with our curricular studies on the global food crisis (Oxfam)

Put is this way, Dragon’s Den is beckoning!

So much work goes into planning for and delivering this project - and so the work starts now.

Elsewhere this week, Santa’s Little  Entrepreneurial Elpers will be…

ELP English

We are pleased to announce the launch of ELP News! The pupils will be putting their energies and efforts into producing a short newsletter on a regular basis, aided and assisted by Ms Russell. There will be special editions at certain times of the year - and with Christmas just a matter of weeks away, look out for a festive edition next month!

ELP Social Studies

This week we will be looking at the food crisis in Zimbabwe, another African country. We will be looking at the work of agencies such as Oxfam in this area of the world. How could we help Oxfam help them?

ELP ICT

In ELP ICT this week we will be getting let loose with a digital camera! It is essential that we get a topical and locally themed photograph for the calendars we will be selling in the run up to Christmas and Ms Strachan is going to help us get out and about round the school to take fabulously edgy, cool and contemporary shots ;-)

ELP Maths

In ELP Maths this week we will continue to work on money (what fantastic progress was made last week!). We will also embark on our calendar project for 2009.

ELP Gardening

Last week we made fat balls and other bird feeders from broken biscuits, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and lard. This week we are going to resurrect our milk carton bird feeders for the smaller birds in our garden. We will use old milk cartons and juice bottles. It is important in the colder part of the year to help our feathered friends get through the winter - and it is always good to be recycling our rubbish.

ELP Art

This week the pupils have been given the challenge of drawing still life. A lot of patience and colour will be required :-)

It’s a spikey Marge Simpson hairdo!

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 12th, 2008 in ELP - Science, ELP - Social Studies, ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

 

“It is a green and yellow, spikey Marge Simpson hairdo!”

That is the way that one pupil described the outside of a pineapple when we were asked to investigate how this wonderful fruit looked like, felt like or smelt like.

Judging by the above photograph, it is a pretty accurate description!

Today we were looking at more produce from poorer nations that rely on the Fairtrade system to make a decent living. In recent weeks we have used our senses to investigate the taste, smell and look of the following tropical foods:-

  • bananas
  • mango
  • butternut squash
  • pumpkin
  • pumpkin seeds
  • sesame seeds
  • coffee
  • tea

Each week we spend time describing what we see, feel, smell and hear in our own words. (And so if the fruit looks like Marge SImpson’s hair, then it looks like Marge Simpson’s hair!). 

We talk about textures, density, aromas, flavours, sounds, similarities and differences with other foods.

We look for signs of plant parts - is there a stem or seeds or a seed coat?

We make predictions about what we might find inside the fruit or vegetable. We discuss whether we have tasted the food before and, if not, what it might taste and feel like on our tongues. We decide a strategy for preparing or opening our foods - they are all fresh but some of them need specialist help (like our coconut needed a saw from CDT!).

We taste the food and decide whether we like it (the most important thing, after all!). We use “thumbs up” for good. We use “thumbs down” for not so good. We use “thumbs horizontal” for okay. Each week we have an X Factor type vote for each food - will the food survive the judges decision? Poor old coconut didn’t!

Seemingly, he wasn’t sweet enough to be loved by our judges. (Which is a real shame as he was actually quite nice, say the adults).

This week it was the turn of the Paraguayan Pineapple to face the wrath of our panel. Fairtrade produce fresh from the local Scotmid ( we don’t need to go to Paraguay to buy them). We looked, we smelled, we touched - we thought he was jaggy! We considered that…

  • it was waxy and shiny like a pumpkin or squash
  • it had a thick skin we would not eat -unlike an apple
  • it had spikey bits on top like Marge Simpson’s hair with too much gel!
  • it was very heavy (dense)
  • it had signs of a stalk or stem
  • it’s leaves pointed up to the sun
  • the plant stem must be strong as the fruit is heavy
  • there is yellow flesh inside the skin
  • there is no core like an apple but there is a hard bit through the middle we probably wouldn’t eat (after all the pineapple in tins comes in rings with no middle bit…)
  • the smell was making our mouths water!
  • there was a lot of juice from this fruit
  • the fruit tasted just wonderful!

In terms of thumbs up this fruit rated most highly so far. In fact, this was the first food that we have finished in its entirety. Even Simon Cowell wouldn’t have complained…

We considered how the pineapple might fit into our balanced plate - which group would it go in, for example? (The answer, of course, being the Green Group of fruit and vegetables). It could be one of our “five a day”. 

 We also looked to see if we could find Paraguay on the world globe…

  • Was it a warm country or a cold country?
  • Was it a rich country?
  • Was it near any other country we have looked at so far?
  • What other things do we think it might also grow, given what we know already about that part of the planet?

So many interesting things came out of this simple lesson about the Paraguayan Pineapple. We used our senses, our vocabulary, our understanding of world geography, our knowledge of Fairtrade, our experience of plant physiology and growth and, best of all, our digestive systems to explore this fantastic fruit.

A walk in the park…

Published by Ms.Russell November 11th, 2008 in ELP - English, ELP diaries, Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP) and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Using Looking and Thinking text book we have created a story called A Walk in the Park. We looked for clues, and gave the people in the picture names and identities. The ELPs are very good at naming people!

We all contributed, and hope you enjoy the story.

A Walk in the Park

 

It is a warm spring day and a mother and her two children are walking through the park. One child is too small to walk and is being pushed in a pram. The other child is holding his mother’s hand. Bobby is the little boy who is holding his mum’s hand, and the baby is called Bryce.

A dog is sitting down and has been tied to a tree. The dog is looking at the baby in the pram. The dog is called Frodo.

Rob and Hecker, the gardeners, are reading a newspaper. They are sitting on the park bench. They have been busy digging and planting new trees to make the park look tidy.

Granny Joan and Susanne are walking over the bridge and they are going to town to do their shopping and have some lunch.

Grant is on his bike on the other side of the park hedge watching the steam from the train.

 

 

Nov 2008.

 

Week beginning November 10th 2008…

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 10th, 2008 in ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

This week sees our country mark Remembrance Day on Tuesday November 11th. We will be taking a look at why we pay respect on this occasion every year and willing be thinking about what we have learned from attending last Friday morning’s Sixth Year Service of Remembrance.

ELP Maths

This week in ELP Maths we will continue to work on money - we have been making such good progress we must maintain this impetus. We will also be looking again at date and number. With Christmas now only just over 6 weeks away we will revisit the idea of using and making advent calendars. We will also consider the new calendar that will soon be needed for the year 2009.

ELP Science

This week we will continue to construct our ELP public health posters and leaflets. How will we convince other people of the merits of eating “five a day”, a “balanced plate” or simply keeping fit? See ELP Science for more details!

ELP CDT

The mission in hand remains our ELP Wishing Well for the school garden. We have now constructed the base and will be looking this week to move on to the more intricate issue of the actual well “hole”. As always, this remains cracking good fun!

ELP Gardening

In the ELP Garden this week we will be making bird feeders to put out in the ELP Garden. Lots of messy making of fat balls and milk carton holders will doubtless ensue! Donations of milk cartons, juice bottles and the like most welcome - this project will very much involve recycling materials as well as left over food.

ELP Social Studies

This week in ELP Social Studies we will be looking at the food crisis in Zimbabwe - how are people coping? We will look further into the concept of Fairtrade and plan our next trip out of school to visit the local Prestonpans Fairtrade shop where Mrs Dickson works…

ELP French

Mrs Fitzpatrick has invited us up to listen to some French songs on the headphones this week - we can’t wait!

ELP Cross Curricular

This week we begin the countdown to Christmas - there will be so many arts and craft things to do before the end of next month that we really need to be making a start on them. So for the next five weeks in the Cross Curricular lesson we will be working as Santa’s little helpers!

Where did the power station go, Miss?

Published by Mrs.Binnie November 6th, 2008 in ELP diaries and Enhanced Learning Provision (ELP). 0 Comments

The view from our classroom window often looks something like this - only from another angle. From many of our classrooms we can see this imposing building on the horizon. It is not everyone’s cup of tea in terms of being a “beautiful skyline” but for the ELP group it has been the source of a number of lessons, an interesting talking point on a number of occasions and - most importantly - a reassuring ever present that brings stability and comfort to our everyday routine.

Cockenzie Power Station looms large in our day to day lives.

Something strange happened on Wednesday and Thursday of this week that unnerved a couple of our pupils.

 The power station disappeared! It could not be seen from the classroom window and this caused a fair bit of concern for pupils - some of whom thought it had vanished overnight. The lesson could not progress until we worked out where the power station had gone…

Here is a clue.

 

Can you see the sunshine peeking through in this picture? A little bit, perhaps…but where have the buildings behind the trees gone? This was our dilemma in class this week.

The power station seemed to have disappeared - but had it? We asked ourselves a number of pertinent questions…

  • if the power station has gone, how did it happen?
  • where has it gone?
  • was there some “magic” at work?
  • if the power station was still there why can’t we see it?
  • what is special about today that may have made this amazing thing happen?
  • could we not see the station because of bonfire smoke?
  • had a firework blown it up?

After much debate we decided to put on our coats and go outside for a better look. When we stepped out of the doorway we soon discovered that the weather may well be the culprit in our optical illusion…

Our heads soon became speckled with drops of moisture. Fine droplets of water formed on individual strands of hair. Why was this? It certainly wasn’t raining.

The cars in the staff car park were covered in wetness - but it definitely was not raining.

The grass on the rugby pitch glistened and looked damp too. So how could this be? The rugby posts perhaps gave us our first real clue - the one nearest us was clear to look at but the one at the other end of the pitch was a bit more difficult to see…and the trees at the edge of the school boundary were covered in what looked like bits of cloud!

A bit like these…

Suddenly we realised that perhaps the mist was sooooo thick near the river that it had made the power station look like it had disappeared…but it was probably really still there! (That was a relief!)

We chose to go back inside to class again but monitor the view from the window to make sure that, when the clouds and mist cleared, the power station was still there. Otherwise we would have to phone the police…

(Thankfully - it was)

 

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