March 6 2022

February News from Ms. Treacy’s Fifth Class!

Hi all! Here’s an update on what we got up to during the month of February!

In Literacy, we focused on the ‘Explanation’ genre – reading some explanations about space and global warming. We analysed a text on The Amazon and structured it as an explanation piece. To conclude our work, we designed our own planets and wrote an explanation about them – lots of creativity on show. In addition, we also submitted some excellent entries for the ‘Write A Book’ competition – lots of budding authors in our midst.

As Gaeilge, bhíomar ag díriú ar an téama ‘Bia’. Bhíomar ag dul siar ar chomhráite bunaithe leis an mbricfeasta agus an dinnéar. Bhí an-spraoi againn freisin ag scríobh roinnt oideas i nGaeilge.

In maths, we focused on multiplication and division this month – lots of valuable practice of long multiplication and long division. We also looked at some equation work which was very practical, writing number sentences from word problems and solving number sentences with missing frames.

In History, we examined the events of the 1798 Rebellion by reading through some comprehensions detailing the events that led up to this revolt. We also did a great job at researching a key figure, Wolfe Tone, using the iPads to compile a fact file of his life.

In Science, we focused on magnets – examining the features of magnets, predicting and investigating magnetic and non magnetic items and we concluded our work with a quiz to revisit our knowledge of magnets.

In Geography, we studied and labelled the continents and oceans of the world. We also identified some of the major capital cities of the world. We love any kind of quiz in Room 17 to assess our understanding and general knowledge – a competitive bunch indeed!

In SPHE, we continued the Stay Safe programme by examining bullying and the different types of bullying that can occur. We role-played some scenarios and did some reflection on how we can ensure everyone is included and feels safe in our classroom.

We also did some work on ‘Growth Mindset’ as part of this month’s well-being theme – we focused on self-talk and how we can change our thoughts from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

In Music, we learnt the song “Don’t worry, be happy” by Bobby McFerin and we learnt some new hip-hop moves on Dabbledoo Music.

In PE, we started some cricket lessons and played some rounders to help us practice the ball handing skills needed.

In Art, we created some Chinese New Year inspired dragons, some Romero Britto inspired symmetrical hearts for Valentines and some ‘Notan’ inspired shapes and cutting artwork – they all made for some wonderful displays.

Thanks for reading!

 

Category: Fifth Class, Literacy, Numeracy, S.E.S.E, Art, S.P.H.E | Comments Off on February News from Ms. Treacy’s Fifth Class!
March 6 2022

January News from Ms. Olson’s Junior Infants!

In January, we learned all about the Polar Regions in Junior Infants. In Aistear we had lots of fun playing in both the Arctic and Antarctica home corner. We were polar explorers searching for different animals, we had to set up camp in the freezing climates and build igloos. It was lots of fun. We had fun playing with small world based in the Polar Regions and acting out winter sports and we did lots of cut and stick activities to learn about penguins and polar bears. We learned about floating and sinking and tested out different objects to see whether they floated or sank. We also worked as a group to create Antarctica and Arctic posters. We used twistables, pencils and cotton wool to create our posters and stuck pictures of different animals native to the polar regions on them. We also constructed snowmobiles with Lego and igloos and polar animals with playdough.

       

In English we continued to learn our Jolly Phonics, Tricky Words and we enjoyed playing phonics games. We enjoyed engaging with the books – ‘The Emperor’s Egg’ by Martin Jenkins, ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers and ‘The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud’ by Jane Cabrera. We found ‘The Emperor’s Egg’ to be very informative and we learned many facts about penguins. We also enjoyed our letter writing stations – we wrote the letters in sand, with playdough, on whiteboards and as rainbow letters.

In Gaeilge we enjoyed learning about ‘An Scoil’ (School) and ‘Caitheamh Aimsire’ (Hobbies). We liked learning about ‘Caitheamh Aimsire’ as we learned new vocabulary and sang songs and rhymes relating to toys! Toys were definitely on our minds in January straight after Christmas! In Maths we took a giant leap forward as we started learning how to partition and combine within five! We have been learning our number stories for all the ways we can make five: 0 and 5; 5 and 0; 1 and 4; 4 and 1; 2 and 3; 3; and 2. We also enjoyed sorting and learning about weight. We sorted items according to weight and did some heavier / lighter hunts and challenges. We also enjoyed playing maths games on the iPads.

In S.E.S.E, we learned all about Antarctica and the Arctic – we especially liked learning about penguins and polar bears. We learned about the Irish explorer, Tom Crean, who almost made it to the South Pole. We learned the names of the seven continents and we had such fun singing the continents song on YouTube.

In P.E. we focused on the Games strand of the curriculum. We love playing warm up games such as stuck in the mud, flush the toilet and duck duck goose. We practised lots of skills this month including rolling, stopping and trapping balls, kicking and shooting, dribbling, bouncing, catching, tossing and striking. We used footballs and  rackets and bean bags a to practise these skills. We loved doing little relay races too whilst we practised these skills.

In Art we made beautiful penguin and polar bear collage pictures. We also decorated a handprint poem for Grandparents’ Day.  In Music, we sang some lovely songs – our favourite being ‘Boa Constrictor’. The song is so funny as it is about being eaten by a boa constrictor!

  

We hoped you enjoyed our blog this month – stay tuned for February’s news!

Category: Junior Infants, Literacy, Numeracy, Aistear, S.E.S.E, Art, Physical Education | Comments Off on January News from Ms. Olson’s Junior Infants!
February 13 2022

January News from Ms. Treacy’s Fifth Class!

We had a great start to the New Year in Room 17 – check out what we’ve been up to across the month of January…

In Literacy, we studied a Chapter of C.S Lewis’ ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ as a focus for our narrative writing. We were inspired to write some ‘magical doorway’ themed stories ourselves in school and some wonderful short stories for the ‘Write a Book’ competition also – many budding authors showcasing their creativity. In addition, we have been studying persuasive writing this month. We really enjoyed brainstorming and debating a range of topics from gaming to homework and many more – excellent arguments on show with great rebuttal to see!

As Gaeilge, bhíomar ag díriú ar na téamaí ‘Siopadóireacht’ agus ‘Mé Féin’. Bhíomar ag cleachtadh foclóir bainteach le na cineálacha siopaí atá ar fáil, cad is féidir a cheannach iontu agus conas cur síos a thabhairt ar an gcostas atá ar rudaí. Bhíomar ag déanamh dul siar ar chomhráití bainteach le cur síos a thabhairt fút féin, faoi codanna an chorp agus na postanna a mbeidh againn nuair atáimid fásta aníos. Ó thaobh na gramadaí de, rinneamar obair ar na briathra neamhrialta san Aimsir Fháistineach chomh maith le obair ar an Aidiacht Shealbhach.

In maths, we have been focusing on percentages – a very useful real-life topic. We have been learning to calculate percentages of numbers, including percentage increases and decreases. We also focused on the measures strand with some weight and capacity work – revising how to change units, add, subtract, multiply and divide different weights/capacities.

In History, we studied ‘The American Revolution’ and ‘The French Revolution’. We used the iPads to research some of the key events and read some comprehensions to delve a little further into these revolutionary times.

In Science, we focused on the theme of ‘sound’. We learned about the structure of the ear and the different functions of these parts. We also completed some experiments to show how sound travels as vibrations. We even made our own straw flutes to illustrate our work on pitch.

In Geography, we studied the different climate zones of the world, using our atlases to help us locate what climate zones related to certain locations around the world. We also learned about the latitudinal and longitudinal lines around the globe that help us to identify locations around the world and how they are linked to the climate zones and the time zones.

In Art, we drew some lovely hot chocolate inspired mugs to heat us up on these cold January days. We also studied the artist James Rizzi and used his artwork as inspiration for our own cartoon inspired cityscapes.

In Music, we studied the history of ‘hip-hop’ and practiced some rapping. We also enjoyed some rhythm and performing work on DabbleDoo. We learned two new songs as Gaeilge as well – ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’ by Justin Timberlake and ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ by Coldplay.

In PE, we concluded our cycling course which we really enjoyed and will hope to reap the practical benefits of over time. We also have been focusing on team games like football and Olympic handball to extend our ball skills and teamwork ability.

In SPHE, we have started the ‘Stay Safe’ programme and we focused on the topic of ‘Feeling Safe and Unsafe’. Lots of practical discussion and scenario work extending our decision making.

We also really enjoyed getting to grips with some more coding using Scratch with Ms. Aivaliki. She introduced us to some of the basics of the coding world using this great resource – a really enjoyable afternoon had by all!

We also celebrated ‘Grandparents Day’ as part of ‘Catholic Schools Week’ – although they couldn’t be present this year, we were reminded of the memories we share and the love they give us.

Thanks for reading!

Category: Fifth Class, Literacy, Numeracy, S.E.S.E, Art, S.P.H.E, Physical Education, Religion | Comments Off on January News from Ms. Treacy’s Fifth Class!