Hello everyone!

I have really enjoyed our past three weeks of themed activities. All of your efforts for Sports Week, Art Week and Poetry Week have really been fantastic! Well done to all of you on your amazing creativity!

To our sixth class pupils, congratulations on completing your primary school education. I will miss you all, but as Ms Comerford said in her assembly piece last week, we hope to see you at a graduation ceremony in the autumn. Good luck in secondary school and enjoy!

I am still taking lots of photos of wildflowers when I’m out walking the dog so I have obviously included them in this post! As with my website post at the start of May I already knew the names of some of these flowers but I did have to look some others up to find out what they are called. I used the websites http://www.irishwildflowers.ie/ and http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/ again to help me, as well as a flower identification book. I hope I got them right!

The first two photos are of caterpillars gathered on plants. They are eating lots and lots of leaves as they get ready for the next stage of becoming a butterfly or moth. Find out more information here about the Peacock Butterfly and about the Cinnabar Moth.

Finally, click here and volume up to hear the Dawn Chorus. I took this video around 4am one morning when many, many birds were getting out of bed and having a lovely singsong to start off the day!

I hope you all have a lovely summer!

Stay safe,

Ms Whyte

Please note:

For SeeSaw and other internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all keeping well.

As we are into Flower Power this week in St. Gabriel’s N.S., here is a guided meditation from cosmic kids yoga. Click on the picture below and the guided meditation will open in Safetube.

Over the past few weeks I have planted a lot of summer seeds and bulbs which I hope will begin to shoot up and bloom when they are ready. Like the seed in the meditation, they will need heat from the sun and water from the clouds (or the tap!) to help them to grow.

Maths

You can keep practicing the counting, addition and subtraction activities and playing the maths games that were in my previous posts.

This week here is a rekenrek activity for Doubles. It is a PowerPoint file which should download to your device. Open and play the slideshow to do the activity.

Rekenrek – Doubles

Following on from the subtraction activity last week, here is another one for you to try. It is a PowerPoint file which should download to your device. Open and play the slideshow to do the activity.

Subtraction activity, e.g. 8 – ? = 5

Science

I was delighted to see some of you trying the experiment about an egg floating in water over the past few weeks.

Here is another interesting experiment you might like to try – The Leakproof Bag Experiment (video opens in Safetube)

Please ask an adult at home for permission to do the experiment and ask them for help if you need it.

Do this experiment outside or over the sink or bath because if you get it wrong you’ll be mopping up a lot of water!

If you are using Seesaw, send some photos of the experiment to your class teacher!

(If you want to know more about how this experiment works please see here).

I hope you have a good week. Stay happy and safe!

Ms Whyte

Please note: For internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.

Hello again everyone!

I hope you are all keeping happy and well.

You all should be very proud of the fantastic work you are doing at home, whether it’s school work for your teachers or helping your family around the house, learning important life skills like baking and gardening or even how to use the washing machine and vaccuum cleaner!

As you may have already guessed, something that has been keeping me very happy over the past few weeks is walking with the dog and looking at all the beautiful nature around me! Below is a picture of a white bluebell which I was very surprised to find on one of my many walks with the dog. On another day in a different wood I was surprised again, this time by a red squirrel racing up a tree and then kindly stopping so I could take a photo! If you look closely enough at the second photo below hopefully you can see him or her! Click on both photos to enlarge.

Before we start on our school work let’s try some Sunshine Breaths. For these we have to imagine the warmth of the sun shining on us. We shouldn’t find it too hard to imagine this warmth with the lovely weather we have been having during the past few weeks, and hopefully more of it coming soon! Click on the image below to enlarge it.

Maths activities

If you need some ideas on counting or other maths activities have a look back at some of my previous posts, especially here and here.

Over the next few weeks we’ll have a go at rekenrek activities. Most of you are very familiar with using rekenreks in class. Below is a website where you can use one online. You can add rows to the rekenrerk so those of you in older classes can make a 10 row rekenrek. https://apps.mathlearningcenter.org/number-rack/

Below is an activity with a two row rekenrek. It is a PowerPoint file which should download to your device. Open and play the slideshow to do the activity.

Rekenrek activity – How many?

In previous posts we did some addition activities: Counting 2 sets, both screened and Addition Activities, e.g. 7 + ? = 10

Now try this subtraction activity: Subtraction activity, e.g. 9 – 4 = ?                                Again it is a PowerPoint file which should download to your device. Open and play the slideshow to do the activity.

Have a lovely week and stay happy and safe!

Ms. Whyte

Please note: For internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.

Hello again everyone!

I hope you are all keeping safe and well. This week (like every other week!) I have been going on lots of walks with the dog. Last week with the extension from 2km to 5km we were able to go back to a wood where we love to walk.

Bluebells

This is one of our favourite walks because at this time of year there are are thousands of bluebells blooming in this wood.

Wild Garlic

Wild garlic is also flowering there at the moment so the smell there is amazing!

Over the past few weeks I have been keeping an eye out for butterflies. I have seen lots fluttering about from flower to flower but they are very difficult to get a picture of. They are very quick to fly away when someone (or a dog!) gets too close to them. I did manage to take photos of three different butterflies since the beginning of April and then I had to do some research to find out their names. I used the website http://www.irishbutterflies.com/ and I hope I got them right! Why don’t you check my research? Have a look at this PowerPoint I found on Twinkl to find out more about the Life Cycle of a Butterfly.

Orange Tip butterfly                              (this one is a male, a female has black patches on her wings)

Green-Veined White butterfly

Peacock butterfly

Tadpoles

And now a tadpole update!

They might have got a teeny tiny bit bigger since the last time I saw them. As you might have learned from the life cycle of the frog PowerPoint last week, it usually takes them 6-9 weeks to fully develop as a tadpole. I also don’t know when these tadpoles hatched from their eggs so I will have to be patient for a few more weeks!

Counting and maths activities

Please keep practising the counting activities, addtition activiites and maths games that are in my previous four posts!

Here are some maths games for you to play this week.

Number order 0-50: https://wordwall.net/play/1776/267/801

Number recognition; Count on, count back up to 20, 30 or 99: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/blast-off

Addition activitiy – missing number, e.g. 6 + ? = 9: https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/handyCounters/index.html

10-frame activities – how many?, how many more to make 10?, addition to 10 and 20: https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resources/Illuminations/Interactives/Ten-Frame/

Number order, count in 1s 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 8s 9s 10s 11s 12s and 25; what’s missing?: https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/saucerSorter/

Have a lovely week and stay happy and safe!

Ms. Whyte

Please note: For internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.

Hello again everyone!

I hope you and your families are all well. I have been in the countryside since school closed and have been going on lovely walks every day with the dog. One of the most exciting things that I have found on these walks are tadpoles! I took a short video of them which you can see here. Some are swimming about and some are asleep. Have a look at this PowerPoint I found on Twinkl to find out more about the Life Cycle of a Frog.

The birds are singing all day too and sound so happy. Listen to them here in my back garden last week. I think you might be able to hear a bee buzzing there too! What sounds of nature can you hear when you go out into your garden or to the park?

It is so nice to see all kinds of wild flowers growing everywhere. I have taken some photos to show you. You can click on each one below to see the larger image. I also took a photo of a bee on a dandelion after I read Ms O’Dowd’s post last week!

I already knew the names of some of these flowers but I did have to do some research to find out the names of the others. I used the websites http://www.irishwildflowers.ie/ and http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/ to help me. Maybe you could check to see if I got them right.

Next time you go out for a walk have a look out for flowers, especially wild flowers. If you don’t know the names of them, take a photo and use these websites to research them.     

I have also heard the cuckoo every day this week. I recorded his cuckoo song in a wood near my house – listen here to hear it! I also discovered that one of the wild flowers I have seen is called a cuckoo flower! It was given this name because it usually flowers around the same time the cuckoo begins to sing.

Wild Strawberry – no strawberries yet!

Horsetail 2

Horsetail

Common Male Fern

Greater Stitchwort

Speedwell

Bush Vetch

Cow Parsley

Whin aka Gorse

Violets with Ivy and Nettles

Shamrock aka Wood Sorrel

Primrose

Bluebell

Buttercups

Cuckoo flower

Bee on a Dandelion

Counting

I say this every week – it is very important to keep practising your Counting!

This week please keep practising the counting activities, addtition activiites and maths games that were in my other posts here and here and here.

– Count both forwards and backwards. This might be between 0 and 20, between 0 and 50 or between 0 and 100.

– Say the next number before and after, e.g. What number comes before 19? After 26?

– Count forwards and backwards across the decades, e.g. forwards 28, 29, 30, 31, 32; backwards 42, 41, 40, 39, 38.

Those of you in the Senior classes could:

– Count forwards and backwards over 100, between 0 and 1000, over 1000, etc.

– Say the next number before and after, e.g. What number comes before 500? After 345?

– Practise counting forwards and backwards in 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 8s 9s and 10s.

– Count in 10s off the decade, e.g. count in 10s beginning at 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, 54, 64, etc. Don’t forget backwards too! 104, 94, 84, 74, etc.

Science

Did any of you get a chance to make a tornado in a bottle?! If you did, or you are still planning to try it, you could take a video of it and upload it to Seesaw.

Here’s another experiment – can you make an egg float in water? https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/floatingeggs.html

After doing this experiment you can read here about the Dead Sea which is a very salty lake in the Middle East. It’s so salty that people can float in the water without any effort – just like the eggs in our experiment!

Please note: For internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a nice and relaxing time at Easter with your families. I hope you didn’t feel sick after eating all your chocolate eggs! Unfortunately, my sisters were not able to come to my house this Easter so I had to eat their eggs. They were delicious!

This week I have some more Maths activities for you as well as a science experiment. But first let’s start with some relaxing breathing.

Let’s try some Balloon Breaths! Click on this image to enlarge it.

Time to get thinking.                     What would you do if …?                 Click on this image to enlarge it.

Now on to our Maths Activities!

As I said before it is very important to keep practising your Counting – both forwards and backwards.

It is especially important to practise counting forwards and backwards across the decades. The decades are 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110, etc.

For example, forwards from 38 to 43… 38 39 40 41 42 43; backwards from 72 to 67…72 71 70 69 68 67.

Please keep practising the counting activities that were in my first week’s post as well as the addition activities and the flashed 10 frame tasks.

Next try this Addition activity where the tasks look like this: 7 + ? = 10. You need to figure out what number is missing. It is in a PowerPoint file which should download to your device. Open it and play the slideshow.

Addition Activities, e.g. 7 + ? = 10

(When you have finished these tasks you could practice more addition using some small objects, e.g. counters, Lego, etc. You can use paper or cloths or small boxes as screens.)

Here is a Maths Game you can play. Try out the Number Bonds up to 10 and up to 20 and you can also practice your Doubles.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Finally here is a Science Experiment for you to try at home – can you make a

tornado in a bottle?!

Please ask an adult at home for permission to do the experiment and ask them for help if you need it. If you are using Seesaw send a video of the tornado to your class teacher!

Please note: For internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.

Hello again!

I don’t know about you but I really wish I was back in school! For now though we have to stay safe at home and keep washing our hands.

Yesterday in the garden I saw my first butterfly of the year so let’s try some Butterfly Breaths! Click on the image below to enlarge it.

During this time you might find yourself watching more TV than usual or playing games on the playstation or tablet, etc. But don’t forget to talk to your family too!

Have a look here for some interesting ideas for Conversations.

Have a conversation!

It is very important to keep practising your Counting – both forwards and backwards. You can still practise the activities that were in my post last week. This week here are some maths games to try:

Ordering numbers

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/chinese-dragon-ordering – order numbers on the dragon from smallest to largest and from largest to smallest

https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/playYourCardsRight/index.html – guess will the next number be higher or lower

Reading numbers

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/helicopter-rescue

https://www.ictgames.com/postAletter/index.html

Number after and Number before

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/chopper-squad – one more, one less

Please note: For internet based activities please ensure your children are supervised while accessing the internet.