Welcome back everybody. We miss you a lot and we can’t wait to see and hear you all again. Have you noticed all the wonderful signs of Spring? I’m sure the cherry tree in the playground is in full blossom now. I really miss seeing it from my classroom window. Maybe if you live close to the school you have seen it when you go for a walk. Next week I will tell you about the Japanese Festival of Hanami. 

For this week you might like to do some animal research. There is an Animal Quiz at the end if you want to test your knowledge. Or maybe you would prefer to draw some pictures of the ways that each different animal has features (colour, fur, head, feet and other body parts) that help it to survive in its natural habitat.

What do the Polar Bear and the Platypus have in common?  

I’m sure you know that the polar bear lives in the frozen lands around the Arctic Circle. Do you know what a platypus is and where it lives? The platypus can be found in Australia and it’s a very interesting animal because it is like a collection of parts from different animals. Just like a duck, it has webbed feet and a duck-bill. It has fur like an otter and a tail like a beaver. It’s a mammal so you would think that it gives birth – but it lays eggs instead! The male platypus carries venom in its ankle and this venom can be poisonous for small animals. 

The polar bear and the platypus seem like very different animals, so what do you think they could have in common? What do you think they have in common with all of us at the moment? Lots of animals like to live in groups but the polar bear, the platypus and other animals like to live solitary lives – just like we have to do at the moment so that we can stay safe and protect our health. You can read about animals that prefer to live solitary lives in this article

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2020/apr/15/self-isolating-animals-species-social-distancing-wwf?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

If you liked reading about those animals, here are some videos, some interesting facts and even some games and activities where you can learn some more about polar bears … 

https://www.natgeokids.com/ie/discover/animals/general-animals/polar-bear-facts/

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/videos/livecam/polar-bear-cam

…  the platypus …

https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/platypus.html

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/platypus/

… the panda …

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/giant-panda

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/stories/precious-pandas

… the orangutan …

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/orangutan

… the jaguar …

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/jaguar

… and the snow leopard …

https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/snow-leopard

Here is a quiz if you would like to check how much you have learned about these animals. I will give you the answers at the end of the week.

Animal Quiz

Virtual Tour of a Pyramid in Egypt

Can you remember your 3D shapes? Have you ever been inside a pyramid? 

Would you like to see inside the 5,000-year-old tomb of an Egyptian queen? The tomb of Queen Meresankh III was discovered in 1927 and now you can virtually walk around it and some other beautiful Egyptian places.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/virtually-tour-five-egyptian-landmarks-180974696/

I hope you enjoy these activities. Take care of yourselves and don’t forget to help the adults in your home.

Best wishes,

Ms O’Leary

Hello my friends. How are you all today? Well, I hope! The last week went very quickly. I hope that you were all getting outside into the fresh air as well as having lots of fun indoors playing and doing some school activities. I’ve added some new links here if you want to hear more stories or keep playing your games. https://padlet.com/faheymairead/5srjmewuml22

Happy Easter to you and your family!

Play

Please don’t forget that when we are playing we are also learning a lot of new things.  You may not have all the toys in your house that our Aistear Playroom in school has but you can still create your own play area.  Using your imagination you could play at the following things:

• the hairdresser – write out a price list for your customers
• the dentist – make some posters to tell people how to keep their teeth healthy
• a cafe/restaurant – make a colourful menu.  Write down the customers’ orders
• the school – you be the teacher and give your family some homework!
• the optician – make an eye chart with letters of the alphabet to test your family’s eyesight
• the bakery – what kind of breads and pastries do you sell? Make some advertising posters and a price list
• a supermarket – encourage your shoppers to make a shopping list and tick off each thing as they find it

The most important thing to remember is to have fun!

Art

Over the next few days you might want to make some Easter cards for family and friends or you might just want to draw some pictures of the Easter bunny to decorate your house.  My niece Jessica (6) showed me a really good website that teaches you to draw pictures step by step.  She drew these pictures using the website and she said it was really easy.  I’ll put the link on my padlet as well.

https://www.artforkidshub.com/draw-big-easter-bunny-portrait/

Yoga

I hope you have been practising your Bumblebee Breath as you go about your day.  You could also try humming a song and ask your parents or brothers and sisters to guess which song it is.  The only problem with this is that if you start laughing, it’s really hard to hum. Try it!

Last week we talked about the Mountain pose and the Down Dog.  This week we have the Triangle pose.  Start with your feet wide apart making a triangle with your legs.  Stretch your arms straight out from the sides of your body and turn your toes on one foot to point the same way as your arm.  Now stretch over and bring one hand down to your ankle to make more triangles.  Repeat on the other side.  Don’t forget to breathe!!                                                                                                 The Cat pose is another one that I think most of you already know.  Kneel down on all fours like a cat (hands under shoulders and knees under hips).  Now breathe in and lift up your head as your back arches.  Breathe out and make your back round while looking at your belly button.  Now start to stretch like a cat to see how it feels.  Are you a pet cat or a wild lion or tiger?

Hello everybody,

Have you ever heard of Easter Island? It is an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is also known as Rapa Nui. It was named Easter Island by Dutch explorers who landed there on Easter Sunday in 1722. When they arrived, they discovered over 800 giant statues and almost no people. This was strange, since the small number of people on the island couldn’t possibly have built these statues – it would have taken a much larger civilization. If you would like to see the giant statues and find out more about the island, here are some links below. Maybe you would like to write a Report about it or maybe you would like to give some suggestions about what you think might have happened to all the people who lived there. Or maybe you would like to do an Art project – you could draw or paint pictures of the giant statues or you could try making them from cereal boxes.

Easter-island.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhEeh_BcADg

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/easter-island/#/92746.jpg

Here are some games you can play without using your devices – you just need each other.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/smarter-living/coronavirus-classic-games.html?referringSource=articleShare

Here are some animal friends to cheer you up if you are missing your friends.

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/friends-forever/

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/adventure_pass/amazing-animals/quacky-friendship/

Everybody knows about the Easter Bunny, but do you know anything about the Jack Rabbit?

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jackrabbit/

Have you ever tried drawing a Celtic Knot? Here are some lessons where you can experiment with different patterns and colour.

http://www.aon-celtic.com/learn/basic-knot/knot-basic1.html

Don’t forget – please make sure you are supervised by an adult when you are using the internet. Wishing you all a very Happy Easter Holiday. Be kind to each other and don’t forget to help the adults in your house.

Take care,

Ms O’Leary

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all keeping well. Here are some Easter activities for you to try at home. Have fun and enjoy. Happy Easter.

Ms. Fitzpatrick

Click HERE for the activities

Easter Activities

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are all well, washing your hands and staying at home. I have been very busy in Cork with my family helping on the farm with all the baby animals that have just been born.

I have also been baking and reading more which has been enjoyable. As it is nearing Easter I have given you suggestions on some fun Easter activities to do such as an Easter Egg hunt, a science experiment and a fun quiz.

Hope you enjoy them and have a lovely Easter. From: Ms. Dunne.

Fun quiz

Bouncing Egg Experiment

Easter Bunny Egg Hunt

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.

Hello children,

We hope that you and your families are keeping well. Hopefully you are enjoying the extra hour of daylight in the evenings. It’s good to get outside when you can. Please remember to include lots of playing in your days! We would also love for you to try some of these activities during the next two weeks.

Take care,

Ms.Hanlon and Mrs. Condron

Senior Infants

Please practise vocabulary and phrases associated with Easter, spring and animals

Here are some cartoons made specifically for learning new words and phrases:

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/short-stories/the-lazy-bear

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/short-stories/no-dogs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEb1GsqxhZc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyyh8rhwKQ8

Here are some word games to learn and practise vocabulary:

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/easter

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/word-games/birds

https://www.eslgamesplus.com/farm-domestic-animals-vocabulary-esl-memory-game/

https://www.eslgamesplus.com/sea-animals-aquatic-animals-vocabulary-esl-memory-game/

1st and 2nd Class

Atlas skills:

Find these countries in an Atlas or online:

• Burkina Faso
• Lithuania
• Argentina
• Uzbekistan
• Greenland

Can you find out which continent each of these countries are in?

Draw and colour the flag of two of those countries

Countdown Challenge

• What is the longest word you can make using these letters?
• How many short words can you make?

o k r i h s m a f

Start a project!

Over the next few weeks, you could work on a project about a famous person who you are very interested in. They could be a famous person from the past or from today. You could look up some interesting facts about them and perhaps write about why you are interested in them. Headings could include:

• Their name
• When they were born
• Where they are from
• What they are famous for
• Any other interesting facts or information about them
• You could draw a picture of them

Please save your work carefully. We really look forward to seeing it and talking all about it soon!

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