Monthly Archives: April 2020

2O/4/2020 Junior Infants

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Hello again boys and girls in Junior Infants. I hope you had a lovely Easter break with your families. The weather was wonderful for having fun outdoors. I hope you all got lots of fresh air by playing out in your gardens or by getting out and about for some exercise on your scooters or bikes!

Usually, when we go back to school after the Easter holidays I love to hear all the stories children tell me about the nice things they have done during the break. However, this has been a very unusual Easter break and unfortunately I won’t get to hear these stories. So what I would like you to do for me this week is to draw some pictures of what you got up to over the last two weeks.

 

Don’t forget ‘thinking time’ is very important to help you to remember, to figure out things and to decide what you will draw. There’s no need to rush your thinking. You have lots of time! Enjoy your thinking time! Here are some ideas to get you thinking:

  • Did you eat anything nice?
  • What games did you play?
  • What did you do to get some exercise?
  • Did you watch anything you really enjoyed on television?
  • Did you build or make anything in your house or garden?
  • How did you communicate with your family or friends who don’t live with you?
  • Perhaps you did something else?

Hopefully sometime soon I’ll get to see the pictures you’ve drawn and decorated. I know Ashley will also be looking forward to seeing them too. She misses you all too!

 

If you’re looking for some extra ideas, you should have a look at the suggestions our other teachers researched for you all. I have enjoyed looking through them myself and have noted a few that Junior Infants would especially enjoy.

  • Ms. Dunne has lots of brilliant ideas here to help you make your fingers stronger. These will help you to keep improving your colouring and writing.
  • Ms. Fitzpatrick has a lovely art task here about drawing a vase of spring flowers. It made me think of all the bulbs we planted in December and never got to see bloom. I would love to see your colourful flower drawings.
  • Ms. O’Leary has wonderful links to the National Geographic Kids website. You will love this website! She found some pictures of very cute animal friends for you to have a look at here.
  • Ms. Hanlon and Ms. Condron have a fantastic story called ‘The Lazy Bear’ that I think you’ll enjoy.
  • Ms. Hanlon thought you’d all have fun trying these animal movements. https://pathways.org/help-your-childs-gross-motor-skills-with-these-animal-walks/
  • Ms. Fahey has great ideas here for when you’re playing. She lists some tips to help you stretch your imaginations during your play time. She also has some amazing yoga moves for you to try. They will really help you to stretch out your bodies. She gives directions for movements and poses called the Mountain, the Down Dog, the Triangle and the Cat.
  • If you want to practise your drawing skills Ms. Fahey has a link to a video showing how to draw a bunny.
  • Ms. Whyte has given us a relaxing activity here called Butterfly Breaths. You’ll find it nice and calming. Have a look at the conversation suggestions that Ms. Whyte mentions. These will really get you thinking. You might also learn some new things about the people in your family too!

If you have a look at RTE Home School Hub today on Monday 20th, Múinteoir Ray plans to teach about éadaí (clothes). It might help you remember some of what we have learned about éadaí in school so far.

Enjoy trying lots of these suggestions out during the week. Hopefully I will get to chat to some of you on the phone again also.

Keep washing your hands and stay safe,

Ms. Leonard.

 

Senior Infants

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Hello Senior Infants,

I hope you are all keeping very well. I hope you all had a lovely Easter with your family and had some nice Easter treats.

I have been very busy over Easter. On the farm, we had another two new baby boy calves. They are in the field, running around and having lots of fun. Also, I have been getting our vegetable garden ready, picking out the weeds and stones. So far, I have planted onions and potatoes.

This week, I would like you to have a go at ‘My Easter Holiday Snapshot’, drawing a picture and writing a sentence in each box. Here is a link to My Easter Holiday Snapshots.

I want you to continue to play and have lots of fun with everyone in your family. I am looking forward to checking in with you individually and hearing all about what you are getting up to. Stay safe.

Miss Reynolds.

 

Ms O’Leary

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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

 

Welcome back 5th and 6th class.

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Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re all keeping well and have found interesting ways to preoccupy your mind during these difficult times. Above you can see my three pals that have kept me very busy. Easter 2020 will definitely be one for the history books. You’re all making history everyday by staying at home.

I am only going to set you one task for this week but it is something I would like you to put a bit of thought into. Ireland is famous for making history at Easter. Now it’s your turn. I would like you to write an essay titled“Easter 2020, an Easter to remember”.Living in Ireland is a very special thing, in your essay talk about what living here means to you. If you were lucky enough to live somewhere else before Ireland, talk about the differences. 

Continue to keep up all the hard work you are doing. Remember opportunities are usually disguised as hard work so most people don’t recognise them. Enjoy the extra time you’re getting to spend with your families and don’t take anything for granted.

Missing you all, 

Ms. S

 

Welcome Back!

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Hi Class,

Welcome Back! It’s Monday again! I hope you and your family have had a good Easter and that you didn’t eat too much chocolate!  How are your peas and watercress? Have they grown much? Have you tried the watercress yet?

We are well into Spring now and the weather has been beautiful and I hope you have had a chance to get outside safely for your daily exercise and to play. It’s been busy in my house trying to keep my three girls busy. I hope you are looking after yourselves and your families.

I hope before Easter you had a chance to try out some of the activities I put on the website HERE

And you also had some Easter activities to try out over the Easter break HERE

If you didn’t its still not too late to try out some of the activities above. Below are a few new follow up activities to try out. Next week (starting Monday 20th April) I will be hoping to get back into some new work and hopefully have you share some of your work with me.

In the meantime….

SeeSaw codes for you to log in will be making their way to your parents email addresses today and tomorrow- so keep an eye out for them. And make sure Mum or Dad replies to Mr Donnelly giving permission for you to use the app before you start!

You simply

1. Go to https://web.seesaw.me/

2. Click “log in”

3. Click “I’m a student”

4. Type your text code you received by email from Mr Donnelly into the box for Text Code

Then you are in Mr Smyth’s SeeSaw Class and you will see your activities there.

I have uploaded a introduction video and two very simple Maths activities to get you started.

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

Other activities:

Irish

Watch Home School Hub on RTE: Monday 20th April Home School Hub on RTE will feature a piece on the subject of the Irish words for the clothes we wear – which is perfect for us as we have been looking at Eadaí in Irish.

English- Recount:

Can you write me a Recount Story of how your Easter Break was – did the Easter Bunny come? Did you eat many eggs? Did you ride a bike or go for a walk?

Use these Recount posters to help you write your own Recount of your Easter Break:

Recount Poster 1

Recount Poster 2

Art:

Weaving:

Remember before Easter I asked you to watch a video on weaving in Fabric and Fibre HERE

Now I’d like you to try out making your own loom so you can try to weave at home:

http://www.iamanartist.ie/fabric-fibre/can-make-loom/

Remember to have adult supervision when using the scissors and to help with the ruler.

Lego Construction:

Keep up the Lego challenge HERE

English:

Storytime

Listen to Chapter 11 of “Even Stevens” by Michael Rosen HERE

Draw a comic strip in your copy of what happened in this chapter or print this one HERE and draw onto it.

Word of the Day

You can still keep up learning your Word of the Day

Welcome back my incredible 2nd class!

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Hi folks.

Welcome back!! Hasn’t the sunshine just been incredible. I hope you have been outside enjoying it a lot. My favourite part of my day has been opening the curtains and blinds and having to wear sunglasses while I have my breakfast.
I have been so busy over Easter. I did a lot of fun gardening. I planted more flowers. I put solar panel lights on my garden shed. They are so handy because the sun’s rays power them so no electricity is needed. Most of all my brother Fiachra sent me 16 eggs. They are a mixture of different breeds of chickens. I will hatch them out in my incubator. Take a look at the pictures in the gallery to see them.

I am going to set some easy and fun tasks for you to do next week Monday to Friday. I really look forward to checking in with you all individually over the coming weeks to see how you are all getting on.

English Spellings and sentences:
-Make a list of as many “ea” words as you can.
-Here are 10 “ea” words to put into sentences. 2 a day.
tea, sea, eat, meat, meal, each, reach, please, beach, dream.

-Create a comic strip by drawing 6 boxes on a sheet of paper. Draw and write about the different type of Easter holidays you had this year. Try writing two sentences to go with each picture.

Maths:
-Before Easter you looked for all 2D shapes in your house/apartment/flat. This week I want you to look for all 3D shapes. Remember these aren’t flat like the 2D shapes. Take a look at the poster in the gallery to remind you of some 2D and 3D shapes.
-Here are 5 number stories to do Monday to Friday:

Remember our RUDE approach:

Read, Underline, Draw, Estimate.
1. The hen laid 6 eggs and then laid 8 more eggs. How many eggs did she lay altogether?
2. Tom shared his sweets with Sarah. Tom gave Sarah 6 blue sweets, 9 yellow sweets and 4 green sweets. How many sweets did Sarah get?
3. Laura picked flowers for her mum. She picked 12 daffodils, 8 sunflowers and 4 tulips. How many flowers did Laura give her mum?
4. Peter went swimming on Saturday. He did 5 cannonballs, 7 dives and 9 flips. How many different types of jumps into the pool did Peter do altogether?
5. Sally went on a bear hunt. First she spotted 6 grizzly bears. Secondly she saw 13 dancing bears and finally she noticed 11 bears eating honey. How many bears did Sally see on her bear hunt altogether?

SESE/ Project work:
-I hope your animal reports are coming along nicely.
This week I want you to write 16 names for the chickens and design a hen house for the chickens to live in when they hatch.
-In the picture in the Gallery you can see the solar panel lights on my garden shed. These are powered by the sun. Can you list important ways of staying safe in the heat of the sun now that the weather is getting hotter?
-Can you design a garden shed and write about what you would store in it?

Art/Drama:
In the Gallery of pictures you will see some daisies that are growing in my garden. Can you try making a daisy chain and then create a mini sketch(act out a play) where there is a king and a queen. Create their crowns using daisy chains.

P.E:
Everyday I want you to try doing:
1. 50 jumping jacks
2. 40 jumping with high knees
3. 30 cycling (lie on your back and with your feet in the air peddle 30 times)
4. 20 air punches (punch your arms into the air)
5. 10 burpees

Music:
I want you to try write a song about the sun and the good weather. Maybe you could include what you do on hot days; eat ice cream, have a water fight, make a daisy chain or go for a cycle.

I hope you’re helping all the adults at home. Remember every time we play we are also learning. This week I want you to be imaginative and think outside the box when you are playing. 2nd class stay cool, caring and incredibly safe.

Ms.Walshe the incredible.