Tally-ho!
We have been learning how to collect data in maths using the tally method. Firstly we compiled a class survey of our favourite cartoons. The choices were; Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and SpongeBob SquarePants. The results revealed that Peppa and SpongeBob were the clear favourites with 10 votes each. We then practised one more tally within the class comparing boys to girls, so that we had a clear understanding of five being the magic number in the tally system.
Then we set-off to the car park with our clipboards and partners to tally the colours of the cars. There was some debate and discussion over colours, with white and silver causing some ambiguity! We found no green cars at all. The clear winner for this tally indicated that silver cars dominated our car park.
Gaelic Football with Dónal
Dónal from Ballinteer St. John’s GAA joins us every Wednesday. Each week we practise our football skills and are getting better at remembering the keys skills; running hip to lip, using our hand in a tick-tock motion to pass the ball and kicking the ball using the laces area of our shoe. We really enjoy these weekly sessions and have been making steady progress with our ball skills.
A Bug’s Life
We had a visit from Nessa from Heritage in Schools. She told us that she works as an entomologist, which means she knows a lot about insects!
First of all we looked at some pictures to see which insects we could already name and recognise. We learned that there are 99 different types of bee found in Ireland! Nessa then showed us how to do the honey bee dance which was a lot of fun.
Armed with our pooters, jars and insect guides we set off on our field trip. We found so many different insects living in the trees in Finsbury Park from bees to beetles to frog hoppers.
We took at close look at them all using the investigation trays and through the magnified lids on the jars. If we were unsure what we had found, Nessa had lots of helpful picture charts which we used to confirm our findings.
We made sure that we released all the insects back into the wild before we finished up. It was great fun using the pooters and getting to see the insects close up. We really learned a lot about who we share our community with!
Our Trip to The Pine Forest
On Thursday, an excited bunch of Junior Infants set off on the bus to The Pine Forest Art Centre, Glencullen. There was plenty to see en route as we left the city for the hilly countryside.
We were met on arrival by the enthusiastic staff, Niall and Pixie, who firstly took us on a mountain walk. We navigated steep slopes, avoiding nettles along the way, until we came to the magical fairy hawthorn tree. We made a wish here before trekking back uphill for a well-deserved snack.
Our first activity was with Pixie where we made cone characters. We let our imaginations run wild adding all sorts of embellishments to create quirky characters.
We then moved onto the next chalet with Niall where we made a pond drawing similar to the pond on-site. We then visited the pond which was full of tadpoles and pond-life.
Then it was time for a picnic lunch which we enjoyed in the sunshine with our friends. Our final activity of the day was making foam fridge magnets with Niall. We added feathers and wings and made them in happy bright colours.
After a busy day of activity it was time to return to school on the bus. We enjoyed the fantastic views of Dublin city as we descended the mountain and enjoyed spotting places we knew. It was a great day out and everyone had a fantastic time. We even had someone fall asleep on the bus on the way home! It was an unforgettable day.
Celebrating New & Old
In Junior Infants we have been learning about the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year. We read the story of The Great Race and learned that this is The Year of the Dog.
Red is considered a lucky colour in China so we made red lanterns to decorate the school hallway and we coloured images of the animals from the story. We discovered that most of us are either dragons or snakes because we were born in 2012/2013.
We then turned our attention to look at old and new toys. We saw that some toys like Lego are the very same even after many years. Many of the toys we play with now make sounds and need batteries but things like dolls and teddies are still as popular today as they were many years ago.
I think the general consensus was that the Vtech computer doesn’t offer as much fun as today’s iPad!
Crafty Work
Junior Infants have been busy this festive season making and creating!
We made festive greeting cards, salt dough decorations, orange pomanders and rice krispie buns.
We used our scientific knowledge to predict what would happen to the chocolate when we placed it in the microwave…and it surely melted!
We measured and mixed the ingredients for our salt dough decorations to ensure we had just the right consistency.
Our orange pomanders gave us an opportunity us to refine our pincer grip as we pushed the cloves into our oranges.
We hope the recipients of our crafts will enjoy them.
Learning is Fun!
In Junior Infants we have been playing games to improve our numeracy and literacy skills. We really enjoy these activities as it’s fun to learn while playing together with our friends.
October in Junior Infants
During October we focused our attention on the story of The Gingerbread Man.
Using lots of mathematical language we measured the ingredients needed to make and bake our own gingerbread men. We measured cups of flour to ensure that they were full, we counted the spoons to ensure we had put in the correct amount of ginger and sugar. Then we had great fun decorating and eating them.
We also made our own ginger scented playdough. This involved reading the recipe together and exploring the concept of more and less. We saw that by adding more flour the playdough became less sticky!
We had fun acting out scenes from the story after we retold it in our own words and in the correct order.
News from Junior Infants
Junior Infants have been reading lots of traditional tales.
While reading the story of The Little Red Hen, we talked about helping others and being a good friend. We then put our co-operative skills to the test and together we made some bread. We all helped with measuring the milk and flour and stirring the mixture together. Then we put it in the oven to bake and watched it rise.
When the class were asked; ‘Who will help me eat this bread?’, the answer was a resounding, ‘ME!’.
We also read the story of The Three Little Pigs. We took on the role of the Big Bad Wolf and used our lungs to huff and puff as much as we could to create some blow art paintings. It was hard work but we enjoyed watching the watery paint run around the page!
The Beat Goes On…
We have been learning about rhythm in music.
Some words like duck have only one syllable, so for this we learned to represent this with one tap.
However, other words such as duckling have 2 syllables, so we represent this with two taps.
Then we put our knowledge to the test and using various images we tapped our compositions.
Can you guess what they might be?!
Picasso Portraits
We learned about Pablo Picasso in Art. We looked at some of his most famous paintings with a focus on his use of colour and shape. We discussed how he went against the conventions and traditions of the previous generations.
We had a look at his ‘blue period’ and spoke about how the colour blue represented his sadness. Then we created our own Picasso portraits using oil pastels.
Curious Curators
To conclude our Artist in Residence programme we paid a final visit to Dunlaoghaire Lexicon.
In advance of our trip, Claire from the arts office visited us in school to talk to us about the concept of curatorship.
Curators, like many of us, like to collect items. We talked about our collections of shopkins and stickies. Curators then decide which items are their favourite and how best to display these items.
So on this trip to the Lexicon we had the opportunity to meet Martin Drury the curator. He explained to us the reasons why he has hung some of the images down low; so that they will be at eye level for children in buggies.
We are now also able to distinguish between the various art forms; paintings, drawings and sculptures. Our artistic vocabulary has really expanded since we began this project in January and I think we all have gained a greater appreciation for the importance of art in our lives.
Outdoor Pursuits
In the wise words of Elsa; the cold never bothered us anyway!
Críona’s Senior Infants have been channeling their inner Bear Grylls and learning the basic principles of orienteering, as well as enjoying the great outdoors.
Working cooperatively with a partner, we have been using our reading skills to solve clues and complete our missions. We are progressing well and we will soon be moving on to learn some basic mapping skills. We look forward to milder weather conditions once spring has fully sprung.
Print Charming!
Críona’s Senior Infants have been letting their artistic juices flow for the past few weeks with the help of Tunde and Kim. This week, the boys and girls used the foam printing blocks they made previously to create their own original prints.
The results were spectacular as you can see from the photos. Here are just a few samples…
Chinese New Year
Senior Infants have been learning all about Chinese New Year, which begins this Saturday, January 28th.
We looked at the story of The Great Race and learned that this year will be the Year of the Rooster. We completed some lovely writing and pictures based on the story.
Following that we enjoyed making our own lanterns in red, which we now know is a lucky colour in China.
Happy Chinese New Year!
Numeracy & Literacy Games
Críona’s Senior Infants have been having lots of fun while learning through play.
Through various numeracy games we have been practising our skills in counting, number recognition and our knowledge of shapes.
Through our literacy games we have been reinforcing our knowledge of phonics and learning lots of new words.
We are also learning important life-skills; learning to take turns, help others and the best bit – enjoying a shared sense of fun with our classmates!
Letter Writing & Stamps
Críona’s Senior Infants have been looking at letter writing through our recent Stories the Week; The Day the Crayons Quit and The Jolly Postman.
We looked at how language can often be persuasive and discussed the feelings of the various crayons and the characters in the stories.
Then wrote our own letters and designed our own stamps too!
Artist in Residence
Críona’s Senior Infants have been lucky to have the opportunity work with two artists; Tunde and Kim from the Dunlaoghaire Rathdown Artist in Residency Programme.
We began the project with a visit to an exhibition in Dunlaoghaire library. We looked at various images and discussed the shapes that we saw. Then using oil pastels we created our own shape images.
Back in the classroom we have been exploring how we can create our own pictures using shapes. The next part of the process involved gluing foam pieces onto our shape design in a mosaic manner.
We will keep you updated on our progress…
