5th and 6th Class News

Welcome to Fifth & Sixth Class News

February

St. Brigid's Crosses

In her endeavour to explain the Passion to a dying pagan, Saint Brigid wove a cross from rushes strewn across the floor. We made those same crosses on St. Brigid's Day to commemorate her. The St. Brigid's Cross is said to protect homes from evil. We had great fun making them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eat Smart, Move More

This month we are focusing on healthy eating and exercise habits. We have been learning all about the food pyramid and the importance of a healthy, balanced diet. Our goal for February, aided by our H.S.E. booklets, is to 'Eat Smart, Move More'.

 

 

January

1916 Irish History Live

On the 22nd of January Mike came to our school to give a workshop on 1916. He started with the junior end of the school and worked his way up to the senior end. He retold the story of the 1916 Rising using weapons, artefacts and costumes. It was very interactive and a lot of fun. By Katie and Grainne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In preparation for Mike's visit we all looked up our own ancestors on the 1911 census on www.census.nationalarchives.ie 

In doing so we learned who our ancestors were and what they were doing during that period of history. We each made a family tree showing our families as far back as the early 1900s.



 

 

Jack B. Yeats

We studied the paintings of Jack B. Yeats, in particular The Liffey Swim ,1923. A collection of his work can be found on http://www.nationalgallery.ie/en/Collection/About_the_Collection/The_Yeats_Collection.aspx

We were interested in this painting as it was done shortly after the Easter Rising; the swim was a celebratory event in a uncertain time in Dublin. We were also interested in this artist as we had studied his brother William's poetry in September.

We tried to mimic his use of perspective in our own work.



Australia

Our theme for the month of January was Australia as Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th of January. We learned about Australian music from the didgeridoo to traditional folk songs like 'Waltzing Matilda'. We learned about the Aborigines and the history and geography of Australia. We tried out some Aboriginal dot art and we also did paired research projects on Australian topics that really interested us.

Presentation of project 'Mining in Australia'.

 

Presentation of project 'Great Barrier Reef'.

 

Images of Australia

 

Australia Projects

 

Aboriginal Dot Painting



December

Art Project



A traditional Christmas scene designed and painted by a team of senior artists!







November

 

Diorama

Last week 5th and 6th class were making dioramas in art. We were split into pairs to make our ideal bedroom out of recycled materials. We had a lot of fun!

Science Day

On Science Day we all gathered at the bottom of our classroom and we did a few mini experiments but before we began, we wrote our predictions to go with our mini experiments. first we put oil into water and saw which one floated to the top and which one was heavier. After that we tried a few more mini experiments with alka-seltzer tablets. 
We had lots of fun on Science Day!

5th and 6th in the middle of making the lava lamps!

One of our experiments

Lava Lamp Experiment 

During Science Day 5th and 6th class were making lava lamps. To do that we used vegetable oil, water, food colouring and a quarter of an alka seltzer tablet. We put them all into a clear plastic bottle one by one, that made the bottle have a lava lamp look to it. It was a great day and it was a great experiment too. It was a long wait for the oil and water to set completely but it was worth it! It is very fun to do and something to do in your spare time . The best colours to use are green and blue.

Firstly oil will always sit on top of water because oil is lighter than water!

An alka seltzer tablet will not dissolve in oil! 

When you put an aka seltzer tablet in water it reacts with the water and forms carbon dioxide gas and sodium citrate. It is the carbon dioxide bubbles  that carry the coloured water to the top!

 

Junior Infants News

Junior Infants December News

We had a very busy month getting ready for Christmas. There was great excitement in the Junior Infant classroom as we completed lots of fun activities based on the theme of Christmas. 

We are learning about Christmas!

We learned lots about Christmas this Month. We learned Christmas words and songs in Irish, we listened to Christmas stories and explored what it would be like to live on the North Pole. We also explored how people celebrate christmas and the story of the first Christmas

 During Aistear this fortnight, we completed different activities based on our theme of 'Christmas'. Children took turns rotating through different stations. They played in the Elves Workshop, played some word and language games based on Christmas, created some Christmas art pieces, completed cutting and sticking activities and made some Christmas peg board patterns. Here is a picture of Junior infants creating some peg board patterns. It was lots of fun!

Christmas Art Activities

We made lots of Christmas art creations coming up to Christmas this year. We really enjoyed making our Christmas Wreaths and our Christmas elves. 

Science Experiments

This month, we learned about melting and cooling. We explored what happens to water when it is heated and what happens to it when it cools. 

Elf on the Shelf

We had a very special visitor in our classroom during the month of December. Our elf arrived all the way from the North Pole. We read the story 'Elf on the Shelf' and the children decided to name our elf 'Harry'. Every morning, Harry was found in a different spot in the classroom. On the last day of school before the holidays, we found a special package sitting beside Harry. He had brought letters from Santa to each child. The letters told us how santa had heard how good all of the Junior Infants had been and how he was looking forward to visiting them on Christmas Eve!

Recycled Decorations

We had a special Christmas Tree in school this year which we decorated with recycled decorations. Children worked very hard making their own decorations for this tree. They brought them into school and hung them on the special tree. 

Junior Infants November News

We are learning about Winter!

We are learning lots about Winter this month. We have been learning about Winter weather and clothes that we wear at Winter time.

 During Aistear this fortnight, we are completing different activities based on our theme of 'Winter'. 

We are having lots of fun playing in our 'Winter Wonderland clothes shop'.

Winter playdough activities

In Science, we learned all about Hot and Cold Objects. We completed a sorting activity and made our own posters. 

Gaeilge 24

Bhí lá Gaeilge againn sa scoil ar an 10ú lá de Samhain. Rinneamar iarracht gaeilge a labhairt i rith an lae. D'imríomar a lán cluichí, chanamar rainn agus amhráin agus rinneamar balúin corcra chun an lá a cheiliúradh. Bhí a lán spraoi againn. 
We had Irish day in our school on the 10th of November. We tried our best to speak Irish whenever we could throughout the day. We played a lot of games, sang songs and poems. We made purple balloons to celebrate the day also. It was a lot of 

Labhair Gaeilge Liom!!

Science Week

Science week ran from the 9th of November to the 13th of November. Junior infants participated in various science activities and experiments. We looked at different materials and classified them as 'hard or soft'. We explored different materials that are used to build houses, just like the three little pigs! We also completed some experiments and these were great fun. Our favourite experiment was making a tornado in a water bottle. We used plastic bottles, some water, washing up liquid and some glitter. When we turned the bottle upside down and swirled it around, we created a tornado effect in the bottle. It was great fun!