February 2014

Aistear

During February we focused on our environment and how subjects in our classroom can be found all around us.

Science all around us

This was a very exciting Aistear module where the children learned about the following elements of science:

·         Magnets-the children had lots of fun seeing what materials are attracted to magnets and those that are not.

·         Electricity Circuit- the children saw how a circuit is built and they then built their own circuits.

·         Every Action has an Equal and opposite reaction : We made a volcano using Diet Coke and soft mints. It was brilliant fun!

·         Floating and Sinking: The children predicted and then experimented different materials and if they floated or sunk in the water.

·         Materials : The children looked at the materials in our classroom and all around us and how they are made and their functions.

Each of the children wore a white top to signify their transformation to scientists. The great thing was I heard lots of the children saying “ They want to be scientists when they grow up” !!

Music all around us

The children learned that music can come from the environment around us, from instruments or our bodies.

Home Corner : Each child recited twinkle little star and three blind mice on our classroom organ. The children were wonderful and  I see some natural pianists already!

Reading/Writing: The children learned about labeling instruments in an orchestra.

Small World: The children learned a song/musical notation and made instruments using playdough.

Art: The children made instruments using recycled materials. We even played the instruments to “ I am the music man”

Geography all around us

We welcomed Isabel’s Dad into our classroom to tell us all about the differences/similarities between Ireland and Canada. Afterwards the children made a lovely card to tell Isabel’s Dad about what we learned.

Home Corner : We conducted a geography audit of our school and acted out reading a map of Rathdrum.

Small World: The children constructed the main street of Rathdrum using small world materials.

Reading/Writing: The children drew wonderful maps of our classroom.

Art: The children made beautiful houses using felt and lollipop sticks.

History all around us

We were very lucky to welcome another visitor to our classroom. This time we welcomed Michael who is Mia and Sean’s Grandad. He is a member of the historical society in Rathdrum so he was able to tell us all about the history of Rathdrum. The children made a lovely card to say thank you to him for taking the time to come into our classroom and see us.

Home Corner : We conducted a history trail to see why monuments are important and why it is important to record dates. We then acted out the story of “Little Tiger’s Big Surprise”

Reading/Writing: We made a classroom timeline and wrote letters to ask questions what things were like long ago.

Small World: We thought about how things change and using the story of Sleeping Beauty we created the sequence of this story.

Art: We made beautiful cherry blossom family trees to record the change in our own families.

Firemen

We welcomed two firemen into our classroom who answered our questions and told us about always being very careful with fire.

Martial Arts

We concluded our 4 weeks martial arts class. It was a wonderful class and the children really enjoyed receiving their certificates at the end of the class. Thank you Mr. Paul Healy for the great classes.

Valentines Day

For Valentine’s Day we made our parents lovely valentines cards and a picture frame with a picture of everyone in our families.

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone.