March & April

Aistear

Sport

During our sport theme we discussed rugby, athletics, swimming & GAA. It was a great opportunity to learn about lots of different sports and the importance of sport in our lives.

1.  Rugby

In home corner the children pretended they were part of the Irish rugby team and we practised scoring a try, a scrum a line out and goal kicks! We also pretended we were television commentators and commentated as children scored a try. In small world the children created a pitch with players and all the elements required for a rugby game. During reading and writing the children created a sequenced story of their own rugby game and during these games the children created a game where Ireland beat the all blacks ! In art, the children created their own rugby jerseys using crepe paper. In addition the children learned about the hakka and learned how to sing “Ireland’s Call”.

2.  Athletics & Swimming

During home corner, the children learned about the Olympics and we pretended we were in the Olympics with a medal ceremony. All of the children loved learning about Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. In addition, we pretended we were in a swimming pool perfecting different swimming strokes and in athletics we pretended we were in the Olympics running in the marathon, relay and sprints! In Art the children made Olympic medals and drew a running race. During small world the children worked really hard at making a swimming pool with diving boards and a lifeguard and an athletic track with high jump, long jump and hurdles. During reading & writing the children made posters about being safe in the water.

3.  GAA

The GAA aistear topic gave the children a great opportunity to find out the difference between GAA and other sports and all about our national sports. During home corner the children had a chance to play Gaelic football and hurling and learn about Cu Chulainn & Croke Park. In art the children constructed a Wicklow hurling player and during small world the children constructed a GAA pitch. In the reading & writing group the children made posters about “Give Respect. Get Respect”. In addition we were really lucky to welcome Sean Cooney to our room who is Joseph’s Dad. He told us all about hurling and the medals Joseph’s granddad won for his club and county. Thank you Sean for visiting our classroom. Jessica’s name was pulled from the hat and won a Wicklow county jersey.

World All Around Us

After sport we moved onto the topic of traveling around the world. Our first stop on our travels was the UK.

During home corner we role played being a tourist and working in a tourist office. We visited Buckingham palace, Westminster abbey, tower bridge and Big Ben. During reading /writing we wrote letters to the Queen asking her questions. In art, we made a palace guard and a crown jewels. In small world we constructed famous sights around London. In addition we welcomed Michelle Conroy, Chloe’s Mum who is from England to tell us all about England. Thank you Michelle for visiting our classroom.

For the rest of the this topic we will be learning about visiting Australia, France and America.

Seachtain na Gaeilge

During Seachtain na Gaeilge, the children worked really hard at “ag labhairt as Gaeilge”. We used our Gaeilge as much as possible during play time and when we were speaking to each other. In addition, we had a phrase each day that we tried to use at home and in school.

We were delighted to have a ceili in our classroom with the middle room. It was great fun – we all agreed that next we are off to River Dance.

In addition we had a seo faisin where each child pretended we were in a fashion show modelling clothes “as Gaeilge”.

Lots of the children took part in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone.

Write a Book

We received the results from the write a book competition. Jessica won the first place. All the other children received special mention that their books were wonderful. Well done to everyone.

Gymnastics

For 4 weeks we loved going to the community hall on a bus to learn Gymnastics. The children learned how to jump correctly on the trampoline, how to balance on the beam and increase our arm strength on the bars. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about gymnastics. A big thank you to Les and Becki for their help and support. 

Visitors

We have been really lucky to have lots of visitors to our classroom. We welcomed Sean Ryan’s granddad to speak to us all about history, Peter Riedle to speak to us about Canada, Jenni Miley to speak to us about Finland, Sean Cooney to speak to us about hurling and Michelle Conroy to speak to us about hurling. We love having visitors in our classroom and we thank them for taking time to come and talk to us.

Maths Stations

We had great fun breaking into our maths stations where we learned about weight, capacity and measures. During the weight group we made buns by measuring the weight required and we also weighed lots of items around the room and seeing what was heavier/lighter. During capacity we used lots of measuring items to determine which holds the most/least. During the measuring station the children used cubes and paper clips to measure items around the classroom.  We will continue with this during May.

We are on the move!

On our last day before the Easter holidays we had our last day in our classroom as after Easter we will have moved to Mrs Lawson’s room. It was a bit sad saying goodbye to our classroom but we look forward to being in Mrs Lawson’s room while the building work is going on.

Easter Egg Hunt

On the Friday of our Easter holidays the children took part in our class egg hunt. The children were brilliant hunters and found the eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden. Happy Easter to everyone and I hope you have a wonderful holiday.