The children in Mrs Mc Guirk’s room really enjoyed this activity, were they had to work as a team to complete a challenge set by their teacher.

The children worked in groups and their challenge was to make the highest tower possible using a set number of sheets of A4 paper and paper clips. The children had to complete this challenge in silence.  It was interesting watching the children work as a team in silence to complete this task!

In January we have been discovering what ‘Forces’ are. We investigated different ‘push’ and ‘pull’ forces in a group sorting activity. The pupils played with playdough to investigate how materials can be changed using a ‘push’and ‘pull’ force.  Vehicles were used to ‘push’ and ‘pull’ varying numbers of cubes. We also tried using our breath to ‘force’ varying objects of different weights to move.  We investigated how friction can be used to slow things down and moved objects along surfaces with different textures to test this theory. We placed a book on pencils to investigate how much easier and faster things move when on rollers.  The children recorded their results and they really enjoyed discussing reasons why various results had happened.

Mrs. Mc Guirk’s ‘LITTLE ELVES’ have been working very hard with Christmas activities. We have been singing ‘Tá an Nollaig Buailte Linn’, doing Christmas themed Irish role-plays, and making Christmas Cards ‘as Gaeilge’. The children have also been busy over the past number of weeks preparing for our play ‘The ABC Nativity’. Their hard work paid off and they put on a fabulous performance for all their families and friends.  In religion, we learned about Advent and the Nativity Story. We watched a cartoon of the Nativity story also.  Everyday we participated in an active Advent Calendar as part of our Active School’s Campaign. In English, we wrote Santa Letters and Interviews for Santa. We also played Chinese Whispers and I Spy as part of our oral language development.  At maths time, we begun lessons by answering Christmas themed riddles and completed various Christmas Themed maths activities. We also learned about Christmas traditions around the world and about the importance of fire safety at Christmas time. The children loved interviewing each other and being interviewed about Christmas in the past at our ‘Interview Station’.  We have created some lovely art work around the theme of Advent and Christmas. Some of our Christmas Activities can be viewed below!  I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the boy and girls and their families a Peaceful and Happy Christmas and I look forward to seeing you all in 2020.

In Mrs. Mc Guirk’s Rooom, we have been learning about Advent and the significance of the Advent Wreath.

We watched a video on Advent, completed various worksheets and also made our own Advent Wreaths.

This month we have been focusing on persuasive writing.  After learning about how to write using persuasive language, the boys and girls designed their own brochures to persuade families to go on a ‘Winter Retreat’.  The children really enjoyed this activity and produced some excellent writing.

The children also shared some of their ideas in the ‘Reader’s Chair’.

During October 2019, we commenced something new in our classroom called Reader’s Theatre!

In order to develop fluency and allow the children the chance to focus on their reading tone, changing their voice for different characters their reading pace and also their eye contact, children pick a paragraph of writing of their choice(e.g. Poem, Favourite Story, Piece from a Magazine or Comic) to read for the class. The children have a week to practice a piece(chosen on Monday)and then read for the class in Reader’s Theatre (on the Friday).

Four pupils take part in Reader’s Theatre per week. The children are really enjoying their time in Reader’s Theatre and it is fantastic to listen to them perfecting their reading skills, using their own chosen material. Well done boys and girls! Keep up the great work!

This year we were ‘SPOOKTACULARLY’ busy in Mrs Mc Guirk’s classroom.  We created many pieces of art which can be seen below in our  gallery.  We played Irish games and sang Irish Songs for ‘Oíche Shamhna’.  We created some lovely ‘Cat agus Frámaí Oíche Shamnha’.  Our maths lesson included Halloween addition and roll the dice to make the pumpkin.  We looked at Acrostic Poems and Mrs. Mc Guirk was delighted with the creativity shown by her pupils when they wrote some of their own.  We learned about Halloween Safety in S.P.H.E. and also learned about the History of Halloween in History!  In music, we practised our moves to some Halloween Songs.  We enjoyed playing lots of Halloween games  like ‘Bob the apple’ and ‘Snatch the Apple’. We also kept active by getting involved in an active Halloween themed event as part of our Active School and Health Promoting School campaign!!

Pictures of our active event can be seen on our Active Flag Page.

At the end of the day, we also got to make ourselves a little Halloween Treat to take home!