Reading during the summer to beat the ‘Summer Slide’

slide
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If you google the phrase ‘Summer Slump’ or ‘Summer Slide’

you will read about how research has shown that children

slip back academically over the summer holidays.

Children who don’t read during summer can slip back

by two to three months in their reading achievement.

Keeping up reading over the summer is one way

to counteract this.

 

The following link is a comprehensive post

from New Zealand on the subject:

Summer Slide and Holiday Reading.

 

As adults we read but that does not mean we read

books like ‘War and Peace’ all the time.

By the same token children benefit by reading

books that they are easily able for and enjoy.

Reading even five or six age appropriate books

over the summer can help.

What we are finding though is that some children

get stuck at a particular stage; and in 5th class is

reading the same books they read in 2nd.

Perhaps you could ask your local librarian for advice

about books your child might enjoy.

You can see books and authors

that the children in school enjoy here.

 89/365: Children
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Student Survey: What books do YOU enjoy reading?

We asked our students what books and authors they enjoyed reading.

Memories
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This is what they said:

2nd class enjoyed: Horrid Henry, Roald Dahl, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rainbow Magic Series, The Tiara Club, The Horrible History Series, Captain Underpants and Horrible Henry books

3rd class enjoyed: Dick King Smith, Enid Blyton, David Williams, Roddy Doyle, JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, Beast Quest, Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Bed and Breakfast Star, Judy Moody, Goosebumps, The Story of Tracey Beaker and Rainbow Fairy books

4th class enjoyed: Mr Bubblegum, Roald Dahl, Stink Series, Malory Towers, Harry Potter, Horrible Histories, Horrid Henry, Judy Moody, Artemis Fowl, Skulduggery, Young Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Beast Quest, Holes, Lizard of Oz and Lemony Snicket

5th class enjoyed: Tin Tin, Lola Rose, How to Train Your Dragon, Candyfloss, Football Academy, Percy Jackson, Jacqueline Wilson, John Boyne, Anthony Horowitz and Enid Blyton.

6th class enjoyed: The Adventures of Tin Tin, Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Alex Rider, Malory Towers, Skulduggery Pleasant, Rick Riordan, Anthony Horowitz, JK Rowling, Lemony Snicket and Derek Landy

As you can see some of the books and authors are very popular throughout the school.

It is good to read every day. Reading for at least twenty minutes at the end of each day is relaxing and fun. But it will also help your spelling, vocabulary, comprehension, writing style and imagination.

Be sure to read every day during the summer holiday

and beat the ‘Summer Slide’.

Children’s Writing: Ryan’s Story: The Wizard that lost his wand.

The Summoning
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The grumpy wizard lost his wand.
He found the wand under the sofa.
He was happy then.

He turned himself into
a great, white bird and flew away.
He felt even happier then.

White birds
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Can you guess what kind of bird he turned himself into?

The answer is ……………………………………………………………………………….

(a swan. Ryan used a picture of seagulls just to trick you!)

Maths Websites: Learning about Tessellation: 1st to 6th Class

Six Sided Rose Blossom Tessellation-Square
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We learned about tessellations here.

Tessellations are where shapes are arranged

in such a way that they fit closely together

in a pattern without gaps or overlaps.

When we had finished learning

about tessellations we went

to experiment with them in

Tessellationtown from Mathscats.com

Grammar Ninja: Great game for revising parts of speech

This time of year, we are revising the grammar

we have learned during the year.

We found this great game.

It is called Grammar Ninja.

It is great fun

and we certainly get to revise our grammar.

Try it and see.

We really like the music 🙂

Click on this link to play!

LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 1 Ninja vs. Castle Ninja
Photo Credit: wiredforlego via Compfight

Scroll down this link for other online games we use to practise our grammar.

Comprehension; Detective Work; Inference and Prediction (1st/2nd Class approximately)

junior detective
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Comprehension doesn’t sound like fun,

but it is.

It is like being a detective.

Inferring doesn’t sound like fun either.

But try this game from Phil Tulga.com

and we think you will change your mind

Prediction is something we enjoy doing.

Especially when we play this game in class.

School work can be fun when you know how.

Green Schools; Biodiversity; A Good News Story about Wolves!

Hungry like the...
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When we were learning about Biodiversity earlier in the year,

we learned a lot about food webs and food chains.

Then we learned about the snow leopard.

We learned what would happen to its food web

and its habitat if it became extinct.

We found a really interesting video

that we think you may be interested in.

It is on Vimeo so you can watch it in class.

Made by Greg Haines, it tells about the good things

that happened to the food web

and the habitat in Yellowstone Park

when wolves were reintroduced.

We think you will like it.

Problem Solving in English: For Pokemon Fans: 2nd/3rd approximately

Pokemon cupcakes for a birthday boy
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Many of our students LOVE Pokemon.

Click on this link for a great reading adventure.

You will have to make decisions

and solve problems in this game 

to complete it successfully.

This link comes from the wonderful

Woodlands Junior School in Kent website

and this game was creative by a student

in that school; Mark from Year 6.

Hello to the boys and girls in Room 8 @ Aurora (South Taranaki, New Zealand)

Recently we visited a lovely blog

recommended to us by our ‘old’ friend 😉

Mr. Webb from Aurora School, in New Zealand.

This blog is Room 8 @ Aurora.

Room 8 is a 0-2 Class. In Ireland we would say

a Junior and Senior Infants class.

Like ourselves the school is not far from the beach.

Their school is surrounded by farmland.

Why not visit their blog!

Call in and say hello! You can find it here.

Ms Nicholas's Blog

We left a comment on this blog

and their teacher Ms.Nicholas kindly replied:
From Ms Nicholas

So hello to the children in Room 8, Aurora.

It is nice to meet you.

Let us tell you a little bit about our school.

The teachers are kind and fair and the students are friendly.

You can see our school here:

There are lots of good things about Greystones,

the town where we live too.

It is beside the sea.

There are lots of things to do for children.

 

You would like living in Greystones if you like

football, rugby, tennis, karate, running,

cycling, swimming and skateboarding.

 

You would also like to live in Greystones

if you were interested in music, drama or reading.

There is a very good library in Greystones.

Hi.jpg

 

Bye for now.

We hope you have a good week in school.

We will visit again, soon.

Bake Sale in St. Brigid’s, Greystones for ‘The Caroline Foundation’ and ‘The Simon Community’.

Some sixth class students organised a Bake Sale

to raise money for ‘The Caroline Foundation’

and  ‘The Simon Community’.

Well done to Heather, Kieran, Emma, Sean and Jennifer

and all who helped. 

It is great to see the big hearts, generosity

and organizational skills of students.