in Greystones so far this Spring
and we haven’t seen any ladybirds yet.
Next week we are going to learn what
Chris Hadfield and ladybirds have in common.
Can you guess?
We wondered what flowers would say if they could talk.
We talked about this in class,
and this is what we came up with:
We are having fun and learning lots
doing the Signs of Spring Twitter Project
Following the fun we had during the first week of October
when we took part in a Signs of Autumn Twitter Project
Click here to read about Signs of Autumn Twitter Project
this week we are taking part in a collaborative project about
the Signs of Spring on Twitter.
Read about it here on Seomra Ranga.com
We are tweeting photos and comments
about the signs of Spring that we see
using the hashtag #antearrach
Teacher looks forward to this opportunity
to continue using Twitter with 2nd Class, Room 6.
Click here for the link to our Twitter feed.
Boys and girls in 2nd Class Room 6
Can you see the Spring photo you took today?
Would you like to vote for your favourite season?
Click on the page below to vote!
Update 8th March 2013
Making Connections is a comprehension strategy
we use in school when we read.
It is good to make connections
in other subject areas too.
Like New Zealand we have two languages here in Ireland:
our native language (called Irish/Gaelic/Gaeilge).
and our adopted language, English.
Irish is taught in schools.
Teachers have used the popularity
of the haka from New Zealand
to teach Irish:
Take a look at this great video is from
a 6th class in Balbriggan ETNS.
Uillinn dheas, uillinn chlé
(right elbow, left elbow)
Buail do chos, buail do chos
(stamp your feet, stamp your feet)
Gualainn dheas, gualainn chlé
(right shoulder, left shoulder)
Bualadh bos, bualadh bos
(clap hands, clap hands)
Lámha ar na glúine
(hands on knees)
Cromaigí, cromaigí
(bend down, bend down)
Lámha in airde
(hands up)
Éirígí! éirígí!
(rise up, rise up)
Síos ar na glúine
(down on your knees)
Lámha sna cluasa
(hands in ears)
Bualadh bos, bualadh bos
(clap hands, clap hands)
Léimigí suas….. AAAAAAA!
(Jump in the air)
– by Dominic ó Braonáin
The older children in our school are familar
with the song from New Zealand
‘Pokarekare Ana’.
In Senior Classes they learn how to
play this tune on the recorder.
The tune of Pokarekare Ana
is used in Ireland for a hymn to Mary:
‘A Mhuire Mathair’
Other connections: Both countries are islands
and have a strong connection with the sea.
Both New Zealand and Ireland
are green and beautiful.
Family is important.
Both countries have an interest
in the sport of rugby.
The New Zealand rugby team
are good ambassadors for New Zealand.
We see in films like ‘The Hobbit’
that New Zealand is very beautiful.
Making connections makes the world go round!
With Chinese New Year on its way,
we have been learning about China.
Meet Avatar Niamh.
She starts off our project by telling you
about the ABC of China
the abacus, bicycles and chopsticks.
Avatar Tadhg is going to talk to you
about Chinese Dragons
A Forbidden City sounds interesting.
Avatar Owen will tell you about it.
If you want to hear about
the Great Wall of China,
Zac has some information:
Avatar Lewis introduces us
to some important Chinese inventions
Avatar Nicole has some information
about the Chinese inventions
of kite making and fireworks.
There are so many people in China
that there is not enough land to live on.
So what do people do?
Avatar Tom will tell you!
Have you ever seen the
Disney movie ‘Mulan’?
Matthew will tell you about
the Chinese legend of Mulan.
We don’t want to make you hungry,
but Avatar Mark would like to talk to you
about Chinese food.
What do you know about Pandas?
Let Avatar Senan tell you what he knows about them.
When 2nd Class Room 6 saw
‘The Sacred Way’ on Google Images,
they were amazed.
Avatar Shane will tell you why.
Finally Max will tell you about
another spectacular sight that
we saw on Google Images when
we looked up the Terracotta Army.
When doing this project we found this ABC of China
from a 3rd Grade Computer Club
from ‘The Franklin Institute’, Philadelphia
a very helpful starting point.
The alphabetical order was
a very helpful memory aid.
A Song for Chinese New Year, from ‘Children’s Music by Nancy Stewart’..
This is our second Voki Project this year.
The other one was on the planets in our solar system.
Our Project about the Planets in Our Solar System
For these projects we tried to create avatars that looked like us.
Now that we have that done,
we are each making our own unique avatars
that definitely do not look like us.
Look out for them in the weeks to come 😉
Thanks to Lucy from TY who helped us with this project.
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It would be REALLY great to hear from you!
On this Link to Class Blog for Y7/8 Room 5, Melville Intermediate School, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand
we read how
‘A Mihi
is a Maori introduction or greeting,
which contains information about yourself”.
We saw the students introducing themselves.
It was very interesting.
They talk about the name of their canoe,
the nearest mountain to them,
the closest river,
their meeting place,
their tribe,
their chief
and last of all their names. .
We decided to make our introductions
to these students from
Room 5 Melville Intermediate School,
because we are working with them at the moment.
They are teaching us about New Zealand
and they are learning about Ireland.
This is our podcast:
‘Dia Dhaoibh (May God be with you)
to our new friends in Room 5,
Melville Intermediate School
in Hamilton
New Zealand
We liked your greeting,
your Mihi.
So we decided to send you one back
In Irish we say
This means
‘A hundred thousand welcomes’
We come from Ireland
We live close to the
Little Sugar Loaf Mountain.
The Three Trout River is our nearest river
The name of our county is Wicklow
This means ‘Viking Meadow’.
The Vikings were
fierce warriors
who came to Ireland
from countries to the North
from 795 AD
We meet in our local town Greystones
In the 1800s the sailors who had passed
our local beach would call it
‘The Grey Stones’.
They would say
‘There was a storm at the Greystones’,
or
‘There was good fishing at The Greystones’.
This is how our town got it’s name.
The name of our school is Saint Brigid’s.
She was born over fifteen hundred years ago!
But people remember her because
she was good to the poor, the sick and the old.
February 1st is her Feast Day
so we will have No Homework 😀 to celebrate.
Bye for now.
Click here for the earlier post on sharing learning with Room 5, Melville School
The children of 2nd Class, Room 6 were very interested
to hear stories about the history of Greystones.
Matthew lives in Rathdown.
He was amazed to hear that
people have been living in Rathdown
since the Stone Age.
Twenty years ago, a cliff near Rathdown
fell into the sea.
Among the rocks and earth,
people found Stone Age axe heads.
The children in 2nd Class, Room 6
were also fascinated to hear
that Vikings were in the area.
One of our favourite things to do,
when we have visitors from older classes
or students from Transition Year,
on work experience, visiting our classroom
is to challenge them to a game of Viking Quest.
Click on the link below to play!
We don’t always win this game …
but we usually do!
This is what we learned in class:
We know Vikings visited our local area because
1. Some of the local placenames
came from the Vikings.
‘Gata’ is the Viking word for road.
Windgates is the road
between Bray and Greystones.
Wicklow comes from
the Viking words ‘Vyking Alo’
which means Viking Meadow.
2. Viking coins were found
in the local area.
3. The monks wrote a book called
‘The Annals of the Four Masters’.
In it they said that there had been
a big battle nearby at Delgany in 1021 AD.
The King of Leinster beat
the Viking King, Sitric.
We think it is exciting that Greystones
has had such an interesting history
from the time of the Stone Age
and that Vikings visited here too.
Later we heard that a castle
was built at Rathdown.
We look forward
to learning more.
to our visitors from
United States (US)854
United Kingdom (GB)470
India (IN)211
Philippines (PH)131
Canada (CA)130
Australia (AU)110
France (FR)62
Singapore (SG)35
Pakistan (PK)30
New Zealand (NZ)29
Spain (ES)28
United Arab Emirates (AE)25
Malaysia (MY)22
Indonesia (ID)19
Russian Federation (RU)19
Belgium (BE)18
Germany (DE)17
South Africa (ZA)16
Italy (IT)14
Netherlands (NL)14
Saudi Arabia (SA)13
Poland (PL)13
Egypt (EG)12
China (CN)11
Hong Kong (HK)11
Brazil (BR)11
Europe (EU)11
Turkey (TR)10
Thailand (TH)10
Greece (GR)9
Qatar (QA)8 
Trinidad and Tobago (TT)8 
Portugal (PT)8
Taiwan (TW)7 
Bangladesh (BD)7
Mexico (MX)6 
Hungary (HU)6
Korea, Republic of (KR)5 
Kuwait (KW)5 
Romania (RO)5 
Oman (OM)5 
Kenya (KE)5
Jamaica (JM)4 
Slovenia (SI)4 
Ukraine (UA)4 
Sri Lanka (LK)4 
Nepal (NP)4
Jordan (JO)3 
Israel (IL)3 
Ethiopia (ET)3 
Mauritius (MU)3 
Sweden (SE)3 
Japan (JP)3 
Bhutan (BT)3 
Colombia (CO)3 
Austria (AT)3 
Slovakia (SK)3
Nigeria (NG)2 
Seychelles (SC)2 
Peru (PE)2 
Czech Republic (CZ)2 
Argentina (AR)2 
Belarus (BY)2 
Norway (NO)2 
Zimbabwe (ZW)2 
Switzerland (CH)2 
Bulgaria (BG)2 
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA)2 
American Samoa (AS)2 
Armenia (AM)2 
Uganda (UG)2 
Puerto Rico (PR)2 
Belize (BZ)2 
Nicaragua (NI)2 
Iran, Islamic Republic of (IR)2 Asia/Pacific Region (AP)2 
Yemen (YE)2 
Cyprus (CY)2
Paraguay (PY)1 
Lesotho (LS)1 
Botswana (BW)1 
Chile (CL)1 
Antigua and Barbuda (AG)1 
Guernsey (GG)1 
Dominican Republic (DO)1 
Estonia (EE)1 
Finland (FI)1 
Latvia (LV)1 
Virgin Islands, U.S. (VI)1 
Northern Mariana Islands (MP)1 
Denmark (DK)1 
Uruguay (UY)1 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VC)1 
Azerbaijan (AZ)1 
Montenegro (ME)1 
Netherlands (N)1 
Grenada (GD)1 
Venezuela (VE)1 
Lebanon (LB)1 
Palestinian Territory (PS)1 
Angola (AO)1 
Bahamas (BS)1 
Malawi (MW)1 
Guatemala (GT)1 
Barbados (BB)1 
Croatia (HR)1 
Mali (ML)1 
Cambodia (KH)1 
Myanmar (MM)1
and Ireland (IE) of course: 3,583 visits.
Double click on any of the place names
to see where they are in the world
using Answertips.com
Information from Clustermap for this blog
As we say here in Ireland ….
Nollaig Shona Daoibh Go Léir
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please double click
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We loved Science Week in 2nd Class Room 6.
Our enjoyment was much enhanced by
the entertaining Table Quiz
that was featured on Seomra Ranga.
Seomra Ranga’s Science Week Junior Quiz
We especially appreciated the Science Joke
at the end of each round that eased the competitive tension.
2nd Class Room 6 enjoy Science each and every week.
We are very lucky because we have large plastic boxes
available in the school full of all the equipment
we need to do science experiments.
There are boxes for each strand of the Science curriculum.
Light,
Energy & Forces,
Sound,
Heat,
Magnetism & Electricity
and Materials.
We like working scientifically.
We like the ‘scientific method.’
We are learning to think like a scientist.
Scientists ask questions.
They look at things carefully.
They predict what might happen.
(We come up with some pretty funny answers sometimes.)
Scientists investigate and experiment.
(This is our favourite bit!)
Safety
We know that safety is very important.
This is an important part of ‘thinking like a scientist’!
Some of the equipment we use in experiments is delicate.
Some of the equipment is made of glass, so we have to be careful.
We follow the instructions of the grown up who is helping us.
We don’t touch things we are not supposed to.
We don’t taste or smell stuff either.
That way we keep safe!
These are the rules for safety in Science that we learned:
Classroom Rules – Science
1. A responsible adult should always supervise.
2. Listen to all instructions and follow them carefully.
3. Do not eat or drink any substance
4. No shouting or messing around with anything or anyone.
5. Long hair should be tied back.
6. Eating and drinking in the laboratory is not allowed.
7. Ask questions if you are uncertain about anything.
8. When finished with your experiment tidy up carefully
9. You may need to wash your hands.
A Science Experiment is not a Magic Trick…
It’s better than that!
Despite the animation at the top of this post…
one of the comments that remains with Teacher
from the inservice days in science is that
it is important not to present science
as a series of ‘magic tricks’.
Teaching the children to ‘think like scientists
and to employ the ‘scientific method’ safeguards against this!
We are taking part in a collaborative project about
the signs of Autumn
on Twitter
during this first week of October.
We are tweeting photos and comments
about signs of Autumn that we see #anfomhar.
You can see more details about this project
on the following link:
All about the Signs of Autumn Twitter Project on Seomra Ranga.com
Teacher looks forward to this great opportunity to introduce the class to the uses of Twitter.
As always I am very conscious of online safety.
No photographs of the children will be used
and I will only use the children’s first names.
This is the project so far, at the half way point:
Can you see the Autumn photo you took today? (PhotoPeach)
Please supervise your child when they are online.
Toward the end of June the children in Room 6 answered an invitation
issued by The Irish Times newspaper to nominate their favourite shop.
The children nominated Mrs. Mooney’s Sweetshop.
24 Reasons that Mrs.Mooney’s Shop is Special
Today the Irish Times said that they received THOUSANDS of nominations.
But guess what ?
Mrs. Mooney’s Sweetshop is on their shortlist of the 50 Best Shops in Ireland 🙂
Well done boys and girls and many congratulations to Mrs. Mooney.
Projects about the Countries We Come From.
This week we finished doing projects about the countries that we come from..
Our friend and classmaate Vagif comes from Azerbaijan.
We had never met anyone from Azerbaijan before.
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was from Azerbaijan,
so we saw what a really beautiful country it is.
Vagif is an ambassador for his country.
He is a good friend and is always kind and helpful.
Children in the class have done projects on
America,
Australia
Azerbaijan,
Canada,
France,
Hungary,
Italy,
New Zealand,
Poland,
The Philippines
Russia
Senegal,
Scotland,
and Wales.
We certainly learned a lot.
Did you know that …..
After Russia, Canada is the second largest country in the world?
and that the Rubic Cube and ball point pen were invented by Hungarians?
Maks’s illustrations really brought his project to life.
Projects about people in history.
Now we are doing projects about people.
Our first project was about Isambard Kingdom Brunel who was born in 1806.
He was an engineer who designed steamships, bridges and tunnels.
He engineered the railway line between Bray and Greystones.
Next we are going to learn about Elizabeth Whitshed
and her husband Colonel Frederick Burnaby.
Lots of places in our local area are called after Colonel Burnaby.
Colonel Frederick Burnaby was a Victorian celebrity: a soldier, adventurer, and writer.
He and his new wife Elizabeth Whitshed travelled to North Africa on honeymoon,
but due to delicate health, Elizabeth returned to Greystones.
She moved to Switzerland for health reasons.
Colonel Burnaby was killed in action (near Khartoum in Sudan) in 1885.
Elizabeth went on to become a mountain climber and alpine expert. S
he married twice more and lived to the ripe old age of 73.
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/63948
Other projects are planned on
Inventors: Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein.
Did you know that both of them found school difficult?
and
Authors: JK Rowlings and Roald Dahl.
Advantages of Cycling
You get to places faster than walking.
You get exercise & it keeps you fit.
It feels good & it’s fun. Doesn’t use petrol or gas. You can go fast or slow.
Anyone can have a bike. You have a nice breeze on your face.
You feel free and you get fresh air.
It stops pollution and is good for the environment.
Advantages of Walking
You get fresh air.
It helps to keep us fit.
It doesn’t use petrol or diesel.
Good for the environment.
You can see nature all around you.
It feels good.
You don’t get stuck in traffic.
Disadvantages of the car
You waste petrol.
You don’t get any exercise.
It can be dangerous.
Bad for the environment.
You could get car sick.
You could get caught in traffic.
You go so fast you can’t stop and look at anything.
Costs a lot of money.
Sometimes you have to squeeze in.
You have to wear a seatbelt.
You have to follow the roads.
It can get too warm.
What gives the planet earth
its energy?
The Sun.
Plants get their energy
from the sun.
Hollie drew this!
Animals eat these plants.
I eat plant and animal food,
Like chips and chicken nuggets!
Food gives me energy to run around and play.
Some energy is renewable
The energy of the sun and the wind is renewable.
I didn’t know what this word meant when I heard it first.
Now I know that renewable energy
can be used again and again
and again and again
and again
and again …
Some energy is non-renewable
The energy from fossil fuels is non-renewable.
Coal and oil and turf burn up and cannot be used again.
The Wind is a renewable energy
Wind power can generate electricity.
Wind can dry clothes.
I can help Mum or Dad put the clothes on the line.
I can make a difference!
A windmill takes the energy from the wind.
A wind turbine will take the energy from the wind
and turns it into electricity.
Sailing boats get their energy from the wind too.
Renewable energy like the sun and the wind will last
much much much much much much much
longer than non renewable energy such as coal and oil and turf.
What uses electricity in my house?
The radio clock alarm that wakes me up.
The electric lights.
The immersion that heats the water for a shower or bath.
The kettle that heats the water for tea or coffee.
The microwave.
The cooker.
The fridge.
The heater.
The television.
The radio.
The CD player.
The washing machine.
The spin dryer.
Where would I find a lagging jacket?
On the immersion tank that heats hot water.
I can remind the grown ups in my house
to get a lagging jacket.
I can make a difference!
Where would I find insulation
in a house?
In the attic, under the roof.
I can make a difference!
I can remind the grown ups in my house
to insulate the attic.
You can buy sheeps wool to insulate the attic.
Where would I find double glazing in my house?
In the windows and doors.
When the heating is on in the house,
heat can escape through ordinary windows and doors
and through a roof with no insulation.
I can make a difference!
I can shut doors and draw the curtains early to keep the heat in.
I can check if any furniture is blocking the heaters.
Taking a shower uses less energy than taking a bath.
I can take a shower instead of a bath.
I can make a difference.
If you are using the washing machine,
it should be full of clothes.
You shouldn’t put on the washing machine
to wash one pair of socks.
I don’t do the washing yet
but I can remind the grown ups in my house
and I can make a difference!
If you are making a cup of tea
you should boil about a cup
of water instead of
a full kettle of water.
Boiling a full kettle of water wastes energy and money.
I don’t make tea yet but I can remind the grown ups
in my house
and I can make a difference!
Wasting water is wasting energy
I can make a difference!
I won’t let the tap run when I am washing my teeth.
I can remind any little people in my house about this too.
I can make a difference!
If I am a little cold in my house,
I am better to put on extra clothes
Saving energy saves money.
Saving energy in my house
will mean our
electricity bill will be lower.
I can make a difference!
We can use the money for more interesting things!
That will make a difference!
Walking to school, if I can
is better than travelling by car.
I can make a difference!
Walking to school or
cycling my bicycle
Taking the bus
is better than travelling by car.
I can make a difference!
What could I recycle that I usually throw away?
A plastic bottle –
I could use one for my drink for lunch again and again.
I could turn the plastic bottle into a musical instrument.
If I add rice or pasta to the bottle, I could turn it into a percussion shaker.
I can make a difference!
What can I put in
the compost bin?
Fruit peels,
vegetable peels,
pencil paring.
Any thing that will rot.
I can make a difference!
Reusing plastic bags
saves energy.
I can make a difference!
I can remind Mum to bring shopping bags
to the supermarket.
Let’s make the difference.
Jack drew this 🙂
The children enjoyed this activity in school today.
Maybe they would like to try it at home and you can see the kind of work we are doing.
‘A Game about using Keys or Legends on a Map from the National Geographic Website’
