Week 13: 22/06/2020

Hello again everyone,

the final week of the school year begins and it is so hard to imagine all that everyone has gone through to stay safe by staying apart from each other. I sincerely hope you all managed well under the circumstances and are looking forward to the break from home schooling for the summer holidays. It has been a challenge in some way for everyone, from the very young to the very old. I truly hope that the events over the past few months, as a result of this world pandemic, helps us all to appreciate each other and the simpler things in life even more. Health really is our wealth and everything after that is a bonus.

For those of you who are moving on to secondary school – the very best of luck to you all and I hope you settle well into your new schools. It will be a big change but one that is necessary and I am sure that you are ready for. I hope you all enjoyed your years in Scoil Náisiúta Naomh Micheál and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours. Have a great summer!

For those of you moving on to a different class in our school, enjoy your summer holidays and I hope to see you all in the new school year.

To conclude this school year and term, I am uploading a summer bucket list(PDF) of fun activities and ideas to help for any day where you might be looking for inspiration.

I hope you found some activities of use to you from this page over the last couple of months. As always, if you wish to contact me my email address is c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie.

Bain taitneamh as laethanta saoire an tsamhraidh.

All the best,

Catriona O’Sullivan

PS – Enjoy the week of activities for the school’s virtual sports week!

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Week 12: 15/06/2020

Hello there,

it is hard to believe that we are halfway through the month of June already. This time of year would traditionally be school tour time. Even though this year classes cannot hop onto a bus and head off on a school trip, with thanks to technology, we can head anywhere in the world and see the most amazing things and all safely from the comfort of our homes.  With this in mind I decided to have a look at virtual tours which are available online. I hope you enjoy one or two of them and learn even one new piece of information from what you see. I have also included simple activities to complete if you so wish.

I would love to hear from any of you that try out one of these tours. As always I can be contacted on c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie.

Best wishes,

Catriona O’Sullivan

Virtual School Tours

Áras an Úachtaráin – a lovely site to show the interior of the home of the president of Ireland – https://president.ie/en/explore-visit/take-the-virtual-tour/

  The White House – for comparison, why not take at look at the home of the President of the USA https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-white-house

Newgrange – take a virtual tour of this world heritage site that predates the Pyramids in Egypt https://voicesfromthedawn.com/newgrange/

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Week 11: 08/06/2020

Hello again everyone,

another week has zipped by. Hope you are all keeping well and making the most of the good weather.

This week I will provide links and ideas on the following topics – LIteracy (Spelling), Numeracy (Time, Money, Tables), Fine Motor skills (Art & Visual Perception) and Gross Motor skills.

I hope some or all of these may be of help to you in some way. As always, please have a look at pages of all the SEN teachers as there may be something of interest or of help to your child. Please contact me on c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie if you wish.

Enjoy the week ahead,

Catriona O’Sullivan

Literacy

Spelling

Sometimes there may be words that are difficult to learn to spell. A great idea is to try to write it in a different way. Have a look at these spelling activity cards from TWINKL which show you how to write words in different ways from rainbows to dots.

Another great way to get familiar with spellings is to create a word search. The following link allows you to type in a list of words and it generates a word search which can be easily printed.

https://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php

Numeracy

Time

Time is always a tricky concept to get a grasp of. It is a great idea to make reference to time in different ways in our lives from calendars, clocks on the wall to TV schedules. I am providing links to websites which are useful for learning/revising concepts of time

• How to draw a monkey – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tqkMe-cv6k
• How to draw a dog – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVBW7kQShCg 
• How to draw a boy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVWGnZ7HIv8
• How to draw a girl – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNoh3bmaWTM

Gross Motor Skills and Well being 

1. https://www.corksports.ie/index.cfm/page/a-moment-for-me-_parents   ‘A Moment for Me’ will provide parents with an Online WellBeing Programme focusing on self care. It will be delivered in a safe space to explore the challenges you are currently facing, identify techniques to deal with stressors and build a toolbox for success and positive wellbeing.
2. https://www.corksports.ie/index.cfm/page/lets-play-cork “Let’s Play Cork“, a series of online and offline play resources for families across Cork. These resources provide families of all ages and abilities with playful and fun ideas to stay active at home during Covid-19 and beyond.

 

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Week 10: 03/06/2020

Hello everyone,

Hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday in some special way.

This week I will provide information on SCRATCH programming. This is a great piece of FREE software to help introduce children to the world of coding. Programming languages are used in many different scenarios – from the language used to create this website to any type of software on any device we use in our daily lives. SCRATCH can be used as a tool to introduce the concept of programming while also retelling a story in a different way or solving a simple task. Children enjoy this programme as there can be many solutions to a task presented.

I found this programming great to link in with Maths and Oral Language, along with being able to use any other subject area as a theme for an activity.

To encourage active learning outdoors, I have included a minibeast hunt checklist. It might be nice to create a ‘BUG HOTEL‘(click for website with instructions) to encourage a few bugs to move into your back garden if the likes are not easily found.

Keeping with the minibeast theme, I have attached some mindful colouring pages of minibeasts and some differentiated reading comprehensions and cloze procedures about ‘Summer in Ireland’

Don’t forget to have a look at the pages of the other teachers in SEN to for other resources which may be beneficial.

Have a good week and as always I can be contacted at c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie.

Catriona O’Sullivan

SCRATCH PROGRAMMING

SCRATCH programming information – link to SCRATCH Home page and samples of ideas 

SCRATCH programming tutorials – link to easy to follow tutorials

SCRATCH programme – Free Download Link

SCRATCH Programming book– Free downloadable book with easy steps to follow

MINIBEAST THEMED ACTIVITIES

Minibeast hunt checklist 1(easy)

Minibeast hunt checklist 2(more detail)

Minibeast Mindful Colouring

Minibeast/Summer Reading Comprehension (differentiated)

Minibeast Cloze Procedures (differentiated)

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Week 9: 25/05/2020

Hi everyone,

another week begins and May is coming to a close. There are lots of colourful wildflowers growing at the moment. It is worth having a look while out for a walk or in your back garden and perhaps investigating if you can find names for them.

Hope you are managing well with your home schooling. If you are experiencing any difficulties in this area, please do not hesitate to contact me via email c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie.

This week I am looking at VISUAL LEARNING. Mind Mapping but via software called XMind. This programme is a fantastic help for anyone who finds planning difficult as it lays everything out clearly. It has also been recommended as a study tool in secondary school and third level. It would be greatly beneficial for 5th and 6th class to learn to use as it would be helpful for projects and revising for exams.

Included at the end of the Visual Learning Section are some templates from TWINKL to help with Mind Mapping for creating characters for a story and research for a project.

I will also include a little science experiment(procedural writing and organisational skills) and a simple art activity(fine motor – cutting and colouring).

Enjoy your week,

Catriona O’Sullivan

VISUAL LEARNING

Mind Mapping – A mind map is a visual thinking tool. It uses imagery, colour and spatial arrangement to convey an idea. It is a fantastic way to help with gathering thoughts around a topic or to revise for an exam. Once you have a basic concept of mind mapping, being able to digitally represent your diagrams can be a great help especially to help with organisational skills.

• The following is a link to a to a tutorial on Mind Mapping and the use of XMind supplied by the Disability Support Unit in UCC>

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=7b04d06f-10ee-401a-99f0-58ced592fa74

• The following is a link to a tutorial on the uses and benefits for Mind Mapping and Xmind software in the schoolwork and homework:

https://ucc.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=eaa84d7e-45f6-4f68-ad16-d1a5973cde07

• To download the software go to the following website:

https://www.xmind.net/download/

OTHER RESOURCES for MIND MAPPING:

Study and Use of Mind Maps – https://www.schooldays.ie/articles/study-&-the-use-of-mind-maps

How to create Mind Maps – https://kidengage.com/blog/2019/02/mind-mapping-for-children-how-to-teach-children-to-use-mind-maps/

Creating a Mind Map – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY4sUQzXJ1g

Story Map Template

Research Map

Character Description  (middle classes)

Character Description (upper classes)

Science  – procedural writing and organisational skills

The following is a link to a science experiment to see how absorbent kitchen roll is, while creating a rainbow in the process.

 Rainbow Science Experiment

Art – fine motor – cutting and colouring

The following is a link to a PDF showing the steps in creating a ‘snake’ spinner you can hang from a window or a doorway.

Snake Spinner

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Week 8: 18/05/2020

Hello parents and children,

hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the fine weather. We certainly are being treated to some amazing sunsets at the end of each day. It’s well worth having a look up to the sky each evening to see the beautiful colours.

This week I am including the following on my page:

1. Join the dots activities
2. Colour by numbers using operations
3. Create a calendar display
4. Record the weather activity
5. Science Experiment – Cloud in a jar
6. Alphabet Photo activity

As always, have a look at all of the other SEN teachers’ pages for extra activities and ideas. If you need to contact me for any reason my email address is c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie.

Have a great week,

Catriona O’Sullivan

1. Join the Dots
   
   – Pencil Control – Infants – Theme: Balloons
   – Number recognition (1-10)
   – Number recognition (1-30)
   – Skip Counting in 10’s
2. Colour by Number

– Addition up to 10, 20 & 30
– Multiplication 1
– Multiplication 2
– Subtraction up to 10
– Subtraction up to 20

1. Create a Calendar Display -( Fine motor, Memory skills, SESE, Maths, Oral Language )
   With so many people feeling confused about what day of the week it is, a display in the home with an active calendar could be a great help along with a daily activity of keeping it up to date. The following PDF from TWINKL provides days, months, seasons and weather. I have tried this in my own home and it is working well. It is a daily activity at breakfast time and the display is located in the kitchen near the table. Hope this is of help in your home too.
   WEATHER DISPLAY
2. Record the Weather
   Why not record the weather for a month – could be part of the calendar display too. All you need are blank calendar sheets for May/June, decide on the symbols you will use for the various types of weather which may be possible. Draw out a symbol and write the weather type beside it. Keep this sheet beside your calendar sheet. Here is a link for blank calendar sheets from TWINKL – CALENDAR 2020
3. Science Experiment – Rain Cloud in a Jar
   For a bit of fun and to tie in with the weather theme, why not see can you create a cloud in a jar. The main equipment needed – shaving foam, blue food colouring, water, dropper, bowl and a clear glass jar. Full details on this link – CLOUD IN A JAR. Ms Healy has covered procedural writing last week so this activity will link in with this.
4. Alphabet Object Hunt
   This is a game that could be played indoors and/or outdoors depending on the weather. The objective is to try and find an object to represent every letter of the alphabet. If the children have access to a device that takes photos they could record their answers this way. Otherwise they could draw or write their answer on the following sheet or a similar grid – ALPHABET HUNT

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Week 7: 11/05/2020

Hello everyone,

hope you are enjoying the fine weather and making the most of the extra 3km radius from your home you can cover now for exercise. Plenty of food for the senses while out and about these days from birds singing to the smell of fresh cut grass. You might even have an audience if you take a look over the ditch 🙂

This week if you need a few extra ideas for home or are looking for something a bit different, why not give the following a try:

• Reading Comprehension
• Read and Colour comprehension
• Reading Comprehension Games
• SPHE – Emotional Well being – a FREE resource to help deal with worries
• Physical Well being – Link to local heritage trails for walking

Please look at all the other SEN pages as we are working together to ensure that we are providing a broad range of activities to suit everyone and to accommodate the different interests. I can be contacted at c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie and I would be delighted to hear from you and provide assistance if I can.

Have a great week,

Catriona O’Sullivan

5. Physical Well Being – Link to heritage walks that are in the area of Glanmire… May be of use to anyone within a 5km radius http://www.glanmireareacork.com/glanmire-heritage-walks/

Here is a sample of one of the walks. A lovely way to combine History, Geography, P.E., SPHE, Oral Language but to mention a few subject areas.

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Week 6: 06/05/2020 – 08/05/2020

Dear Parents,

Hope you all enjoyed the May Bank Holiday weekend as the season of summer begins. The days are considerably brighter for longer now so great opportunities to head out for a walk or run to get some fresh air.

For this week, I will include activities to cover the following topics:

 FREE BOOK – If you would like to download a free book to explain about Coronavirus to your child, see the following Coronavirus_ABookForChildren or go the the following web page for further information https://axelscheffler.com/books-for-older-children/coronavirus

Fine motor, Art and problem solving

Jigsaws are a fantastic way to improve problem solving, along with development of fine motor skills. They also help with organisation, memory and processing skills.

Ravensburger (GAMES and JIGSAWS company)have 2 fantastic FREE apps you can download onto a tablet or IPAD from the app store. As they say on their website – “72 varied puzzle images offer hours of puzzle fun. Whether they like cute animals from all over the world, princesses, pirates, tractors or even unicorns – there is something for everyone”. Check out their family page on https://www.ravensburger.us/start/at-home-with-ravensburger/time-for-children/index.html#puzzle

 DIY – Why not make your own jigsaw from a photo, picture from a magazine, a picture printed from the computer or anything similar. The other materials you will need are – cardboard, glue, scissors, pencil. The picture is glued onto the cardboard and trim around the edge. The jigsaw pieces are drawn on the back of the cardboard. Then cut out these pieces to make the jigsaw shapes. A great activity to practise cutting but please ensure the cardboard is similar to a cereal box as this will not be too difficult to cut. Have a look at the following link as a guide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmRBW17Do48

Gross motor… Brain breaks

It is very important to take time out from school activities and relax. Brain breaks are a quick activity to carry out to stimulate the brain again. The following activities are easy to try out at home –

us-p-12-mindful-minute-brainbreak-cards_ver_2

Maths /Art

The following are mosaic colouring sheets to help with revision of tables. These activities also help with concentration as a pattern must be achieved in order to achieve the correct final image.

t-n-2546940-summerthemed-addition-and-subtraction-to-20-summer-mosaic-worksheet-english

t-n-2545255-ks1-summer-addition-mosaic-differentiated-activity-sheets_ver_2

t-n-2546087-ks1-the-cautious-caterpillar-2-5-and-10-multiplication-and-division-maths-mosaic-activity-sheet_ver_2

t-n-2545253-treasures-in-the-garden-mixed-operations-maths-mosaics-activity-sheets

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Week 5: 27/04/2020

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are all keeping well. Another week begins of these strange times. This week I have put together some online resources to help improve comprehension skills, activities and links for development of fundamental movement skills and art activities to help with the fine motor skill of cutting. Also, an idea to help use up some of the dry recyclables that may be around at home.

If you have any queries or samples of your child’s work you would like to share, please email me on c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie. I would be delighted to see them.

All the best for the week ahead…don’t forget to WASH YOUR HANDS and stay safe!

Kind regards,

Catriona O’Sullivan

PS… For any space enthusiasts in your home, the following link for the International Space Station has fantastic activities https://www.issnationallab.org/stem/learn-at-home/

Comprehension

“The ultimate objective of reading is comprehension or the reconstruction of meaning” – English Curriculum, Teacher Guidelines

Readers need to go through mental processes to help them understand a text being read. It is one thing to know the strategies but putting them to into practise is another. The following information and links are to help develop comprehension skills. Check out Ms. O’Brien’s page for further activities on comprehension development.

1. Prediction/Connections/Comparing (6-9 year old) – The following game uses a combination of these strategies to carry out the tasks – Dog Sled Hunt – https://pbskids.org/molly/games/dogsled

2. Synthesising (9-11 year old) [Piecing information together as students read a text, to keep track of what is happening]  – http://flash.topmarks.co.uk/4025 (map to find your way to various locations and visit other places along the route.

3. Sounding Out (5-11 year old) As you read, a knowledge of spelling and vocabulary is important along with the ability to sound out words. The following site helps children to practise the skills of sounding out as well as recall of spellings – http://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/lcwc/index.html

Comprehension can be developed through the use of books and texts from around the home. If you need ideas as to  activities that can help this check out the following link: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/strategies-promote-comprehension

Fundamental Movement Skills (Gross Motor Skills)

As we are experiencing such fine weather, it is important to make the most of it. A great way to get more active is to improve and develop physical literacy. The skills which we use in games, sports and other physical activities can be developed by breaking down the movement skills needed. They being – Throwing, Running, Balancing

There are some lovely activities on the following website to assist with the development of these skills https://www.scoilnet.ie/pdst/physlit/beyond/

Fine Motor Skills and Art

Being at home a lot may mean the art supplies are getting low but that doesn’t mean the artistic streak cannot continue. Save some old magazines/newspapers, plastic bottles, bottle tops, cereal boxes, toilet roll inserts or anything else that may be of use. Here are some ideas that come to mind –

1. Cutting Skills: Pick a theme – Food/Clothes/Sport/Animals/People. Go through the old magazines or newspapers and cut out pictures that match the theme you pick. Once you cut them out you could glue them to the inside of a cereal box. Other ideas might be ingredients for a magic soup. You could also pick a colour and do a colour card. Tones of orange to yellow, shades of green and blends of blue, all cut from magazines and glued together.

2. Make a Robot: Using cardboard boxes, bottle tops, yoghurt cartons and the likes, let your imagination flow and make a robot using recycled materials. The photo on the right is an example of one. You can paint, colour, draw or even put stickers on it. Whatever materials you have available. HAVE FUN!!

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Week 4: 20/04/2020

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a lovely Easter and that you got enjoy the lovely weather in some special way during these otherwise difficult times. Easter Sunday wasn’t the nicest of days weather wise  so perhaps you got to do an indoor Easter egg hunt.

Below are some activities that might help during a wet day or for a break from other activities.

If you have any queries or samples of work you would like to share, please email me on c.osullivan@upperglanmirens.ie

All the best for the week ahead…don’t forget to WASH YOUR HANDS!

Kind regards,

Catriona O’Sullivan

Listening & Music

The following website is offering free downloads of nursery rhymes. Whether it is saying or singing a nursery rhyme, it is great for language development, memory skills and developing a sense of rhythm. Also if actions can be put to the rhyme it can help the child remember it easier. Why not turn this into a family QUIZ – Guess the Nursery Rhyme.

Music of Nursery Rhymes available FREE to download on   

Lyrics of Nursery Rhymes available on 

Listening & Memory Skills 

Listening skills and memory skills are very important parts of our everyday lives. From recalling dates, phone numbers, to people’s names. Below are some activity sheets which incorporate both skills to carry out the required task.

TASK 1 – Listen and Repeat the lists of words  us-t-s-1230-listen-and-repeat-auditory-memory-cards-english-united-states_ver_3

TASK 2 – Listen and complete the task us-t-s-1081-listen-and-do-one-four-word-level-activity-english-united-states-german-deutsch

TASK 3 – 15 minute memory activities t4-c-5-five-15minute-games-to-develop-memory-adult-guidance

TASK 4 – Auditory Memory – Map Activity us-t-s-1207-auditory-memory-map-4-activity-english-united-states-german-deutsch_ver_1

TASK 5 – Listen & Colour t-s-2547196-listen-and-colour-three-key-words-activity-sheet-english_ver_3

    The 5 Senses –

The use of the 5 senses often play a major role in how we recall certain events in our lives. Why not go for a 2km walk as a with your child and take special notice of                            your senses at work. You may feel inspired to compose a sense poem on your return. Here is a template of one on the topic of Spring which may be of help. Enjoy!

roi2-e-68-spring-sensory-poem-activity-sheet_ver_2

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Week 3: 30th March 2020

Hello everybody!

Since this week we would have been getting Easter holidays we decided we would have an Easter theme this week and have some fun games and activities. Don’t be under pressure to complete these, pick and choose you would and your family would like to do. Please check the Ms. Dooling’s, Ms. O’ Callaghan’s, Ms. O’ Sullivan’s, Ms. O’ Donovan’s and Ms. O’ Brien’s pages for other lovely Easter activities.  We also love to see pictures of children with their work or how they are getting on!

Hope you get lots of chocolate from the Easter bunny. Have fun and I hope you all enjoy them have a happy and safe Easter!

Easter games and activities (1)

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Dear parents,

I hope you are all keeping well. I have made a list of some listening and concentration games. These are just some ideas to start with. Please choose what suits you and your child! My e-mail is s.conway@upperglanmirens.ie if you have any queries. Please check Ms. O’ Brien’s, Ms. O’ Donovan’s, Ms. O Callaghan’s, Ms. O’ Sullivan’s and Ms. Dooling’s pages for other resources that will be helpful.

Thank you and stay safe.

Ms. Conway

1. Mystery Sound Game: Gather up a items that would make a sound (ie scissors, keys, opening a bottle, bunch of keys, musical instrument, a whistle, pepper grinder, toy car etc. Get your child to close their eyes and guess what the sound is. Hide a phone playing a song. Your child has to find it in the room. Ask them are they getting hot or getting cold?!

2. Clapping: Clap 4 times. Get your child to clap it back to you. Change it up with different speeds, clapping your lap and your head and get them to clap it back to you.

3. Listening Walk: Go for a walk around home or outside (if you wish)

Before heading outdoors, ask children to predict the sounds they think they will hear.

Listen to the sounds. What do the children hear? What do they think is making that sound? Make a list of the things you hear. If possible, follow a sound to its source.

What happens to the sound as children get closer? What are the loudest sounds the children hear? What are the quietest? Once you’ve finished get them to draw/write 3 things they touched, saw, heard and smelt.

4. Be the detective: Sing a song or nursery rhyme. Sing a line again with the wrong word. Your child has to be the detective and find the wrong word in the sentence! You can do this with other sentences for older children i.e. I cut my hair with a spoon – what the wrong word in the sentence.

5. Verbal treasure hunt: Give a verbal list of items to be collected. Start with three close by and increase complexity over time by asking for items which are further away and more.

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Week 2: 23rd March 2020

Hope you are all keeping well and enjoying some of the good weather! Here are some more games that help listening and attention skills. Please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail s.conway@upperglanmirens.ie if you have any questions or queries!

Kind regards,

Ms. Conway

1. Toss the animal: Give each child a soft toy animal. A hoop, a box or a tea towel in the middle of the circle as a ‘field’ or ‘shed’. The children listen out for their animal’s name, noise, or the words ‘Ready, steady, go!’ before throwing their animals into the field/shed.

2. Who’s wearing what? The children need to listen out for the name of an item of clothing and think about whether or not it is something that they are wearing. Then they have to do a particular action. E.g. ‘If you’re wearing socks, jump into the middle of the circle. Repeat so that each child gets to hear the name of something they are wearing.

3. Find lots of games on: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=listening%20games

4. Drop marbles/pencils/something from around the house and drop it into a jar. Get your child to close their eyes and they can listen to how many items are dropped into the jar. Mix it up for older children and get them to count in 2s/5s/10s or get them to start on a number other than zero….. and remember no peaking!!

5. Go outside to your garden or if you are able to safely go for a walk try why not try some scavenger hunts!

roi-l-755-shape-hunt-activity-sheet

ni-n-143-3d-shapes-school-walk-activity-sheet

SpringSummerOutdoorScavengerHuntforSpeechandLanguageDistanceLearning

OutdoorScavengerHunt