Good Morning Everyone,

I’m sure you will agree that the weeks since March 12th have tested us all in ways we never imagined. I want to thank you all most sincerely for all of your hard work in facilitating your child’s learning at home. It has not been easy, but you have been amazing. We can’t wait to see everyone back at school at the end of August.

I wish you all a very happy and fun-filled Summer break.

Miss McDonald

******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Please check your WhatsApp group / individual messages for daily updates and your email for this week’s checklist plan outlining some learning targets / suggested activities and some resources to support these targets.

As always, these are just suggestions – please keep it simple and do what works for you and your child.

Include lots of indoor/outdoor exercise and movement breaks / rewards for completed work sessions / time for sensory play / creative time / quiet time / chores and life skills / play time and make time to connect with family and friends in any way possible – a phone call or short video clip saying good morning / singing a song / take a photo of a drawing for grandparents / sending a postcard or making a card for a family member or friend – the sky is the limit!

Virtual Sports Week – Thursday

Today we are landing and skipping for Virtual Sports Week.

Below you will see Ms. Fogarty and Ms. Brady playing Jack Be Nimble. You can use any items you can find at home to create a low hurdle to jump over.

 

30 second skipping challenge

Just like yesterday’s throwing challenge, today we are asking you to count how many times you can skip in 30 seconds.

Remember to share your activities with your teacher through their e-mail address.

Have fun!

The weather has really been against us for the first two days of our Virtual Sports Week. Don’t worry if you didn’t get to complete the suggested activities, you can do them any time and share with your teacher!

Today we are throwing and balancing.

Below you will see Ms. O’Callaghan throwing a tennis ball off the wall and catching it. See how many times you can do this in 30 seconds.

 

Next is the shoe balance challenge. Below you will see Ms. Brady and Ms. O’Shea balancing one shoe on the other. See if you can do this for 30 seconds.

 

Take a video and share with your teacher! Have fun!

 

Tuesday – kicking

The weather wasn’t great for our first day of Virtual Sports Week, and if you didn’t get out for your walk or run, don’t worry! You can still do it at any time this week and send on your picture.

Today we have some kicking challenges for you.

1. Through the gate

Below you will see Mr. Scanlon and Mr. O’Sullivan kicking through the cones. If you don’t have cones, you can use any other item as your ‘gate’. Try kick the ball on the ground, and try kick out of your hands.

 

2. Kick a target

Below you will see Mr. O’Connell kicking a target in the corner of the goal. You can choose any target at home and aim to knock it down.

 

3. Wall and through the goal

This time you will see Mr. O’Connell kicking the ball off the wall and through a goal. (This one took a few takes). You can make it harder by moving further from the wall before kicking.

4. Wall ball

Mr. O’Sullivan and Mr. Scanlon played a game of wall ball. With a partner, kick the ball off the wall, with the aim being to kick the ball before it stops. We are sure you will do better than the two teachers!

 

Why not create your own versions of the videos above, make your own rules and be creative with your resources. Maybe try a trick shot?

Most importantly, enjoy yourself and have fun!

 

Monday – Running

Today was due to be the date of our annual 5K race so try to get out there for a walk/run and share your experience on the school’s Facebook page

and/or by WhatsApp or e-mail to me!

Virtual School Tour – this week 2nd Class will be visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific in California! Details have been sent by email – hope you all enjoy!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads on Sunday! I sent some Father’s Day Card ideas by email last Friday – here are a few more:

Science Experiments – some fun ideas for a rainy day!

Motor Skills  – this website has some brilliant but very simple ideas for parents to do at home:   http://therapystreetforkids.com/

 

Funky Mummy Tables Game

Funky Mummy is a mobile friendly number facts game. Practise quick recall of addition and subtraction facts.

http://www.ictgames.com/funkyMummy/index.html

Complete the calculation, press on the correct sarcophagus and watch the mummy dance!

Some nice Summer Art ideas for you to make at home:

NCSE Theme of the Week: Summer is here! Lots of lovely Summer themed activities for use at home. APP of the Week is ChatterPix.

Activities listed here: ncse.ie-Theme of the Week Summer is here

 

A lovely video explaining Social Distancing to children:

 

Social Thinking: This Pirate Adventure is just one of the excellent free resources from http://www.socialthinking.com. It nicely covers the concept of hidden rules and dealing with unexpected behaviours. Click on the link or visit the website:

https://www.socialthinking.com/free-stuff/books-thinksheets

 

Middletown Centre for Autism have announced a series of Webinars for June: 

                     

                                                                                                                          

Biodiversity Week was last week – Well done to Rory who made this

super poster reminding us to Save Our Bees!

Great job Rory!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to get Creative using nature!

Use leaves and twigs  to create these cool nature bugs:

Collect some rocks and get painting – leave a message and hide for someone to find!

Use cardboard, punch some holes and thread dandelions or daisies to make names or shapes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NCSE [National Council for Special Education] have put together a vast range of resources to support learning at home. Previous themes have included gardening, baking, Science and Communication and Keeping in Touch. This week’s theme is Games. They also have an App of the Week section and this week’s featured App is Draw with Stars.

Online resources for home learning during the Covid 19 restrictions

 

2ND CLASS TABLES REVISION:  The Great Tables Challenge is a fun game to  revise those addition and subtraction tables – just click on the link:

http://www.theschoolhub.ie/sample.php

Read together: Axel Scheffler [illustrator of The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child] and others have created this fantastic resource for children:

Coronavirus – A Book For Children

The NCSE have put together a vast range of resources to support learning at home. Previous themes have included gardening and baking. This week’s theme is Science. They also have an App of the Week section.  Visit http://www.ncse.ie

Check out the RTE School Hub each morning at 11am.

TTS Home Learning Handwriting Help:

Part 1 – Gross Motor Activities to help develop core muscles:

https://www.tts-group.co.uk/blog/2020/04/23/home-learning-handwriting-help-part-1.html

Part 2 – Fine Motor Activities:

https://www.tts-group.co.uk/blog/2020/04/23/home-learning-handwriting-help-part-2.html

Some ideas for a dull day …  100 Fun Indoor Activities!

Here are some more nice suggestions from Múinteoir Valerie: Ten At Home Activities for Children with Autism.

The Great Isolation Activity Book  – The-Great-Isolation-Activity-Book-SEND.pdf

Gross Motor Skills – some great suggestions here for activities to try at home to develop core strength / balance / bilateral integration and ball skills.      Gross Motor Skills Parents’ Book

Fine + Gross Motor Skills / OT Tips – more great ideas to try at home here OT Tips

Some nice ideas here for junk art and art activities using newspapers.

 

Down Time / IPads / Suggested Educational Apps for Literacy and Numeracy / Reward Activity

We have discussed in recent days the need for some ‘educational down time’ as learning sessions work best if short and structured. Everyone needs a breather between tasks and activities. IPad Time might prove motivating if used as a reward activity following a learning session. The familiarity of certain apps (such as Starfall) might help your child to feel happy, safe and secure.

Here is a list compiled by Múinteoir Valerie for those whose children love their iPads.

Life Skills / Chores –  Múinteoir Valerie has some great suggestions as to how you might use this time to teach some simple life skills. Check out her March 30th blog entry http://www.muinteoirvalerie.com

If you have a tent in the shed why not put it up (inside or outside) to make a cosy den filled with  some of their favourite toys or books for some Quiet Time at any time of the day? If you don’t have one you could try making one using an old sheet or duvet cover.

Sensory Play ideas might include water play with sponges and various containers or sand with tools and toys.

You could try making homemade Kinetic sand using flour and baby oil. Just add the oil gradually to make it as dry or as gooey as is liked! Food colouring can be added to make it bright and colourful. It’s lovely to touch and the baby oil makes it smell great – nice, messy, sensory fun!

Here’s a recipe for homemade playdough:

 

Valerie Sheehan, author of the super Tony the Turtle series, has written a new Tony story to help kids understand a little about what’s going on. You can check it out on the Tony the Turtle Facebook page or by clicking Tony the Turtle.

Easter is coming – here are a few Easter art ideas for you to start trying out at home. You could start making a few pieces to display on your front windows and on the windowsills next week. Cut out and decorate letters to make a happy message for passers by.

Why not try a nice art activity today and display it in your window so passers by can see!

Google or browse Pinterest for ideas:

Here is just one of countless online storytimes … it just takes a minute or two to get started!

 

Here’s a nice Sensory Scavenger Hunt – you might get some nice news sentences from this!

Some ideas for homemade literacy resources – all you need for the first one is a few sticky labels, a marker and use Lego bricks / Jenga blocks / Duplo / cubes etc; make the alphabet and off you go – good for revising those Spellbound spellings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dublin Zoo have live webcams to look at the animals at any time during the day – there’s a live

feeding of the Penguins scheduled for 2:30 today:    https://www.dublinzoo.ie/animals/animal-webcams/

NCSE TOP TIPS! for Primary School Age Children

Click here for TOP TIPS! Junior and Senior Infants

Click here for TOP TIPS! 1st and 2nd Class

Additional Occupational Therapy Resources

Click here for Parental Booklet on Sensory Processing
Click here for Parental Booklet for Developing Gross Motor Skills
Click here for Parental Booklet for Fine and Gross Motor Skills

Additional Speech & Language Therapy Resources

Click here for useful websites

English

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/

Oxford Owl has a comprehensive list of eBooks for ages 3-11 on this site

https://www.librariesireland.ie/elibrary/ebooks

All library members can download books for free by downloading the BorrowBox app using your library barcode and pin number

Maths

1. topmarks.co.uk

This site has a wide range of maths activities categorised by age and maths strand

2. https://www.khanacademy.org/math

This website has mathematics tutorials, tests and games for pupils of all primary school class levels

3. https://nrich.maths.org/9086

Here you can find a range of interactive maths games categorised by class level (junior infants-second class (KS1) and 3^rd-6^th class (KS2))

2nd Class: Some great websites for working on tables in a fun way:

#https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button and http://www.theschoolhub.ie/sample.php

 

Yoga: https://www.cosmickids.com/ choose a lesson and have some fun!

Ms McDonald

 

SENIOR INFANTS

Monday 30^th March

Ms Healy, Ms O’Toole and Ms McDonald

Phonics

1. CVC Words

We will focus on CVC – Consonant Vowel Consonant words this week. See CVC booklet CVC Booklet and CVC Activity Sheets CVC Activity Sheets for suggested activities.

2. Sounds/Blending

Continue to revise diagraphs e.g ai, oa, ie, er, as these sounds are always the most difficult for children.

Roll a Sound – 1 Roll a Sound – 2 Roll a Sound – 3

Activities to practice BLENDING

• Blending game 1 – SATIPN word blending BLENDING Game 1
• Blending game 2 – CKEHRMD word blending BLENDING Game 2
• Blending game 3 – Mixture of word blending BLENDING Game 3

3. Continue to revise Tricky words – Revise all tricky words completed 1-30. See box below. These words can be read aloud, sentence formation and practiced as spellings.

Tricky Words 1-30

 

I               be           you        there     one

the         was        your       they       by

he           to            come     go           like

she         do           some     no           have

me         are         said        so           live

we          all           here      my          give

 

Additional Phonics Resources:

• Starfall.com – this website has phonic resources that includes blending.
• Twinkl – this website is a fantastic resource for teachers and parents to use. They are offering parents one month free membership while children are at home. http://www.twinkl.ie/offer enter the code IRLTWINKLHELPS.

 

Reading

1. The new book we started to read during the school closure is called ARE YOU KITTY?. This book is available as an ebook on folens online and can be accessed. There are no new words introduced throughout this book. Continue to read this book for the remainder of the week.

Folens online can be accessed for free where you can look at the class readers we have covered to date (THE BIG HORSE and WHAT A MESS!) Please revise these books.

2. BROWN BEAR POWERPOINT – Read and revise the story of brown bear.Brown Bear Story
3. Children can sequence the characters in the story using the character cut out activity sheet. Brown Bear – Character cut outs

 

Additional Reading Resources:

• Online Stories – Getepic.com. Click login and say you do not have an account. Join free for 30 days as a family. Here you can create your account. Click learning to read and choose books for age 4-6 years. There is lots to choose from.
• oxfordowl.co.uk – this is a similar site to getepic.com and also has lots of reading resources online. As we can’t work on our shared reading these online stories might be a useful resource.

 

Maths

1. ADDITION

– Easter Egg: Counting and Addition activity Easter Egg – Counting and Addition Writing Prompts

– Butterfly addition to 10 activity Butterfly Addition to 10

– Number Bonds: Activity sheet Number Bonds

 

2. 2D Shapes – Children can practice drawing

• Square
• Circle
• Rectangle
• Oval

 

3. 2D Shape Activities – Chicken and Rabbit Chicken – 2D Shapes Rabbit – 2D Shapes

 

4. Count and Colour – Activity sheet Count and Colour

 

5. Continue to practice number formation from 0-20, on paper/whiteboards etc. Children can also draw items to represent numbers (10 apples for the number 10/5 sweets for the number 5)

 

6. We have completed number stories to 9. Please continue revise all these number stories as the concept can be difficult to grasp. Children may need resources to aid counting (cubes/counters etc).

 

Additional Maths Resources:

• Topmarks.co.uk- in search box- shapes, counting, patterns, number for all different types of games.
• NRICH.com https://nrich.maths.org/9084 here are more maths activities you can do with your child. A lot of them are quite practical. Stay within age appropriate games.
• TWINKL – twinkl has a number of fun and meaningful resources to aid children’s learning.

 

Writing

1. Writing Prompts Activity – Children can use these writing prompt cards and finish the sentence. Writing Prompts

 

2. Pencil Grip/Pattern Formation – Please see the Pencil Control booklet for suggested activities and practice. Pencil Control Booklet. Children are working on different patterns in school. This skill can be difficult for children so additional practice in this area will be of benefit.

 

3. Children can write their news daily and draw a picture to represent their news for that day.

 

4. Children can also practice letter formation.

 

5. Pattern – Easter Egg

 

Projects

Below are a list of some topics you can choose to make a project about. This can be done as a little book, poster, painting or any way you like.

1. Easter
2. All About Me – what you can do, such as – run, swim etc.
3. Important People to me.
4. My Favourite Animal.
5. Spring
6. Ireland or any country of choice.

 

Please do not feel under pressure to complete all of these SUGGESTED activities. We will not be posting any new activities until after the Easter break.

 

HAPPY EASTER to all the boys and girls in JUNIOR & SENIOR INFANTS.

We miss you and look forward to seeing you soon.

Eat loads of chocolate and say hi to the Easter Bunny! 😊

 

***********************************************************************************

SENIOR INFANTS

Ms Healy, Ms O’Toole and Ms McDonald

MONDAY 23RD MARCH

Gaeilge

The Irish programme we use in class is called Bua na Cainte. Edco are providing access to their online interactive programme for parents and children to use at home. The themes we have covered to date – Mé Féin, An Scoil, Bia, Caitheamh Aimsire, Éadaí and Sa Bhaile. Children can revise these themes, songs and games.

 

Keep Active & Learn

Children can practice spelling their names, names of siblings, names of friends and a range of different words while also keeping active.

 

 

SLT-OT-Top-Tips-Junior-and-Senior-Infants3

************************************************************************************************************

Jolly Phonics

We have completed all sounds in our Jolly Phonics. the free jolly phonics app can be downloaded to help with revision. Letter names, sounds, songs and actions can all be revised in a fun and meaningful way. YouTube songs – What do the Letters Say and Jolly Phonic sound songs are also available online. Diagraphs can be a focus e.g ai, oa, ie, er, are these sounds are always the most difficult for children.

Tricky words – Revise all tricky words completed 1-30. See box below. These words can be read aloud, sentence formation and practiced as spellings.

Tricky Words 1-30

 

I               be           you        there     one

the         was        your       they       by

he           to            come     go           like

she         do           some     no           have

me         are         said        so           live

we          all           here      my          give

 

Starfall.com – this website has phonic resources that includes blending.

Twinkl – this website is a fantastic resource for teachers and parents to use. They are offering parents one month free membership while children are at home. http://www.twinkl.ie/offer enter the code IRLTWINKLHELPS.

 

Reading

Folens online can be accessed for free where you can look at the class readers we have covered to date (THE BIG HORSE and WHAT A MESS!) Please revise these books.

We would like children to continue reading each day. The new book we would like children to read during the school closure is called ARE YOU KITTY?. This book is available as an ebook on folens online and can be accessed. There are no new words introduced throughout this book.

Online Stories – Getepic.com. Click login and say you do not have an account. Join free for 30 days as a family. Here you can create your account. Click learning to read and choose books for age 4-6 years. There is lots to choose from. Oxfordowl.co.uk – this is a similar site to getepic.com and also has lots of reading resources online. As we can’t work on our shared reading these online stories might be a useful resource.

 

Maths

Topmarks.co.uk- in search box- shapes, counting, patterns, number for all different types of games.

NRICH.com https://nrich.maths.org/9084 here are more maths activities you can do with your child. A lot of them are quite practical. Stay within age appropriate games.

Practice number formation from 0-20, on paper/whiteboards etc. Children can also draw items to represent numbers (10 apples for the number 10/5 sweets for the number 5)

We have completed number stories to 9. Please revise all these number stories. Children may need resources to aid counting (cubes/counters etc).

EXAMPLE: STORY OF 6

 

WEIGHT – Experiment weighing various objects at home. Encourage appropriate language e.g. heavy/light/heavier/lighter/ heaviest/lightest.

SHAPES – Observe and recognise 2D and 3D shapes in environment. Maths is everywhere.

TWINKL – twinkl has a number of fun and meaningful resources to aid children’s learning. These activities can be printed for children to complete. (Colour by number etc)

 

Writing

News – Children can write their daily news. Children can write about their activities and draw a picture to represent their news for that day.

Letter formation can also be practiced.

 

Project Work

Below are a list of some topics you can choose to make a project about. This can be done as a little book, poster, painting or any way you like.

1. All About Me – what you can do, such as – run, swim etc.
2. Important People to me.
3. My Favourite Animal.
4. Spring
5. Ireland or any country of choice

Other Suggested Activities

Home Activities