Ms. Coleman's Senior Infants and First Class

Wednesday, 27 January 2016

Class Reminder

Reminder to all 5th and 6th class: Ensure you bring your bike and helmet with you tomorrow (Thursday). As there is a possibility that the children may be going out on the road with Gerry Butler, he will not be in a position to loan the children helmets (due to insurance purposes). Please ensure the children have helmets for cycling.

Monday, 25 January 2016

5th and 6th class are brewing up a storm!

LearnStorm Ireland (formally known as MATHletes) is a free, 9-week maths challenge designed to build confidence and competence.

From January 29th through April 1st, students across the island of Ireland can master maths skills on khanacademy.org to earn rewards and recognition for themselves and their school.

LearnStorm gives every student a way to succeed, no matter their level.

Here are some of the benefits of the maths challenge:

LearnStorm rewards progress and perseverance equally, giving students of all abilities an opportunity to succeed. Additional weekly Growth Mindset activities engage the creative mind and help students develop effective learning strategies.

Students earn points by practicing maths on Khan Academy’s personalised learning platform, with thousands of exercises, integrated with hints and videos.

Students can work independently and as members of their full school team, building school pride and earning recognition.

Students can work on LearnStorm from anywhere, whether it’s at school, or at home. All the student needs is their Khan Academy account.

We are looking forward to completing our missions to earn points for our school (and unlocking new avatars!)

For more information on LearnStorm Ireland visit http://www.learnstorm2016.org/resources/ireland#downloads

Information for parents:

http://fastly.kastatic.org/ka-learnstorm/Handout_for_Parents_in_Ireland.pdf

Encourage your child to be involved by perhaps setting aside a certain time

to complete LearnStorm, encouraging progress and acknowledging achievement!

Thursday, 21 January 2016

Bike Safety Course

Last Thursday, 5th and 6th class started their bike safety course, provided by Mayo County Council. We have been learning a lot about road safety for cyclists - road positioning, using hand signals and being aware of other road users. Also, we're having great fun practicing our cycling skills on our bikes such as balancing and maneuvering - take a look:

While I was doing the bike safety course, I enjoyed the game Simon Says, it was very fun and makes you think about what he says. During the bike safety course, I have learned to always cycle on the left hand side of the road. I have also learned that if you are cycling on the road always listen and be alert when a car is coming.

-Niamh, 6th class

While I was doing the bike safety course I enjoyed doing the game figure of eight. I enjoyed this because you had to be aware of your surroundings and you had to be very focused. During the course I have learnt a lot of things that I did not know before. I would really like to do a course similar to this one. Now that I have finished the course, I feel much more confident cycling on the roads.

-Ellen, 6th class

While I was doing the bike safety course I learned how to use hand signals how to read road signs. Next I will try to remember all the road safety rules I learned and to use them. I also want to practise my hand signals. I would really recommend this bike course.

-Roisin, 5th class

While I was doing the bike safety course I enjoyed the figure 8 game .I learned how easy it is to get run over. I will be much more careful in future. I will also try to practice my balance. I loved the bike safety course!

James Greally 5th class

Great fun as well as teaching us how to cycle safely on roads. One day we tried cycling straight forward while not looking at our wheel. It proved a great challenge but once we learned it, it was easy to do. I hope Gerry continues his job at helping us cycle.

-Kelan,6th class.

I really enjoyed the hand signal and the figure of eight game. I also learned that cyclists always cycle on the left hand side of the traffic.I will be more aware on roads now that I know everything.

-Grace Grealy, 6th class

I enjoyed a game called figure of eight,the closing circle, and a game where we had to cycle around the yard and use hand signals to turn. I learned how to brake properly too.

Cathal Greally, 5th class

Friday, 18 December 2015

Christmas in 5th and 6th class

5th and 6th class have been busy getting into the festive spirit recently! Well done to everyone involved in our Carol Service, which took place earlier this week. We were practicing very hard, learning all our songs, poems and lines! Here is a link to the show to see our performance: http://tooreenns.scoilnet.ie/blog/2015/12/17/senior-christmas-show-2015/

Christmas Art

Have a look at our decorations that we made. Our classroom is looking very festive with all our Christmas characters!

An angel and no less that three Santa Clauses!

Cathal, James D and James G with their creations

Smiles all round: Rebecca, Ali, Caoimhe and Harry

Santa Claus looks good in orange and blue as well as red!

Christmas Characters: Lilian, Caoimhe, Ellen, Eddie and Adam!

Santa's Workshop with two busy elves and Rudolph ready to go!

Friday, 13 November 2015

Marine Life

Recently, we have been looking at marine life of the world. We created our own sea creatures using clay. We used different techniques when working with clay - coiling, pinching and rolling the clay into the shapes that we wanted. Once the clay was dry, we painted our sea creatures. Take a look at our creatures and a poem that inspired our creations!

I Went Fishing

I went fishing,

Took some bait.

Didn't go early,

Didn't go late....

Victoria, Caoimhe, Eddie and Grace with their 'Catch of the Day'!

Caught eight fish

To put in my pail

Seven were mackerel,

But the eighth was a whale....

Ellen, Daniel, Daragh and a family of blue fish!

The seven were easy

To put in the tin,

But that whale caused me trouble

Before I packed him in...

Niamh, Matthew and Mark: Happy with their creations!

Took my catch home.

What did Mother say?

“Get those eight fish out of here-

We’re having steak today!”

Cathal, Ali, Geri-Maye and Meadbh with their very tropical coloured fish!

James, Harry, Fiachra and Roisin and some of their creatures of the deep!

Emer, James, Rebecca, Caoimhe: Lots of yellow fish here!

Adam, Kelan, Ushna: Marine biologists would be busy trying to identify these creative and colourful fish species!

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Mayo Science and Technology Week

Well done to all 5th and 6th class teams involved in the Mayo Science and Technology Week Marshmallow Challenge. Two teams with the tallest free-standing structure represented our school in the regional finals in Claremorris. Well done Caoimhe, Harry, Geri-Maye, Fiachra, James, Rebecca, Cathal and Emer!