Light

We have been learning about light. We learnt about sources of light, identified the sources of light in our classroom, and sorted sources of light into natural and artificial. We also looked at transparent and opaque materials in our classroom. In our groups we conducted a scientific investigation. We used flashlights to test which household material would make the best black out blind for a baby's bedroom. We found the results of our investigation very interesting!

Day of the Dead

After learning about Mexico we learnt about the Day of the Dead traditions. We learnt the facts, listened to stories, and discussed a series of photographs. We also made our own calacas (skeletons) and coloured sugar skulls to decorate our classroom with. We set up our very own classroom ofrenda in honour of Frida Kahlo and even played our very first Kahoot based on the topic!

Mexico

It might not be possible for us to leave the country at the moment but we went on a virtual trip to Mexico!! We each got our passports and boarding passes ready and got on our plane to Mexico. While we were on our trip we visited the many interesting tourist attractions, learnt about the traditional Mexican foods, saw some of Mexico's native animals, learnt about children in Mexico, learnt about Mexican hobbies, listened to Mexican music, saw the Mexican flag, and even learnt some words in Spanish! It was a great trip and we hope that some day we may get to visit Mexico for real! 
We later learnt about the Cinco de Mayo traditions in Mexico. We learnt about piñatas, sombreros, maracas, and the papel picado bunting that is made to decorate the towns, villages, and homes. Jake brought in a maraca from Mexico and told us all about it. We all got a chance to try on a sombrero and we made papel picado bunting from paper. We have loved learning all about Mexico!

A Classroom Dig

We learnt about the role of an archaeologist and carried out our own dig in the classroom. We used tools and brushes to carefully search the sand layer by layer for artefacts. We found lots of interesting items such as candles, toys, jewelry, and food wrappers. When we had retrieved and numbered all of the artefacts we used our inferencing skills to determine what might have been happening when all of these items were buried. We discovered that all of the artefacts found were associated with birthday parties and could tell what age the child celebrating had been based on the number of candles and the number on the birthday card. Our dig was lots of messy fun!

Me on the Map

When exploring the theme of Myself we looked at where in the world we live. We learnt that we live on the planet Earth, on the continent of Europe, in the country of Ireland, in the province of Munster, in the county of Limerick, in the parish of Kilteely Dromkeen. We learnt the names of the 7 continents using the song below. We then looked at our homes on Google maps and we found it fascinating to see how our homes have changed since the images on maps were taken! We then looked at aerial maps of the areas around our homes and found our houses. We found it really interesting to see what our homes and the areas around them would look like to a bird in the sky!

Timelines

Under the theme of Myself, we looked at the different stages of life from newborn baby to old age. We discussed some of the key moments associated with the different stages of life. Múinteoir Caoimhe read us out a lady's life story and we worked together to represent her personal timeline using a selection of objects. We then drew pictures of our key moments on our own timelines.

Bonnie Babies

Look how much we have all changed!! We had great fun looking at our baby photos and believe it or not we couldn't tell who some of them were! We discuss the many ways in which we have changed since our baby photos were taken. We then created a class timeline from oldest to youngest based on our dates of birth. We enjoyed having our baby photos on display in our classroom.

Fingerprints

Did you know every one of us has a unique set of fingerprints? We learnt all about fingerprints and we even learnt how to take them! We examined our fingerprints using our magnifying glasses. We found it very interesting to see how much detail there was on our fingers! We then took our own fingerprints using pencils, paper, and sellotape. On examining our fingerprints closely, we could identify whether our fingerprints were whorls, loops, arches, or a combination of the different patterns. Watch out, 1st and 2nd class are top detectives now!

Braille

We li​stened to the story of Helen Keller and learnt about the work of Louis Braille. We found both of their stories really interesting and enjoyed learning about them through videos. Múinteoir Caoimhe then gave us a copy of the Braille alphabet and we used playdough to make our names in Braille. It was difficult to do but we were very pleased when we finished our names and could challenge our classmates to read them! It was very interesting to learn how people who are blind read and this lesson helped us to empathise with them.

The Power of Soap

For our first science experiment we explored the power of soap. In our pairs we had a bowl of water. Múinteoir Caoimhe sprinkled some germs (pepper) into our water. We then placed our finger into the water and the germs stuck to our finger! We then wiped our finger and dipped it into a bowl of soap. Múinteoir Caoimhe sprinkled more germs (pepper) into our water and we then placed our soap covered finger into the water. The germs moved away from our soapy finger! We were fascinated to see how powerful the soap was and it reminded us of the importance of using soap when washing our hands.