Ms. Long's Class

Bug Hunt

2010-05-14T06:42:00.001-07:00

We went on a bug hunt today. We found a millipede, an ant, two slugs, and lots of woodlice!

Science Experiments

2010-03-25T14:46:00.001-07:00

Showing how plants soak up water.

Taking fingerprints.

Testing our reaction speeds.

Using a lever to get the snake out of the grass

An Ceilí Mór

2010-03-18T01:50:00.000-07:00

Bhí ceilí mór againn inniú le haghaidh Seachtain na Gaeilge.
Bhí muid ag canadh agus ag damsha.
Bhí spóirt agus craic againn.
Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh

2010-01-08T09:13:00.001-08:00

We had a very small class today with only 8 children!!! We decided we'd go out and enjoy the snow for a little while :)

2009-12-15T06:40:00.001-08:00

Today we went to see Ms McGuire’s class do their play. It was called Humpty Dumpty and was very funny. Our favourite bit was when the organic sheep were dancing.

Winter Scenes

2009-12-13T08:34:00.000-08:00

We made some Winter Scenes in November. First we painted the background to make it look like a Winter's Day. Then we made some clay objects such as animals, trees and caves. Next we used lots of different materials to add detail. Finally we wrote a description or a list of all the different things in our scenes
We then invited Ms Dillons class to come and see them.

Science Experiments

2009-12-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some experiments we have done this year.

Lion in a Cage
Did you know your eyes can play tricks on you?
We put a picture of a lion on one side of a pencil and a picture of a cage on the other. When we spun it really fast, it looked like the lion was inside the cage.

Fizzy Rockets
We put a Vitamin C table and a little water into a tube. Then we put the lid on tight and turned it upside down. The tablet and the water started to fizz inside the tube releasing air. So much air was produced that it forced the tube to fly up in the air, just like a rocket!

Inflating Glove

This was a little like the Fizzy Rocket experiment, Except this time we used bread soda and vinger. We put some vinegar in a jar and bread soda into the fingers of a rubber glove and placed the glove over the jar. When we lifted up the fingers, the bread soda fell into the jar and mixed with the bread soda. The mixture began to fizzy producing air which inflated or blew up the glove.

Condensation and Evaporation

We found out that when we left a jar of water near the heater the water began to disappear. This is because the heat causes the water to evaporate into tiny droplets and rise up into the air.

Then we got two more jars of water and put some ice cubes into one. After a while we noticed that the outside of the jar with iced water was wet. This was because it made the water droplets in the air get cold and condense back into water drops on the glass.

This is what happens in the Water Cycle. Water evaporates up into the sky from puddles, rivers, lakes and streams when the sun heats it. But when the droplets get high up, they get cold and join together forming clouds. As they get colder more drops join together getting heavier before falling to the ground as raindrops.

Bug Man

2009-12-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year we had a visit from the Bug Man. We got to see and touch lots of exciting animals

We saw some giant snails,

some millipedes,

a snake and lots more. Michal even became a rat, but luckily the snake didn't get him :)

2009-10-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

We read the story Fionn and the Dragon this month. Afterwards we all picked our favourite scene and drew a picture of it. Then we were able to put them together to tell the story again.
Fionn was the leader of the Fianna, Ireland’s army thousands of years ago. We’ve been reading other stories about all his famous deeds.

2009-10-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Here we are practising our number bonds and number recognition

September

2009-10-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

In September, while we had the lovely weather, we went on a trip to the beach. We had a great time collecting shells such as mussells and periwinkles and we even managed to find some crabs.

Lots of us worked together to make some fantastic sandcastles with huge forts surrounding them.

On the way home we practised our balancing. We got all the way along :)

Science Exhibition and Maths Trail

2009-06-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun today!! First, this morning, we had a visit from a fantastic scientist (he was so good some of us thought he was a magician at first!!!) There was lots of bangs and even a few fireballs to mesmerize us.

Later on we went on a Maths Trail around the school. Using the Maths we learnt this year, we worked in teams and found the answers.

Treasure Hunt

2009-06-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

We went on a Shape Treasure Hunt with Ms Dillions class and found lots of shapes. Can you name the shapes we found?

Sport's Day

2009-06-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

We took advantage of the good weather on Tuesday and had our sport's day!

We had lots of fun and everyone did so well, we all got ice-pops! Well done to all the winners of the finals :)

Our School Tour

2009-06-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we went to Athenry Heritage Centre for our school tour. We learnt lots about the way people lived in Medieval times. We tried Archery, played Tug of War and had a race through a Maze. Then we got to dress up in Medieval clothes and hear stories of how people lived long ago and what happened to people who got caught stealing and other crimes. It wasn't very nice but it was fun to listen to :).

Our butterflies

2009-06-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago our five butterflies emerged from their cocoons. After giving them a few days to let their wings dry out, we let them go.

African Week

2009-06-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

May 25th to 29th was African Week in school. We spent the week looking at different countries in Africa and the different animals that you can find there. The main country we looked at was Eygpt and we learnt all about the pyramids, the sphinx, pharaohs, sacrophagus and MUMMIES!!

While we were talking about the pyramids, Vivien had a question. He wondered how the people managed to move the big stones. Some children had seen pictures of stones with logs so we decided to investigate. Using a box and lots of pencils we figured out it was easier to move something big and heavy if we rolled it across the pencils. Teacher was very impressed at the way we figured it out.

Janet and Brian brought in traditional clothes from Nigeria and we had great fun dressing up in them. They're really colourful compared to our clothes.

Janet also brought in some photos from her parents wedding in Nigeria and told us about her holiday over there.

In P.E. we played some African games. In this one, the blindfolded tiger had to find the gazelles.

We also listened to Irish and African music and talked about the differences and similarities between them. We also showed the different ways we would dance to them.
Afterwards we made some traditional African Masks that are used in dances.

Drumming

2009-06-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

For five weeks we learnt how to drum with Alan. We learnt lots of ways to play - the mouse, the elephant and the dog. We also played lots of different games, but Fast and Slow was definitely our favourite.

Sport's Picnic

2009-06-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we brought our sporty toys to school and went to the pitch behind the community centre. We had our lunch out in the sun and then shared our toys and had lots of fun. We didn't want to get sunburnt in the sun so we took care by making sure we had suncream and our sunhats on.

Walk to the Beach and Bug Hunt

2009-06-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we went for a walk to the beach with Ms McLoughlin's class and had a great morning. We went hunting for bugs and any other animals we could find on the beach. We found lots of Sand Hoppers, crabs and even some spiders.

Crazy Hair Day

2009-06-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday we had lots of fun because we got to wear our wackiest hairstyles to school. We went to the Halla where we all got to parade around and show off our style. Everyone looked great (but a little strange!!)

Later we went outside in the sun and blew bubbles with Ms Dillon's class as a treat for our hard work all week.

Our Art Work this year

2009-06-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here are our ladybirds and caterpillars we made in Art this year.

Michel Ocelot's KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS

2009-05-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

As part of our Africa week celebrations we watched Michel Ocelot's enthralling fable 'Kirikou and the Sorceress'. It tells the story of the tiny Kirikou (just 10cm tall!) and the journey he undertakes in order to discover the secret of the evil sorceress and to find the truth. Kirikou narrates the whole story himself and despite his size (just like the mouse in the fable 'The Lion and The Mouse' we have been reading about this week) he is victorious. The animation is rich and the soundtrack is super. Our class gave the movie ten out of ten and it would be well worth renting out to see again at home (it's a treat both for adults and children alike!!)

2009-05-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

Maths for Fun

On Wednesday 27th May, we had a Maths for Fun day. Some parents even came in to help us.

We played Snakes and Ladders, Hot Dog, Bingo and Colour by Number. We used lots of our maths skills and DID have lots of fun.

A big thanks to Caitríona, Zoe’s mum Siobhan, Meghan’s mum Hazel and Ahsan’s mum Nudrat.

2009-02-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

Codladh Cead Blian.
We’re having great fun in Rooms 5 & 7 at the moment practising for our Irish plays. On Thursday, Feb 26th, we will be entering an Drama Competition and we can’t wait! We’re holding a special rehearsal on Wednesday morning at 9:15 for all the parents and we hope you can make it :)

Na Scéalaithe

An Rí agus an Banríon, an saighdiúr, an Freastalaí agus an Teachtaire.

Na síogaithe

Na prionsaí, na daoine agus an crann.

An Prionsa agus an banphrionsa.

And a beautiful drawing of the story that Lucia did for Mrs Carlton :)

2009-02-24T07:08:00.001-08:00

Here are some of the experiments we’ve done since January! And this is what we found out!

Did you know that hot air rises?? It made our snakes swirl

around

and move!

Did you know that air gets trapped in a glass when it is put rim down into water?? The Tissue in the bottom of the glass stayed dry because of this!!!

Did you know that air pushes against everything??? It pushes up against the card so that it does not fall off the glass and the water stays inside!!!

2009-02-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

Here is some of our artwork!!!

2009-02-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

Ahsan’s mum Nudrat came to talk about their religion Islam! Ahsan showed us the prayer rug and hat that he wears when praying. Aren’t they beautiful?

2009-02-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

In January we had a visit from Tabo’s Dad Richard. He told us all about his country Zimbabwe! We heard about the clothes people wear and the language they speak. The most exciting thing was hearing about the animals!! Tabo’s Dad has gone for rides on elephants and even walked with lions!!!

Some Christmas Drama

2008-12-22T06:03:00.001-08:00

We put on our acting hats this week and pretended to different people who help and see Santa Claus.

Here are the reindeers pulling the sleigh, the elves loading the sleigh and children sleeping while Santa visits :)

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

Well it has very exciting this last week as we get ready for Christmas. We made some lovely gifts and decorations for the tree. We had our Carol Service and watched the wonderful plays that some of the other classes have put on. They were absolutely fantastic :)

But on Friday we had a huge surprise, who came to visit but Santa himself!!!!! It was brilliant. We could even hear Ruldolf walking around on the roof!

Germany

2008-12-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

Last week we talked about the very first Christmas tree. A man, who had to stay in woods overnight, lit candles on the branches of a fir tree so that he wouldn’t feel too scared. As this was supposed to have happened in Germany, it was a lovely coincidence that on Thursday we had a talk on Germany.

Anita, who lived in Germany for 6 years, gave us a fantastic presentation and told us all about the different traditions there.

Did you know...?

children in Germany leave their shoes out on the 6th Dec. If they've been good they get presents from San Nicholas. But if they're bad they'll be taken away :(
They also get presents on Christmas Eve from Baby Jesus
They have a Easter Hare instead of a Easter Bunny!

Look at the size of that beer mug!

Carol Service

2008-12-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

A big thank you to all of you who came to our Carol Service on Wednesday. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did :)

The Diver Experiment

2008-12-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

We did this fun experiment in school to-day!
We had to figure out how to get the diver (on the end of the paper clip) to go to the bottom of the bottle and back up to the top.
We tried lots of ideas - shaking it around, shaking it up and down, rolling it across the classroom, turning it upside down - but even though the diver went down, he wouldn't come back up. We had to rescue him a lot :)

In the end we saw that if you simply squeeze the bottle the diver will fall to the bottom. When you let go he floats up to the top again. This is because there is air in the pen cap and air is lighter than water so it floats! But when we squeeze the bottle it causes water up into the pen cap, it gets heavier and sinks to the bottom !

December

2008-12-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

This week we did some printing. Using potatoes, we printed Christmas trees on to some card. We're going to make Christmas cards from them! Now we just have to decide who we'll send them to :)

We've made some Santa Claus and Mrs Claus tree decorations! Will they make it to the top of your tree???