Lesson 1: whisking

We had a great day yesterday learning about our hero ingredient, the egg and making scrambled eggs!

Mini bridge

We will be playing MiniBridge in class on Friday next.  http://www.learnminibridge.com/

This website gives a great introduction to the game.  Just click on the arrow in the red box at the top of the screen




            ABOUT    MINIBRIDGE

A

MiniBridge is a simplified version of the game of bridge. It was first developed as an introduction to bridge for schoolchildren and was soon acknowledged as an excellent game in its own right.

It is now widely used as the introduction to bridge for all ages around the world.

MiniBridge enables you to start playing bridge right away without having to know all the rules for bidding. Everything you learn in MiniBridge is relevant to bridge i.e. counting your points, how to play a declarer hand, defending, scoring etc. It's a great way to get started.

Card playing helps children to identify numbers, similarities and sequences.

Children love being clever and working things out - and winning. These are all possible when children learn to play MiniBridge, but because it is a partnership game they will also learn that they need to co-operate, share information and combine as a team to beat the opposition.

Homework 27th - 31st

Obair Bhaile 28-31ú Eanáir, 2019

Gaeilge: A.L. lch 96 C agus D.

Scíobh do scéal arís ar pháipéar a thug Ms.Fannin duit (gan aon botúin)

Foghlaim na briathra ceannaigh agus éirigh san aimsir fháistineach ar lch 98

Literacy: Spellbound unit 19

RZ unit 15 A- E full sentences please

RE: read poem and do At Home activities (pg.57) in journal

Maths: MM Monday – Thursday and problem solving

Atlas Hunt: Learn the names and positions of the European countries on pg.28

Please check blog for cooking news – bring an egg and slice of bread on Wed

Sign: _________________________

Ready Steady Cook!!

We have joined up with Supervalu's Cooking All Stars programme and will be busy cooking up a storm over the next few weeks! The idea behind it is to encourage children to get cooking and thinking about healthier food choices. It will also enable the boys to become familiar with food groups, balance and portion sizes. It will teach them about hygiene and safety when preparing and cooking food. It will also get them to understand and follow recipes. It will allow them to become familiar with terminology used when cooking and understand the units of measurement used for liquids and dry ingredients.

In the first lesson, our key skill is whisking and we will be making scrambled egg on toast. We will need the boys to have one egg and one slice of bread for the lesson on Wednesday (30th Jan). Pictures to follow!

Projects

The boys will be doing projects over the next couple of months. Each boy will have to hand up a project before the Easter break. The topic of the project can be decided by each boy. It must focus on a topical issue that has been discussed in class. for example; the EU, Brexit, global warming, the Suffragette Movement, the Renaissance, Leonardo DaVinci, the first Dáil, World War 1 and 2, Civil Rights in America (Martin Luther King Jr.), Anne Frank, the Mary Celeste etc....

This project is to be completed outside school and can be handed up at any stage before the 12th April. It can take any form i.e. powerpoint, poster, booklet, film etc...

I'm looking forward to reading these projects!

Cór na nÓg

Cór na nÓg is a choir for children between the ages of 9 and 15. Places are given after an audition process. Closing date for auditions is February 1st.

School disco

Information report writing

We are learning about how to write an information report. Information reports are fact based, unbiased pieces of writing. They are found in magazines, newspapers and articles. News reporters also give information reports on areas of interest on the news.

We wrote news reports on the mystery of the Mary Celeste boat whose crew went missing in the late 19th century on a merchant voyage to Genoa. It is such a fascinating story and begged to be reported on!

Have you ever thought of what might have happened to the Mary Celeste?! Maybe have a chat about the different things that could have happened, the boys have covered a few theories in class.

Irish Times Magazine article

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/irish-grassroots-activists-leading-the-climate-change-uprising-1.3752289
We read about the amazing Flossie Donnelly today and her amazing beach clean ups in Dun Laoghaire. Click on the link above to watch a video about her and learn how you too can help to become a sustainability champion!

Homework 21-25th

Obair Bhaile 21-25ú Eanáir, 2019

Gaeilge: A.L. lch 90 agus 92. Foghlaim na briathra éist agus féach san aimsir fh.

Scríobh cúig abairt ag baint úsáid as na briathra thuas (sna cóipleabhair)

Literacy: Spellbound unit 18

RZ unit 14 B- D full sentences please

Information report (sheet in hb)

Maths: MM Monday – Thursday and problem solving (get test signed)

Countries and Capitals: Phillipines – Manila, Poland – Warsaw, Portugal – Lisbon,

Qatar – Doha, Romania – Bucharest, Russia – Moscow

Please check blog

Sign: _________________________

Liam is famous!

News2Day on RTÉ
News2Day is watched on a regular basis by the boys in the class, it gives snippets of information about current affairs and other events that are of interest to children.  Each Monday they pose a "Question of the Week" and this week we decided to forward some of our answers to the show.  What excitement from all the boys when we heard that one of them was read out on air! This week's question was:-

 If I could switch places with anyone for a day - who would it be and why?

Here are some of our answers:-

The person I would like to change lives with for a day is my Mam. 

 So that she could have a break.

She's the best Mam ever.

Liam Mulvey, 5th Class 

Ballyroan Boys' National School, Dublin 16

I would swap places with the lead in Riverdance

because I love to do Irish Dancing

Conor Watts, 5th Class

Ballyroan Boys' National School, Dublin 16

If I could swap places with anyone for a day it would

be Michael D Higgins because I would be the President

of Ireland

Adam Martins, 5th Class

Ballyroan Boys' National School, Dublin 16.

I would like to swap places with Cristiano Ronaldo

for I can play a match for Juventus and play 

alongside Dybala and I would have a lot of money.

Dylan Horan, 5th Class

Ballyroan Boys' National School, Dublin 16.

I would swap places with Bill Gates

because it would be fun to own a multi-million

dollar business for a day.

Leon Keenan, 5th Class

Ballyroan Boys' National School, Dublin 16.

I would swap places with Lebron James

because he is the best basketball player in the World

and I want to play professional basketball 

when I am older.

Adam Charles, 5th Class

Balllyroan Boys' National School, Dublin 16.

Multiplication games

It's really important that the boys know their times tables. At this point, they should be automatic and instantaneous. If your son is still struggling with his tables, learning them should take priority at home over the next few weeks. Aswell as learning them by rote, please find below some great games to help them earn.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/times-tables

Wheelchair basketball

You know one of those feel good days that restores your faith in humanity? Well, we had one of those days today. We went to Cheeverstown to play sports with the children that are there. They all have disabilities and use wheelchairs. The boys should be very proud of themselves because they were compassionate, gentle, caring and so patient with their new friends 👼

JJ was the coach and he started off by asking us were we nervous. A few of us admitted we were but he put us at ease and promised we wouldn't feel nervous by the end. And he was so right. Within minutes, any apprehension we had was gone and the boys were whizzing by with the wheelchairs to the delight of the children in them!

A little boy called Seán had come to watch the fun and he ended up stealing the hearts of some of our boys! Seán was a great little character and full of personality!! Just look at the photos below to see him!

JJ couldn't thank the boys enough and said that without them, the children wouldn't have had any sport today. He reminded the boys that we are all different and the children in the wheelchairs deserve to have fun like them.

(photos taken with permission of Cheeverstown for use on the blog)

Stay Safe

The Stay Safe programme is a personal safety skills programme for primary schools. The aim of the programme is to reduce vulnerability to child abuse and bullying through the provision of personal safety education for children.

Over the course of the programme, we will be talking about; feelings, friendship, bullying, the importance of building self-esteem, trust and many more topics. 

Parental involvement is essential for the Stay Safe programme to be effective. Research has shown that parental involvement in abuse prevention is directly related to increased programme success. This is due to increased communication between the parent/carer and child about sensitive issues and abuse. Also, parental involvement gives children more opportunities to repeat the concepts and messages learned.

Home School Links on each topic are included throughout the programme and will inform you about what is being covered in class and how you can reinforce the messages at home. Please sign these sheets on completion at home.

Parents can familiarise themselves with the content of the Stay Safe lessons at www.staysafe.ie/teachers/resources.htm

homework 14th-17th

Obair Bhaile 14-17ú Eanáir, 2019

A.L. lch 87/88E agus foghlaim na focail ar lch 88 don scrúdú

Spellbound unit 17

MM Monday – Thursday and problem solving

RZ pg 64/65 B-E full sentences for all activities

Handwriting 2 full pages

Stay Safe sheet (get signed)

Countries and Capitals: Oman-Muscat, Pakistan-Islamabad, Palau-Melekeok, Panama-Panama City, Papua New Guinea-Port Moresby, Paraguay-Asuncion, Peru-Lima

Please check blog for Stay Safe information

money games

http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/eurosite/euroindex.html

Please use the link above to play money games and learn by having fun! We will be having a test on the topic of money this Friday so the link above may help fill information gaps or just make you feel more comfortable when dealing with money problems.

Maths: Chapter 8 - Money

Dear Family,

In the latest chapter of Operation Maths, we have been looking at money.  Here are some ways that you can support your child at home:

• Encourage your child to do some of the shopping and take charge of the money involved.
• Your child can examine everyday items in the kitchen and find out how much they cost.  Get a till receipt and investigate the prices of some of the items purchased.
• If your child gets pocket money, encourage them to talk about how much they have, how much they spent and how much they have left.
• When out shopping for clothes, give them a limit to the amount that will be spent and ask them to identify the items that are the best value, etc.
• If you are comfortable allowing your child to use the Internet, they could help research a holiday or break for the family.  Examine together which destination has the best offers/deals, etc.

Hybrid animals project

Narwhals - 'Unicorn of the Sea'

We recently completed the Michael Morpurgo story 'I Believe in Unicorns'. In it, Tomas (the main character) is told a story about how unicorns came to be.
The story goes that unicorns were left behind by Noah's ark and swam and swam in the flood waters until their legs disappeared and then their manes and then their tails until finally they were just white blobs with a horn on their head. Effectively, they became narwhals!!
We had some fun with this idea in partners, looking up weird looking creatures on the tablets and coming up with a creation story for how they came to be! Have a read below of some of these 'creation stories'!

news2day

We try to watch news2day every afternoon after lunch. It is a great way to catch up on current affairs and see what events are happening in Ireland and in the world. It provides us with great discussion topics and allows us to think outwardly.

If we have missed news2day, here is the link to watch it at home news2day

Homework change

I am very aware that there are certain nights in households that are busier than others and homework either can't be done or is rushed and completed incorrectly. This is life and it's great that the boys are doing extra-curricular activities!

This said, I have decided to try a new initiative to help alleviate the stress of these busy evenings. I will give the boys their homework on a Monday for the whole week and the boys can do it when it suits them over the four nights. It will all be checked on Friday morning. This is reflective of what will happen in secondary school anyway, where they get homework from a teacher that they may not see from one end of the week to the next.

Some boys may get it all done in one night and others may just carve up the assignments over the week as per usual. The weekly homework will follow the same structure more or less each week with Maths, English and Irish pieces of work to be completed for the Friday. There may be the odd night when they have an extra piece of homework written into their diaries so still keep an eye on the diary!

As always, check the blog regularly for 5th class news!