Dublin Fire Brigade (Ms. McIlvenna)
Butterflies in Room 5 (Ms. Kingston) 13/5/16
Over the past month we have been very busy in Room 5 watching our tiny caterpillars grow and develop into beautiful butterflies. Every morning we eagerly checked on their progress and we worked together to look after them and keep them safe. We came up with the following five names for them: Speedy (who was the first to emerge as a butterfly), Ben, Jen, Steve and Slowy (who was the last one to come out of his chrysalis).
There was great excitement today when we went outside to release them. Four of the butterflies were delighted to be outside and flew away at speed! One of them was a little more nervous about flying away at first so we got to spend a little extra time with him. Some of us even got a chance to hold him!
There was great excitement today when we went outside to release them. Four of the butterflies were delighted to be outside and flew away at speed! One of them was a little more nervous about flying away at first so we got to spend a little extra time with him. Some of us even got a chance to hold him!
A Visit from the Customs Office (Ms. Kingston) 10/2/16
On Wednesday 10th February we had a very exciting visit from Ray and Richie who work in the Customs Office in Dublin Airport. They spoke to us all about the important work of the sniffer dogs in the airport and how they are trained. They brought two of the dogs to visit us and we were very excited to get to meet them! The first dog we met was called Buster. Buster is ten years old and has been working in the airport for a long time. Richie hid some medicine in the classroom under a box and Buster found it within moments! We then met Holly who is a much younger dog and has only been working for two years. She is trained to find money and we couldn't believe how quickly she managed to locate the money that was hidden in our press! The dogs were very well behaved and listened to all their commands. Both dogs were rewarded with a tennis ball when they found the hidden items. We couldn't believe how clever and well-behaved the dogs were! We learned so much from listening to Ray and Richie and from watching Buster and Holly in action. A very big thank you to Pádraig's daddy, Ray, for organising the visit and to Riche, Buster and Holly for taking the time out of their busy schedules to be with us! It was a truly fascinating morning!
Christmas Concert (Ms. McCay) 14/12/15
We were very excited to perform in front of our families on Friday 11th December. We had rehearsed hard over the past few weeks and loved dressing up as angels for the performance. We hope you enjoyed our concert as much as we did!
Aistear - Fairytales (Ms. McIlvenna) November 2015
The children in Room 4 really enjoyed listening to the traditional fairytales of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella and examining the motives of the various characters. They enjoyed acting out the parts of the characters, choosing their favourite part of the story, sequencing the events of the stories correctly and suggesting their own alternative stories. During Aistear time, the children thoroughly engaged with the various activity stations in the classroom:
- they used marla to make the wolf’s face, Little Red Riding Hood’s cape, a chair for Baby Bear and a tie for Daddy Bear!;
- they created their own little role plays and alternative versions to the more traditional tales – in one instance poor Mammy Bear broke her arm and needed surgery!;
- they created wonderful magical buildings and castles and organised grand balls where princes and princesses danced the night away!;
- they used the literacy stations to create important notes, messages, directions and labels.