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OLV Infants

Ms Murray's Class Blog

Friday 17th November

17/11/2017

5 Comments

 

Science Week! 

To celebrate Science Week we have been super lucky to have our very our Professor Science Pants (impromptu name) visit us every day! Each day, Professor S for short comes bursting through the door after morning break looking mad as a hatter and ladened down with all sorts of science equipment... strangly Ms Murray is nowhere to been seen for the next hour and a half??? probably enjoying a well earned extended coffee break we think...  ​
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So once the children and calmed after overexerting themselves with excitement here what Professor S has been doing with us in our class over the last week...

Professor Puffendorf's Secret Potions

Cram packed with great illustrations and a fun, yet moral story line, this book is perfect to get everyone in the mood for some potion making! It's also got plenty of topical language to explore. The only thing is Professor S has no time for Professor Puffendorf calling herself the world's greatest scientist!
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Fizzing Test Tubes! ...​

This experiment involved some  steady hand and a little messy work... ingredients included corrosive acid and exploding powder with a little drop magic potion...
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Growing salt crystals...

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Another day's experiment was a group one. The children watched as Professor S add a magic ingredient (table salt) into the steaming solution (very hot water add some green food colouring to make it more potion like)... we have to be extremely careful because one drop too much and we would be blown to smithereens... but too little and the crystals wouldn't form right. So the children watched in suspense as bit by bit we made the correct solution without resulting in explosions.

Magic colours...

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The next experiment was more hands on for the children... colour dissolving using skittles. I used blotting paper in this one but any paper would work. The fun part here was using lots science equipment like tweezers and magnifying glasses. Everyone felt like a mad scientist! ​
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Exploring Sound...

To start us off I played this... you don't get more inspiring than Wintergatan Marble Music Machine! the children found this fascinating. 
Exploring different fillings in our own sound machines... shell maracas (originally invented by our very own scientist Maci)  we talked about loud and quiet sounds. 
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Most of these experiments were suitable to add to their Aistear play... although at the end of aistear all the skittles had disappeared and there were no colours on the paper sheets???... perhaps it was an invisible potion? ​
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One of the days, Professor S brought Wendel's Workshop to read to the children. This is a great book for inspiring budding inventors and it links in so well our Aistear junk art... At the end of the day the children were exploring any piece of junk the could find to plan and create their own inventions. 
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Working together to plan our own robots! You can never have enough junk according to Wendell! 
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School Topic

How many caretakers does it take to fix a chair? lol!
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We are coming to the end of our school topic next week and the children have learnt so much about their school and the people who work in it. I got a super hero cape in this one! 

Maths

Lots of number work in maths this week.
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Homework

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Well done to these three super stars who designed their own beautiful leaves! And well done to all the girls and boys who did such lovely colouring on their sheets. They also did a beautiful rendition of Little Leaves but unfortunately I ran out of space on my phone to record it! Next week we will be starting wordless readers, I will send a note home about how to read them with your child. 

Enjoy the weekend and we look forward to having Ms Costello with us from Monday for four week while she completes her teaching practice. 

Kind Regards,
​Ms Murray
5 Comments

Friday 8th September

8/9/2017

5 Comments

 

A great first week !

Well done to all the children and grown-ups for getting through the first week of Junior Infant! No doubt we are all exhausted and looking forward to a rest this weekend! Below are a few snaps of what we got up to on the first week of school. We kept it simple and fun. 
WANTED:
I'm hoping to do a nice art project over the coming weeks and I am looking to collect some empty tin cans please, especially large tuna tins (washed). If you could collect some over the coming weeks and bring them in I would appreciate that! 
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Early Morning Maths and Literacy Stations

I like to allow the children as much movement as possible around the classroom. They are allowed to choose where they feel most comfortable sitting to complete their morning activities. They are partnered up with a new friend to help them to get to know each other. the activities work on a rota system so each day they get to work on something new. 

Yard Time

We have slowly been introducing the children to the yard. They will not share the same break with the older classes until we have the full day but for now they have been enjoying getting to know the different play areas and all the new toys... and of course their new friends!

Humpty Dumpty

Our focus nursery rhyme is Humpty Dumpty. Ask your child to sing it to you and make sure the are saying each word clearly. You could also ask them some simple questions like... What was Humpty Dumpty sitting on... Do you think the wall was high or low? Why? 

Some budding artists in Rm 5!

Ask your child to point out their picture to you. let them know what you like about it. Make sure you correct any pencil grips when needed. The thumb and index finger should pinch the pencil and pencil rests on the middle finger. Some children are holding the pencil too high. Only 1 inch up for right handed and 1.5 for left. I put two dots on pencils to help the children remember, you could do the same at home.
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Morning Work Stations... By Friday they all knew the drill!

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Aistear

I am really looking forward to getting started with our Aistear learning. It will be easier to get the most from it when we have the full day but for now the focus is on behaviour, playing together nicely, taking turns, body language when talking to a peer and lot's of encouragement to get to know their new friends. 
So, that's it for this week. Please keep posted to this page. I will do blog competitions every now and then and I love reading any comments during class. Children get a sticker if they post or their grown-up does, but really no pressure. I am really happy to stay that I have a very strong class this year and I am really looking forward to seeing what the will achieve! These little ones are really going places! 

Have a great weekend,

Kind Regards,

Ms. Murray
5 Comments

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