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OLV Infants

Ms Murray's Class Blog

Friday 23rd February

23/2/2018

7 Comments

 

Word Boxes

The children are doing great work on thier word boxes and I'm really happy to see that they enjoy the challenge and want to improve their blending so they can move up to the next word box. Most of the children are doing lovely smooth blending. A little practice every night is important to improve your child's fluency and ease with blending. Here is a video that models nice smooth blending. I would encourage children who are very fluent with their sounds to just go straight to the smooth blend and avoid choppy separation of sounds. 

Tricky Words

I will be sending home tricky words for your children to practice too. They can be cut into little flash cards and practiced. Please read the note that explains why your child learns these tricky words. We have also learnt the first set (1-12) so your child should already know these. As we continue to learn new ones I will add them to their set. 
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Magnetism

The children have been exploring magnetism and learning about the push and pull force of magnets. They had great fun experimenting with different materials and discovering what materials attract magnets and what ones don't. 
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Maths

In maths we were learning about 3D shapes and sorting them by shapes that roll and don't roll. We made our own slides to complete the task!  
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We also build some bridges for our cars to travel on!
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Aistear

Continuing our topic of Transport we were learning about vehicles that travel by land. The No. 4 to Ballymun stopped by rm 5 this week! Next week it will be all about vehicles that travel by sea. 
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Art

Making vehicles out of our 2D shapes. Make sure you come and see them outside our class on the display board.
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PE

My Movie 7 from Ms Murray on Vimeo.


That's it for this week!

Kind Regards,

Ms Murray
7 Comments

Friday 9th February

9/2/2018

5 Comments

 

Transport!

Our new topic transport has been a huge success. The children just love it! So this week we have been learning all about transport in the sky! Through play we have been learning about aeroplanes, hotair balloons and all things that fly. Here are just a few ways we have been exploring our new topic...
We made our own planes...
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We have been discussing and learning all about hot air balloons... We talk about what we already knew, what we wanted to learn, and then after researching on the web and in books we were able to answer all our questions.... We even made our own hot balloons!
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...and of course we have to have one big enough to take a trip on, but only when the weather conditions are suitable for flying! 
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The ticket office has never been busier... everyone is looking to get away somewhere sunny what with all this cold weather! 
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When introducing a new topic we always practice our role-play to learn about the different roles we can introduce into our play and the type of language we might use, it is also an opportunity to practice our sequencing, first, next, finally. A massive THANK  YOU to Sofia's mammy for donating some tickets, bag tags and other REAL airport goodies! They are perfect for for our play! 

Maths

We sorted different vechials.... 
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Sorting 3D shapes
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Language Towards Literacy

We have been learning all the different names for vehicles... you can practice at home using the 'at home sheet' I sent home this week.
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Art

Working on something special.... ???
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Tricky Words

We have been practicing our tricky words in class. These are words that have a 'tricky part' that does not follow the rules we have learnt. So we just have to learn them off by memory. I will send home a list in the back of their Wordbox copies after the mid term break. I went through the word boxes on Friday... the children are trying very hard. I'm hearing some lovely smooth blending! When your child can read them all well they will move onto the next box. Please do a little practice every night. It is the repetition of this practice that will help them improve. 
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Have a great weekend! Reminder that next week the school will be closed on Thursday and Friday for midterm break. See you Monday.
​
Regards,
Ms Murray
5 Comments

Friday 2nd March

2/2/2018

8 Comments

 

Transport

What a fantastic week! Our new topic 'Transport' really took off! A big thank you to all the children and parents who sent in towns for us to play with! It really enhanced the children's play! Keep them coming... ​
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Lots of people were booking holidays in the sun at the ticket office... I don't blame them after the cold week! 
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We even planned our own meals for the aeroplane! 
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To finish the week off we made our own aeroplanes... Check back next week to see how they turned out!
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Maths

Lots of playful maths this week. We were learning '1 More' and '1 less' with the number 1-5. Try asking them to do this at home... 
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Counting and matching sets...
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...and writing our number 3 and matching set of 3.
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We can make patterns every where! Even during yard time! 
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Science

We were so thrilled to have some of the parents visit us today to do some wonderful experiments! The children were so excited! 
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That you to the parents who took the time to come in and work with us! 

Homework

Fantastic homework this week. I can see that parents are taking some time to read through the sheet with their child and discuss the various language tasks. This will be such valuable time spent and your child will learn lots! Thank you.

In other news...

We were using the resources below during the week and when we tidied up it seemed some of the pieces were missing. They could possibly have fallen into pockets or bags so please, if you do find any at home cold you return them. They are very valuable to us teachers!! lol :) 
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Head lice

We had a reported case of head lice this week. Please check your child's head over the weekend and treat if necessary. Notes will go home on Monday. Thank you.
​

Stay Safe Programme...

We have started the stay safe programme with the girls and boys in class. It is a very important part of their learning and we would like you to be involved in their awareness and development as your child learns about keeping safe. You will find occasional worksheets going home in their folder. If you could take a little time to talk to your child about what they are learning that would be very helpful. Thank you. 

Have a great weekend! 

Kind Regards,

Ms Murray
8 Comments

Friday 17th Feb

17/2/2017

6 Comments

 
We had such a busy week this week I hope I can fit it all not one blog! I hope you liked your mid week Valentines treat we recorded for you, the children were very excited to be able to do something special for you. This week we finished up our Transport theme, it was a great success. I hope you liked their 'Little Book of Transport' they brought home today. I have lots of photos and videos this week so I'll just get posting... hope you enjoy them all! 

All things Transport

Aistear Review

The focus was on reviewing our work in Aistear this week. The children are trying their best to use full structured sentences to communicate and question each other independently. 
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My Movie 3 from Ms Murray on Vimeo.

Aistear review from Zara Murray on Vimeo.

Never underestimate the value of a cardboard box. 

Cardboard boxes were a massive hit this week, this one particulary! It gave them hours of endless fun. 

Aistear - Problem Solving! from Zara Murray on Vimeo.

My Little Book of Transport

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The Waiting Game

Waiting patiently for teacher... an opportunity to catch up on some topical reading.
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SESE

Learning about natural and man made materials.

Searching
Recording 
Copy work
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Gaeilge - Féach ar Oisín

Féach ar Oisín from Zara Murray on Vimeo.


Taking a break

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DEAR

The children are really utilising the topical book selection and studying them to enhance their own planning and learning. It's great to see them enjoying their DEAR time so much. Such valuable time spent.

Book Discussion from Zara Murray on Vimeo.

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Maths

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Fantastic Homework...
Well done everyone! 

Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar from Zara Murray on Vimeo.


That's it for this week folks... I think you'll agree it was an action packed week full of all things fun! Have a great weekend. Just a reminder, school will be closed next Thursday and Friday for mid-term break. The focus for homework next week will be word box copies only, no homework sheets. 

Kind Regards,
Ms Murray
6 Comments

Friday 10-2-2017

10/2/2017

4 Comments

 
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As we continue to work on our writing, letter sounds and blending, please help your child by practicing with them at home. I have sent home their Word Box copies this week with a letter sound assessment on the inside page (I still have a few more assessments to do so there is a few who won't get them until next week). All children can start their blending and if they are unsure of any sounds support them by focusing on the specific letter/s when reading books, online games or the JP app. They are also working hard on their handwriting, I am delighted to hear that they are choosing to write for fun at home too. It is great to give your child their own little notebooks so that they can write in them for fun. Please make sure they are using the correct letter formation on their homework sheets, as shown on the page at the back of their Sounds Book. You will also find a list of tricky words at the back of their Sounds Book. 

This is a fun song we are focusing on in class.

In maths we are working on visualising our sets of 5 in different ways (i.e. straight lines, circles, towers etc) Also we are learning our 3D shapes. Below is a song they love about 3 D shapes. You will also notice that 3D shapes feature a lot in our play this week (great for building!)
A fun little song we are doing in maths this week to help the children with time... very on topic i think! 

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The tasting part of the Food Dudes came to an end this week. The children really enjoyed it. I sent home a chart for the children to record their fruit and vegetable eating at home. When it's fill in they can bring it back into school and they get a certificate. 

Aistear fun this week... the topic of transport now incorporates our 3D shapes and lots of building and design. The children decided they wanted to scrap the train and use the boxes for designing their own modes of transport. NEVER underestimated the value children get from cardboard boxes!

Enjoy the fun video below... I think you'll agree that the children are making great progress in their physical education! 

Little Gymnasts - Part 2 from Zara Murray on Vimeo.


Have a great weekend. And just to remind you that you are welcome to pop in at the start of a new aistear topic to see the new aistear areas with your child. I know they get very excited to share them with you!

Regards,

Ms Murray
4 Comments

FRIDAY 3/2/17 

3/2/2017

1 Comment

 

Soaring to Great Heights!

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This week we had great fun coming up with great ideas for our new transport topic. I manages to pick up some really cool boxes from Ikea and it wasn't long before the children had great plans on how we would use them for all sorts of great things. We had a double decker bus, a ticket office, and a hot air balloon. We made a waiting station and a train. And we have great fun pretending to be the ticker collector who punches the holes in our tickets. Thank you to everyone who sent in toys and all sorts to add to our play.
​Enjoy the photos below which document the different stages of our creative process toward our Travel World!! 
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Great team work going on here!!
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This video is a bit of fun to watch. This is the first few minutes of exploring the boxes and new toys for transport topic. they're having so much fun! 

Discovering out new topic... from Zara Murray on Vimeo.

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DEAR Time

We are always making new and cosy snugs to enjoy our DEAR time. The children really enjoy the freedom to choose where they read and with whom to read with! 

The Train Ride
We are focusing on this book at the moment. It is a lovely story that explores the idyllic surroundings of the country side in Spring through the eyes of a little girl taking a train ride. Enjoy reading it together with your child. See if they can spot how many times they see tricky word 'I'.

Well done for all the effort that went into this week's homework! Here are just a few samples of great work! 
I hope your little ones enjoy sharing all their exciting news about their week at school. Have a lovely weekend,

Regards,
Ms. Murray
1 Comment

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