Welcome to our Webpage
Third/Fourth Class
Science Week Experiment - more here
Fáilte Isteach
We are 3rd and 4th class in St. Joseph's N.S., Derrywash. We have 23 children in our classroom and absolutely love working hard and having fun.
Welcome to
3rd/4th CLass.
Scroll down the page to see what we have been up to this year!
We hope you come back and visit our page again
Welcome, Welcome!
29/9/2016
Dear Parents, Children, Friends and Visitors,
Welcome back to another school year. We have only been back at school for a few short weeks but have achieved so much in that time. Here are a few examples;
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We have been working hard at our handwriting and have seen huge improvements from everyone.
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We have learned some new songs and poems, e.g. Duilleoga (as Gaeilge), and School Days.
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We have read about animals like kangaroos, learned a lot about Australia and even sang their famous song; 'Waltzing Matilda'!
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We learned, performed and recorded our very own Mayo song to show our support for our team.
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We have all gotten to know each other better and are very excited for the year ahead.
As everyone knows, we are doing new spellings this year and these spellings and games can be found here:
https://www.spellingcity.com/2nd3rdDerrywash/
This a great resource to help children to learn spellings at home through interactive games and play. Spelling is fun!
On the left you will find a few pictures of our Mayo day activities a few weeks ago. Much more to follow! Please feel free to comment and share with family and friends. We are very proud of our hard work.
Watch this space for regular updates on our activities, achievements and even some helpful links for school work.
Click any link below to jump to that post
Prediction Skills
One of the skills we are learning is to make a sign when we want to make a prediction. Here we are making the 'P' sign. Can you do it too?
It would be wonderful if parents or older siblings would ask us questions on prediction when reading with us. You can even comment below telling us what book you're reading at home with the children and what sort of predictions you've come up with!
A few examples are;
Look at the picture on the front of the book. What can you see? What might happen in the story?
What might happen next? Where will she go? What will he do? Can you think what might happen at the end of the story? What do you think happened after the story ended?
These are all ways of discussing prediction. Remember, it doesn't have to be right! We can look back at our old predictions and adjust them if they weren't exactly right.
Watch this space for new topics in Building Bridges of Comprehension!
Some parents have asked me about different websites they might use to support their child's learning. I've put together a few on the blog that might be useful for everyone. These can be used as homework helpers and also a way to consolidate learning at home in a visual and interactive way.
To access these sites, click on the links below.
Maths
2nd class - https://ie.ixl.com/math/class-2
3rd class - https://ie.ixl.com/math/class-3
Both -http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_Index.html
These Ixl websites have online activities based on each part of the curriculum. You may need to register on the website to use it. Math Playground has activities for different maths topics and also gives the opportunity to practice addition, subtraction and multiplication tables. Tables are the basis for everything we do in Maths and cannot be practised enough!
Multipication Tables (3rd class)
http://www.teachingtables.co.uk/
http://www.mathsisfun.com/timestable.html
English
https://www.spellingcity.com/2nd3rdDerrywash/
All of the children's weekly spellings are uploaded onto this website with loads of opportunities to learn their spellings and play games like Hang Mouse, Wordsearch Fun and Audio Word Match. It is a fantastic resource for children and can be used as homework each night!
http://www.starfall.com/n/level-c/index/play.htm?f
Starfall
This Starfall website has lots of different stories and books to read online. They contain pictures and interactive games to get the children excited about reading! Children should be reading as much as possible to continue to improve fluency, understanding and vocabulary.
Gaeilge
http://www.teanglann.ie/en
The children get Irish homework once or twice a week but many parents find it the most difficult to help with so the link above is a quick and accurate online Irish dictionary to help with unknown words.
http://old.tg4.ie/ie/programmes/cula4.html
These have access to cartoons and games in Irish that the children will enjoy. Just scroll down and look for 'Cluichí' (Games), 'Comórtas Ealaine' (Art competitions) and 'Cláir' (Programmes).
Useful Websites
Useful Websites
P means Prediction!
Our News Board
Hi all!
Just outside our classroomdoor we have an empty board just waiting to be filled with news of all things 2nd and 3rd class!
Children often like to bring in newspaper clippings of different events, especially if they're involved in them and we would love to get them for our board. It doesn't stop there! They can bring in pictures of dance competitions, kickboxing tournaments, football blitzes and family events like the arrival of new puppies or family holidays.
When someone brings in a picture/newspaper clipping etc for their news, they will be invited to tell the class about it which is excellent for their oral language.
Looking forward to hearing and seeing all the exciting news over the next few months!
-Ms. Fitzgerald
Building Bridges - Visualisation!
The next step in our Reading Stations is learning to visualise while reading!
The way we describe this is we are learning to make a movie in our minds using the words we read and pictures we see. Homer will explain this clearly;
The action for visualising is pretending we are making a film using your very own camera. Here we are with our cameras ready for action!
Oíche Shamhna
A very Happy Halloween to you all!
We have had a busy few weeks in Derrywash and would like to fill you in on some of our activities.
First of all, we are learning a new song which many of our parents will remember; Ghostbusters! We are even learning a few dance moves to the song, which may appear on screens near you in the coming days. Watch this space!
Halloween is a great opportunity to show off our artistic abilities and we did just that last week when we used oil pastels and paint to create some spooky haunted houses. Have a look!
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Halloween Fest for 2nd & 3rd
Here are a few pictures from our Halloween party, both as a whole-school and in our own class. We really enjoyed the Halloween Show put on by 4th, 5th and 6th class. We played games, got our faces painted and even ate a few sweets! (Ssh! Don't tell!)
A very special congratulations to the competition winners from 2nd and 3rd who worked so hard on their poem and costumes; Ixchel, Emma and Lauren. Great work, ladies!
2nd and 3rd class have spent the last week talking and learning about road safety, especially when it comes to our own school. We have had a really fun week learning the Safe Cross Code dance (Check out the link posted below!) with the help of our new friends Jack and Annie!
Road Safety Awareness!
As well as the Safe Cross Code, we did some Hi Glo Silver training which was all about the importance of being safe and seen when out walking and cycling. We all got certificates and new hi-visibility armbands to wear.
Click on the video and try the Safe Cross Code dance out for yourself!
-Ms. Fitzgerald, 2nd and 3rd class.
Science Week 2016
We celebrated Science Week 2016 this week and did so by carrying out a number of experiments as a whole class group. We also talked a lot about how we carry out an experiment. Would you like to know how?
Here are the steps;
1. Ask a question.
2. Make a hypothesis.
3. Carry out an experiment.
4. Record results.
5. Make conclusions.
We really enjoyed doing the experiments and being scientists! Have a look at our gallery and tell us what you think!
-Ms Fitzgerald, 2nd and 3rd class.