Ms. Tierney's class

Magic Carpet Ride

2012-01-20T03:49:00.000-08:00

We had a magic carpet in our room for a week.We learned a poem about a magic carpet and then the children wrote down where they would go to if they had a carpet that could bring them anywhere!

Water Cycle

2012-01-20T03:42:00.000-08:00

We had two visiting teachers in from Italy,Lara and Marcella,who did a lovely art lesson with the children on the water cycle.They showed them a cardboard montage of the cycle and then the children had to imagine the journey of a raindrop.Next they did raindrop pictures using oil colours and a printing technique.When they had done that,they got to pick out fabrics from a box and use them to make a rain collage.It was a lovely lesson!

Parcel from Uganda

2012-01-20T01:31:00.000-08:00

We got a parcel from our Link school in Uganda.They sent us a lovely handmade pot and also their work on helping the environment.We did a lesson recently on the same theme and we had things like switching off lights and computers as our way of saving energy.The school in Nyabbani,Uganda doesn't have electricity so their list was different.They said things like "cut down fewer trees" .It was interesting.

Visit from Santa and Toyshop drama fun!

2012-01-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

Santa came to visit us and gave us sweets before Christmas.
We played a game then with Ms O Connor's class where the children were all toys on the shelves of a toyshop who came to life when the toyshop owner left for the night!

Christmas elves came a visiting!

2011-12-21T05:54:00.000-08:00

Today we had a big surprise!Some elves took a break from making toys to come and say hello.Their names were Elfie,Minzie and Tiny.They played Christmas songs for us and joined in our dance.Elfie was very greedy and wanted to eat our lunches.

Spring bulbs

2011-12-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

We planted tulips and daffodils yesterday .We ll know when spring comes because up they ll pop!

Guzzler and saving energy

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Kaye and Will came to our school recently to tell us all about Guzzler ,a monster who guzzles up energy.We learned ways of saving energy like cycling to school,turning off lights and computers,wearing more clothes instead of turning up the heat.The girls and boys had a competition to see who could get the most clothes on quickest!
When we got back to class,we drew pictures of Guzzler and ways of saving energy to send to our penpals in Uganda.They sent us pictures of how they help the environment.Where they live ,there is no electricity so their pictures were very different and very interesting.We saw videos of them singing and doing brilliant dances too.

Letters to Santa

2011-12-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

We posted our letters to Santa last week.We sent him love and some advice as well as our present requests!

Fiddle players!

2011-12-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Teacher is learning the fiddle and brought in her fiddle to show the class today.They all had a go at holding it and bowing.They were naturals!

Our Favourite Christmas thing

2011-12-19T06:45:00.000-08:00

We had a class vote to see what Christmas thing we like the most.We chose between presents,trees,reindeer,Santa and snowmen.Santa won by a mile!

Handa's Surprise and fruit printing

2011-12-08T04:13:00.000-08:00

After hearing about life in Chad, we read a lovely story called Handa's Surprise where we saw pictures of delicious fruit that grows in Africa.Then we did prints with fruit like pineapple,bananas,apples and passion fruit.

A visit from Captain Tom

2011-12-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

A soldier called Captain Tom visited us recently.He spoke about army training and the work the army does in Ireland.Soldiers get to jump out of planes on parachutes!He also told us about the time he visited Chad in Africa and what life was like over there.He showed us great photographs.

He taught the children how to do an army salute.The children loved his visit!

Rockets in fabric and fibre

2011-12-08T03:51:00.000-08:00

After our rockets experiment, we read a story about a little bear who flies to the moon in a home made rocket.Then we made our own rockets using sparkly crepe paper and felt.

Fizzy Rockets!

2011-11-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

We did a rocket experiment with Vitamin c tablets recently.We added water to full tablets,half tablets,and sometimes two or three tablets ,put the lid on and then counted down to blast off! It was exciting.Sometimes it took ten seconds.Sometimes it only took two.

Halloween and Witch's Walk

2011-10-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

We made bats for Halloween to make our room spookier for our resident witch Flutterella.
We played a game with our reader words where we had to guess what word was on our backs.The children were very good at it.
Today we had our witch's walk - our classroom was full of skeletons and witches and monsters and other spooky creatures.It was sunny but cold during the walk - one little witch said she was frozen to bits.We had a quick game of Spooky Spooky(a gruesome version of Hokey Pokey) to warm us up when we got back .
First and Second Class did a fantastic Thriller dance in the yard which the children loved.Happy Halloween!

Flutterella the witch

2011-10-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

A witch called Flutterella has been staying with us the past while -her broomstick is broken and she is waiting for it to be fixed.We don't see her but she leaves us notes,spooky things and treats and does magic spells in our room.We made up a spell to help her the other day.She left us smelly cabbage and told us to use it - so we did an experiment with it today to see if things were acid or alkali.She also left us an inflatable pumpkin -we threw it to each other outside.It's fun having a witch to stay!

Nubes at Baboro

2011-10-21T05:47:00.000-07:00

We saw a magical show in the Town Hall today-with shadows that did their own thing ,clouds floating out of rooftops,snow twirling out of umbrellas,dresses that turned from black to white.It was beautiful!

More marshmallow shapes

2011-10-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

2d and 3d marshmallow shapes

2011-10-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

As part of Maths week ,we made 2d and 3d marshmallow shapes.It was hard not to eat the marshmallows as we worked but we managed it ,and when we had finished our shapes we had marshmallow treats!

Storyteller in Ballybane library

2011-10-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, we walked all the way to Ballybane library where we were entertained by a funny storyteller.He told us stories about a wide mouthed frog and a princess and rabbit.We had to join in sometimes.It was great fun and the children were very good in the library and during the walk.

Halloween masks

2011-10-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

We made Halloween masks and played games with them.

Making words

2011-10-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

Today we made words using people.They had to turn into whatever word we put on their heads!

Branar

2011-10-07T05:50:00.000-07:00

Branar Theatre company came to visit us today and did a show for us.It was a very funny show about two boys who are very different and speak different languages,but learn how to play together and how to share.

It was great!

More beach pictures

2011-09-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Trip to the beach!

2011-09-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

Today we visited Ballyloughane Beach with Dr. Noirin Burke from the aquarium.We went exploring in rock pools with nets - we found crabs,mussels,shrimps,periwinkles and cockles.Noirin told us about the islands we could see - Mutton Island with the lighthouse,Hare Island and Rabbit Island.We learned that the black sand underneath the surface is not dirty - it is black because it doesn't get much oxygen.

It was a great day!

Shoe Mix Up!

2011-09-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Our shoes got mixed up in the classroom recently and each child had to find a matching pair.It was fun!

Recycling and Litter Grabbers

2011-09-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

The children did excellent recycling work recently.We visited the Bottle Bank and put green,clear and brown bottles into the right containers.Today,we got litter grabbers and plastic gloves and cleaned up around the prefabs.We filled a bag with rubbish!

Autumn Nature Walk

2011-09-26T06:33:00.000-07:00

We went for a walk to see the Autumn leaves.We saw sycamore,oak and ash leaves and found helicopters under the sycamore tree.The autumn colours were beautiful.We saw a golden spider on one tree!

Circus pictures

2011-09-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

The children painted pictures of the circus - they did wonderfully imaginative pictures of elephants,acrobats,trapeze swingers and scary lions.
In drama ,we pretended to be the circus people -getting the town ready for the circus and performing as liontamers and lions,tightrope walkers,silly clowns and graceful acrobats!

Things we used when we were small

2011-09-26T06:15:00.000-07:00

The children brought in some items they used when they were very small.We tested to see if any of the clothes they used wear would still fit them...but they didn't!

Bus journey home

2011-06-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

Some people dozed off on the way home after all the activity!

Tractor ride

2011-06-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Go karts and tractor

2011-06-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Inflatable slide

2011-06-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

Loughwell Farm Park

2011-06-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

More school tour

2011-06-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

More school tour

2011-06-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

More school tour

2011-06-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

School tour

2011-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

School tour to Loughwell Farm Park

2011-06-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

We had a great day last Monday at the farm park in Moycullen.First we did a tour of all the different animals- a pig with her tiny piglets, a palomino and a tiny horse called a falabella,some chicks and alpacas from South America.Then we did outdoors activities - a swinging frame,an obstacle course and a sandpit.We went indoors then to a bouncy castle and inflatable slide.After that we went on go karts.Last but not least,we got to drive around behind a big tractor.

Floating and sinking

2011-06-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

We did an experiment to see what things float and what things sank this week.Some things ,like lollipops ,did different things depending on what shapes the lollipops were.

Summer Nature Walk

2011-06-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

We went on a summer nature walk this week.It was great to see all the trees in full bloom and hear birds singing!

Excavation

2011-06-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Teacher found some clay with shiny stuff in it on a building site recently.We decided to be archaeologists and dig to see what we would find.We found six candles,a straw,a bouncy ball,bubbles,an invitation and what looked like a tooth.It was very exciting!

Capacity

2011-06-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

We guessed how many cups would fill different sized containers.We were surprised to see the box held more than the jug!

Our butterflies have hatched!

2011-06-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

When we came back from our bank holiday break,we found all our butterflies had come out.

Some were reluctant to leave us, but we coaxed them out.Luana even managed to get the most reluctant one to fly off eventually!

Junior Achievement

2011-06-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Annette from Junior Achievement had her last session with us on Thursday.The children loved the stories and activities she did.She gave them certificates when they had finished the lessons.

Oisin in Tir na nOg

2011-06-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

We heard the story of Oisin and Niamh and Tir na nOg recently.We did freezeframes of the Fianna hunting,happy people in Tir na nOg,an upset Oisin finding his old house in ruins when he returns to Ireland and Oisin falling off his horse when he helps some men push a huge rock.

The children drew beautiful pictures of what they think Tir na nOg looks like.

Travelling Ted's new bag

2011-06-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Mateusz brought Travelling Ted to Poland recently,where he had lots and lots of adventures!Mateusz' mammy thought he could do with a new bag,so she bought him one and drew his picture on it.We think it's fantastic!

Hip hop dancing!

2011-05-31T00:43:00.000-07:00

Hip hop

2011-05-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

Fabiane has been teaching us hip hop the last two weeks.It is brilliant!

Billy Bucket

2011-05-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

We did a drama lesson today about a little boy who only wanted a bucket for his birthday.His parents want him to choose something else but he tells them it is the only thing he wants.Next,the children had to pretend to be different kinds of buckets in the bucket shop and Billy had to choose his favourite one.It was very hard to pick as the children came up with all sorts of brilliant ideas.But he couldn t resist a bucket that could fly and a bucket that could make you happy when you felt sad!

Volcanoes

2011-05-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

We were speaking about volcanoes this week,after the volcano erupted in Iceland.We made our own volcanoes by mixing water,baking powder,washing up liquid and vinegar and then BOOM! Explosion time!

Junior Achievement

2011-05-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

Annette from the Junior Achievement programme is visiting us once a week at the moment.She reads us stories and we do activities afterwards.We' ve heard stories about a farm,people co-operating on a farm,a carnival and a girl thinking up ways of making some money to get into the carnival.It is great!

Measuring

2011-05-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

We had fun measuring different things this week.We measured tables and windows with lollipop sticks and also with cubes and teddy bears.We guessed how many it would take first and then we measured and compared the results with our guesses.After measuring in the classroom,we measured cars outside and the long corridor in the school.The corridor took 33 metre sticks to get from the start to the end!

Minibeast hunt

2011-05-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

We went on a minibeast hunt at the back of the school.We found centipedes,snails,slugs and a beetle.We looked at them through magnifying glasses and then let them go again.

Easter egg hunt

2011-05-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

Easter eggs were hidden all over the area in front of our prefab before the holidays.We had great fun hunting for them!

Our senses

2011-05-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about the senses - smell,sight,touch,sound and hearing.
We played blindfold games and also tasted different kinds of food.

Dinosaurs

2011-05-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

We have been learning about dinosaurs - the different kinds of dinosaurs and what they liked to eat and the fact that they are now extinct .The children made clay dinosaurs and did a great job.

Ronan's fiddle

2011-05-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ronan has started learning the fiddle and he brought it in to show us and let some people have a go on it.

He is very good.

Our plants

2011-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

Some of our broadbean plants got really big - we hope they keep growing and turn into beanstalks!

Viking runes

2011-05-07T11:42:00.001-07:00

We collected stones on the beach ,and the children painted them and did their own Viking runes on them!

Vikings

2011-05-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

We learned about Vikings recently - where they came from,the kind of ships they sailed,how they wrote.
We did freezeframes of different Viking activities -feasts,war,trading and farming.

Spring -our favourite season!

2011-03-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

We planted beans and flowerbulbs a few weeks ago and they are just starting to show now.Also we have three bird nests outside our prefab.We saw a bird making it's nest one day on the way back from the yard- picking up twigs and grass.
Mrs Mc Loughlin has frogspawn in her classroom and we are keeping an eye on how it is changing week by week.
We had a vote to see which season people preferred and Spring won - the longer days and new growth and colour everywhere are things we love!

Being firemen and firewomen!

2011-03-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

Visit from the firemen

2011-03-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today we had a visit from some firemen with a real fire engine.We got to squirt water from the hose and to go up into the fire engine.It was great fun!

Leprechauns!

2011-03-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

The children made lovely leprechauns for St.Patrick's Day.They also made up a story about a giant leprechaun with poor eyesight who squishes buildings and people in his village because he can't see them from such a great height!All was resolved at the end when the villagers lifted a new pair of glasses up to him on a crane...

Pictures of our trip to Inverin

2011-03-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

The children did us proud when we went to Inverin again on March 10th.They played a blinder onstage and were very well behaved offstage.The judge complimented them on how well they spoke and moved onstage - how comfortable they were.We had a great time - a fun bus trip and we also got to watch Pluirin Sneachta - Snow white and the seven dwarves before we went on.It was great!

Pictures of our play "Taisteal"

2011-02-23T04:28:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures of the children performing in Inverin last week.

Spring Nature Walk

2011-02-21T08:04:00.000-08:00

We went on a nature walk today - it was great to feel the sun on our skin again! We heard lots of birds and found lots of different kinds of buds - sticky,sharp,soft,hard and lots of different coloured buds too.We came across some lovely spring flowers as well.

Our play Taisteal

2011-02-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

The children did a great job on our play - they all put in great effort and made us very proud last week in Inverin.Thanks to all the parents who lent us costumes and props ,to all our supporters and especially to Sandra,Sandra and Nuala who helped out for the performances.We made rice krispie buns as a post play treat last Friday!

Life without electricity

2011-02-21T07:51:00.000-08:00

Amy's grandad came in to talk to us recently.He gave a fascinating talk about growing up without electricity.He showed us the lamps they used for light,the turf they used to burn to give heat,an iron without a plug and paintings of the home he lived in when he was a boy.It was very interesting and we would like to thank him for going to so much effort.The children were enthralled.

Len the magic prop man!

2011-02-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

Len did a fantastic job making sets and props for our play.The boat and tree have especially captured the childrens' imaginations.A huge thank you to our magic prop maker:)

More Boy Explorer pictures

2011-02-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

The Boy's Visit to our school

2011-02-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

Today, the giant Boy Explorer visited our school. His friends came to our classroom to collect our handprints and our ideas.They loved the ideas and recorded the children saying them ,so that the Boy can listen to them on his journey.
Then we gathered together in the yard and The Boy walked in to meet us.His friends sang songs and then they placed the cloak with all the handprints around his shoulders and we waved him goodbye.

The Boy's Journey

2011-01-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

The Boy Explorer is going on a journey to Dublin.We did handprints on felt to cover his cloak and keep him warm on his journey and remind him of his friends when he gets lonely.He is coming to pick them up off us next Tuesday.

The Boy Explorer

2011-01-27T11:11:00.000-08:00

An eight foot tall Boy Explorer is coming to visit us next week!
He has lost his imagination and he sent us a letter asking the children to help him think up brilliant ideas again - ideas about new inventions and ways of making Ireland a better place. The children have gotten lots and lots of very brilliant ideas to share with him - they drew pictures of flying machines and robots that cut your hair,of remote control cake baking machines and supermarkets filled with free food!
They had wonderful ideas about making Ireland a better place - picking up litter,planting more trees and flowers, sharing food and toys and money with people who don't have much, giving money to homeless people so that they can find somewhere to live,being kind to animals,making new friends.........the list went on and on.

I think the boy will have no problem getting his imagination back when he meets his new very inspired and inspiring 5 and 6 year old friends in Renmore...

Violins!

2011-01-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

The children took turns playing notes on a violin this week and agreed that they all made a much better sound than their teacher (who has just started to learn and who agreed!)

Music In The Classroom

2011-01-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to Leisureland to see the RTE Concert Orchestra play.It was great! We saw violins,brass instruments,wind instruments,percussion instruments, a glockenspiel and a harp.Two funny men sang songs with us and children did ballet dancing.There was lots of audience participation,which the children loved.

Christmas party

2011-01-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

We had a party on the day of the Christmas holidays.We made hot chocolate and marshmallows to warm us up and danced to Christmas songs!

Christmas elves

2011-01-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

We had a visit from Santa's elves before the Chrstmas holidays!They had heard what good children were in Senior Infants so they popped in to see them.Elfie was very funny - he sat in Jake's chair and tried to write on his table!He played some Christmas songs but he kept getting the words mixed up.Minzie and Tiny Elves came in soon after and started singing with Elfie.They knew a song about the days of the week that we listen to in school!

Footprints in the snow

2011-01-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

We followed the trail of adult and child footprints in the snow in the yard to find a Santa hat and sack!

Reindeer

2011-01-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

We all made red nosed reindeer using handprints to help Santa

Our snowmen

2011-01-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

We made snowmen using paper plates ,wrapping them up warm in ear muffs and scarves!

Acid or alkali?

2011-01-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

We did an interesting experiment recently testing things like vinegar,coke,lemon juice ,orange juice and toothpaste to see if they were acid or alkali.If they contained acid, red cabbage juice turned a reddy/pink colour.If they were alkali,it went blue green.We saw that lots of the drinks we drink have a lot of acid in them and we learned that toothpaste is an alkali and alkalis counteract the effects of acids. So when we drink coke or orange juice ,we should make sure we brush our teeth after!

Fun in the snow!

2011-01-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

The cold weather may have been inconvenient but the children loved it! They built a snowman and threw lots of snowballs the first day we had a decent amount of snow on the ground.

Learning about fire

2010-11-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

We did experiments with candles last week.First we lit three candles , and put a small jar over one and a big jar over another.We left one uncovered.We saw that the uncovered candle burned longest and the candle covered by the small jar burned the shortest amount of time.We learned that fire needs fuel,air and heat in order to burn .
Next we put water around a candle and then covered it.We saw bubbles and then the flame went out.The water then went into the jar.We heard that that is because air expands when hot.When the flame went out,the air didn t fill the jar as much and so there was room for the water to go in.

More pictures of our show

2010-11-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

A day in the life of a Ugandan child

2010-11-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

The children performed a short show about Uganda last week.They were excellent -singing in English and Runyankole and dancing Ugandan dances! They showed how children in rural Uganda like the same games as us - hopskotch,football and playing with dolls and how they have to do lots more chores than we do - fetching water and firewood,minding goats and sweeping up at home and in school.We will send pictures of our play to our link school Nyabbani Primary School in Kamwenge,Uganda. Thanks to the parents who kindly lent us the beautiful,colourful fabrics -they brightened up the stage!

More science experiments

2010-11-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

Science week experiments

2010-11-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

We did some interesting experiments during Science Week.We checked to see if different things had starch in them -paper,pasta,kitchen roll,bread ,bananas and cheese.If they had starch in them iodine went blue black when dropped on them.If not ,it stayed brown.

We also mixed vitamin c tablets with water inside a container with a lid and saw how the gas that was made and the pressure made the lid burst off like a rocket!

Magical clay things

2010-11-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

We made clay objects from the story "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"- brooms, buckets,hats and wands.We painted them in magical colours when they were dry!

Hand Hygiene

2010-11-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

We are learning about hand hygiene and how important it is to wash your hands.Our Link school in Uganda is learning about it too this term.We will send them pictures of the work we did and they will send us some of their work so we can see how they learn.

Winter Nature Walk

2010-11-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

We went on a nature walk recently and saw blackbirds fighting over a piece of bread!We noticed how bare the trees were compared to when we went walking in Autumn.

Is it waterproof?

2010-11-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

With all the rain recently, we decided it was important to find out which things are waterproof and which are not.First ,the children guessed whether a sock,a plastic bag,a rubber glove and some paper were waterproof or not .Then we experimented by putting each item into a container of water.Last,we recorded our results and compared them to our guesses.We agreed it would not be a good idea to go out in paper clothes in the pouring rain!

More Witch's Walk pictures

2010-11-07T06:55:00.000-08:00

Witch's Walk

2010-11-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

All sorts of magic and ghoulish creatures turned up in our classroom on October 22nd - skeletons ,witches,fairies,princesses,vampires,zombies and Ben ten to name but a few!We went on the Witch's Walk and on our way, we made spooky noises to passersby and saw a house with skeletons on it.The train sped past as we did the walk and we wondered was it a ghost train! The children drew maps of our walk when they got back to school and remembered all sorts of spooky details..

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

2010-11-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

We read a great story in class called "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" about a wizard's helper who puts on a magic hat despite being told not to.We thought up reasons why he should/should not have put on the hat and then the children lined up and whispered those reasons to an "apprentice" as they walked towards the hat.It was interesting to see if the apprentices chose the yes/no side each time! We played Sorcerer's Apprentice music and the children moved as magic brooms/sorcerers to the music.

Fingerprints and magnifying glasses

2010-11-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

We made fingerprints and examined them with magnifying glasses to see if we could see patterns in them.We saw how each person's fingerprint is unique.Then we had fun looking at our faces with magnifying glasses -huge teeth and eyes were the funniest!

Maths Trail

2010-10-16T02:46:00.000-07:00

We did a Maths trail for Maths Week last week - looking for shapes,colours and numbers near our classroom.We counted trees on the grass and we were amazed how many different shapes we could see in one small area!

More Baboro pictures

2010-10-16T02:37:00.000-07:00