Learning about capacity

This week we have been learning all about capacity in our Maths lessons. We did some measuring in our groups and had to estimate how many cupfuls of water would fit into different containers. It was lots of fun! Take a look at the pictures!

We have also been working hard during our art lessons. We made some dinosaurs and decorated them and used clothes pegs for the legs! We also made some ladybirds and bees!

Mitchels Parade and Easter egg hunt

Hello everyone,

We have had a very busy few weeks here in Senior Infants. On Wednesday March 16th, we dressed up in red and yellow in support of the Castlebar Mitchels who are playing in the All Ireland Club football final on St Patrick's Day in Croke Park. We marched around town with our school band and lots of other local schools were marching too. It was so much fun!
When we came back to school, we couldnt believe our luck when we discovered that the Easter bunny had visited the playground and left some treats especially for us! Take a look at the pictures.....

Literacy Lift Off

Hello everyone,
For the past 7 weeks, we have been working hard on our Literacy Lift Off programme with Mrs Burke, Mrs McTeague and Pauline.
"Literacy Lift-Off”, also known as “Power-Hour” is an intensive programme of Reading and Writing, which gives the pupils lots of opportunities to read books at their own level of competency. It gradually lifts the complexity of what they can do in both reading and writing by equipping them with the necessary problem-solving skills. Pupils on the programme would typically be expected to progress at the rate of one level per week.
The aim of Literacy Lift-Off is to make pupils constructive learners. It teaches them ‘how’ to problem-solve independently.
We work at 6 different stations- 

• Familiar reading- the boys enjoy previously seen PM+ readers to develop fluency, comprehension, speed and enjoyment.
• Word Work-  using magnetic letters on the whiteboard to make/break words to show the boys how words work so they can make fast visual analysis in their reading.
• Writing- the boys write sentences based on their own experiences using familiar words from their books. This develops their ability to write their own sentences and messages by hearing and recording sounds in words, using analogy and hearing unusual words.
• New book- encountering new texts daily challenges the boys to discover new ways to go beyond their current operating ability and lift their literacy processing.
• Listening station- the pupils listen to a variety of audio stories  to develop their listening skills and imaginative use of words.
• Independent station- the boys are asked to put together a large two or three syllable word and break it down into a number of smaller words.

Have a look at some of the pictures from our class....

February 2016

Hi everyone and welcome back to our blog. This month we have been very busy with Aistear, Literacy Lift Off and Pancake Tuesday! We are now into week 5 of our Literacy Lift Off programme and we are all really enjoying it.
During our Aistear time we have been exploring the themes of the Construction Site and the Doctor's Surgery. Take a look at some of the pictures!

Small world

Lego construction area

Role play area- doctor's surgery

Large construction area

            Art and craft area

We also sampled some pancakes on Pancake Tuesday, they were delicious!

Feeling wintery!

We have been feeling very wintery in Ms Cresham's class this January. We used cotton buds to create patterns on our umbrellas for our Winter Showers display. We also painted and used materials to make polar bears and penguins. Have a look at the pictures!
We are also very busy working on our Literacy Lift-Off every day. Visit us again soon to see some pictures.

Merry Christmas everyone!

We have been very busy in Senior Infants during the month of December. We created lots of Christmas artwork- have a look at the pictures!

As well as that we performed a Christmas concert with the boys from Ms Nestor's class in the hall for all of  our families. We had been practising our songs and poems for a long time to get ready for the show. The hall was packed for the show and everyone really enjoyed it!