Hello to all my super Senior Infants!
I hope you all had a nice week and enjoyed the sunny weather! 
Well done on another week of school from home, you are all doing an amazing job. 
I am so proud of all of you! It was so nice to see some of you on Wednesday for the book collection.
** Please note: This is just a suggested outline of activities for the children, please do not feel under pressure to complete everything!**
Phonics
CJ Fallon Sounds Like Phonics has a great website. You can find it at this link: https://slp.cjfallon.ie/
Choose the Sounds Like Phonics C book and go to Unit 1: The Aquarium
Monday: Final sounds: -nk -st -ft Play all activities for -nk
Tuesday: Final sounds: -nk -st -ft Play all activities for -st
Wednesday: Final sounds: -nk -st -ft Play all activities for -ft
Thursday: Final sounds: -nt -sk -lt Play all activities for -nt
Friday: Final sounds: -nt -sk -lt Play all activities for -sk
Blending
There are super online games, videos and activities for children to practise their blending of sounds.
Every day I will give children a 1) blending practise video and a 2) wordblending online game.
For the games you need to login to https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/using this login Username : march20 Password: home
Monday:
- nk words blending video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNAAv2g1Osc
Make a Match Phase 3 (Week 1 +2 ) game : https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/resources/phase/3/matching-ph3w12
Tuesday :
-st blending video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UjL6BIl95k
Phonics frog blending game - Set 6:https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/phonics-frog?phase=3#
Wednesday:
-ft blending video / rap : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdkdLEldvCc
Phonics frog blending game - Set 7 : https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/phonics-frog?phase=3#
Thursday:
-nt blending video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc8zdrZIhL0
Phonics frog blending game - Consonant digraphs : https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/phonics-frog?phase=3
Friday:
-sk blending video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAwUvUfJ-uw (0:15 - 1:52)
Phonics frog blending game - Vowel Digraphs ( 3 games max): https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/phonics-frog?phase=3
Reading
For reading books, Oxford Owl has a great website with free ebooks, you just need to create a login and password first at https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/user/sign_up.html
When you are logged in you can then access free ebooks which are grouped in levels. The ebook library can be found at https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/?view=image&query=&type=book&age_group=&level=&level_select=&book_type=&series=#
On that page there is a simple test you can complete with your child to see which level of books is most suitable for them. I would suggest starting with a book from age 4-5 or 5-6. You are also welcome to message me on ClassDojo and I will suggest a suitable book for your child.
When you click on a book a small box will appear, click read ebook and the ebook should open in a new tab. There should also be a triangle play button at the bottom of the page. If you click that you can listen to the pages being read aloud.
If you're looking for more reading books, Folens, as an exclusive partner with Collins Big Cat, have joined with Collins in offering free access to hundreds of book-banded readers during school closures.
Follow this link to access 330+ free Collins Big Cat eBooks and a selection of downloadable worksheets to use alongside the books at home https://collins.co.uk/pages/big-cat-ebooks
Follow the instructions (additional link redirects to Collins Connect) and sign in as a teacher.
Username: parents@harpercollins.co.uk
Password: Parents20!
The books are grouped by colours with pink being the first level and lime being the last level. Start with a pink level book and if you feel it is too easy for your child, move up a level or two to find a suitable book. You can send me a message on ClassDojo or an email if you would like me to suggest a suitable level of books for your child.
Questions to ask your child when reading
Before reading the book:
- Can you point to the title? or What is this? (pointing to the title)
- What do you think this story will be about? What might happen in the story?
- What do we call the writing on the back of the book? (Blurb) or What does the blurb tell us?
During the reading of the book:
- What is happening in the pictures?
- What has happened so far? Is it what you expected to happen?
- What might happen next? How do you think the story might end?
- What sort of character is….? Is he/she friendly/ mean/ nice…?
At the end of the book:
- Did you like this book? Why? (Encourage children to develop their opinion about books by encouraging them to explain their reasons)
- What was your favourite part? Why?
- What was the most interesting/ exciting part of the book? Can you find it?
- What sort of character was….?
- Why did that character do … (give a situation/ event from the story)?
- What happened in the story?
Dolch Words
Dolch or sight words are words that are the most common words in the English language. Therefore, it is important for children to be thoroughly aware of these words for more fluid reading.
We asking asking parents to work on 5 each day with your child:
Monday: away, old, by, their, here
Tuesday: saw, call, after, well, think
Wednesday: ran, let, help, make, going
Thursday: sleep, brown, yellow, five, six
Friday: Revision of all list 6 dolch words.
This is a great site for amazing ways to introduce sight words to your children and make it fun for them also: https://sightwords.com/sight-words/lessons/
For extra practice of sight words, the following game is brilliant.
https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/dinosaurEggsHF/index.html
The children listen to a word and then select the word they have heard. There are 15 sets of words in the game. For this week, focus on set 13.
Writing
For handwriting this week, the children can work on the ‘One Armed Robot Letters’. For this week they can practice the letters r b n h.
Here is a link to some handwriting worksheets Handwriting Worksheets 25-29 May.pdf
There are 5 worksheets, the children can do one each day. If you do not have access to a printer, they can practice a letter per day on a page. The following site shows a demonstration of how to form each letter https://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/skyWriter/index.html Click on the letter your child is practicing and the aeroplane will show you how to write the letter.
Spellings
In their Spellbound book the children can complete Week 29 pages 60 and 61.
- Monday : Exercise 1 - pg 60
- Tuesday : Exercise 2 - pg 60
- Wednesday : Exercise 3 - pg 61
- Thursday : Exercise 4 - pg 61
- Friday : Exercise 5 - pg 61 and spelling test. (Back of book on Week 29)
The spellings for this week are: shoe, shy, she, shut, dish, fish, wish, chop, chip, chat.
Ask your child to think of a sentence for each word. You can also write out the list of spellings for your child and ask them to look, say, cover, write and check each day as they are used to doing for their homework. There is a section at the back of the Spellbound book for your child to complete their weekly spelling test on Friday, they should be on Week 29.
Oral Language
The Oral Language programme which we use in school, Rainbow by CJ Fallon , are kindly offering free access to all pupils and parents.
This programme is designed to develop children’s oral language thematically by expanding vocabulary, language skills and confidence in conversation.
Here is the link in order to access : https://rainbow.cjfallon.ie/#/units/senior
The topic focused on for this week will be Unit 15 : Home Sweet Home
Maths
Every day in school we practice counting forwards and backwards to 20. Keep this up at home with your child.
- Count forwards from 1-20 and backwards from 20-1. Ask your child to stand up and sit down for each number, touch their head then their shoulders for each number or shoulders and knees. They should be used to doing this as we do it every day in school!
- Pick a different number to start and end each time. For example: start at 8 and count forwards to 18. Start at 15 and count backwards to 4. Keep the starting and ending numbers between 1 and 20.
- Number sequence: Parent says two numbers and the child says the next number. For example: 12, 13, ? 7, 6, ?
For maths this week we are working on 3D shapes.
In Senior Infants, the children should be able to recognise cubes, spheres, cylinders and cuboids.
Show your child some objects around the house that come in the cube, sphere, cylinder and cuboid shapes e.g. cereal box, football, beans tin etc. Have a shape hunt around the house and see how many cubes, spheres, cylinders and cuboids are in your home! You could even challenge your child to see who can find the most shapes!
Here are some online games to work on 3D shapes.
Monday: Three Dimensional Figures https://www.splashlearn.com/geometry-games-for-kindergarteners Select the 3rd game Three Dimensional shapes
Tuesday: 3D Shapes http://data.cjfallon.ie/resources/19602/activity-32/index2.html
Wednesday: 3D Shape matching http://data.cjfallon.ie/resources/19602/activity-33/index.html and http://data.cjfallon.ie/resources/19602/activity-33/index2.html
Thursday: Colour the 3D shapes http://data.cjfallon.ie/resources/19602/activity-34/index.html
Friday: Sort 3D shapes http://data.cjfallon.ie/resources/19602/activity-34/index2.html
If you have access to a printer, here is a link to extra Maths worksheets for your child.
Maths Worksheets 25-29 May.pdf
There are 5 worksheets, try to do 1 per day if you can. If you don’t have access to a printer, you can write your answers on a page.
Here are some nice videos to help your child learn about 3D shapes!
3D Shapes I Know
3D Shapes Song
3D Shapes Song for kids
Splashlearn Maths
I have set up Splashlearn Maths accounts for the children in my Ready Set Go maths group. (Areej, Devon, Marwah, Leo, Faria, Shirish) I will be setting new activities and games every week. I have emailed you the class code and your child’s password. If you did not get the email or you need any help with accessing the activities please email me kathy.dunne@warrenmountprimary.com
Ms. Hanrahan has set up accounts for her group. (Fergus, Amelia, Anum, Jan, Fatima, Oliver) Please email her norma.hanrahan@warrenmountprimary.com for your child’s login details if they are in Ms. Hanrahan’s group.
Ms. de Forge has set up accounts for her group. (Aysha, Eabha, Lennox, Rayaan, Suhaira, Alanna) Please email her colette.deforge@warrenmountprimary.com for your child’s login details if they are in Ms. de Forge’s group.
I know that some of you have been working so hard on Splashlearn and you are making great progress! Well done! Keep up the good work this week!
Gaeilge - Irish
Bua na Cainte is the interactive programme we use to teach Gaeilge in the classroom.
During the school closures, Edco has offered free access to Bua na Cainte for parents, however you will need a computer or laptop to install the software.
To access this excellent resource, do the following:
Go to http://www.edco.ie/bua
- Click on the folder that matches the device you are installing it onto – mac or PC.
- Choose Senior Infants and click on the setup icon to install it on your device. It takes about 15 minutes to install.
- Once it is installed, you can open up the programme and enter the login details
Password: trial Username: trial
The children are very familiar with the characters and the layout so they should be able to navigate through it to find stories, lessons, games and songs.
If you have downloaded and installed Bua na Cainte on your computer you can access the following Irish lessons. If not, you can still teach the vocabulary and play some word games!
This week we are working on the theme An Teilifís (Television).
Monday: Ceacht 6 (Lesson 6) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch a video and click on the grey game controller for some games.
Tuesday: Ceacht 7 (Lesson 7) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch 2 videos (Comhrá 7.1 and Comhrá 7.2), and then click on the grey game controller for some games.
Wednesday: Ceacht 8 (Lesson 8) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch a video, click on the green music note for a song and then click on the grey game controller for some games.
Thursday: Ceacht 9 (Lesson 9) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch 2 videos (Comhrá 9.1 and Comhrá 9.2) click on the green music note for a song and then click on the grey game controller for some games.
Friday: Ceacht 10 (Lesson 10) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch a video and then click on the grey game controller for some games.
The new words for this theme are:
- Capall (cop-ull) horse
- Cat (cot) cat
- Luch (luck) mouse
- Seilide (shell-ih-da) snail
- Eilifint (ell-ih-fint) elephant
- Muc (muck) pig
- Bó (bow) cow
- Lao (lay) calf
- Caora (cuh-wair-ah) sheep
- Uan (oo-an) lamb
- Banbh (bon-uv) piglet
- Asal (oss-ull) donkey
- Gé (gay) goose
- Lacha (lock-ah) duck
- Coileach (cull-yock) rooster
- Cearc (cyarck) hen
- Sicín (shick-een) chick
- Frog (frug) frog
- Moncaí (monkey) monkey
- Eireaball (err-ah-bull) tail
Resources:
Tips :
- It would be great to print the flashcards out if you can, or write these words (with pictures if you can) on paper / card and play some simple games in order to help the children remember the words.
- You could play a scavenger hunt with the flash cards and get them to go find it e.g. "Ba mhaith liom ..." (I would like...) and they must go find it
- Playing memory games with the flashcards are great too. Lay out 3 or 4 of the cards, let them memorise where they are, close their eyes and take away one.Ask “Cad atá imithe?”Cod a-taw im-ee-ha? (What is missing?) They must remember the missing word and answer “Tá ________ imithe!” Ask them to challenge you too!
- You could print or make 2 sets of the cards and play ‘Pairs’ with your child. Lay the cards out upside down. Turn a card over and say the word on it, turn another card over and say the word. If the 2 cards match you can keep them. If they don’t match, the cards are turned upside down again and it’s the next player’s turn. The trick is to remember which cards are where. The person with the most matching pairs at the end of the game wins.
- You can play a guessing game with the flashcards. Hide a flashcard behind your back and get your child to guess what it is by asking “An __________ é? On _______ ay? If they are correct you can answer “Sea” Sh-ah , if they do not guess correctly you can answer “Ní hea” nee hah. You can also let your child hide the flashcard while you guess what it is!
PE
Monday : Joe Wicks Live @ 9:00 https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1
Tuesday : Cosmic Kids – Enzo the Bee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyj5LooYWyg
Wednesday : Go Noodle –Indoor Recess 2: https://app.gonoodle.com/activities/indoor-recess-you-pick-number-2?s=Search&t=indoor%20recess
Thursday : 10@10 , Episode 5 : https://rtejr.rte.ie/wp-content/blogs.dir/22/files/2018/01/10at10-Episode-5-English.mp4
Friday : Joe Wicks Live @ 9:00 https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1
Music
Out of the Ark have provided free access to their website during school closures. You can find it at this link https://www.outoftheark.co.uk/ootam-at-home/ This week we are going to try some songs from the ‘In It Together!’ section of the website
Monday: 7 Days A Week
Tuesday: Brighter Day Tomorrow
Wednesday: A Little Bit Of Kindness
Thursday: Together
Friday: A Song You’ll Love To Know
SESE
This week , we will be focusing on learning all about fish.
Informational videos :
Fish
Facts About Fish For Kids
The Rainbow Fish Big Book Read aloud :
Small World Workbook activity page : Pg 43
Printable Worksheets
Write 3-5 facts about fish :
Here is a Google Drive link to PDF version of these worksheets Fish Worksheets.pdf
Fish Poems
Art
Drawing:
How to draw a fish :
How to draw an octopus :
How to draw a shark :
Painting / Printing :
Handprint fish :
https://musthavemom.com/ocean-clownfish-handprint-art-project/
Fork paint fish :
https://www.craftymorning.com/puffer-fish-craft-using-fork/
Construction :
https://alittlepinchofperfect.com/paper-plate-fish-craft-inspired-rainbow-fish/
Here is a sample daily timetable to give some structure to your day. Please note this is just a sample and does not have to be followed!
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9.00-9.30
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PE
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9.45-10.00
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Handwriting and Spellbound
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10.00-10.15
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Reading
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10.15-10.30
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Phonics activities
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10.30-10.45
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Snack and break time (go outside or GoNoodle/Cosmic Yoga)
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10.45-11.00
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Sight Word Activities/Dolch Words
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11.00-11.20
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Gaeilge
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11.20-11.45
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Maths games, counting and worksheets
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11.45-12.00
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Music
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12.00-12.30
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Lunch
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12.30-1.00
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Art, SESE Play- lego, jigsaws, playdough, colouring etc.
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1.00
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School finished
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** If your child works with Ms.Doherty, Ms. Staunton, Ms. Hanrahan, Mr. Cullen, Ms. Lindon, Ms. O’Rourke or Ms. de Forge please check their page on the website for more home learning activities for your child. **
Extra activities and challenges will be posted on our ClassDojo page so make sure to have a look there too!
If you would like to send me a picture of your child's work you can upload it to their portfolio on ClassDojo or send it in a message to me and I will look at it. I would love to hear from you!
If you wish to contact me you can message me on ClassDojo or email me at kathy.dunne@warrenmountprimary.com
Take care
Ms. Dunne