Ms.Tolan's Senior Infants
Hello everyone!♥ Hope you all had a lovely weekend!!
Just want to say a big thank you to all the children and their parents who joined me last week in the Zoom story time ,catch up meeting! It was an utter treat seeing you all and having the chance to chat to you again!! Its great to see that you are all still full of fun and energy! It meant a lot to me and I hope you felt the same!♥♥
IMPORTANT!!!
This Friday May 22nd , your children's remaining school books will be in name labelled bags for collection by parents from 11am to 12pm at Warrenmount Primary School gates.
Collecting these books will make homework easier as I will be assigning homework from said books from next week onwards.
As well as this , parents will be asked to return a school library reader that was given to the child to read for homework in March. Please return this book and place it in a labelled box at the gate.
May 18th - May 22nd
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 B book and go to Unit 3 on Monday and Tuesday.
Unit 3 School (Long Vowels: Magic e)
- Monday: Long u
- Tuesday: Revision of long vowels
Choose the Sounds Like Phonics C book and go to Unit 1 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Unit 1: The Aquarium
3.Wednesday: Revision: first 4 activities
4.Thursday: Revision: next 4 activities
5.Friday: Revision: last 3 activities
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 practice video and a 2) word blending online game.
.
Monday :
- Long u(u – e) words blending video :https://youtu.be/fafnWgm2V2E
- Alien escape blending/ spelling game : https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/alien-escape?phase=3
Tuesday :
- Revision of long vowels(a-e , i-e ,e-e ,o-e ,u-e) blending video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IlBA-b5tzk
- FuzzBug farm consonant blends game :https://www.abcya.com/games/consonant_blends
Wednesday:
- Long vowels blending song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHPKDN_5pqo
- Alien escape blending/ spelling game :https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/alien-escape?phase=3
Thursday:
- When two vowels go walking educational songs/video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fb3Pdt8kxgorhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o84ndBQU6vQ
- FuzzBug farm consonant blends game :https://www.abcya.com/games/consonant_blends
Friday:
- Magic ‘e’short educational video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oERv-MEinXo
- Silent e game :https://www.starfall.com/h/ltr-lv-a/maw-a-e/?t=284772540
Here are great resources that explains the ‘Magic e’ :
- A fun short story about ‘Super e’ :
- Magic ‘e’ guessing game :
READING
Reading every day/ night with your child is fundamental at this age in order to foster effective independent reading! 😊
An amazing site to avail of many free ebooks is:
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/ .
Just simply sign up with a username and password. Then pick an appropriate level book for your child from their library here : 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.
As an exclusive partner with Collins Big Cat, Folens 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 login 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.
It would be brilliant to try and ask children comprehension questions about the story / text. I have attached some comprehension questions that may be useful!...
Questions to ask your child when reading –
1. 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?
2. 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…?
3. 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?
Some other ideas include:
- get your children to retell the story in their own words, sequence events in the story e.g. First, the mouse talked to the fox; Then, the mouse met the owl in his treetop house etc; draw and talk about their favourite character or create an alternative ending to 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: from, good, any, about, around
- Tuesday: want, don’t, how, know, right
- Wednesday: put, too, got, take, where
- Thursday: every, pretty, jump, green, four
- Friday: Revision of all list 5 dolch words.
Sight word practise:
Writing
For handwriting this week, the children can work on the ‘Ladder Letters’. For this week they can practice all the ladder letters l i t u j y.
Here is a link to some handwriting worksheets: Handwriting Worksheets 18-22 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 28 pages 58 and 59.
- Monday : Exercise 1 - pg 58
- Tuesday : Exercise 2 - pg 58
- Wednesday : Exercise 3 - pg 59
- Thursday :Exercise 4 - pg 59
- Friday :Exercise 5 - pg 59 and spelling test. (Back of book on Week 28)
The spellings for this week are:
must, rust, run, sun, bun, fun, gun, bug, hug, mug.
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 28.
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 14 : The Circus
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, ?
Maths theme of the week : 2D shapes
- In Senior Infants, the children should be able to recognise circles, squares, triangles and rectangles.
Show your child some objects around the house that come in the square, rectangle, triangle and circle shapes e.g. door, TV, clock etc. Have a shape hunt around the house and see how many circles, triangles, squares and rectangles 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 2D shapes.
- Monday:Shape Monsters https://www.topmarks.co.uk/early-years/shape-monsters
- Tuesday: Shapes Construction https://www.abcya.com/games/shapes_geometry_game
- Wednesday: Identify Two Dimensional shapes https://www.splashlearn.com/geometry-games-for-kindergarteners Select the 1st game Identify Two Dimensional shapes
- Thursday: Sides and Corners https://www.splashlearn.com/geometry-games-for-kindergarteners Select the 2nd game Sides and Corners
- Friday: Sort two dimensional shapes https://www.splashlearn.com/geometry-games-for-kindergarteners Select the last game Sort two dimensional shapes
- If you have access to a printer, here is a link to extra Maths worksheets for your child.
Maths Worksheets 18-22 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 2D shapes!
Shapes Song for kids
The Shapes Song :
Shapes :
Shape Up:
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 (The Television) :
- Monday: Ceacht 1 (Lesson 1) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch 2 videos (Comhrá 1.1 and Comhrá 1.2) and click on the green music note for a song and then on the grey game controller for some games.
- Tuesday: Ceacht 2 (Lesson 2) 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.
- Wednesday: Ceacht 3 (Lesson 3) 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 4 (Lesson 4) Click on the yellow speech bubble to watch a video and then click on the grey game controller for some games.
- Friday: Ceacht 5 (Lesson 5) 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:
- Ciseán (cish-awn) basket
- Tobar (tub-ur) well
- Doras (dur-us) door
- Cathaoir (coh-heer) chair
- Seomra suí (sh-owm-rah see) sitting room
- Teilifís (tell-ah-feesh) TV
- Bord (bored) table
- Lampa (lam-pah) lamp
- Solas (sul-us) light
- Fuinneog (fwin-yuh-ohg) window
- Ríomhaire (ree-vur-rah) computer
- Tolg (tull-ugg) couch
- Tine (tin-nah) fire
- Raidió (rah-dee-oh) radio
- Fear an phoist (far on fuh-sht) postman
- Garda (gar-da) guard/police officer
- Múinteoir (moon-tore) teacher
- Fear grinn (far green) clown
- Dochtúir (duck-toor) doctor
- Feirmeoir (fer-ih-more) farmer
- Buachaill bó (boo-cull bow) cowboy
- Siopadóir (shup-ah-door) shopkeeper
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!
SESE
This week we will be focusing on learning all about :
‘The Parts of a Plant'
Informational Videos :
Powerpoint:
Parts of the Plant powerpoint
Informational Site with quiz :
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zpxnyrd/articles/z3wpsbk
Printable Worksheets:
Label the parts of the plant worksheet:
My plant worksheet :
All about a plant worksheet :
Plant your own plant :
- Best type of seeds to use : cress seeds , runner bean seeds , radish seeds , apple seeds .
- How to plant a seed video for kids:
Poems :
Art
Select any of these apple themed arts and crafts to create with your child this week!:
Drawing
How to draw a sunflower:
How to draw a tulip :
How to draw a bouquet of flowers :
Paint /Print
Printing using flowers :
https://www.learning4kids.net/2013/10/08/flower-printing/
Footprint and handprint flower craft :
https://alittlepinchofperfect.com/handprint-and-footprint-flower-craf/
Fork Sunflower Painting :
Construction :
Recycled egg carton flower craft :
https://artsycraftsymom.com/recycled-egg-carton-flower-craft/
Easy tulip origami craft :
https://artsycraftsymom.com/easy-origami-tulip/
Paper plate flower fine motor craft :
https://www.toddlerapproved.com/2016/04/paper-plate-flower-fine-motor-craft.html
Paper plate flower garden wreath :
https://www.craftymorning.com/paper-plate-flower-garden-wreath/
Sensory flower craft :
https://www.kcedventures.com/blog/crafts-for-kids-flower-art-and-nature
PE
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 go back to Week 1. There is a song for every day of the week.
- Monday:Move-it Monday: Start the Day With Exercise
- Tuesday: Together on Tuesday: Together
- Wednesday: Wellbeing Wednesday: I’m OK!
- Thursday: Thinking Thursday: Living And Learning
- Friday: Fun Friday: The Bonkers Song
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!
9.00-9.30
|
PE
|
9.45-10.00
|
Handwriting and Spellbound
|
10.00-10.15
|
Reading
|
10.15-10.30
|
Phonics activities
|
10.30-10.45
|
Snack and break time (go outside or GoNoodle/Cosmic Yoga)
|
10.45-11.00
|
Sight Word Activities/Dolch Words
|
11.00-11.20
|
Gaeilge
|
11.20-11.45
|
Maths games, counting and worksheets
|
11.45-12.00
|
Music
|
12.00-12.30
|
Lunch
|
12.30-1.00
|
Art, Play- lego, jigsaws, playdough, colouring etc.
|
1.00
|
School finished
|
Please Note :
- **If your child works with Doherty, Ms. Staunton, Ms. Hanrahan, Ms. Lindon, Ms. O’Rourke or Ms. DeForge please check their page on the website for more home learning activities for your child**
- Extra activities and challenges will be posted on our Class Dojo 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 or send it in a message to me and I will look at it.
- Again there is no pressure to get all of the work documented done but every little helps!
If you have any questions at all please do send me a message and I will answer as swiftly as I can!
My email is : tanitha.tolan@warrenmountprimary.com. 😊 or message me on Class Dojo!
Keep up the great work, stay safe and happy!
My kindest regards:
Ms.Tolan 😊