4th Class News

We have had a very busy year – using iPads to improve maths and reading skills, learning tin whistle, weaving, sewing, Kahoot quizzes, nature and wellness walks, swimming – and lots more!

Knights & Conquests

We visited the Knights & Conquests Heritage Centre in Granard to learn all about the Normans in Ireland.  There,  we saw their clothes, armour, weapons, how they lived and also the inside of a typical Norman home.  Everyone had a turn at being a Norman that day. 

We learned about the catapults that the Normans used in battle.  Ms Lennon’s class made and tested catapults in school.  We also learned about the motte and bailey structures that were built by the Normans, and, Ms O’Donovan’s class made models of them.  Lots of art mixed with history and with science.

Science Day

Our school Science Day was great fun.  Every class exhibited some of their science work for the rest of the school to see.  So we all got to see each-other’s work. 

Ms O’Donovan’s class built some da Vinci Self-Supporting Bridges.  They were tricky to construct, but were strong enough to hold heavy items such as books, and even a little dinosaur!! 

Peter and Ebenezer worked on a Scratch project where they coded a project to explain the history of the Normans coming to Ireland.  Their skills and creativity in the project were fabulous. 

The catapults which were made by Ms Lennon’s class were on display and were fully tested by everyone.  The test involved trying to fling a ball into a cup.  The catapults worked perfectly, but it was tricky to get the aim just right.

Ms Lennon’s class also built bridges – but theirs were suspension bridges.  This was a challenging task to compete, but the boys did a great job.  The strength of the bridges was tested by “driving” lots of vehicles over them. 

   

Sports Day & Soccer Blitz

The boys had a fabulous day recently when we went to Abbeycartron to a soccer blitz that was organised for 4^th class in a number of schools.  Although we did not win the competition, the teams played fabulous games and everyone had a great day. 

Farrell Clan Project Work

Ms Lennon’s class took part in the Farrell Clan Heritage Project. The Longford area was ruled by the Farrell Clan and this July there will be a Farrell Clan gathering where people from all over the world with the Farrell name will visit Longford to learn about their heritage and the locality. As part of this gathering local schools were asked to do a project on an important Farrell person. Ms. Lennon’s class were asked to do a project on J.P. Farrell. The class researched him on the iPads and found out that he founded the Longford Leader newspaper, he was a member of Parliament and fought for the fair rights of Irish farmers. He was also passionate about Gaelic Games and he helped establish GAA in Longford. He was the first president of Longford GAA. Luca and Kristofers got to represent the class at the launch of the project in Edgeworthstown Library where they met the incoming Clan Chieftain Charlotte Farrell. The boys also received a trophy on behalf of the class in recognition of their work on the project. All the projects including our project will be on display in the Longford Library over the summer.

Library Visit

The classes regularly visit the County Library.  We are very luck to have it so near our school and to have fabulous people who work there who help us.

There is a fabulous choice of books there, and, if we cannot find what we are looking for, the library staff always help us out.  Over the summer months, we will go there ourselves and choose books we like to read.

Recently, we attended a Microbuddies workshop at the Library.  A scientist spoke to us about micro-organisms that live everywhere and we even got to see some in water droplets under a microscope.  It was amazing to see such tiny creatures and it was fabulous to hear the scientist tell us all about them. 

Wishing everyone a fantastic summer and all the best for 5^th class.

 

A busy year so far!

We have had a very busy year so far. In September we began our term in the prefab building at the rear of the school. Then just before Christmas, we moved into our new classrooms in the new building at the front of the school. The rooms are very spacious and bright. They have lots of storage (which the teachers are very excited about) and new interactive whiteboards. We have settled in quickly and are hard at work.
Our use of technology is also enhanced by our use of iPads. They allow us to read a variety of material from Read Theory. This is based on our individual ability, so we can work and challenge ourselves each week.
The iPads also allow us to play online learning games for maths. The games are selected by our teachers and changed each week to help practise the topic we are covering in maths. We also play Hit the Button to help learn tables and become fast and accurate in answering the questions.
Kahoot is another favourite of ours. Our teachers create quizzes and we each use our iPads to answer the multichoice questions. We get to choose our own Kahoot name each week and aim to be on the winners’ podium at the end of the game.

As swimming is part of our curriculum, we attend six swim lessons each year in the local Coral Leisure swimming pool in the Mall Complex. We are exceptionally lucky to be close to the Mall, so we walk (and talk) there and back. We are in different groups, depending on our swim ability. Everyone is working hard and learning new skills, which makes our teachers very proud of us. Lots of boys are already using the deep end of the pool – magnificent achievement! Well done!

 

Nature Walks

Because the Mall is so close, we have also gone there on Nature Walks. There we saw a variety of trees and identified quite a lot of them. As we had brought the iPads with us, we also took photos and made books on the iPads when we got back. We used the photos we had taken and wrote about the trees that were in the photos. Our teachers printed off the books and we brought them home. They were fabulous.
We also use the outdoors to learn – for example, how the leaves were frozen solid in the frost, and, how glasses can “fog up” when going indoors after being outside in very cold weather.

 

Scientific experiments

Scientific experiments also allow us to construct models of real engineering structures and machines. They are difficult to make, but we don’t give up!

 

Learning through Art

Art is another learning tool – learning about artists and also creating real structures through art.
Ms. Lennon's class learned about the famous artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso painted in many styles but his distorted faces are an example of cubism. He painted distorted faces because he wanted to show many different sides of a person at the same time, rather than just how they looked from the front. He believed that art should not just copy what a camera sees, but should instead show feelings, thoughts, and memories.
We created some of our own art inspired by Picasso.

 

History of the Normans

Ms O’Donovan’s class used the History of the Normans as inspiration for art. The motte & bailey projects taught problem solving along with collaboration in their construction, and, brought out our creative sides when painting them to make them look realistic.

 

Tin whistle

Tin whistle was a huge focus in the first term. Many thanks to Ms Lennon for her trojan work in bringing all of the boys up to a wonderful confidence and skill level in tin whistle. This then enabled all of the boys to perform in a mini concert just before Christmas. Not only were the tin whistles played, but the boys also sang songs and recited poems. Each and every one of them performed spectacularly. The event was attended by a huge number of parents – much to the delight of the boys and their proud teachers.

 

Learning through Play:

While we learn from our books and technology, we also learn lots through play. Our teachers encourage us to use the toys and games that are in the classrooms to play with each other. This is such fun and we become better friends by doing this too. We share the toys and games while also sharing ideas and chat. The rooms can get noisy at times – but the boys are confident that the teachers don’t mind!!!