April 2018
Having returned fully refreshed after our Easter break, the Middle Room classes settled back in and continued working on lots of different topics and activities over the course of April. It was also a special month for 2nd Class as they took part in their First Confession and are looking forward to continuing their preparations for their First Holy Communion in May.
Space was a big part of our activities over the course of this month as we looked more closely at the Earth, the moon and the Sun. We also looked at the solar system and the other planets which can be found there. In History, 1st and 2nd Class then listened to the story of the Space Race, recording some of the big events and putting the different parts of the story in order. 3rd Class meanwhile began looking at the Vikings including who they were, how they came to Ireland and some of the changes they brought here.
Our art activities involved both drawing and painting this month with everyone having the chance to design their own king’s palace and kingdom and also trying out some different painting methods. These included flick painting and night sky painting on foil, as well as creating our own fingerprint characters taking part in lots of different fun activities. Preparations with the school choir for Confirmation continued, while our own music activities focused on music from other places including songs from places such as China.
March 2018
With lots of signs of Springtime and new growth to be seen this month, the Middle Room began by looking at some of the ways they had grown and changed themselves over the past number of years. Having brought in some photos of ourselves from when we were babies, we compared ourselves to how we looked today and also talked about the things people needed to help them to grow and be healthy.
As the 17th of March drew closer we looked again at the story of St. Patrick. We listened to his story of how he arrived and then returned to Ireland and learned more about why he is so important as our patron saint. To help celebrate this special day we created some St. Patrick’s Day decorations during our art activities including door hangers and paper weaves, while also continuing work on our clay tiles and pots.
We also had a special visitor to our classroom this month as Suzanne Dempsey arrived from Roscommon County Council to look at all the work we had done as part of our Green Schools project. She was very impressed with our noticeboard and art work and all the information we were able to share about being a global citizen. We were also able to show her our new composter which Bernie, our caretaker, helped us to set up and which we are looking forward to using over the coming months.
Our new composter which Bernie helped us to set up this month:
February 2018
It was busy month in the middle room as we looked forward to all the activities we had coming up during the Spring. In the classroom we started work on lots of new and different topics such as length in Maths agus An Teilifís as Gaeilge. We also continued our new oral language activities by practicing our conversation skills and discussing lots of different topics and subjects in pairs and groups.
We celebrated the feast of St. Brigid and looked more closely at who she was and the kindness she showed to other people. We looked back at the story of her special cloak and got the chance to make our own St. Brigid’s cloaks using hessian in art. We also used some rushes to practice making our St. Brigid’s crosses.
In other art activities we made texture pictures using different types of pasta pieces, practiced some actual weaving using our looms we had made in January and began our work with clay creating different sculptures and pots.
We had our last swimming class in Aura leisure this month which everyone enjoyed and we continued our work on activities around Global Citizenship for our Green Flag. Everyone also took part in lots of activities as part of Catholic Schools Week including a special prayer service where we all got the chance to come together to say some special prayers together as a school. Meanwhile 2nd Class are continuing their preparation for their First Confession and First Holy Communion which are coming up in the next few weeks.
January 2018
As we settled back into school for our second term we started by having the opportunity to try out and practice some different types of writing. 1st Class practiced writing invitations for people to different events, while 2nd and 3rd Class tried out writing some narratives of their own. In our Geography 3rd class discussed climate and examined and compared the weather in places like Norway, Egypt and Dangan! Our Science activities this month focused on how our teeth grow and develop and the different types of teeth found in humans and animals. We also looked at different types of migrating birds and the journeys they take each year to find somewhere warmer to spend their Winters.
Our Green Schools committee also visited our class this month to let us know about the work they are doing and to explain the problem of plastic for the environment and how we can help to make it better.
Our Art covered lots of areas this month with printing, drawing and fabric and fibre activities all happening across January. 3rd class had the chance to try some observational drawing using shells from the beach and got to make their own weaving looms which they will be using to do some weaving in the coming weeks. 2nd Class tried out some circle printing activities making lots of colourful patterns while 1st Class created lots of new and interesting colour shades in their colour mixing activity.
2nd Class continued preparation for their First Holy Communion as they took part in another special mass as part of Do This In Memory Of Me while everyone also started swimmimg lessons in Aura Carrick On Shannon. We also who a visit from Fred The Party Professor this month who put on a show which everyone enjoyed – especially Micheál, who was lucky enough to be chosen to have a special pirate costume – made from balloons!
December 2017
The excitement was growing in the Middle Room this month as we knew it wouldn’t be too long before Christmas would be upon us. Like the Junior and Senior classes we were also busy preparing for our Christmas carol service this month. While 3rd class joined in with the songs and activities being practiced by Ms. Foley and the Senior Room, 1st and 2nd class continued work on the songs we hoped to perform. Everyone worked hard practicing our singing and we hoped that songs like “Joy To The World” and “While Shepherds Watched” could help us tell a simple story of the real meaning of Christmas.
The day of the Christmas concert was a very busy one as we boarded the bus that morning along with 4th Class to go to see a performance of “The Wizard Of Oz” in Drumshambo Vocational School. We were all very impressed by the sets, costumes and performances of all the pupils involved and we all had a great day out.
That night we arrived at the church in Dangan to perform in our Christmas concert. We really enjoyed watching the Junior Room’s Sleepy Shepherd play before we started our own performance. We all sang really well and everyone really enjoyed our Christmas story. We then got the chance to listen to 3rd Class and the Senior Room’s excellent singing as they performed along with Eleanor Shanley.
In the final week we took part in other Christmas activities like making our own snow globes and model reindeers before receiving a visit from Santa Claus who had a special Christmas present for each one of us. On our last day we packed up our things and looked forward to spending Christmas at home with all our families!
October 2017
It was another busy month in the Middle classroom as we started to get ready for the arrival of Winter and Halloween. We did lots of work on storytelling this month, firstly by listening to the stories “When Jessie Came Across The Sea” and “Seven For A Secret”. Then we were lucky enough to visit Carrick library for a storytelling workshop with writer Alan Nolan. Alan has written lots of books for children and was able to tell us how he comes up with his ideas and show us how he does some of his illustrations.
In the classroom we spent time looking at food across some of the different subjects. In Science we discussed the food pyramid and looked at how we can try to have a balanced diet while in History we talked with our parents and grandparents about the foods they had when they were our age. Third class also looked at some of the foods which are mostly imported and exported from Ireland. With Halloween on the way we looked at some Halloween traditions from the past and the stories behind some of our Halloween traditions.
It was a busy month in other parts of the school as well. First our caretaker Bernie helped us to plant some tulips in our school garden which we’ll be able to move to other parts of the school once Spring arrives. We also had a visit from Garda Pilkington who told us about being safe at Halloween and when we’re in the car with our parents. The whole school took part in a special prayer service for the World Day Of Prayer and our Green School committee made a presentation letting us know about the theme for this year’s Green flag which we’ll be getting working on again after the mid term break.
September 2017
1st, 2nd and 3rd class were keen to share all they had been up to over the holidays on their return to school. Everyone had gotten a little bigger and taller over the summer so we looked at all the changes that have happened to us since we were first born and how the foods we eat in Ireland have changed since our parents and grandparents were young.
We also looked at the changes we were starting to see in some different living things now that we were in Autumn and at the parts of some different trees and plants and how they worked. 3rd Class also examined the work of the farmer at this time of the year, while in Art we started the year with some painting and printing, creating our own family portraits and using different techniques like collography to create different prints and patterns.
Bernie and Michael helped us to dig some of the potatoes from our school garden which had been growing over the Summer and we were able to see how they could be turned into chips for us to taste! Our soccer trainer Michael also returned to the school and will be taking us for coaching over the next few weeks. 3rd class also started their music and singing lessons with Ms. Foley and are looking forward to more of the lessons over the coming months!
