Welcome to Miss. Duffy's Infant Classroom: Aistear

The Secret Garden

Our socio dramatic area this month is The Secret Garden. We have been having great fun in role as characters from the book 'The secret garden', as a gardener, farmers and shop keepers.

·        We read lots of books themed around Gardens, Spring time and animals. such as ‘The Secret garden', 'Bugs', 'Fantastic Mr. Fox’, ’Chicken Licken', 'Farmer Duck' and many more.

· Literacy- We were very creative with our story writing this month. The children displayed excellent writing skills as they used figurative language to describe 'the secret garden'. All the children's stories are now displayed in the hall behind some 'secret doors'.  We have been recording orders from the garden, writing lists of what flowers and plants we need and taking many phone calls.

Maths- The children have been learning about money. They have been recognising the different coins and counting money. Children had opportunities to buy and sell different garden tools in our role play area.

·   In SESE we have been learning about the life cycle of the frog and the butterfly. We really enjoyed displaying the life cycle of a butterfly using paper plates and pasta. We also were very busy planting sunflowers, runner beans and chives. The children have been observing the growth of our plants and recording in their plant diaries. In geography the children have been observing and naming plants in our local area.

·        In Art we have been constructing butterflies, mushrooms, snails and fruits from the garden. We used marbling inks to create multi coloured butterflies. They look so vibrant and beautiful.

·        Lots of interesting creations were made in junk art such as secret doors, castles, pots and plants, window pots, aeroplanes, butterflies to name a few.

·    This was a very engaging and cross- curricular play topic, enjoyed by the children and just as much by Miss Duffy!! (Pictures to follow)

Welcome to 'The Secret Garden'

Big imaginations in junk art

Taking flower orders

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Aistear Topic- Ireland and the Easter rising 1916

Brilliant Bodhráns!

Working together to build some 'Secret Door'

Our Aistear topic this month was Ireland and the Easter Rising 1916. As part of SESE we were investigating sound. In science we created an Irish instrument (the bodhrán). We investigated how different materials create different sounds, example tin, plastic, wood etc. . We then tested out our bodhráns to hear which bodhrán made high, loud, low or soft sounds. Well done to all our scientists!

Aistear Topic-The Polar Regions

Our socio dramatic (role-play) area last month was ‘The Polar Regions’. We had great fun in role as Polar explorers, Polar animals, Rescue pilots, Paramedics and Vets. What fun we had carrying out expeditions and explorations of the Arctic and Antarctic. We also took care of the polar animals and made many rescues. We recorded in our rescue book any animal injuries

· We read lots of books themed around famous polar explorers such as ‘The Adventures of Tom Crean’, ‘Shackleton’, ‘Snow bear’ The Voyage of the Titanic’, ‘Penguin’, ‘Polar Bear’s Dream’ We’re going on a Polar Bear Hunt’, ‘Wellington Penguin’ and many more.

· Also we wrote about lots of polar animals and recorded facts.

· Also in Literacy we learned about Procedural writing and the features of it. In order to put our new skills on to paper we made hot chocolate in class and then wrote ‘how to make hot chocolate’.

· For SESE we looked at the adventures of Tom Crean and wrote our own Diary entries. We also identified where the Arctic and Antarctic are placed on the globe. We learned about significant events such as the sinking of the Titanic. As well as that we studied and observed the life of Inuit’s and their culture. We took a closer look at the spectacular Northern Lights.

· In Art we have been using our drawing and blending skills to create the beautiful Northern Lights, which are on display in the corridor.

· Lots of interesting creations were made in junk art such as snow mobiles, igloos, penguins, telescopes/binoculars, cameras, the Titanic, Terra Nova, sleds, Inuit’s and many more.

· In Science the children worked in groups to experiment with materials. The children found out which materials were waterproof and which were not. We also investigated what materials best keep us warm (Insulation)

This was a fantastic play topic, enjoyed by us all!