Independent Learning:

5th and 6th class pupils are encouraged to learn and discover outside of the classroom and outside of teacher's instructions. This independent learning can then be shown/explained/demonstrated to other pupils in the class.
We already have had several examples;

Illia made a video explaining how to download Scratch (computer programming software that we are having great fun with!) 

He also gave a demo this afternoon in how to select a "sprite" and how to move them about the screen.Thanks Illia!

Oisin loved the video clip of Felix Baumgartner skydiving last Monday. Felix wanted to break world records with his incredible jump.
Oisin made a model of the earth with a minature Felix in descent past the stars! Very impressive :)

Emma is a keen gymnast, and she loved the London Olympics this summer. She made a chart detailing Irish gymnast Kieran Behan's bravery and the top scores for womens gymnastics.

Hopefully we will be cheering Emma in Olympics of the future!

New games to try!

I have added lots of new links to interesting websites.
Some of the games are real puzzlers!
Good luck :)



What in the world is money?
International Trade
Tomb of the unknown mummy
Animal Classification

Mad for Maths!

We have been tackling some tricky maths problems lately, and attempting to explain our logic and thinking.
To help strengthen our maths knowledge, we have signed up for Maths Week Ireland, where we will be participating in maths activities.
There will be a national competition to see who can spot maths in daily life; more details in school soon.
Using the Manga High password you recieved, try out some of their challenges.
Manga High

Hot steppers!

Pupils in my classroom have each recieved a pedometer as part of the "Global Children's Challenge".

Each day we will record how many steps each pupil took the previous day.

The global daily average is 15,000!!

That's alot of steps so get out and get moving!

Here is the link to the official website to find out more....
gccjunior.org

Eggy issues!

Lindsay went to market with a basket of eggs.

She sold half of her eggs and half an egg to her first customer.

She sold half of the remainder and half an egg to her second customer.

She sold half of her remaining eggs and half an egg to her third customer.

At close of market, Lindsay had 9 eggs left.

How many did she have to start with?

(clue: the eggs were not hard-boiled!!)

The Lorax

The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1972.
It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler.
Have a look at the Lorax Project below to see how we can all help the Lorax!
Your first project will be to create a diorama from the story.
More information will be given in class......

The Lorax Project

Here are our dioramas! Hope you like them :)