Wednesday 10 June 2015

Dáil Éireann

Thugamar cuairt ar Dáil Éireann inniu lenár gComhordaitheoir Pobal. Caithfidh mé a rá gur bhain mé an-thaitneamh as an lá. Bhuaileamar leis an Aire Oideachais, Jan O'Sullivan, ann. Labhair sí leis na daltaí ar feadh tamaill agus sheas sí isteach do ghrianghraf ar chéimeanna Teach Laighean linn. Tá Músaem Seandálaíochta na hÉireann díreach in aice leis agus é saor in aisce mar sin chaitheamar uair a'chloig an-thaitneamhach ann. Ar ais linn chuig an mbus agus stopamar ar an mótarbhealach ag Junction 14 le haghaidh greim le n-ithe faoin ngrian. Cheannaigh na buachaillí uachtar reoite do na daoine fásta ar fad ... chomh bródúil astu! Lá álainn ach traochta anois agus cuntas míosúil le críochú!
We visited Dáil Éireann today on a trip organised by our Community Coordinator. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the day ... the sunshine was an added bonus! We met Jan O'Sullivan, our Minister for Education who took time out of her busy schedule to speak to the children and pose for a  photograph on the steps of Leinster House. Once we finished our tour of  the Dáil we popped into the National Archaeology Museum (it's right next door and more importantly for us ... FREE!) We spent a very enjoyable hour wandering around the exhibits. Back on the bus we headed for home, stopping off at Junction 14 on the motorway for a bite to eat under the glorious blue skies. Some of my very generous boys bought 99s for the adults ... I was so proud of this very thoughtful gesture! A great day, wrecked now and I still have to finish my cuntas míosúil ...yuck!

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Plandaí! Plants!

Táimid ag fiosrú plandaí faoi láthair san eolaíocht. Thangthas ar cheacht iontach in Window on the World Science de chuid edco. Go leor eolais ann. D'aistrigh mé go Gaeilge é agus chuireas ar ActivInspire é.
D'fhoghlaim na páistí faoi chodanna an phlanda agus an feidhm atá leo, faoi cealla phloem & xiléim, faoi thrasghalú agus faoi fhotaisintéis.
An rud is mó a thaithin liomsa faoin gceacht seo ná go raibh ceithre thurgnamh le déanamh. Is fuath liom nuair a bhíonn orm dul sa tóir ar rudaí chun turgnaimh eolaíochta a dhéanamh ach le trí cinn den na turgnaimh seo ní raibh mórán i gceist.
We're currently looking at plants in science. I found a great lesson / series of lessons in EDCO's Window on the World Science book. Lots of great information, I translated it into Irish on an ActivInspire flipchart.
The children learned all about the parts of a plant and their functions, phloem & xylem cells, transpiration and photosynthesis.
What I like most was that there were 4 experiments going along with the lesson. Now I hate when you have to search high up, low down and all over the internet for equipment for science lessons but thankfully three of these experiments were very do-able. (The 4th involved pond weed ... hmmm .... nope!)

Turgnamh 1: An tábhacht solas na gréine don fhotaisintéis
Na rudaí a bhí uaim ná planda (geranium ó Lidl inné!), scragall stáin agus fáiscíní páipéir.
Clúdaíonn tú cuid de dhuilleog amháin le scragall stáin (coimeádann na fáiscíní páipéir é). Fágann tú é in áit atá geal (thuas ar leac na fuinneoige) agus tar éis cúpla lá déanann tú seiceáil air. Éasca péasca!

Experiment 1: The importance of sunlight for photosynthesis
All I needed was a plant (geranium from Lidl), tinfoil and paper clips. You cover part of one leaf with the tinfoil, secured with paper clips and place in a bright part of the room (we put ours on the windowsill) and then you check it a few days later to see the results. Easy peasy!

Seo grianghraf den phlanda agus an méid a scríobhamar fúthu (ná tabhair aon aird ar mo scileanna (nó easpa scileanna) ealaíona)
Here's a photo of the plant and what we wrote on the board (please ignore my drawing skills  ... or should that be lack of drawing skill!)



Turgnamh 2: An féidir trasghalú a fheiceáil?
Planda eile ó Lidl don cheann seo agus mála plaisteach mór trédhearcach ... ná roghnaigh ceann le poill ann mar a rinne mise! Cuir an planda ar fad isteach sa mhála agus dún go daingean é. Tar éis tamaillín ba chóir go bhfeicfidh tú braoiníní uisce ar an dtaobh istigh den mhála. Rinneamar é timpeall meán lae agus chonaiceamar uisce timpeall am dul abhaile.

Experiment 2: Can you see transpiration?
Grab another Lidl gernaium and a large, clear plastic bag ... try not to pick one with holes in it like I did! Put the whole plant in the bag and close it securely. After a while you should begin to see little droplets of water on the inside of the bag. We did this at midday and saw the water by home time. 


Turgnamh 3: Conas a thaistealaíonn uisce tríd an ngas
Ar mo thuras go Lidl inn phioc mé suas roinnt soilire. Mar aon leis an soilire beidh dathú bia, próca agus uisce uait. Roghnaigh roinnt píosaí soilire le duilleoga orthu agus cur iad isteach i bpróca le huisce agus dathú bia. Tar éis cúpla uair a' chloig feicfidh tú go bhfuil an dath tar éis taisteal chuig na duilleoga.

Experiment 3: How water travels through the stem
On my trip to Lidl yesterday I picked up some celery...not for my dinner! As well as celery you will need food colouring a jar and water. Choose some celery stalks with leaves and put them in your jar with water and food colouring. After a couple of hours the leaves will have started to take on the colour of the food colouring.







Wednesday 3 June 2015

Cuimhní Rang 6


Táimid ag druidim i dtreo deireadh na bliana agus deireadh leis an mbunscoil do mo rangsa. Chonaic mé an gníomhaíocht seo aréir agus rinneamar é sa rang inniu. Roth cuimhneacháin is ea é seo. Bhí an-am againn ag plé na smaointe agus scéalta greannmhara ó na blianta atá caite ag na páistí sa scoil. Cruth ciorcalach atá ann agus é roinnte suas ina 8 gcuid, ceann do gach bhliain sa bhunscoil. Tá spás ann chun an rang a scríobh agus ansin pictiúr de chuimhne ar leith sna spásanna móra. Tá an teimpléad le fáil anseo. (íoslódáil via Google Drive)

As we move ever closer to the holidays, my 6th class are reaching the end of their primary education. I spotted this Memory Wheel activity yesterday and we tried it out in class today. We had a great time remembering all the funny stories and things that happened over the years. The children drew a picture of their favourite memory from each class in each of the eight spaces in the wheel. The Memory Wheel template is available here. (download via Google Drive)



Fuair mé an smaoineamh iontach seo ó Réalta Ranga.

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Fáilte

Fáilte chuig an mblag beag seo inar mhaith liom scéalta, smaointe agus acmhainní a roinnt le múinteoirí eile.
Welcome to my blog where I would like to share stories, ideas and resources with my fellow teachers.
Beagáinín fúm féin. Is múinteoir bunscoile mé le 14 bliana anuas (!! cár imigh na blianta !!). Tá mo shaol gairmiúil caite agam sa Ghaelscoil céanna i rólanna éagsúla agus tá na rang leibhéil ar fad, nach mór, múinte agam. I láthair na huaire tá sé de phribhléid agam Rang a Sé a mhúineadh. Taitníonn an dúshlán a bhaineann leis na daltaí is sinsirí a mhúineadh liom.
A little about myself first. I'm a primary school teacher with 14 years experience (!! where have the years gone !!). I've spent my whole career teaching in the same Gaelscoil in various roles and have taught most class levels. Currently I'm teaching 6th class and I have to admit that I love the challenge of teaching the most senior pupils in the school.
Tá grá agam don Ghaeilge, don litearthacht, don Stair agus don teicneolaíocht. Bhí sé i gcónaí i gcúl m'aigne agam blag a thosú agus trí bheith ag féachaint ar na blaganna iontacha atá ann fuair mé an spreagadh a bhí uaim. Tá go leor acmhainní cruthaithe agam thar na blianta agus ba bhreá liom iad a roinnt le daoine eile.
I love Irish, literacy, History and technology. It was always in the back of my mind to start a blog and I finally got the courage to start this one after seeing all the inspiring teacher blogs out there. I have created lots of resources over the years and I love sharing them with others.
Tá siopa TPT cruthaithe agam agus is féidir acmhainní a cheannach ansin. Tabhair cuairt air anseo. Beidh acmhainní eile á roinnt agam saor in aisce anseo ar an mblag.
I have set up my own TPT shop where my resources can be purchased. Visit it here. I will also be sharing other free resources here on the blog.
Bí cinnte go leanann tú mé ar Facebook agus na meánsóisialta eile. (Beidh siad á chruthú agam diaidh ar ndiaidh)
Be sure to follow me on Facebook and other social media. (Bare with me while I set them up!)