During Science Week second class enjoyed many activities.  We explored air pockets with water and an orange, they created their own lemonade using water, sugar, baking soda and lemon juice.  We created a hurricane in a bottle and explored the idea of an air vortex.  In Maths we worked on symmetry and created Rangoli art on graph paper.  On Friday the children worked in groups to create a parachute for a character of their choice – the children had to problem solve and engineer a parachute that made their character slow down before hitting the ground.  They demonstrated their parachute to each other and then we gave feedback and the children had time to modify their design!

A collection of some Halloween themed classwork.  The children had great fun exploring the procedural writing genre using spells!  They then used their knowledge to create their own spell 😊!

In STEM we had great fun creating a pumpkin catapult using various materials!

This was a two step art lesson – the first day we drew our ghosts – being careful not to get sharpie on our lovely new desks!  Next we coloured the boarder in marker and used water to spread the marker.  The next day we finished our ghosts adding in all their delicious sweets!

This week we progressed to adding symbols to our rhymes and a rest!  The children created their own 4 beat bar of music (some even created two!).  They then joined with other children in the class to create longer pieces!

The second and third class children were lucky this week as a lady from the Dogs Trust came to speak to them about dogs!  She brought her fluffy toy dog Bruno as the children and her decided that school wouldn’t be the place for a dog to visit – too much noise and no where to go to the bathroom!  The children learnt about how to approach a dog by following WALT – Walk towards, Ask to pet, Let the dog sniff you, Touch!

We also learnt about what to do if a dog chases you – apparently dogs are much more interested in us if we are running away – it’s like a game 😊

In second class we have been very enthusiastic about nature collecting during Autumn.  We explored Autumn as Gaeilge, in Art and in S.E.S.E.  We discussed animals, their tracks, different insects and signs of Autumn.  The children traced and drew different tracks, we painted over them in autumnal colours and then returned to add in the details in black paint!

Second class explored the work of the sculptor Andy Goldworthy in class and used the natural surroundings of Airfield to create their own temporary sculptures!

Second Class had a very exciting delivery today ! We were all delighted to open the mysterious “Picker Pals” box that arrived in our classroom recently.  We made predictions about what might be inside the box before opening it and finding lots of fun resources!  The children then watched an introductory video to the “Picker Pals” programme and are all very excited to get involved!

As a precursor to Active Schools Week the children made the most of their first Sports’ Day since Junior Infants – the class enjoyed playing games together and snacking before our races, great fun was had by all!

Second class thoroughly enjoyed Active Schools Week with yoga and playball being favourites. In class we tried to incorporate sporting and active activities as much as possible. In English the children created games in groups that involved a hoop/beanbag or no equipment, they then wrote the procedure for how to play the game.  The children then demonstrated how to play the games using bossy, clear language and the rest of the class got the opportunity to play their game!  We completed an orienteering activity around the 3^rd and 4^th class yard which was excellent as the children really had to explore teamwork strategies.

As Gaeilge we focused on active Caitheamh Aimsire – ag dreapadh, ag imirt peile, ag sleamhnú, ag luascadh etc. It was a fantastic week!

Ms. Dolan’s second class attended a “Gallery in the classroom” workshop on zoom that was hosted by the National Gallery of Ireland.  Our tour guide was called Elaine and she guided us through the entrance of the Gallery as well as showing us 5 different pieces of art:

• Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602
• Berthe Morisot, Le Corsage Noir, 1878
• Mainie Jellett, A Composition, 1930s
• Jack B. Yeats, The Liffey Swim, 1923
• Saoirse Wall, Gesture 2, 2014

The children responded to the art – discussing what they liked/didn’t like about the pictures.  Elaine told the children some history about each painting and showed its location in the gallery!  It was a wonderful workshop – the children and adults in the room couldn’t wait to visit the gallery in real life soon!

On World Book Day we all dressed up as our favourite book characters and read our books out to our class pals.

We explored the character of Willy in Anthony Browne’s book “Willy the Wimp”.  Willy changes from the beginning of the book to the end!  We discussed adjectives to describe Willy at the beginning and at the end of the story, and then the children wrote a paragraph describing him.  They also added in a picture.

Art was inspired by our work on Polar Explorers.  We looked artwork by Ted Harrison and the children discussed the colours that he used.  Some children chose to draw other polar animals such as an Arctic Fox or penguins!

We also looked at the book “Lines and Scribbles” by Debora Vogrig.  Children created artwork inspired by the book – adding in a colour of their choice!

During Science Week we enjoyed thinking creatively and scientifically!

Second class completed a STEM activity, they predicted what they were going to do with 20 paper ear buds, 10 cubes, some sweets & erasers, and either blue tac or sellotape.  I then asked the children to create Bone Bridge that could hold the sweet & erasers!

We also took part in activities to develop our Maths Eyes, where we took pictures of things in the classroom with our Maths Eyes.  Asking questions and answering each others questions!

We also had some show and tell activities as well as some organic chats by the class library!

In S.E.S.E we looked at Lighthouses!  We looked at the different parts of the lighthouse as well as locating some on a map in Ireland.

We then read the book ‘Hello Lighthouse’ by Sophie Blackall!  We then discussed a Day in the Life of a Lighthouse Keeper.  The children wrote a recount as the keeper!

We also used the book to discuss adjectives!  We developed nouns, adjectives and “-ing” words to do with the sea and we created Sea Poems.

During Art the children created two backgrounds, one for the back of their poem and the other for their lighthouse!  Thankfully we had Mrs. Power to help us with the painting :)!

Second Class have been exploring the Mé Féin theme throughout September.  We finished off all our great work – by creating “Mo theach” with all our information!

After reading The Dot Second Class created Freeze Frames based on the phrase “You can do it!”.  The children froze after 3 and then the rest of the children discussed what they were doing.  Their scenarios included teaching others to look after nature, teachers encouraging children in class, encouraging others when running in a race and supporting a fellow worker on the building site!

Second Class had a wonderful trip to Airfield.  We had lots of fun learning about different animals and how they contribute to the farm.  We also learnt about the flowers and crops that are grown in Airfield.  We went on a frog search and even caught some in jars!  Finally we had lots of fun playing the the playground.

We all had a fantastic day!

Second class had a very exciting visitor at school today.  Jack Flash, the magician, came in as a special treat!  He did some really cool magic tricks and some very impressive stunts and even had Mr Edgar performing a trick!

Sports day was a little bit different in second class this year!  We had lots of fun trying different sports.  We did orienteering, relay races, obstacle courses and circuits.  We also had an ice cream to cool us down at the end of the day!

On a lovely sunny day last Tuesday we tried to line up as the Irish flag with the colours in order, but we had a lot more green than white and orange!!

In Second Class we made slime to celebrate Science Week 2020.  We mixed together pva glue, contact lens solution and baking powder to make the slime.  We had so much fun making it!

Second Class had a fantastic trip to Olympian Gymnastics Club in Tallaght.  We had loads of fun learning new skills and practised walking on the beam and using the bars.

Second class made some spooky slime during a science lesson to celebrate Hallowe’en.  We had loads of fun mixing together pva glue, baking powder and contact lense solution to make it.  Happy Hallowe’en from Ms Gallagher’s Second Class!

Second class had a wonderful trip to Greenan Farm in Wicklow.  We had loads of fun playing games with wheelbarrows and learnt about the history of the farm.  We saw loads of farm animals and even got to feed a few of them too.  The best part was all the fun we had in the maze, which was very tricky to find our way out!

Second class went on a school tip to Olympian Gymnastics’ brand new location last week.  We had loads of fun learning new skills like cartwheels, handstands and scorpion kicks.  We also had an amazing bouncy castle at the end.