Distance learning 1

Hello children and welcome to the Junior Infant page.  Ms Deery, Ms Martin, Mr Kelly and Ms O’Sullivan all say hello and hope you are all keeping well.

We know you are all missing school so we have some activities and ideas for you to do that will help you practise all that you have been learning this year.

Dear Parents We hope you will find this list useful. Please do as much or as little as suits your circumstance. These are just suggestions and should cause no additional stress at this difficult time.

English

• Books books books! Read lots of stories and non-fiction books with the children.
  • Read the title, tell the children who the author is and who the illustrator is.
  • Read the ‘blurb’ at the back of the book and look at the cover.
  • As you read, point to the words.
  • Talk about what might happen in the story; what do you think it is about; what do you think will happen?
  • As you are reading let the children look at the pictures. Ask them what they think might happen next.
  • When you are finished the story talk to the children about what happened, ask them questions about things that happened.
  • If the children like a particular book you can read it again and again.

• There are lots of online resources for books and storytelling.
  • https://www.storylineonline.net/
  • https://www.facebook.com/abitlost/videos/2758491730933410/
  • https://www.instagram.com/p/B-CaKWLh0yc/
  • https://www.storynory.com/
  • com has lots of children’s story read alouds.

• Revise some of the sounds we have covered. We have covered all the letters in the alphabet except v w x y. Children can sing the song and do the action associated with the sound.  All Jolly Phonics songs are available on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2HYM9VXz9k
  • Practise reading and writing three letter words like cat, mat sat. Write the word for the children to blend the letters together e.g. caaaaat, ssssaaaaat etc.

• Choose one of the following activities to practise these sounds.
• Play I spy. Remember to use the sound not the letter name e.g. I spy with my little eye something beginning with the sound sssssss
• Go on a sound/letter hunt. Find the letter s in a story book etc.
• How many words can you think of that begin with the sound.
• Mystery bag/box. Put some items or pictures in a bag and have the children identify the sound it begins with e.g. dice, doll, drum
• Hop to the letter game. Write sounds on a page and place on the floor around the room. Call out a sound and the child hops to the sound.
• https://www.starfall.com/h/abcs/
• https://www.starfall.com/h/ltr-classic/
• https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5wjSELuLe4&list=PLJHJQ43Fl8wgSJI4TRkDGhOp_QZBnoACk song for each letter sound.

• Writing – letters c, o and a.

• Remember the letters start at the top and go around to the left.
• Write the letter in the air with their pointing finger.
• The children can use their fingers to ‘write’ letters on your back or their brothers and sisters. Then swap and write the letter on their back.
• Put some flour on a tray and let the children write the letter with their finger.
• Encourage the children to hold their pencil correctly.
• The children can draw a picture of their ‘news’. Mam or Dad can write down what is happening in the picture.
• The children can practise writing their names with different colours.

Maths

• Counting:
  Forwards:  1-20
  Backwards: 10- 1
• Shapes: can you find the following shapes around your house? Rectangle,square, circle, triangle, diamond.
• Focus on the number 5:
  Find 5 things in your bed room. Pick 5 things and tidy them away. Can you find 5 spoons in your kitchen? Count 5 things from your fridge.
  CA you practice writing the number 5? Remember all our numbers start at the top.
  Draw his hat, his back and his belly -5.
  Adding: can you add items up to 5?  E.g: 2 forks and 3 spoons
• Measurement
  The words to use with your child are:
  Long, short, tall, wide, narrow, longer, shorter, wider than, longest, shortest.
  
  These words are important as they are the language that the students would be learning  in school to talk about measurement.
  
  Look around your room - can you find 5 items and sort them -
  
  Length - longest to shortest? Now find 5 items in your living room - put them in order staring with the longest - shortest .
  
  If you have Lego maybe you could make differs size towers and see which is the shortest/longest?
  
  How many steps from your front door to your gate? How many steps from the kitchen to your room? Which is longest? Shortest?
  
  Here are some links for websites that you can use to help with maths
  crickweb.co.uk(key stage 1)
  www.topmarks.co.uk

Gaeilge

• Cula4 has lots of different shows that you can watch as Gaeilge, like ‘Spongebob Squarepants’, ‘Dónall Dána’ and ‘Alvin agus na Chipmunks’. Log on to https://www.cula4.com/en/ and pick a new show to watch each day.
• We learnt all about the weather in both English and Irish this year. Parents and guardians, why not ask us the question ‘Cén saghas lae é?’ and hear us answer as Gaeilge ‘Tá/níl an lá té/fuar/fliuch’. Log on to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nWybb-X6Q8 and watch some weather forecasts as Gaeilge. You can also become a meteorologist and create your own weather forecasts on https://www.cula4.com/games/aimsir/index.html.
• 10@10 is a fantastic way to keep active and an excellent brain break. Give it a go as Gaeilge on https://rtejr.rte.ie/10at10/.

S.E.S.E

Dublin Zoo have live webcams from three different animal exhibits; the penguins, the elephants and the African Safari. You can even watch the penguins being fed at 2.30pm! Log on to https://www.dublinzoo.ie/animals/animal-webcams/ and pick your favourite animal. Watch them for a little while and see what they do while no one is in the Zoo.

Possible activities;

• Draw a picture of the animal you chose to study.
• Find out 3 new pieces of information about the animal.
• If your chosen animal didn’t live in the zoo, where would they live? Can you find it on a map?
• Do you have any lego, blocks or cardboard boxes at home? If you do, why not make a new enclosure for your chosen animal to live in while in the zoo.

Music

• Listen to a song your parents like. Can you tap a steady beat to the music?.  How does it make you feel? Draw a picture about the song.
• Sing some of the nursery rhymes or songs we have learned, for your parents.
• This music is from a piece called Carnival of the Animals. What animal do you think it is?  How does it make you feel?  Is it fast or slow?  Is it loud or quiet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE4CATvZ188
• Dance to one of your favourite pieces of music

PE

• Create an obstacle course in your house or back garden.
• If you can go outside, practise some of the GAA skills Amanda from St Peregrines’ taught us.
• 'Go Noodle' online channel for movement.
• 'The Body Coach TV kid’s workouts
• 'Cosmic Kids Yoga' online channel
• 10@10-10 minutes of exercise (https://rtejr.rte.ie/10at10/)
• Stretches/Jumping Jacks/Lunges

Art and Crafts

• Drawing and colouring
• Make an Easter card or a birthday card.
• Junk Art – This involves making art and crafts using junk from around the house such as: old magazines, cardboard tubes, tissue paper, wrapping paper, string, bottle tops, ribbon, egg boxes, wool, old greeting cards, glue, glitter and crayons. They can make robots, Easter decorations, animals, flowers, the only limits are the children’s imagination. 
• There are lots of How to draw videos on youtube. It’s amazing what the children can draw when they follow the instructions.
• There are lots of free colouring pages available online too.