ThinkWithYourInk
6th Class St.Mary’s, Blessington
Friday 28th of October
The votes have been counted and we the final selection of photos have been made for the 2023 calendar. The photograph that got the most votes was Moonrising waters by Donagh followed closely by To the Moon & Back by Jack, Sunrise Swim by Méabh and Sunbeam on the Water by Cillian
The Halloween Walk will take place this morning and we must also complete our Quizboards today. Well done to everyone who recorded their podcast yesterday and it will be up on the site next week. We will also move seats right now.
Thursday 27th of October
We will be moving seats today so that we are ready to start straight into work when we return after the mid term break. Well done to Emily, Aidan & Chaz who won awards for their hard work during Maths week and the year until now.
Kiki, Eimantas, Méabh, Daniela and Katymay had their poems submitted to Ms. Nugent. Unfortunately there could only be one winner and congratulations Eimantas who won best poem. Let us take a read and comment on Lucy’s poem today.
The Maths test was excellent yesterday morning and it was great to see the clear explanations in your copy for questions 3 & 5.
20 of the 46 photography voting cards are in and there are 2 photos already taking a clear lead. All voting cards must be in this morning and the results will be announced in class later today. 13 photos will be selected in total, the photo with the highest number of votes will be n the front cover of the 2023 calendar and the remaining 12 photos will each cover a month of the year.
All groups got the chance to audition for the October podcast (Newspaper Debate) yesterday. Many groups had prepared very well and it was a joy to listen to them. We will record it today but unfortunately it will not be edited in time to listen to on Friday morning. It will be edited over the mid term break and we will listen to it on the 1st day back. The 3 groups that will record today are …
Megan, Emily & Tara for the article on removing sweets from the shop counter.
Méabh, Chloe, Daniela & Alex for the article on the expansion of the Blessington Greenway
Eimantas, Chaz & Lucy for the ban of meat ads in the Dutch City of Haarlem.
News Story of the Day
Wednesday 26th of October
You can now vote on the photographs. You received 2 voting cards each, one for you and one for a parent of sibling. You cannot vote for your own photograph, however a family member can. You can only include one photo person in your list of 3. Thursday morning is the return deadline for voting cards.
Méabh brought in a phone that was 50 or so years old. It led us onto talking about phonebooks and how almost everyone in the country had their name, address and phone number in a phonebook sent to homes every year. It is hard get your head around this now as anyone from anywhere could just call you. Excellent artefact Méabh and great presentation. Lucy is also presenting this week.
Podcast auditions will take place tomorrow with recording on Thursday. There is also a new event added to a calendar.
Assembly is at 9:30 today followed by the Maths Test and we will look at Anna’s Tuairisc Nuachtáín this morning.
News Story of the Day
Cattle and Climate Change
Tuesday 25th of October
I hope the Zoom went well with Deacon Gerry last night. Remember also that school hometime is at 2:15 both today and tomorrow because of parent teacher meetings.
All Halloween poems have been published on this site. I was supposed to select 3 poems but it was very difficult to separate the top 5 so I will let Ms. Nugent choose. The winning poems are from Kiki, Eimantas, Méabh, Daniela and Katymay. Ms. Nugent will select a winning poem from these 5.
We completes a Sketchnote on the 1916 Rising today and Dublin Lockout of 1913. Here are some examples. You will use this information also in your Electronic quizboard that we will begin building laster today.
I am just waiting on the names on the final few photos. You will receive 2 voting cards this evening. One for you and one for a parent or sibling at home. You will write down the name and photographer of your 3 favorite photos. Votes will be counted on Thursday morning.
We finished our Tuarisc Nuachtáin yesterday. We will look back at one each day and try to learn from each one we read. Today we will read Katiemay’s Tuairisc Nuachtáin. As with all written work published on the site, make sure to get a parent to read your work and to read another students work and leave a question or comment about it.
Monday 24th of October
Our final week of work before the mid-term break and can you believe we have a quarter of 6th class already complete. We have an extremely busy week ahead. It is hoped that we will finally go on our Walk & Talk today if we get the final 3 permission slips in, we will complete a Sketchnote and an electronic quiz board on the 1916 Rising and Dublin Lockout, we must record our podcast.
We will complete our poems today. 2 poems have already been published on the site. They are from Jack and Oisín.
Beans are also updated, there is no homework this week 🙂 and there is the Halloween Walk on Friday.
Great to see new photos sent in over the weekend. I must have names for all photos asap and voting cards will be handed out tomorrow.
News Story of the Day
1916 Executions
Friday 21st of October
The closing date for the Photography competition has now passed, Megan submitted the final photo. I will need all unnamed photos to have names by Monday morning as voting cards will be handed out on Tuesday. You will receive 2 voting cards, one for you and one for a parent. You must look through the photos online and select your top 3. Shout out also to Oisín who sent i his lighting video from Wednesday night.
There will be no learning or written homework next week thanks to the effort all class participants put in during the basketball league. It was capped off was 2 brilliant finals today. Well done to Utah Jazz and hard luck to the Washington Wizards.
We began a tuairisc nuachtáin today and we are really beginning to put quality Irish sentences together. We will continue to work on our vocal, verbs and reamhfhocals up to Christmas and this will give us a really good base for longer writing pieces.
There has been a change to our project schedule with Stone Age Cooking now moving out to November. We will complete Electric Quizboards on the 1916 Rising and Dubin Lockout next week instead.
We will complete our Maths Championship tomorrow and I also want to give a shout out to Jack who answered Q8 on the Big Maths Zoom Quiz last Tuesday. The question had a Venn diagram with a cube, cylinder and cone at the left side, a cuboid in the intersection and a pyramid in the right side. We all tried top find a relationship between the shapes, we looked at faces, vertices and edges but nothing seemed to work. We were just about to submit the answers when Jack spotted that the beginning and end letters of the words was the key. Brilliant.
News Story of the Day
Impossible folding paper problem
Thursday 20th of October
Well done on the school trip to the Pearse Museum yesterday. Declan our museum guide was delighted to host us and he was really impressed with how attentive everyone was as we walked through the museum.
The basketball finals will take place at 12 o’clock today. We will begin Halloween poems today and they must be into Ms. Nugent by next Tuesday.
New photos have been added to Photography , just 1 day left to submit. It is hoped that everyone will submit at least 1 photo. Oisín has also submitted of the lightning last night.
Wednesday 19th of October
The bus plans to depart for St. Enda’s at 8:45am and it will return to the school 3pm tomorrow. Bring a good lunch, rain gear and there is no need to bring money. Phones will be left in school before we depart.
Tuesday 18th of October
Great start to the week and it is great to have another of the newspaper reports for the podcast complete. Regarding the report on the Blessington Greenway today there was some confusion as to whether the bridges in question already have a walkway. We will look at the bridges in more detail this morning on google maps and maybe try to ask your parents about the bridges also.
All newspaper reports about the chocolate lorry crash are now submitted and published. Make sure to get a parent to read your work and take time out to read another classmates work and leave a comment about their piece. Today we will read and comment on Anna’s report.
Reminder: permission slips for St.Enda’s on Wednesday. I’m waiting on 2 permission slips. All parent teacher meeting times went home today, make sure to give to parents. Who is on artifact duty this week?
It is Maths week and there is a Mega Zoom Quiz just after 1st break today. We will also complete the group stages of the class Tables championship. We will be using Table Wars on the app to complete the championship.
Conor was the first person to purchase a homework pass this year. Enjoy the week without written homework Conor.
As we are visiting St Enda’s tomorrow we will be completing our lessons on the 1916 Rising today and completing a Sketch Note on it.
Donagh sent in 2 amazing photos for the Photography competition. Just 3 days left to get your photos in.
News Story of the Day
Monday 17th of October
We have another busy week ahead, we are going to the Pearse museum on Wednesday (reminder: permission slips), the basketball final is on Thursday, we will complete a lot of work for the podcast next week (read 1 article today and 1 tomorrow ) and we have Stone Age cooking although that may be pushed to next week or beyond if the weather forecast doesn’t improve. If it is pushed until after Halloween, I will replace it with another project. Beans are also updated.
Kiki brought in antique bottles which belonged to her grandfather. Kiki estimated that Byrne Son & Co bottle could be worth as much as 350 euro.
The second bottle Kiki brought in had the words ‘Not TO BE TAKEN’ wrote on it. This bottle was from the Victorian Age.
Before the mid-19th century, anyone could buy poisonous substances over the counter from the grocers. You could purchase deadly rat poison, ammonia, or arsenic and take it home unlabeled in any container you chose to be filled. Rather than pay for the packaging along with the product, people would bring along their freely available domestic containers, such as old food jars and drinks bottles. It comes as little surprise to learn that the inevitable mix-ups happened: hundreds of cases of accidental deaths by poisoning were recorded every year.
The Arsenic Act of 1851 was by the United Kingdom Parliament to try to control the sale of toxic substances. For the first time, sales of arsenic had to be recorded in a register—and only sold to an adult. It was not until the Poisons and Pharmacy Act of 1908 that the use of warning bottles actually became a requirement by law. During this time it was the designers and manufacturers who took the lead and have bottles that would be instantly recognizable by touch. The more standard shapes came in brightly colored glass, featuring unmistakable grooves, bumps, or ridges, all featuring a tactile element that instantly identified a poison bottle by touch. There would be no more mistaking a bottle of carbolic acid for a cough medicine in your dimly lit Victorian home.
Well done Kiki, excellent artifacts and well presented.
6 more newspaper reports have been added. They are from Megan, Timica, Jack, Eimantas, Katynay and Chloe. It was great to see a really high quality of handwriting in these reports. Today we will read and comment on Chloe’s report.
It is also Maths week, there is a Maths Week TV Mega Quiz over zoom on Tuesday at 11:10 along with other activities during the week. Our Maths test is called 2D Shapes.
Just 4 days left to get your photos in. Chloe and Katymay have sent in photos over the weekend.
News Story of the Day
Friday 14th of October
It is Jersey Day today and Kiki will be presenting her artefact today also. It was a busy day yesterday and we did well to complete all we had planned including the maps and the golf ball tower project. I was particularly happy with the Maths test yesterday morning. It was obvious that most students had put a really good effort into preparing for it both at home and in school. Well done.
It is also the final day to request a Parent teacher time for the week after next.
It’s Friday so purchase your Friday treat if you wish to have one at lunchtime. Well done to the Washington Wizards. It is looking like the girls and boys final will take place next Thursday between breaks on the outside court.
We have new photos from Lucy, Eimantas and Jack. Just 1 week left to get your photos in. There will be a vote the week after next in order to decide on the best 12 photos for our 2023 calendar. Hopefully we get our our newspaper reports today. Today we will read and comment on Cillian’s report.
Please show this note to your parents that you received in class yesterday. It is about the Confirmation programme this year. It will be held on Zoom at 7pm on Monday 24th of October.
Almost everyone is the class has registered at this stage but Deacon Gerry is still waiting on the last 1 or 2. Please enrol at this link.
We started and completed our maps for the green schools committee. Our maps highlighted stormwater elements such as ponding, erosion, steep slopes, high points, low points and water flow.
After lunch your task was to build a tower that would hold a golf ball for at least 10 seconds. The bottom of the ball had to be at a height greater than a mug. All you had to build this tower was 4 straws, 7 jelly bears and 10 cocktail sticks. 10 groups set about completing the task with 5 of the 10 groups being successful. Oisin and Tara came up with a number of successful designs. Chloe, Méabh and Daniela were first to complete the task. Other successful groups were Chaz/Eimantas, Liam/Donagh and Cillian/Lucy.
Thursday 13th of October
We forgot to complete this yesterday and we must have it done by lunchtime.
As part of a whole school competition we must draw a school map. As it is part of the green school this map must have a particular focus on stormwater, (where water is gathering (ponding), areas that don’t soak water (impervious surfaces) and where water flows)
We will also complete our Weekly Maths test this morning and a 4 A day. After lunch we will be attempting the Golf Ball Tower challenge.
Oisín has also submitted a new photo to the Photography competition. His photo is called Moonshine Insects. There is just a week and a half left to get your photos in.
5 new newspaper reports have been published including Megan’s cave rescue report. They are called Billy Boy by Alex, Truck Driver Topples Over by Tara, Chocotastrophe by Daniela, Catastrophe by Méabh and Man Trapped in a Cave for 22 Hours buy Megan. Today we will read and comment on Méabh’s report. When your most recent report is published try to get a parent to read it, try also to read 1 or 2 other reports and leave a comment on their work.
We looked at our first newspaper report that we will debate on the October Podcast. It was about a Dutch city that has banned ‘MEAT’ ads in public spaces. The city councilors feel the cattle population is playing a huge role in Global Warming and they will not allow companies promote the eating of meat in their city. You discussed it in your groups and we have made a poster with points in agreement and disagreement. We will look at the 2nd newspaper report on Monday.
News Story of the Day
Wednesday 12th of October
The first of the newspaper reports are published on the site. They are from Kiki (Choc Block), Donagh (Crashing Tragedy of Venice), Cillian (Chocolate Milk Disaster) and Oisín (Super Sabotage of the Chocolate Milk Truck). Today we will read Donagh’s report and write a comment under it.
This exercise really tested your report writing skills as all you were presented with was just this photo as opposed to the Mayo Cave Rescue where all the information was given.
We should finish the remaining reports today.
Yesterday evening you had to read a chapter of Wildflower girl and post an answer to a question on the app. Here are your questions and answers.
I hope learning homework is going well and that you are taking time to look at the Maths Test which we will take on Thursday. Building up to our next podcast which is a debate we will be looking at 3 different newspaper reports and debating them. This is the first newspaper report we will look at.
It was a fantastic night in Scotland for the Irish Women’s football team last night. They have qualified for the World Cup in Australia/New Zealand next summer. There was a very poignant moment during the game also when goal scorer Amber Barrett from Donegal kissed her black armband in a tribute to victims of Donegal explosion last week.
As part of a whole school competition we must draw a school map. As it is part of the green school this map must have a particular focus on stormwater, (where water is gathering (ponding), areas that don’t soak water (impervious surfaces) and where water flows)
News Story of the Day
The Secret of Chromakey
Tuesday 11th of October
GAA today and a Team Building challenge has been added to the diary for this Thursday. Each group will be given a bag containing some straws, toothpicks and gummy bears. They must build a tower at least as tall as a coffee mug and hold a golf ball for 10 seconds.
We will begin work on the 1916 Rising today as it will tie in with our visit to the Pearse Museum next week. We have a Brainbuilder on it, we will also be working out of History book and we will start with The Photo of the Day.
You will take home our class novel this evening and answer a question on the app which I will demonstrate now.
News Story of the Day
The British Empire
Monday 10th of October
The remaining rockets were launched today and we have a winning rocket in Cillian’s & Timica’s rocket. You both receive 5 beans. Well done everyone. If we have a free afternoon someday we must test to see what is the best PSI and water level in order to achieve the best launch.
The conker fights were a nice way to finish off a great week. Chlow made mince meat of Alex’s conker in their battle.
Fantastic presentation from Eimantas today. He brought in a 15 year old phone from 2007 belonging to his Dad. It was a Samsung mobile phone that could text, call and take photos. Phones were getting smaller and smaller every year until Apple launches the iphone in 2007. Phone design changed forever after this. Large screens were now very important with the invention of the touchscreen and the ability to download apps onto phones. Well done Eimantas. Who is presenting this week???
Donagh has left some very positive comments on Naia’s, Callum’s and Chaz’s newspaper reports. Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a nice message about their work Donagh, I’m sure its much appreciated by your classmates.
It is Naia’s last day with us today. It has been great having her with us in 6th class for the past month. She will be hoping to win the semifinal this afternoon before she heads back to Spain tomorrow.
Beans are now updated after the wages on Friday and I hope everyone has registered for Confirmation. A new date has been added to the diary, it is for our October podcast. This month the podcast is called Newspaper Review. It consists of a debate between 2 students on a newspaper article.
News Story of the Day
Friday 7th of October
We have a busy day today. We are straight into the tests this morning followed by Homework corrections. After break there are cross-country trials for Valleymount next week and we must complete all our rocket launches today. A winner will be selected from all the rockets. I believe a height of close to 50 meters was achieved on Wednesday so todays rockets will need to go very high to take the title. It is likely that the conker championship will be postponed until next week.
Deacon Gerry asked that the remaining 7 people register for Confirmation before Friday. The link is at the top of the page. Today is the deadline for the Credit Union Art and make sure to show the Parent Teacher meeting note to your parents.
Well done in the Weekly Maths test yesterday. We are starting to realize that you must ask for help in the days preceding the test whether it is from the teacher or from home. It is great to see many students taking responsibility and finding out what questions are causing problems for them and then acting on it and getting help.
Three new newspaper reports have been added. They are from Callum, Kiki and Chaz and they have done a great job on them. Take a read of them and leave a comment about their work.
Thursday 6th of October
5 rockets have now been launched and we had some amazing launches yesterday. I also learned a lot yesterday from Chaz & Eimantas’s rocket. Their rocket had a small leak and instead of pumping their rocket to 80 psi like all other rockets it could only be pumped to 40 psi. As a result their rocket travelled at a slower speed but there was less turbulence and it travelled straighter as you can see in the video.
We have Dogs Trust at 9:20 and Deacon Gerry will be in after 1st break. Méabh has submitted another photo and has also named all her previous photos, thanks for that.
Also Daniela has taken a lot of time out of her evening to read many newspaper reports and has left a comment on many of them.
Thanks to Jack and Cillian for bringing in dozens of conkers for Friday. We will begin preparing them soon. Try to bring in a shoe lace from home.
As part of our Amber Flag, there will be a Walk n Talk on Friday or early next week. Please try to get these permission slips back in asap.
News Story of the Day
Chopsticks & Rice Grain Trick
Is it possible to lift a bottle full of rice grains with a single chopstick? Yes – and your friends will be amazed!
Wednesday 5th of October
Eventhough we only recorded one launch today, 2 rockets left the launchpad. There was a malfunction with the 1st rocket belonging to Aidan and Oisín and it left the launch pad ahead of schedule and without its exhaust. Meábh and Conor had a successful launch as you can see from the video but its possible they could have reached a greater height if the wind didn’t catch it. We will complete the rest of the launches over the next few days and a video with all launches will be posted then.
We completed chapter 1 of Wildflower girl and we completed a very quick Sketchnote on it. Here are some examples. We will attempt to read a chapter every day and we will complete a range of activities after each chapter.
We are going to look at Daniela’s news report this morning and write a comment on it. The comment will include what we like about it and maybe one thing he could improve on. Remember to get a family member to read your report. Try also to read other class members reports during the week and leave a comment saying what you liked about it. Well done to Kiki and Donagh for leaving reading and leaving a really nice comments on Anna’s, Liam’s, Conor’s and Jack’s reports.
The 1st of the girls semi finals will take place next Monday and it sees both of our teams facing off. It will be quite a battle and I am really looking forward to it.
New photographs have been submitted to the Photography competition. I’m not sure who they are from and what they are called. Just 3 weeks to get photos in and be part of 2023 calendar. 5 Calendars to be won in the Christmas Raffle.
Tuesday 4th of October
We are going to look at Liam’s news report this morning and write a comment on it. The comment will include what we like about it and maybe one thing he could improve on. Remember to get a family member to read your report. Try also to read other class members reports during the week and leave a comment saying what you liked about it.
Daniela has entered 5 amazing photographs to the Photography competition. Great to see she has included the names with all the photos. Just 3 weeks to get photos in and be part of 2023 calendar. 5 Calendars to be won in the Christmas Raffle.
Emily brought in her artifact today. It was a brooch belonging top her great grandmother and she believed it was between 60 and 70 years old. It now belongs to her mother. Although Emily did not know the value of it now I imagine it would be of huge sentimental value to her family. Well done Emily, very good presentation and it sparked a great interest in the class.
Eimantas is presenting his artifact this Thursday.
The rockets are now complete after painting today and they are ready for launching. Unfortunately launch conditions do not look great over the next few days with heavy rain and high winds expected. Weather seems to be clearing on Thursday but we will launch as soon as we get a window.
A date has been scheduled for Stone Age cooking and a reminder to gather conkers for Friday.
News Story of the Day
Otzi the Iceman
Monday 3rd of October
We are already into October and it has been a great September. I am delighted with the effort in all subjects, there has been excellent attendance and we have completed some great projects already.
Your first piece of work has been published on the website, please get a family member to read yours and in the comments write down what you liked about the report and where it could have been improved. Try also to read other class members reports during the week and leave a comment saying what you liked about it. Shout out to Daniela, Oisín and Jack for their headlines.
New seats and jobs have been allocated for October. Thanks to all our employees in September. Reminder that there is just 3 weeks left to get photos in for the photography competition, try not to leave taking a photo until the last week.
A Conkers Championship has been added to our schedule for this Friday. Try to locate a horse chestnut tree and bring in 2 – 3 conkers before Friday so we can prepare them for the championship on Friday. Draw takes place on Wednesday.
News Story of the Day
Friday 30th of September
Great to have stage 1 of the rockets complete with the fins and nose cone been added. There was a huge variation in the size and shape of the fins and it will be interesting to see which design flies best. The rockets will be sprayed white today and you will paint them in class next week before launching on Tuesday and Wednesday.
We also learned today that the center of mass in a rocket must be off center towards the nose cone. A straight lift off is impossible if the center of mass is nearer the exhaust. It was great to see a variation of weights such as used batteries, marbles and bottle caps being placed in the nose cone in order to achieve extra weight at the top of the rocket.
Friday tests again today, I hope you are all being honest and putting time into learning homework every night. Consistency is what turns average into excellence.
Emily will be presenting her artifact today. Following Oisín’s Nintendo last week, we are all looking forward to what Emily will bring in.
New seats and jobs will be allocated this evening so we can start fresh on Monday morning. Photo entries have been very slow for the 2023 calendar. Everyone must submit at least one photograph.
News Story of the Day
Thursday 29th of September
We will complete the final draft of our Newspaper reports soon and they will be up on the site soon.
We completed our Sketchnote on The Apollo Missions and the Moon today. Here are some of our Sketchnotes.
The way a water rocket works is by filling it up partially with water and then pressurizing the inside with air. When the bottom nozzle is opened the internal air pressure forces the water out of this nozzle at high speed causing the rocket to shoot straight up at high speed.
We will begin building our rockets this morning. You and your teams goal is to fly the rocket as high as possible. Each of your rockets will be quarter filled with water and pumped to 80 psi before being launched. You and your team must design and attach fins and a nose cone. The size, shape and location of the fins on your rocket will determine how well your launch goes, these fins will allow the rocket travel straight and they will also reduce drag. 25 meters was the winning height last year. To give you all a head start, the exhaust has been attached to each rocket.
CREDIT UNION ART COMPETITION 2022
Wednesday 28th of September
Excellent work today on your Sketchnote. You are taking key points and phrases from what you are reading and listening to, you are then saying more with less and finally turning it into a sketch. You completed the Apollo Missions and the Moon in less than 30 minutes today and I will post some sketches here tomorrow.
Beans are now updated, there will be new seats allocated next Monday and the jobs will be reassigned.
We will have our Maths test today instead of tomorrow as we will be building rockets in the morning. Remember your goal leading up to the Maths test is to find questions that you are struggling with and ask for help. The test questions can be studied at home with the option in the menu.
We will also be learning about rockets today in Brainbuilders. It is likely that rocket launches will now take place on Friday and possibly Monday as there is a lot happening on Thursday. A video of your launches will be posted here next week.
News Story of the Day
Tuesday 27th of September
Apologies to those waiting on beans to be updated, there is a problem with the accountants copy and it will be resolved later today. GAA will now take place today but it will not take place next week.
We will complete a sketch note on the Apollo Missions and the Moon today. We will learn about rockets tomorrow before building and launching rockets on Thursday and Friday.
We will be having a workshop with Dogs Trust next Thursday the 6th of October at 9:20am. Don’t
Great to listen to the podcast this morning, for those who had their interview recorded try to get your interviewee to listen to their contribution.
REMINDER: Blessington Community College will have an ‘Open Evening’ this evening Tuesday 27th September from 6-8pm.
News Story of the Day
Monday 26th of September
We have a busy week ahead. Our Maths test this week is on Addition & Subtraction. We will complete a Sketchnote on the Moon and the Apollo Missions. On Thursday we will be building and launching rockets on Thursday, we will also visit the library and Deacon Gerry will be in at 11:15.
It’s a whopper of a podcast coming in at over 21 minutes. Well done to everyone who auditioned and to those that recorded their interviews. We will put time aside on Monday to listen to it.
Finally the app update is also ready and we will be using devices with the new logos today.
Don’t forget yo get outside in the evenings and over the weekend and take a photo for our Photography competition that ends in 4 weeks.
Oisín was on the Wicklow Gap on Sunday morning. He took this amazing photo and it’s called Home Sheep Home. 🙂
News Story of the Day
Why did Cosmonauts take Shotguns into Space?
Friday 23rd of September
Reminder again about the open evening on Tuesday 27th of Sept from 6 – 8 pm in the Community College. Great to get podcast recorded and we will listen to it on Monday in class.
Tests in class this morning followed by written homework corrections. Friday 11:45 – 12:45 is now our new PE time so tracksuits to be worn on that day. Beans are also updated.
Oisín was our first contributor to Artefact Thursday. He brought in a Nintendo Game Console called the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) from the 1980’s belonging to his Dad. There was some discussion as to the name of it and I had to do some research this evening to find out the time line of Nintendo Game Consoles. Well done Oisín, what a fantastic 1st artefact.
We had another quick art activity today – It was how to draw a horse. Here are some of our results.
Thursday 22nd of September
What a really enjoyable hour it was listening to your interviews with family members today. What a fantastic effort by everyone who read out their interview. Unfortunately, only 9 interviews can be recorded otherwise the editing process would take days to complete. The 9 students that will have their interview recorded today are Anna, Jack, Méabh, Emily, Callum, Chloe, Donagh, Oisín and Daniela.
Oisín will instead present Artifact Thursday today and the 1st Maths test will take place this morning. I’m still waiting on 5 permission slips for St Enda’s and 3 permission slips for the swimming. You do not have to bring in the money yet. Also a reminder about our Photography competition. Just 4 weeks to get your photos in.
Blessington Community College will have an ‘Open Evening’ on Tuesday 27th September from 6-8pm. Application forms will only be available online from 1 October. Whilst they do not have an official closing date for applications, they gave us a provisional date of 31st October 2022.
News Story of the Day
Wednesday 21st of September
It’s audition day, you have converted your interview into bullet points so as to make your interview sound as natural as possible as opposed to being just read out. From some of the answers I seen yesterday, I am really looking forward to the auditions. There will be a total of 10 marks on offer for your audition. 6 marks for the content and 4 marks for how you communicate it to your audience. 7 students will go forward to recording on Thursday. Audition begin at 12 o’clock.
We began our lessons on the Apollo Missions and the Moon today. Callum brought up about Space X and how they have changed space travel. Can you remember what ‘Earthrise’ was?
Eimantas is on Artifact Thursday duty this week and we will also have a Maths test on Thursday. We had our first purchase on the app also. Cillian bought a raffle ticket.
News Story of the Day
It’s hard for this Nasa astronaut to walk on Earth again after spending 197 days in space
Tuesday 20th of September
Great to hear about your interviews over the weekend yesterday. You will begin to edit them in class today and have them ready for auditions tomorrow. Although some did not get the interview done it was good to hear that you tried your best to get the interview done but for whatever reason it didn’t work out.
You began your first piece of writing that will be published on ThinkWithYourInk today. You took notes on a video report. When taking notes for a newspaper report it is very important to answer the 5 W’s. Who, What, Where, When & Why.
Do you remember what the first paragraph of a newspaper report looks like? How is it different too a narrative story’s first paragraph?
We received our 1st novel of the year today and we will begin it next week. This novel follows the O’Driscoll children in nineteenth century Ireland, as they journey to find their long- lost relatives after being separated from their parents during The Great Famine. The journey is one filled with grief, hardship and difficult obstacles that they must overcome to reach their goal. It ties it nicely with The Great Famine which we will study in 6th class this year.
Yesterday we looked at our first Maths test of the year. Who took time to look at it last night and how did other learning homework go?
New Story of the Day
Monday 19th of September
New photos from Emily added to the Photography page. Remember to add a name to each photo that you send it and although it is great to receive landscape photos, there is a particular emphasis on wildlife and insect photos for this years calendar.
It is a busy week ahead. The basketball lunchtime league continues, we will be starting our first long piece on writing that will be published on ThinkWithYourInk. It will be a newspaper article article about the rescue in Mayo at the weekend. We will also be learning about the moon which will culminate in us constructing and launching rockets next week. We will also have our first Maths test (Place Value) of the year which we will take on the app this Thursday.
I hope your interview went well over the weekend and at that you made the best effort you could to get something down on paper. You will edit the interview and write it in your copy today and tomorrow in order to be ready for the audition on Wednesday. The podcast recording takes place on Thursday.
There is a new map for Geography this week and we will be focusing on Asian countries over the next 2 weeks.
Those of you who forgot homework on Friday, I will check for it today.
News Story of the Day
Moon 101
Friday 16th of September
Well done on half self portraits today, they look fantastic. We will put some time aside today to finish the hobby self portraits.
Good luck to Orlando Magic today as they are taking on the LA Lakers in the first round of the Lunchtime Basketball League. The girls competition will begin on Tuesday.
Deacon Gerry called in today and talked about Confirmation this year. He asked that everyone registered at this address sometime in the next week. He will be calling in after 1st break and talking to all 6th classes together on the 29th Sept, 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th of October. Our class alone will be attending mass in St Mary’s on the 11th of November. We will have to prepare readings, prayers and gifts for it. There will be a retreat next organized by Deacon Gerry next Spring and we will be visiting the Sisters of Mercy and Matt Talbots tomb. Confirmation will take place in late May or June. The date is still to be confirmed.
It was great to see the quality of the answers in Matter of Fact today and it was also good to see many acknowledging that more detail can be added to their answers. We will be learning about the moon and space next week and it will be interesting to see if you apply this detail to your answers then.
Tara has sent in 3 photos to the Photography Competition. Try to get out this weekend and take some photos. Really try hard to include wildlife, bugs or insects in your photos.
Our 1st Artifact Thursday brought about some great discussion. The 2 objects were a floppy disc and a cassette. Eimantas will be presenting next week.
We will complete our Poem of the week today also and our Golden Time Game this Friday is Deal or No Deal
My song if castaway to a desert Island is Praise You by Fatboy Slim and I will explain the reason why. In your interview this weekend, try to find out from your interviewee a song that reminds them of a time or person in their lives.
Thursday 15th of September
You all received your question sheet for the podcast yesterday. Best of luck with your interview and have them all back in school on Tuesday at the latest. On Tuesday you will edit the sheet and prepare for the audition on Thursday. Not all questions need to be answered but try to get the music question answered as the podcast is based around music. Today I will reveal the song I would bring to a desert Island if castaway there and the story behind it.
You completed your first Sketchnote today and as a result you have moved information from short term memory to your long term memory. We will do a short comprehension on World of Danger tomorrow and you will see how easy it is for you to complete the questions now. Here are some examples of your Sketchnotes.
We forget to make the basketball draw yesterday and we will do it before Maths this morning. We will also begin artifact Thursday today and draw up a presentation list for the year.
News Story of the Day
Wednesday 14th of September
Reminder that a number of notes have gone home in the past few days (swimming, St. Enda’s trip and Maths support form). Try to get the swimming in asap as Mr. Brown needs to know the numbers going.
You will receive your podcast interview sheets today and they are to be returned by Tuesday morning. A nice idea might be to record your interview on a phone and then transcribe it onto your sheet at a later time. This will speed up the process and make it a more enjoyable experience.
What’s your first, most vivid memory?
How did your family earn money when you were young?
What kinds of things did your family spend money on?
What were you like as a child?
What kind of school did you go to? Were you a good student? What was your favourite subject? Least favourite subject?
What is the most important lesson your parents taught you?
What were your favourite toys or games growing up?
What did you like to eat as a child?
Where have you lived?
*********
If you were to be castaway to a Desert Island what song track would you take with you? Does it remind you of a time in your life of a person in your life?
*********
Did you have any heroes when you were a child?
What was the best gift you remember receiving as a child?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
What big world events do you remember from the time you were growing up?
What’s different about growing up today from when you were growing up?
When did you learn how to drive? Who taught you? What was your first car like?
The basketball Lunchtime League draw will take place in class later today. Here are the teams.
Girls Teams
Boys Teams
Tuesday 13th of September
We have now completed SketchNote and we will incorporate it into our work throughout the year. Can you remember the 4 steps?
We began looking at Irish verbs yesterday and the 4 sections we can group them into. Can you remember the ending for future tense? eg. he will take the car.
Reminder to get back in your swimming forms, there is no hurry in getting money in yet though as 6th class swimming doesn’t begin until after Halloween. All four 6th classes will be taking a trip to St. Enda’s in Rathfarnham on the 19th of July. Although entry to the park and museum are free of charge there will be a 10 euro charge for the bus. If you wish you can bring in the money in 2 euro installments up to the date we depart. The Pearse Museum and St Enda’s Park was where Patrick Pearse lived and ran his innovative Irish-speaking school, Scoil Éanna, between 1910-16. The park is known as the Hermitage and it is set in nearly fifty acres of beautiful parkland, the museum tells the story of Patrick Pearse and his brother William, both of whom were executed for their part in the 1916 Rising.
Today we must take Photos for our half self portraits on Thursday also.
You will receive your Desert Island Discs podcast Interview sheet tomorrow. Try to arrange for your interviewee to be free in person or over the phone in the next week. In class today we will listen to part of the BBC Radio show Desert Island Discs. In this show they are interviewing Billie Jean King, the American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women’s doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles.
News Story of the Day
Volvo Truck/Powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cell 2022
Monday 12th of September
Well done Liam on winning the NIM championship on Friday, he took on Chaz in the final who had beaten Callum & Naia in an amazing quarter and semi final contests. We will have another NIM Championship in a few months.
Well done in the Friday tests. It seemed like there was a good effort put into your learning homework this week but only you are really the judge if that was your best effort. We will continue with Counties of Ireland in Geography this week but all other assessments will be different.
All beans are now updated and some of you will have enough in your account to purchase items this Friday.
We will begin preparation for our first podcast this week as recording takes place on Thursday week the 22nd of September. The podcast is called Desert Island Discs after the famous BBC radio show where guests talk about 8 songs that remind them about a time in their life.
You will receive a question sheet where you try to interview the oldest person you know in the next week. You will ask them questions about their life and in particular a song that reminds them of a happy time in their life.
Méabh has submitted,itted the first photos to the Eye on Nature Photography competition. The closing date for entries is Friday 21st of October. Email photos to cforde@stmarysns.ie Your photos cannot include people or pets or animals in a zoo. The aim is to showcase the beauty of the wildlife in the Irish landscape. Although your photos can include landscape shots, there is a particular emphasis on capturing wildlife for this years calendar. After the closing date there will be a vote to establish the 12 best photos. These photos will be part of a 2023 calendar which will distributed in class.
Four people forgot their homework books on Friday. Try to bring them in Monday so I can look over them. Finally if you are using an apple phone the new update is available on that. The Android update will be available the next few days and as soon as it is all class phones will have the new logo and features on them.
News Story of the Day
Volunteers install camera traps to monitor Wicklow wildlife for Europe-wide project
Friday 9th of September
Well done with your tower building today. 9 of the 12 towers stood on their own. The tallest tower was the Eiffel Paper by Daniela and Anna, unfortunately it did not stand on its own. The tallest tower was called The Leaning Tower of Paper Scooby Doo by Conor and Méabh.
The most aesthetically pleasing tower results were in 1st place Grand Water Tower by Chloe and Liam and in 2nd place was The Leaning Tower of Larry by Donagh & Alex.
The basketball lunchtime league will start late next week. You will have an opportunity to sign up for it today and Monday. There will be separate boys and girls competitions.
News Story of the Day
Nationwide ref withdrawal would ‘focus minds’ – Barry Kelly
Thursday 8th of September
Please let me know if you would like to join the Book Club. Spaces are limited so let me know as soon as possible.
Fantastic presentations today. It is not easy for many students to stand in front of your classmates and present. Some find it easy but for others it is a difficult thing to do but it was great you all did it. The meaning behind the logos was a joy to hear and some of the presentations were of a very high quality. Special shout out to Aidan & Joetom, Kiki, Lucy & Anna & Eimantas and Jack for their excellent presentations.
The winning logo belongs to Katymay and Emily. Although many groups received 9 marks for their logo and presentation, Katymay and Emily received the maximum score of 10 marks. Not only does the logo look great but the symbolism behind the snake slithering to the top is a great reminder to us all to try hard and improve a little every day. They also spoke about the snake shedding its skin in their presentation, they said this reminds us not to let our mistakes hold us back but to reset and start again. Well done girls, the logo is now on the website and it will be loaded on the app over the weekend.
We will complete part 2 of Sketchnote tomorrow where the teacher will demonstrate how to turn a piece of text into a Sketch. Next week you will complete your own sketch from a piece of text. It will be a very important learning tool for you this year and beyond.
Big Announcement : Eye on Nature Photography Competition. Details announced in class. Closing date for entries is Friday 21st of October. Email photos to cforde@stmarysns.ie
News Story of the Day
We have to act’ – on the frontline of famine in Kenya
Wednesday 7th of September
It has been a great start to 6th class, the effort being put in so far has been excellent. Although the logo presentations take place today, I had a quick listen in on many groups presentations. Not only do the logos look great but it was even better to hear the meaning behind the logos.
We began another Quick Art activity today. Today we learned how to draw a nose. Here are some examples.
Building up to our Paper Tower Construction project on Thursday we had the 1st of 2 lessons on towers. We looked at the tallest towers around the world.
Today we will also begin SketchNotes. It is a form of note taking. We will summarize a piece of writing into several important words and phrases and then we will turn those words and phrases into a sketch..
We will be learning and playing Olympic handball this month for PE. It is a fast paced and tactical game. The rules we play will differ slightly from the Olympic version.
News Story of the Day
Tuesday 6th of September
Gaelic Football tomorrow and PE on Wednesday and Mondays so please wear your tracksuit on those days.
Homework is now posted on the app also if you forget your journal. It is important that you complete learning homework every night, you can however complete written homework on whatever nights you wish. All written homework will be corrected on Friday morning and all learning work will be tested on a Friday morning.
Please only return this form if you are not going to avail of swimming lessons in the Pop Up Pool. An insurance form also went home today, please show them to your parents.
There will be a NIM Champion on Friday for Golden Time. The draw is up on the board. A new item has been attached to Upcoming Events, we will be doing half self portraits next Thursday 15th of September.
You will receive 20 minutes to prepare your logo presentations today and presentations will take place tomorrow Wednesday before lunch. The winning logo will be announced on ThinkWithYourInk.com on Wednesday evening.
News Story of the Day
Monday 5th of September
We began our Quick Art activity today. These are short 10 minute art activities which we will do 2 – 3 times a week. Today we learned how to draw an eye. Here are some examples.
Friday’s newspaper report was about farmers reducing emissions in order to stop Climate Change. This started the discussion about what Climate Change really is and what’s causing it. Can you remember what’s causing Climate Change by looking at these pictures?
September Jobs were assigned today. Méabh and Conor are bankers, Oisín is in charge of devices and Anna and Aidan will be carbon monitors in the classroom. Bankers Méabh and Conor will put wages into your account every Friday.
You all received logins for the 6th class St. Mary’s SNS app today. Reminder that you do not need a phone at home but download it onto your phone or a parents phone if you can over the weekend.
Gaelic football begins on Tuesday and we should have our PE slots by early this week. On Thursday we will be constructing Towers from a single sheet of paper.
News Story of the Day
Friday 2nd of September
The Photo of the Day brought about some great deduction skills from many of the class. You had to identify the country, year and the problem in the photo. The photo was from 1967 in Sweden. It was the day Sweden switched the side of the road they drove on.
Our folders are now organised for the year ahead and well done on your patience and concentration and getting them complete correctly. Remember to keep they organized throughout the year as they will record much of the work you complete this year.
Our poem of the week was from Shel Silverstein, it was called Sick. It is a fantastic poem which about a little girl named Peggy Ann McKay who is trying to convince her parents not to send her to school. It is a poem we can all relate to at a time in our lives.
We are in the early stages of our App logo design. Here is a sample of some logos so far. You will have time again tomorrow and Monday to complete the logo. You must work on the presentation on Tuesday and presentations to the class will take place on Wednesday. We had a quick run through on the 6th class app today and you will receive a login for the app later. Try to download and login over the weekend.
News Story of the Day
Thursday 1st of September
The first day of 6th class is complete. It was great to meet everyone and every was eager to contribute to discussions today.
We came across new words as fawn (Photo of the Day) and prejudice (Enemy Pie) today. Can you remember what they mean? Many of us also learned a new Irish word ‘leath’ meaning half. eg. Tá se leathuair tar éis a trí . Dún an doras leath bealaigh.
We will continue with organising our folders tomorrow and a reminder to those wo said they would bring in baskets and folders.
We had a lesson on designing a logo today and you will begin working on a logo with your partner tomorrow. Logo presentations will take place next Wednesday. The winning logo will be on this website and on the 6th Class St. Mary’s app.
The news story today was about a 10,000 euro electricity bill for a cafe. We discussed why electricity prices so high now, can you remember why prices are so high. Here is a breakdown of how Ireland makes electricity.
Todays newspaper report was about an electric bill for a cafe in Westmeath. It was 10,000 euro for 2 months. This is the cost of living for an American home in 1938. Prices have changed so much since, why are prices always rising?
News Story of the Day
Wednesday 31st of August 2022
Welcome to 6th class. ThinkWithYourInk.com is the name of our class website this year. It contains helpful resources that I will introduce you to over the next few weeks.
We will begin each day reading the notices on this page and on many days we will also read and discuss a current news story. Today, we will introduce ourselves, we will have some movement games in the yard, we will look air our first ‘Photo of the Day’, we will read Enemy pie and we will spend time organizing our folders.. Every few weeks we will put the books away for the complete day and complete a Science/Art project. You will hear about Artefact Thursday and the Wednesday poem/song.
To help us learn this year we will also be using an app in class called 6th Class St Mary’s, you will receive a login for them in the coming days as you can also use the app at home to help with your learning homework. Every app needs a logo and you will begin working on designing the apps new logo today with logo presentations taking place next week when the a winning logo will be selected.
