ThinkWithYourInk
5th Class St.Mary’s, Blessington
Any enquiries email cforde@stmarysns.ie
KARE & Aoibheann’s Pink Tie Donations
800 beans (80 euro)
2024 Class Calendar Download
Friday 8th of December
Almost all narrative stories are up on the site, there were of a very good standard and the 3 stories selected to go forward to Ms. Nugent’s judging panel are Hannah S, Hareem & Eve. We will listen to the 3 stories before 1st break. Try to get a parent at home to read your story.
Our final 2 artefacts of 2023 were from Precious and Caoilainn.
Caoilainn brought in coins from the 1980’s and the year 2000. The millennium coin although worth 1 punt back in 2000 is valued over 100 euros today. Her mother used the coins as her ‘something old’ on her wedding day. The tradition for the bride on their wedding day is to have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.
Precious brought in a Botswanan mortar and pestle (kika and motshe). They were used to make a meal pounding the maize before the introduction of the milling machine. They were used as far back as 3500BC.
Precious also had in a Botswanan traditional bowl used to hold fruits and sometimes for decoration.
Finally, well done you raised 80 euro for our 2 charities. 40 euro will go to each. Síofra has kindly offered to drop down our donation to KARE.
The Christmas Raffle takes place after lunch.
Thursday 7th of December
Donations will made this evening to our 2 charities KARE & Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. For those of you unsure about what beans are in your account and would like to donate here is a screenshot of the database. You can grab the device before 1st break to log in and donate. Thanks to everyone who has donated, we are up to 525 beans.
The first of the narrative stories are published. Everyone should have theirs complete by first break. The 3 stories going to Ms. Nugent will be announced on tomorrows notices and they will be read by me of the author in class. Please try to get a parent to read your story when it is published.
The Christmas Haggle Challenge takes place after 1st break today. You will buy and sell everyday items at the best possible price. The team that makes the biggest percentage profit is the winning team. Friday treat for the winning teams.
It is the final Artifact Thursday of 2023 and we have 2 being presented today. Both Caoilainn & Precious have artifacts in today and Quinn has also being added to the Artifact Wall.
6 calendars will be in tomorrow draw. A digital version will be up on the site also if anyone wants to print it off at home.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Do you make your bed every morning?
I made my bed yesterday but I didn’t make it today?
I will be making cars in school tomorrow.
Brainteaser of the Day
A cowboy rode into town on Friday. He stayed in town for three days and rode back out on Friday. How is this possible?
Wednesday 6th of December
There is a change to Friday’s Christmas raffle. No raffle tickets are needed and instead everyone will receive 1 raffle ticket. Those of you who have already bought a raffle ticket have been refunded.
I’m really enjoying reading the 1st draft of your Christmas stories so far, there is a really good built in many stories with the story hitting a climax before the solution is revealed. We should have the first of them on the site tomorrow. 3 will be selected and handed to Ms. Nugent on Thursday. She will select one of the as the winning story for the Christmas assembly.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did you wake up at 8 o clock?
Will you wake up at 8 o clock tomorrow?
I was waiting at the school.
Brainteaser of the Day
Which is heavier, a kilogram of feathers or a kilogram of rocks?
Monday 4th of December
2 days to go before the donation to KARE and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. We are up to 40 euro.
Christmas stories need to be completed and published on the site by Thursday so a lot of today will be spent reading 1st drafts and getting the final draft started.
The windows look great after your work on Friday and some time will be put aside to paint the Christmas clay figures this week.
The Christmas Haggle Challenge will take place this week also. It’s a fun exercise where you buy and sell items at the best price possible.
Last week for Artifact Thursday, Quinn brought in a tape cassette from 1995, it belongs to her Nana. It was bought as a blank cassette tape and you could record songs from the radio on to it, you could also record conversations on to it. How music is listened to has changed so much since the 90’s. Many people would often sit by the radio back then waiting for their favorite song to come on, then would then hit the record button so they could save it to your cassette.
Friday 1st of December
We are up to 275 beans for our charity donation. Thanks to all who have contributed.
6 groups will be asked to paint windows today. Here are the winning pictures.
Next Friday, the Christmas raffle will take place. I will announce some of the prizes now.
Thursday 30th of November
It’s my favorite part of the week and Quinn is on artifact duty today. What will she have in?
Follow along with the Green-Schools Global Goals advent calendar this season!
From the 27th of November to the 19th of December, a resource that focuses on a different Global Goal will be released each day! Learn about the Global Goal and maybe make a pledge on how you will support that goal and add the loop to their paper chain. Encourage students to bring home their finished chain on the last day of school and hang it on the tree!
The link is at the top of the page. We will tap the link every morning.
We have some loose ends to tidy up today, art designs must be completed before break as 4 winners need to be chosen. Windows will be painted tomorrow morning. Sam & Precious also need a list of items to write about for the Christmas newsletter.
Our new project in Scratch is a game called Pong. It’s very important in programming to be able to identify and solve one problem at a time. The questions I receive are improving all the time, you are thinking about the next problem you face and really zoning in on what specifically you need to do.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did you hear the song?
Will you stop the bus?
I was writing a book..
Brainteaser of the Day
You are in a cabin and it is pitch black. You have one match on you. Which do you light first, the newspaper, the lamp, the candle, or the fire?
Wednesday 29th of November
Tamara and Veronika have completed their first draft of their narrative stories. They will complete their final draft in the coming days and it will be published on the site.
We now have 150 beans donated to our Christmas charities, thanks to everyone who voted. One week left to donate.
I have been keeping a tally of the reading record since it began in October. If you have been entering your reading record by app you should be aiming for 2-3 entries a week. Ideally you should have at least 10 entries at this stage. I know some of you prefer to enter it in your journal which is completely fine. I will take a few minutes to go through the database and your journals this morning.
I’m delighted with the effort in Maths so far this week. It’s fantastic to have so many questions asked about the tables, the Thursday test and Percentages this week. You are really taking responsibility for your work. Keep it up.
The soccer final takes place at 10:15 today. You will get another 20 minutes today to complete Christmas Window art designs. The winner will be on the notices tomorrow morning.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
He gathered the Christmas lights?
Will you make a big star?
I was running with the reindeer.
Video of the Day
Tuesday 28th of November
Lauren brought in a stereoscope for her artifact. It belonged to her great grandmother and it is over 50 years old. Her great grandmother bought it on a trip to Lourdes in 1972. The stereo negatives Lauren brought in were images of Lourdes at that time. Fantastic artifact Lauren and very well presented. Quinn is up later this week.
Time will be put aside today to design your Christmas window, possibly the last 45 minutes in class today.
The Christmas raffle is next week, some of the prizes will revealed today. The donation to our charities will be made on Wednesday next week.
Science Blast data has been collected and the draw takes place now.
Work will continue today preparing your narrative stories,. The Coal Thief which we listened to yesterday was a fantastic story. The author described characters very well by their actions and the the story had an excellent moral. We will listen to a 2nd story today
We have a YouTuber in our class and I came across one of his videos last night. Well done Oisín.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
He gathered the Christmas lights?
Will you make a big star?
I was running with the reindeer.
Photo of the Day
Guess the year and what is goin on in this photo?
Monday 27th of November
Between the science show and the Toy Show bingo I completely forgot about Lauren’s artifact. We will do that later today or when Lauren can get the artifact in again.
4 groups of students will be taking Friday tests off this week to paint the 4 classroom windows for Christmas. You will receive a square piece of paper tomorrow to show us your design. Take some time with your partner today to discuss and maybe do some research tonight.
In PE today we will complete the Science blast testing. Our spot at Science Blast has been confirmed for Wednesday the 6th of March.
Narrative Story writing begins today and we will complete them by the middle of next week. Today we will look at 2 stories and appreciate how writers build a story.
Our current donation for KARE & Aoibheaan’s Pink Tie stands at 50 beans (5 euro). The banker is not happy after Friday’s events and everyone’s account has been updated.
Friday 24th of November
Toy Show themed bingo today.
We will begin a new strand of writing beginning next week – Narrative Writing. They will be Christmas narrative stories and the top 3 will be given to Ms. Nugent where she will read and select a winner for the Christmas assembly. All stories will be published on this site also.
The school will publish a Christmas newsletter again this year. Our student council members will write an article for it. We will help them to remember topics from the year so far. The article must also include information on the Active flag, Amber flag and Green schools. The articles need to be complete by next Friday.
Soccer quarters will conclude today, semi finals on Monday followed by the final on Tuesday.
Groups will be selected for Science Blast also. Christmas window painting competition will begin next week also. The 4 winners will get to paint our classroom windows.
Thursday 23rd of November
We had no luck with the weather yesterday but it was a fantastic day all the same. It was great to see everyone act safely around the fire.
We have a short video on yesterday’s activities, the quality isn’t great, please remind me to hold the camera horizontally for the next video.
All charity poster presentations are complete. I have have been more than impressed with the posters and the presentations. Many of you have done excellent research and you have told us why it is important to donate to this particular charity.
On Tuesday and Wednesday we had presenations from Síofra (KARE), Daniel (Breast Cancer Ireland), Suzie (St. Vincent de Paul), Brody (DSPCA), Hannah S (Team Hope), Caoilainn (Aoibheann’s Pink Tie), Leon (Dublin Simon Community), Quinn & Lauren (DSPCA), Precious (St. Vincent de Paul), Sam (Make a Wish Ireland), Clayton (DSPCA), Jack (Irish Cancer Society) and Noah (Make a Wish).
It was an extremely difficult decision to decide who we would donate to. For a finish I’ve picked 2 charities KARE & Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. Once again, well done everyone. You can begin donating beans now and we will make the donation in 2 weeks (6th of December) with half our funds going to each charity.
Wednesday 22nd of November
Stone Age cooking today.
Tuesday 21st of November
What a fantastic start to our Charity projects. There have been 6 excellent presentations so far. Isabel presented a project on Barretstown House, Rachel presented on the charity Alone, Ryan on Make a Wish, Eve on Medicines sans Frontiers and Hannah W on Cats Aid.
Between breaks tomorrow we will be preparing for stone age cooking. A hole must be dug, sods must be cut and transported to the cooking site. Bricks must also be brought down from the garden to act as a structure to place the grill on where ispiní will be cooked as we wait for the rocks to heat up.
Slogans for Active Week – you can drop into the box on my desk.
Thanks for all the reading record entries, we will look at them now.
Any Maths questions for our upcoming test? What vocabulary word did you learn in moredetail last night? How did the percentages tables go? I forgot to add the tricky percentages to your homework sheet 🙁
I’m still not sure what day we will cook yet, we will be ready for Wednesday but we will watch the weather forecast closely today to confirm.
So we have entered Science Blast. It runs between the 4th & 7th of March in the RDS in Dublin. We have not fully being accepted yet but I’m very hopeful. Our Science Blast question is ‘Does skipping everyday make you run faster’? We also have another experiment running along side that, ‘Does skipping everyday improve my hand eye coordination’.
Monday 20th of November
It’s a busy week ahead, the likelihood is that stone age cooking will take place on Wednesday/Thursday (depending on rain). I know we have a member of the class missing this week but temperatures are falling dramatically next week and it will be too cold to be outside cooking next week.
We have enough of stones gathered. Have we got wood, green sticks & moss?
Continue to bring in wood with your parents permission.
For PE today I will be gathering some sport data on you all. There may be a big announcement later this week and this data will play an important role in what might be coming up in the next few months. I would like to ask one question first though? Would skipping everyday for a month make you faster?
Our Maths test this week is on multiplication and division, it will take place on Thursday.
On artefact duty this week we have Lauren and Jack and Daniel’s photos have been added to the artefact wall. I will also be choosing our Christmas Charity this week after all your presentations are complete. Our donation will be made on the 6th of December giving you 2 weeks to donate beans. I’m really looking forward to hearing your presentation and why your charity should be chosen.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did he run to school?
Was he running?
Photo of the Day
Following on from Daniel’s artefact last Thursday.
6 bombs were dropped in Dublin during WWII. The first 2 bombs were dropped in South Dublin near Terenure on the 2nd & 3rd of January 1941. Then on the 31st of May 1941, 4 bombs were dropped in North Dublin with one of these bombs damaging Arás an Uachtaráin.
Why was Dublin bombed if Ireland was neutral
Irish airspace had been violated repeatedly, and both Allied and German airmen were being interned at the Curragh. A possible cause was a navigational error. Numerous large cities in the United Kingdom were targeted for bombing, including Belfast, which like Dublin, is across the Irish Sea from Great Britain. Germany apologised for the bombs and a payment of compensation tell us that the cause was a navigation error on the part of the German pilots.
Another possible reason for the Dublin bombings was that Germany had launched the Belfast blitz, which resulted in Belfast (part of the United Kingdom) being heavily bombed. In response, Ireland sent rescue, fire, and emergency personnel to Belfast to assist the city. De Valera formally protested the bombing to the German government, as well as making his famous “they are our people” speech. Some have contended that the raid served as a warning to Ireland to keep out of the war.
Friday 17th of November
Not just have the artefacts been amazing so far this year but the quality of presentations and interest shown by the class in the artefacts have been fantastic.
Yesterday, Daniel brought in a gas mask from 1939, it is 84 years old. It belonged to Daniel’s great grandfather, he received it when he was a child (5 years of age or so) at the start of WWII. Although Ireland was neutral and were neither on the Axis or Allies side during WWII there was a chance Ireland could be mistaken for Britain in an air attack. Masks such as this were given to all children in Dublin to protect against a chemical attack. Daniel also told us that police used to stop people on the street and checked to see if they had there gas mask nearby, if not they were given a fine. Fantastic artefact and presentation Daniel.
Once again well done to Leon, Rachel, Sam & Daniel for their experiments yesterday. It was a great show with a huge variety of experiments.
To conclude Science week we will be doing an experiment called ‘ Crushing Can’. It will be a smaller version of this experiment.
Our next project is Stone Age Cooking. There is a high possibility that it will happen next week as it will be dry and temperatures will be high for the time of year. We will be cooking a leg of lamb but while it cooks we may put on some sausages or have some toasted marshmallows. With your parents permission bring 3 or 4 pieces of wood in for the fire. We will be gathering stones that will cook the leg of lamb this afternoon.
Thursday 16th of November
Well done to all 12 Science experiment contributors today. Brody taught us about Diffusion using M&M’s and warm water, Hannah W taught us about surface tension, Isabel & Hannah S taught us about Solids and liquids with the help of Oobleck, Quinn taught us properties of materials using Cocoa powder and water, Síofra made a chemical reaction and blew up a balloon using sodium bicarbonate and vinegar, Jack taught us about material properties using markers and warm water , Ryan made a chemical reaction using mentos and Coca Cola. Four students were picked to go forward to today’s whole school presentation. They are Sam and Rachel who both did the same experiment showing Charles’s Law, Leon who did a simple yet brilliant experiment on pressure and Daniel who did a experiment on density. We are looking forward to seeing you in front of the school tomorrow. Well done to all 12 who researched an experiment. make sure to take 2 Spellbound questions and a Master your Maths day off.
Maths test today, I will be selecting 5 or 6 questions. One of my favourite parts of the week is here also – It’s ‘Artifact Thursday’. Daniel is duty today. Library at 11:30 also. bring your books.
Our 2024 calendar is almost ready. There will be 5 available in the Christmas raffle but there will also be a downloadable file put on the website if you want to print off at home. How are your Charity projects coming on, presentations will begin on Monday, you can begin donating later next week when our charity is chosen.
Here is a short video of just one of your electronic quiz boards. There will be a video with all quiz boards coming soon.
Wednesday 15th of November
Keep your reading records coming in. Try to make at least 3 entries in a week.
Thanks to Clayton & Hannah S for asking questions about the Maths test. I will give more time today to ask questions.
Science experiments will take place between breaks today. Try to have an explanation behind your experiment.
Beans are now updated, is there anyone else who wants to show me homework they forgot to bring in on Friday last.
Caoilainn has been keeping tabs on us and making sure we are keeping up the ‘Active Break Challenge’ this week. Today we will attempt to complete a game called ‘ Hoop Rhythm’
Just a reminder to use up items purchased in the store.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did he run to school?
Was he running?
Hydro electricity
Tuesday 14th of November
All newspaper reports have been added to the site. We will read 2 more this morning. Please show and ask a parent to read your newspaper article.
How did your Maths test preparation go last night? Who has questions about it today.
Quizboards will be close to completion today, we were down so many students yesterday, it was best to hold off before completing them. Is there anyone else who would like to show us a science experiment tomorrow. Anyone who does make sure to take 2 Spellbound Questions and a Master your Maths day off. I will select 2 of you to demonstrate your project in front of the school on Thursday.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
He makes cakes everyday?
Will you come to school tomorrow?
Generating Electricity
Monday 13th of November
It is Science Week.
Try to carry out experiments at home and then demonstrate them in school. Link to experiments here. If you would like to present an experiment, you will be given an opportunity to do so on Wednesday.
I will then choose two students to demonstrate these experiments to the school on Thursday 16th November between 9:30 and 10:45.
We will busy doing science projects in class also. We will complete the electronic quizboards, there will be a golf ball challenge along with some other smaller experiments.
One addition to the homework this week is a Thursday Maths test. It is on addition and subtraction this week. You will be given one night of Master your Maths off to prepare for it. I do not want you to do the questions at home, I just want you to take a look at questions that might cause you difficulty and ask me about it in class the following day.
Friday 10th of November
We will begin learning about Electricity later today and you will chose and write out 5 questions that you will use on your quiz board.
For Artifact Thursday, Jack brought in a floppy disc and VHS tape. The VHS tape was of great interest to us all. Jack’s VHS tape belonged to his mom and it was from the 1990’s. VHS tapes are obsolete now as Netflix and streaming services have taken over. We talked about Xtra-Vision stores where people went to hire a VHS movie tape for a night and where you would be charged an extra fee if you returned the tape not fully rewound.
I have almost all Newspaper reports published, I’m just waiting on the final few.
Placename of the Day
The name Wicklow probably comes from the old Viking word ‘Vykyngelo’, which means ‘meadow of the Vikings’.
The Irish name for Wicklow is Cill Mhantáin. The story goes that when St. Patrick tried to land his ships in the area, his party was attacked by locals. One of St. Patrick’s party had a tooth knocked out in the fight. Then, when he returned later to set up a church there, he was given the name Manntach (toothless one). After that, the area was called ‘Cill Mhantáin’, meaning ‘church of the toothless one’.
Thursday 9th of November
I must say well done to everyone in Maths this week, it is a difficult tables game and topic this week but it is fantastic to see the resilience shown by everyone. keep it up.
I think almost all newspaper reports will be complete today and there is one more just published.
Thanks for all the reading records submissions since Monday, we will read them in class now.
Since your fine work cleaning out the new woodland area we have been asked to build a fence for a chicken run. It was great to see the chicks hatch yesterday and they will be going outdoors in the next 6 weeks so we must begin digging holes for posts soon.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the place names yesterday afternoon, I learned so much. Electronic quiz boards will be complete by this day next week.
I was really confident that the Architect game would be a massive challenge for you all, I was mistaken. I may need to add a few more shapes to the patterns but we will play it again soon with an additional measure.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did you learn your spellings (litriú)?
Will you stand on the chair?
Fact of the Day
Has tap water been through 7 people?
The water you drink from the tap has been drunk up to 10 times by people before, because wastewater is continually passed through one of two different cycles before making a full circle back to your sink’s faucet.
Wednesday 8th of November
It was great to test the rubber band cars yesterday and even more satisfying was that everyone had completed their car and was ready to put it on the starting line. Apologies about the video, I held the camera incorrectly and I missed some of the cars.
The first of the newspaper reports are up, go to writing and newspaper reports to read them.
We will begin gathering your placenames today and we will create a poster with everything you have gathered.
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did you lose your homework?
I will think about football tomorrow?
Will you come to Mr. Brown’s office?
True Size of Africa
Tuesday 7th of November
Rubber band cars race will take place after lunch today. We will also begin collecting your Placenames of Ireland meanings, we will create a chart and you will select 5 to put on your electronic quizboard.
I hope to see most first drafts of your newspaper reports today, I have seen some great first drafts so far, you have put all the detail needed in each paragraph however I have noticed a particular area of grammar that needs work. What is it?
I will introduce you to a new team building game today, it is called ‘The Architect’s game’. You will work in groups of 4 where you follow a pattern and build a structure. However only one person can build and only 1 person can talk. It’s tricky, let’s see how you do.
Have we a volunteer for Artefact Thursday this week? D.E.A.R. begin today, do you all have your library books in?
Briathra Gaeilge Challenge
Did you write a newspaper report (tuairisc nuachtáin)?
Will you do your homework (obair bhaile)?
He walks to school everyday
Place Name of the Day
Ey – Viking word for Island
Lambay from lamb-ey meaning Lamb Island
Ireland’s Eye from Erin’s-ey meaning Ireland’s Island
Skerries (Irish: Na Sceirí, meaning “Rocky Islands”)
Dursey from djorrs – ey meaning Bull Island
Monday 6th of November
Welcome back and I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween.
It is a very busy run up to Christmas. As soon as we have all your placenames in, we will build electronic quizboards, we will be spending a day outside doing some stone age cooking, we will be raising funds (beans) for a charity of your choice, your newspaper reports will be published on the site, the boys football will be completed and hopefully we will have started the girls to name just some activities.
Drop Everthing and Read (D.E.A.R.) begins tomorrow, please bring in a book that you took from the library 2 weeks ago. For 10 minutes at least 3 times a week we will D.E.A.R.
Today we will race your rubber band cars. The car that travels furthest will be the winner. Each car will be allowed run twice and you will be allowed a little bit of time to make adjustments after the 1st run.
I have been keeping track of your reading over the past week, here are some more I didn’t get to read out on Friday before the break.
In PE today, we have 3 new movement games, balloon relay, spin and run and run if you have it.
Placename of the Day
Donegal’s name comes from the Irish Dún na nGall, which means “fort of the foreigners”. This name has taken different forms over the years, including Dunnagall and Dunagall.
Dún an nGall, the fort of the strangers or foreigners, is the name given to Donegal town from which the county gets it’s name. There is some confusion as to who these foreigners were, some believe it refers to the Vikings who were reported to be active in the bay of Donegal in the ninth century. Yet others believe that the strangers referred to are Scottish mercenaries who were brought in by the Irish to fight for them in their local and national battles.