6th Class St.Mary’s, Blessington
Tuesday 17th of February
Monday 16th of February
We have now completed the 20-day period of dead hanging. Well done to everyone for the effort you have put in so far. Weather permitting, today we will retest each student’s deadhang hold time. At the beginning of the experiment, we timed how long everyone could hold a deadhang , and now, 20 deadhang days later, we will measure again to see what improvements have been made. Despite the weather we have done well to get 20 days of it done. Tomorrow, we will retest everyone’s handwriting speed and handwriting quality, just as we did at the start of the project.
The Fields of Athenry is a song that has been described as ‘the unofficial national anthem of both the Irish at home and across the Irish diaspora worldwide’. Despite being set in the times of the Great Irish famine, it has made it onto the setlist for Irish fans at sporting events. The Fields of Athenry is an Irish ballad written by Pete St. John about a man who is sent away from Ireland during the Great Famine for stealing food to help his family. The song begins slowly and sadly, which makes people listen closely and feel the emotion, and then the chorus is simple and easy for large crowds to sing together. It became very popular with fans of the Republic of Ireland national football team, especially during the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and since then it has been sung at many Irish sports matches because it helps supporters feel united, proud, and connected to their history. We will perform it as a class later today.
Along with building our rockets and launching them we will look at Jean-Michel Basquiat who was an American artist best known for his Neo-Expressionist and graffiti-inspired artworks. He is remembered as one of the most prolific American artists of the 20th Century. Jean-Michel Basquiat’s art had a significant impact on street art and the hip hop scene in the USA in the 1980s.
There is no homework this week. However, we will have a Maths test on Wednesday. As always, I will give you the test on Monday so you have time to look over it carefully. I strongly recommend that you use this time wisely: first, give your very best effort when completing the test, and second, if you are unsure about any questions, go back over them and find the areas you are having difficulty with. I will be available to help you with any problems before Wednesday’s test.
We have Chromebooks this evening so I’m hoping to see most Daniel O Connell projects complete. I.m also waiting on the last 4 penpal letters.
Friday 13th of February
Today is Taster Day again in the Community College, so we will be missing 10–11 students from our class. Because of this, we will be combining with Sixth Class this morning and working on a fun engineering project together. Instead of building catapults like we did last week, we will be designing and building moving cars. Each group will receive four wheels and must design a car that can travel forward using materials such as rubber bands, balloons, lollipop sticks, skewers and straws or any other creative ideas to power it. We will have 45 minutes to design and build our cars, followed by 20 minutes to test them and discuss how they worked. We will also take some time to chat about your other science projects. Be ready to work as a team and use your creativity! 🚗 After first break, if the weather clears, we will be building a drain with Tony to help keep the footpaths free from water.
Thursday 12th of February
We will work on our Palentines art again today. It will be displayed in the atrium at some stage tomorrow.
We have Chromebooks this morning. Ms. Gilligan class has begun their Science Blast project and has asked us to complete a survey on Google Forms. We will take this survey on the Chromebooks. Please be as honest as you can, just like with our own science Blast project. We can only get true results if everyone gives an honest effort and opinion.
We will also continue writing on the Chromebooks possibly our final letter to our pen pals in Ennis. Do you remember what to include in the 4 paragraphs?
Well done to everyone who took part in the volleyball. The badminton tournament starts next week. I am on duty today, and we will hopefully return to it again before the end of the year.
Wednesday 11th of February
Today’s webinar at 12 is Antibiotics vs. bacteria: who wins the battle?
P’alentines art for Friendship week
We made a great start to our Daniel O’Connell projects yesterday. Many of you are creating Google Slides presentations, some are making posters, others are doing art projects, and a few are working on construction—so I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished results.
You have until next Tuesday to complete your project. You can use the Chromebooks in school, and it can also be worked on at home. Because of the deadline, some of you may need to log on at home to make sure it’s finished in time.
What have you learned about Daniel O’Connell so far?
Instead of just listing events from his life, it’s great to see some of you focusing on one particular aspect in detail. Some are exploring the monster meetings he held—especially the one at Clontarf. Others are looking at his hedge schools. Some are researching statues, while others are concentrating on Catholic Emancipation.
Keep going in that direction—digging deeper into one area rather than just skimming over everything. I’m really looking forward to seeing what you produce next Tuesday.
It was great to have Garda Gary in yesterday taking about internet safety and e scooters because the Gardaí have now started taking them from people under 16.
We discussed algorithms and influencers yesterday. Remember they said that if you watch or like videos about dogs, the app keeps showing you more and more dog videos? That’s how algorithms work—they try to show you things they think you’ll like.
The problem is, that doesn’t always mean you’re getting a balanced view. You might only start seeing one side of an argument, or one type of opinion, and not the other side at all. That’s why it’s really important to think carefully about what you see online, rather than just accepting it straight away. You need to be critical thinkers.
Critical Thinking: Who Designs a Society?
Following up on yesterdays Alpha Culture and Beta Culture
- If you were starting a new country, what rules from Alpha would you keep?
- What from Beta would you keep?
- What would you definitely change?
After lunch, we’re going to be learning about Black History, because February is Black History Month. We’ll be looking at famous people who stood up for civil rights, and we’re going to use drama to help us understand their stories.
We’ll be doing some hot-seating, where one person pretends to be a historical figure and answers questions, and some frozen images, where groups make still pictures with their bodies to show an important moment in history.
These activities will help us think about what people went through, what choices they made, and why their actions were important.
How are we set for building rockets and launching them tomorrow?
Tuesday 10th of February
It’s Safer Internet Day, On our Chromebooks later we will log into this site Interland. Interland is a free online game from Google that teaches children key internet safety and digital citizenship skills through play. Set across four themed areas, it helps kids learn how to spot fake or misleading information, protect personal details and passwords, act kindly online, and think carefully before sharing content. Overall, it encourages children to be smart, safe, respectful, and responsible when using the internet.
We will also look at and chat about the role and influence of social media influencers and understand how algorithms shape our online experience. We will look to develop strategies to manage your experience online and navigate the opportunities and challenges of these powerful influences.
Friendship Week continues, tomorrow you can bring in your favourite games — just remember, no video games or tablets. Bring in card games or board games, whatever you enjoy. How about your secret friend?— have you managed to do one nice thing for them this week?
Anyone get to see any Winter Olympics last night?