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Yesterday, we asked 6th class to carefully examine and score the handwriting samples using our evaluation sheets, giving us the data we needed. Today, our focus is on analysing that data to decide whether 20 days of dead hanging actually made students neater and faster writers. We will brainstorm different ways to use the data and decide does dead hanging improve your handwriting. How will we use the data we have collected to decide this? Our goal is that by 11 o’clock this morning, we will know whether dead hanging truly had a positive effect on handwriting neatness and speed.

This week in art, we are learning about the artist Faith Ringgold, who was a writer and artist known for her famous story quilts. She combined art and storytelling by using fabric, painting, and words to create powerful visual stories. Inspired by her work, we will create our own collage pieces using a variety of materials such as scrap paper, fabric, and images. Later, we will use our collages to help us create our own story quilts, combining art and writing just like she did.

Today will mainly focus on gathering data for our Science project. This morning in class, we will prepare our data recording sheets, which you will use to collect and document your results. We will attach a Handwriting Analysis Checklist to each sheet and revise what we are looking for when analysing the samples, particularly writing speed and handwriting neatness. Each sheet will be carefully numbered and later displayed in the hall. After big lunch, all three Sixth Classes will go down to the hall with their documentation to analyse the handwriting samples and accurately record their results. This is an important stage of our investigation, so please work carefully, stay organised, and approach the task like real scientists.

On Friday, we reviewed our evaluation sheet and made an important improvement to it. Originally, we were only asking two simple questions: did handwriting neatness improve, and did writing speed improve? We put an anonymous sample up on the board and asked you to evaluate it, without knowing whether the writer had been a dead hanger or not. Most of the class agreed that both the neatness and speed had improved, so many of us assumed the writer must have been in the dead hanging group. However, it turned out that they were not. This made us realise that if our checklist only asked whether neatness improved or not, our results could become skewed, especially if nearly everyone showed some improvement. We discussed possible reasons for this, such as students naturally improving after being back at school for a month following Christmas, or simply being a little olde. Because of this, we decided to break handwriting neatness into four clearer categories: no change, small improvement, clear improvement, and major improvement. This will help us see more accurate differences in our results. Friday was an important step in strengthening our investigation, as we realised that without refining our evaluation sheet, we might have ended up with results that were unclear or misleading.

Today in Lust for Life, we will be watching a video showing a fallout between two friends after one friend leaves the other out. As we watch, we will be thinking carefully about what happened to the girl in the video and how she might have felt. We will discuss questions such as: What is the opposite of including someone? Why is it important not to exclude or leave people out? How did Emma’s actions change from Monday to Friday? And what did Emma do to repair the relationship? Be ready to reflect honestly, share your thoughts respectfully, and think about how our own actions can affect others.

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.

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 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.

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.

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?

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.

Anyone get to see any Winter Olympics last night?