Junior 4

JUNIOR 4

Welcome to Junior 4
We are glad to be back at school with our friends.

The pupils in our class are Khachatur, Hanna, Sama, Dessie and Leo.
Our teachers this year are Tracy and Annette and our SNAs are Louise and
Mairead .
We hope you enjoy our web page. We will be updating it regularly so that we can share our
learning experiences and skills with you.
Together we will be engaging in lots of exciting and fun activities and will be working hard
to reach our full potential in all areas of the curriculum and beyond!

SCHOOL TOUR TO RINVILLE PARK

Junior 4 ended an amazing year together with a lovely trip to Rinville park. We explored, played and even sketched in our surrounding and had a much anticipated trip to McDonald's on the way back to school.
Well done to all the Junior 4 pupils on an amazing year and best of luck in your new classes.

ART IN ACTION

St. Joseph's is currently taking part in an exciting creative project, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and facilitated by artist and educator Phillida Eves. Over the past number of weeks Phillida and composer Michael Chang have exposed the pupils to visual, musical and sensorial experiences and from there each session has developed organically, lead by the pupils own responses. We have had SO much fun!

ST. JOSEPH'S SPONSORED WALK

We had some very proud pupils in Junior 4 today, as they completed their sponsored walk for St. Joseph's. They all walked so nicely around the route and arrived back at school to great applause. They were delighted with their medals and goodie bags and couldn't wait to show them off!

SESE - THE LIFE CYCLE OF A FROG

This month Junior 4 studied the life cycle of a frog. The pupils learned about each stage of development through whiteboard activities and worksheets. The pupils then got to have an up close and personal experience of the frogs in their tadpole stage, as we temporarily had some at school. We were all very excited to see some real tadpoles in our classroom. They have since been transported safely back to their natural habitat.

ART & SCIENCE - SPRING FlOWERS

In keeping with our spring theme, Annette brought in some plants from her garden for the pupils to see, touch and smell. The pupils then set about creating their own spring meadow. They used cardboard and water to paint on the background and used an array of household objects to print on stems and flowers. The results were beautiful!
The pupils also did some painting, cutting and pasting to create a 3D flower garden.

The pupils also used flowers to explore the transfer of water through a plant. In this experiment we placed flowers in jars containing water and food colouring. The pupils observed over a number of days, how the water is transported up through the stem to hydrate the petals and leaves.

PE & MATHS

The pupils had great fun at PE in April. They worked on their hand-eye co-ordination with tennis and baseball. They used the equipment to match colours and explore the concept of tall and short. We all had lots of fun with Karen's giant compression blanket.

SPHE - ENJOYING SOME TIME OUT

We had some lovely weather in April and the pupils loved getting outside and enjoying the sunshine and fresh air!

SPRING GARDENING

Spring time is the perfect time for some gardening and we've been learning all about growing our own plants. The pupils used compost pellets and water to fill their own grow cups. When the cups were full the pupils sprinkled some radish seeds on to the soil, covered with a little more compost and then gave them one last spray of water. Of course, plants also need sun to grow so we placed them on a sunny windowsill and will watch their progress over the next few weeks. In the meantime we have been learning to name the different parts of a plant and we drew the parts on the whiteboard.

The mild spring weather gave the opportunity to visit Moycullen playground. There are great pieces of climbing equipment there and the pupils were very determined to put their gross motor skills to the test. There was lots of problem solving on the way up and the pupils were delighted to reach the top and be able to go down the big slide!

Dear Junior 4 Parents,
During our school closure, Annette, Tracy, Louise and Mairéad wish to support you and your children as much as possible. We will be posting lots of learning resources and activities on our website under various headings such as Play, Sensory Play, Singing/Music, Storytime/Reading, Movement Breaks/PE, Arts/Crafts and Cookery. Scroll down along to see lots of new and exciting regular updates!
Happy learning everyone,
Annette, Tracy and the Junior 4 Team.

Our Pupils' Work on The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Junior 4 pupils are hard at work at home this week practicing their LÁMH signs and engaging in writing and craft activities related to our story of the week. Here is one of our pupils who loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR with Tracy

This week we will be reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Join Tracy as she helps us to practice our signs for the story. First, let's practice our days of the week.

Next, let's practice the signs for our numbers 1-5.

Now that you have practiced your signs for both the days of the week and the numbers 1 to 5, we can enjoy the story together and you can tell the story with Tracy using your LÁMH signs. She hopes you enjoy it!

FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS with Annette

As part of our work on the Monkey Puzzle book this week we practiced the song Five Little Monkeys with Annette over zoom. If you'd like to try it again, you can paractice the LÁMH signs here first. Click on the link below.
https://vimeo.com/508807753

Now that you've practiced your signs in the first video, let's take a listen to the song with Annette. You can watch or sing and sign along. Just click on the link below!
https://vimeo.com/508811250

MISSION: CODEBREAKER

Our class inventor has been hard at work perfecting his rocket designs for professor Blanney. This week however brought some distraction, as a secret code mysteriously appeared on his computer.

Whatever could it mean? Our Inventor got to work and before long cracked the code.

A message all the way from the planet Averon!!

JUNIOR 4 WORKING FROM HOME

Junior 4 pupils have continued to work hard this week, including completing writing activities, puzzles and artwork. They practiced their shapes with some monster themed activities.

Pupils also worked on activities to related to St. Brigid's Day which we celebrated on February 1st.

MONKEY PUZZLE with Annette

Join Annette to practice the LÁMH signs for this week's story - Monkey puzzle, using the link below.
https://vimeo.com/507176899

Now that you've practiced your LÁMH signs, join Annette as she reads the story Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson - the tale of a young monkey who has lost his mummy. You can watch the video using the link below.
https://vimeo.com/507188325

After reading Monkey Puzzle with Annette, the pupils were asked to create the animals from the story. Well done on your beautiful work!

Our Pupils Working from Home

We are so proud of Junior 4 pupils. They have worked incredibly hard this week, completing art activities, writing tasks, developing scissor skills, reading stories, sending videos, engaging in zoom classes, cooking brownies, practicing (and teaching) LÁMH signs - the list goes on! They are very busy bees. Here is a selection of their work this week! Well done Junior 4!

LÁMH at Home

The pupils in Junior 4 are experts at LÁMH. Here is one of our pupils showing us the signs that she learned from our story the Gingerbread Man. You can practice with her!!

COOKERY with Junior 4 Pupils

We had a wonderful time baking brownies this week. Here is a little taster of the fruits of our labour at home! They look so delicious. We were very impressed by our amazing scientist, who invented a super special recipe of brownies all by himself by adding cinnamon and brazil nuts! How cool is that?

Our scientist also drew a picture of his wonderful “Happy Brownie” creation and filled out a recipe sheet for all his friends on the planet Averon. He was also quick to show us what ingredients did not belong on the recipe sheet! What a fantastic scientist he is! Professor Blanney and all his friends on the Planet Averon say a huge thank you to him and all the pupils in Junior 4 for making such fantastic brownies.

THE GINGERBREAD MAN with Tracy

Watch this video first to practice the LÁMH signs you will need for the story The Gingerbread Man. When you have practiced your signs you can read the story with Tracy in the video The Gingerbread Man Story.

Let's enjoy the story of The Gingerbread Man together. Now that you have watched the Gingerbread Man LÁMH Signs video to practice your LÁMH signs, we can read the story together using pictures and signs.

GINGERBREAD MAN ART with Louise

Now that you have practiced your LÁMH sign and enjoyed the story of The Gingerbread Man with Tracy, why not try out this easy and fun art activity. A life sized Gingerbread Man! You will need a large sheet of paper, markers, paint, shapes, sticks, or any colourful materials you would like to work with.
1. Lie down on your paper and ask an adult to draw an outline of your body.
2. Decorate your gingerbread man using whatever materials you would like!

COOKERY with Tracy

This week as part of our SESE, science class, we are making brownies in Tracy’s kitchen. Watch her video to follow the steps and open the document on the right to follow the recipe, reading the words and the pictures. Enjoy these deliciously, chocolatey brownies! Don’t forget to ask an adult to help you with the oven and when using sharp knives.

The image to the right illustrates just how delicious one of our pupils thought these brownies were!

chocolate_brownies_recipe_sheet.docx
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SALT SNOWFLAKES with Louise

Some of us were lucky enough to get to enjoy some snow this weekend. If you missed out or want to enjoy some more, why not try making your own snowflakes at home. You can download the instructions below.

salt_snowflakes.pdf
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AN UPDATE FROM PLANET AVERON

Earlier this week we shared a fantastic rocket ship designed by one of our Junior 4 pupils. We have an exciting update for you. Professor Blanney, currently preparing for a special mission to the planet Averon, has been in touch!! Check out his letter and just look at the amazing work our inventor produced in response to it!

JUNIOR 4 AT HOME

Even though our school is closed, the pupils in Junior have continued to work hard at home. There is lots of fantastic work being undertaken and the pupils are keen to show their hard work to Annette and Tracy during video calls and through photos.

THE POLAR BEAR AND THE SNOW CLOUD

Join Annette as she reads the story The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud. You can practice your LÁMH signs with Annette before listening to the story. Click on the link below to watch the video.
https://vimeo.com/501529601

Some of our pupils have been busy making their own polar bear at home. What a great job! You can download the instructions for this craft project below.

polar_bear_craft_instructions.docx
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GETTING CREATIVE

We have very creative pupils in Junior 4. One of our pupils has been busy designing a very special rocket ship! He tells us it needs kiwis, bananas, oranges and chocolate milk, which go from the tank to the pistons to help it move. Wow!! What a fantastic invention!

STORYTIME WITH ANNETTE - QUIET!

Join Annette as she reads the story Quiet! We have listened to this story in class before. It's a funny story about a little lion cub trying to take a nap. Annette will remind us of the signs before we listen to the story. Click on the link below to watch the video.
https://vimeo.com/502186489

Click on the links below for some educational resources that may help during the school building closure.

slt-ot-top-tips-1st-and-2nd-class4.pdf
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developing-language-during-everyday-routines-an-information-guide-for-parents.pdf
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helping-your-child-express-themselves-an-oral-and-written-storytelling-resource-for-parents.pdf
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Junior 4 love to draw! Here is a fun way to improve fine motor skills, hand/eye co-ordination and sequencing while learning to draw simple and cute animals! Let us know how you all get on!

With still a few weeks of winter to go, let's attempt some Winter Arts and Crafts at home. Below are some creative Winter ideas for us to try! Get messy and have lots of fun Junior 4!

Junior 4 love to dance! Blaithín has been teaching us some action songs at assembly and you can practice them again using the videos below. You can even video your efforts!

LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION/SPHE/DRAMA/MUSIC/SCIENCE/ART

Join Tracy as she guides us through the story book, Everybody Feels Sad.

Let's practice our LÁMH signs before we read the story book, Everybody Feels Sad. When you have watched the video a couple of times and you know your signs, join me for the story in the video "Story : Everybody Feels Sad".

Let's read this story together. If you have already watched the video "Everybody Feels Sad (LÁMH Signs)" you will have practiced the signs you need and we can do them together! Enjoy.

After reading the story, Everybody Feels Sad, it might be a nice idea to listen to this song together. If you're feeling sad you can think of nice things to feel better. What are your favourite things?

Louise has been working on some art and science activities

.

We all have lots of emotions inside right now. Why not draw the different emotions you are feeling and watch them bubble up to the surface.

You can download the instructions below.

tubes_of_emotion_experiment.pdf
File Size:	292 kb
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LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/HISTORY/READING/DRAMA

We have been working on our virtual Christmas play ‘When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney.’ It has been adapted so that we can incorporate our topic on Community Helpers.

Annette wrote the story and made a book . She read it during Storytime and paired reading. Then we were given our lines. Louise and Mairead made the props for the drama.

Tracy helped us to act out the story. Guess who is playing Santa!? We have been practicing hard and can’t wait for all of you to see it!

We are working hard on improving our reading skills.

WRITING

We looked through Smyths catalogue and chose what we would like for Christmas. Then we wrote our letter to Santa and posted it.

NUMERACY

We looked at a picture of different toys then completed a bar chart to show How many of each were in the picture.

PE/LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/NUMERACY/DRAMA

We each had to find the correct toy by listening carefully to descriptions and watching Lamh signs. Then we practiced aiming and throwing skills in a game of Knock the Christmas toy into the ‘chimney’.

ART

In Art class we painted Santa and snowmen on to pieces of wood.

We used contact paper, tissue paper and tree silhouettes to create our beautiful Winter tree scene which we displayed on the windows of our classroom.

We decorated our class Christmas tree and then painted and decorated our own Christmas tree to display in the classroom.

We painted a wooden panel and added our photo. Then decorated around it using Christmas symbols.

MUSIC

Tracy helped us to practice some Christmas songs on the guitar.

SPHE/GEOGRAPHY

We have been working on safety in the home, Road Safety rules and recognising community helpers’ uniforms.

Washing our hands correctly and regularly continues to be very important to keep ourselves and others safe.

We had great fun playing with the puppets. We made up a story around the ones we had chosen.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/GEOGRAPHY/SPHE

This month we have been learning all about community helpers. We learnt about the different jobs people in our community do, what uniforms they wear and what equipment they use. We were so excited to see lots of the community helpers we had been learning about on our recent bus outing. At the fire station we spotted a fire engine through the window. We saw dentists, bakers, builders and an optometrist on our walk around town. The highlight of our day was our visit to the police station were we met a police officer. We even got to see a police van in action when the officer put on his lights and siren for us!!

Back at class we made a map of where we had been that day.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/ART

We have been learning all about the preposition under. We practiced by placing objects and even ourselves under various items and furniture in the classroom.

We made paper mats by weaving strips of paper over and under in colourful patterns.

SCIENCE

We did a simple experiment using skittles and water. We carefully placed skittles in a circular pattern around a plate and then slowly pored on some water. Watch our faces as the water dissolves the colours and they start to spread!

MUSIC/LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

We continued exploring sound and used our bodies as percussion instruments. We clapped hands, stamped feet, clicked fingers and slapped knees. We each took turns composing a piece of music using a visual pattern and had great fun playing it together.

TEACCH MATERIALS

We had access to some new TEACCH materials in class this week and worked on our fine motor and problem solving skills.

SCIENCE WEEK

This week we focused on all things Scientific. We learnt lots of new vocabulary.
We learnt about volcanoes and participated in an experiment using vinegar, food colouring and baking soda to create a chemical reaction. We watched the pressure build up inside until the liquid bubbled up over the top of our volcano. WOW!

We also made a Lava Lamp.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/MUSIC/SCIENCE

We worked on the topic of ‘sound’. We found out that vibrations are responsible for the sounds we hear.
We made a guitar from a shoe box and rubber bands. We watched the rubber bands vibrate when we plucked them and listened to the change in pitch.

Then we made ‘String Phones’ We worked in pairs. It was great fun to hear each other speaking into the cup. When we spoke into the cup our voice sent sound waves inside the cup, making the bottom of the cup vibrate. The vibrations moved across the string, and into the bottom of the other cup. We could hear each other really clearly.

We carried out another experiment where we could ‘see sound!’ by creating vibrations that made the rice move on the top of our drum.

We also made percussion instruments from cardboard tubes and plastic bottles which we filled with lentils, rice and peas. It was exciting to play and hear our own instruments during our music lesson!

MATHS/LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Our maths topic is all about money. We bought percussion instruments from our class ‘Music shop.’

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/GEOGRAPHY/SPHE/HISTORY/DRAMA

Our class story time books this week were all about the people in our community who help us.

We learnt about their jobs and the equipment they need to carry out their work.

As part of the Stay Safe programme we learnt about Stranger Danger.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATON/ART/GEOGRAPHY/SPHE

We worked together to produce a temporary pieces of land art using autumn leaves.

We added photos of ourselves as ‘Inuits’ in our Artic winter display.

LANGUAGE/COMMUNICATION/LITERACY/WRITING

We learnt lots of vocabulary around our Autumn theme and played matching games.

Our books for story time this week were all on the spooky theme.
We worked on different vocabulary and phonics. We had to close our eyes and Annette hid the pictures and words. Then we each had a turn to find them!!

We did lots of writing practice.

SCIENCE/SPHE

We stayed with our Halloween theme and looked at Sammy skeleton. We found out that we all have a skeleton and looked at some x-rays that showed the different bones in our bodies.
Then we did the skeleton dance to find out that our bones are connected.

PE/SPHE

We practised some yoga moves to help us relax our bodies.

We loved the skittles game. Aiming and striking. SO exciting!

MATHS

We did lots of counting games, numbers bingo, How many scary characters?

GEOGRAPHY/SPHE

We went on an Autumn leaf scavenger hunt in our local area and found all the leaves on our sheet. Then we collected our data and made a bar chart with of results.

ART AND CRAFT

We decorated our classroom with lots of spooky things. We made pumpkin characters, witches and 3D bats.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It's almost Halloween and we all dressed up in our costumes and wore them to school. Some of us looked really spooky! In the morning we had a Halloween Parade to show of our costumes and later we had a party with music and treats. Everybody had fun trying out Annette's spooky bowl!

SPHE

One of our pupils has continued to work on his cooking skills and tried out some new recipes and techniques this month. We have also taken time out to relax with a juice, enjoy nature and form new friendships.

MUSIC

At music today we listened to Annette playing the banjo. Then we each had a turn. Louise and Mairead made sure that everything was sanitized after use. It was very exciting. Afterwards, we danced and played percussion instruments when Annette and Cormac played some jigs and reels.

DRAMA

Baboro came to St Joseph’s with the show Hear Our Voice. We did so many sensory activities, picked apples from the tree, went fishing, warmed our hands at the camp-side fire and relaxed to some beautiful music under a starlit sky. It truly was a wonderful experience.

GEOGRAPHY

We collected Autumn leaves and looked at their colours and shapes. Then we used them to create Autumn tree artwork. We also created hedgehog pictures and learned about where they live and what they eat.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

One of our pupils is using the laptop to write a story.

PE

During PE we practiced balancing, rolling and throwing. We used the parachute to end our lesson. It was great fun!

MATHS

We are using our Numicon shapes to help us to with our numeracy.

SPHE

We have recently been learning all about our senses. To investigate more the pupils took a trip to the always fantastic Ernie's Fruit and Veg shop on sea road. They were so kind to us on our visit and we came back to school with a huge box of fruit. That after noon we used our senses; smell, touch and taste to test out each fruit. We discussed which ones we liked and didn't like. When we had finished exploring we chopped the fruit up for a delicious fruit salad. Everyone was very excited go take a portion home.

SESE/DRAMA

The pupils addressed a letter to their parents and the class took a walk to the post office. The pupils took turns speaking to the person at the counter and bought stamps to post their letters in the post box. In the afternoon we had some role play at our own post office. We practiced asking for a stamp, paying for it with the correct coin and placing it on the envelope. We then popped it into the post box, ready to be delivered.

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION/HISTORY/SPHE

.We looked at photos of ourselves when we were babies and tried to identify who was who. It was fun.

We also completed work on growing up . We looked at what we needed and could do when we were babies and what we can do now!

SCIENCE/SPHE

We learned about our five senses and how we use them.

We played Kim’s Game and listened to sounds in our environment and matched the sound to the pictures on our boards.

GEOGRAPHY/OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

We visited Rusheen Park and saw the bird sanctuary.

SPHE

We have been learning about social distancing, hand washing and what to do when we cough and sneeze so that we can keep ourselves and others safe.

Welcome to the ‘Chill Zone’ -relaxation time!

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Every morning we have Circle time activities.
We also have story time.

We were learning about the prepositions – on, in and under.

MATHS

We were working on identifying, naming, matching and sorting shapes. We had to find the correct colour /shapes in our classroom and then sort them into groups.

We also matched socks and put them together in pairs. We had to look closely at the patterns. Then we completed worksheets to show our learning.

SCIENCE

We used our balloons to create friction and were able to pick up tissue paper without touching it!

It was great fun watching the balloon rocket fly across the classroom. Look at our faces!!

ART

In art we made coloured rice. We also painted using balloons. We mixed primary colours to create secondary colours and displayed them in our classroom.