Hi everyone,
I hope you are making the most of the holidays before Term 3 begins.
Here are some of the activities I have planned for my own class in Term 3!
Literacy:
I am putting a huge focus on fluency, word vocab and comprehension skills in April before we begin our final novel in May. I will be using Comprehension Cards from Prim-Ed, an earlier blog post outlined my plan for reading fluency using these cards and the class really enjoyed it before Easter. I also plan to introduce the Reading Comprehension and Word Reading resource from Prim-Ed to focus on vocabulary. I have three ability groups across the classroom and each group will focus on specific units for their own ability. Similarly I am using Cloze Test books from Prim-Ed again across all three ability groups. In this way the groups can progress at their own level and work with peers of similar level also.
I am also hoping to cover the novel The Silver Sword with the class in May as we will also be learning about World War II. After the success of Friend or Foe which linked with 1916 Rising I am hoping this novel will have a similar effect.
Numeracy:
I am hoping to introduce a Problem Solving session on my timtable, even 15 mins where the children can use the range of resources in my room and focus on problem solving orally with a partner. We have mini whiteboards in the class they can use. I find the whiteboards great to reduce the stress of lots of copy work and also to encourage discussion with their peers in identifying strategies and solutions to the problems.
Gaeilge:
In Irish I am focusing on oral work and developing their own confidence in speaking along with their vocab. I have started using Irishhomework.ie as homework and for activities in class and it is great. There is a detailed blog post to follow on Irishhomework.ie. I have also developed my own balla ceist to link with the theme in Gaeilge and they are working really well for oral Irish. I got the idea from a PDST Facilitator last year and have been making specific balla ceist as we work on new themes. These include the feidhmeanna teanga for the unit and my own questions to link and develop the theme.
SESE
As mentioned already we will be exploring World War II in History and to link with Geography I will be exploring Europe in Maps. I use the Just Maps workbook in my room and it is great. I find the map skills can often be overlooked and Just Maps provides a great focus. There is also a focus on World Cup flags in the workbook which will be an ideal lesson in June.
Project Work
I try give my class a project each month or half term. The Project will focus on something we have covered in class or are currently working on, usually with a SESE theme. I give the class a rubric for each project which identify the content and also how to achieve a bronze, silver or gold award for their project for self assessment, we also do peer feedback for peer assessment.
It is shaping up to be a busy Term 3 in my class, if you have any questions please send me a PM.
A.M.
Aistear Múinteoir 