Schoolwork June 3rd to June 5th

Hi everyone.....This is a nice short 3 day week. We are going to finish off Unit 8 this week.

I know it is very difficult with all the lovely weather to keep children motivated so please only do the activities that suit you both. There is no need to do lots or indeed any of the colouring in the activity books.

I hope this week goes well for you all and please let me know if I can help in any way

Reading

Unit * Fiction Reader Adventures in the Zoo..... again lots of lovely ideas for exploring this book in the front and back covers

Before reading...... ask your child about school tours that they went on last year..... Autumn trip to Newcastle West, Our trip to the LimeTree theatre and the Peoples Park in Limerick..... the Christmas cinema trip....... last years trip to Fota

Then look at the title and the front cover Illustration...... where are the children? Why do they have bags on their back? What are they looking at? What else do you think they will see? What will they do at the zoo?

Then have a picture walk through the book..... what is happening in each picture and what do they think will happen next?

Listen to the story being read first of all and then have a go at reading it by themselves....

Oral Language

Play some of the games in the Oral Language and Interactive Resources that you found tricky last week

Writing........ What would you like to write about for 5 mins today.......?

Just Phonics page 90

Maths Figure it Out page 70

SESE

Floating and sinking activity on page 61 of Explore with Me. If they cant find one of the items in the book please substitute it with anything else you have to hand. can they find other items that can float and sink. Try and have a guess first before trying them out

Reading

Pick one of the books that you have enjoyed during Unit 8 and read it again please..... The Genre Story, the Fiction Reader or the Non Fiction Reader

Oral Language

Play some of the games in the Oral Language and Interactive Resources that you enjoyed last week

Just Phonics page 91

Writing....... what would you like to write about today???? 5 minutes!

Maths Figure it Out page 71

Oral Language. Play any of the games from during the week.

Reading.... Have another read of one of the stories you enjoyed... but only if you would like to!

STEM...... make a back scratcher!

Introduction

Don't you hate it when you have an itch you can't reach right in the middle of your back? Engineer a solution to the problem and build your own back scratcher in this fun activity! you might need......

• Pencil and paper

• Straws

• ice pop sticks or lolliepop sticks

• Cardboard

• cellotape or making tape

• Glue

• Scissors

• Volunteers to try your back scratcher

Procedure

1. Before you start building, sketch a few design ideas for a back scratcher on paper. This is an important part of the engineering design process—it might be tempting to start building right away, but you should have a plan first!

2. If you need some help getting started, think about it like this. In general, your back scratcher should probably have three parts: the handle or grip (the part that you hold onto), an extension (the part that makes it longer), and the scratching part (the part that actually touches your back). The picture shows a few different options.

3. Label the materials you would use to build each design. Think about the properties of each material. For example, what properties does a good handle need? What properties should the scratching material have?

4. Compare your designs and think about which one will work the best. Choose a single design to build.

5. Build a prototype of your design. As you build, you might discover that your design doesn't work as planned. For example, your handle might not be stiff enough. That's OK! You can always iterate and go back to make changes to your design.

6. Try your back scratcher yourself. Does it work like you expected? What changes could you make to improve it?

7. Based on your initial testing, see if you can make any changes to improve your back scratcher. Remember that it's OK if your design doesn't perfectly match your initial design that you drew on paper!

8. Let a few volunteers test your revised back scratcher. Do they have any feedback? What other changes or improvements could you make?

Area 1: Socio-dramatic Play

Zoo Role-Play

• What will we need?

• What do you think you will do in the zoo?

• What roles could you play? (zookeeper, sales assistants in the gift shop, ticket attendant)

• If we were to pretend to be zookeepers, what might we need? Can you explain why we might need each of these items?

Go to YouTube and search ‘Day in the Life – Zookeeper’ (5:08) for an overview of what a zookeeper does.

You can set up a zoo using stuffed toy animals and baskets or boxes with straw or crêpe paper for bedding. Sand buckets, plastic fruit and vegetables and bowls can be used for pretend play for feeding time. A toy wheelbarrow, brush, spade and some old hose could be used to clean out animal enclosures or transport food to animals. A white coat or shirt, vet’s bag and clipboard could be incorporated for a role-play on a vet’s visit.

Think about making.....

• A Welcome to the Zoo sign

• Price list for visiting

• Opening times poster

• Feeding times poster

• Signs for animals

• Badges for zookeepers

and vet

• Draw a Map template

• Zookeeper’s Report

• Cleaning equipment: toy wheelbarrow, brush, spade and some old hose

• Feeding equipment: toy buckets, plastic fruit and vegetables and bowls

• Animal enclosures: Stuffed animals, boxes with hay, toy cages

• Staff: old shirts for zookeepers uniform, vet’s bag and white coat

• Dublin Zoo/Fota Wildlife Park maps

• Binoculars

• Camera

Note: This is a flexible list. A cardboard box or tube can work as anything in the imaginary world.

Some play ideas

• Zoo vet using the doctor’s kit to check the animals’ health

• Zoo tour guide gives visitors information on the animals

• Zookeeper feeding and cleaning the animals and their enclosures

• Zookeeper coming off night duty, telling the morning zookeeper what s/he saw on her/his shift

• Visitors studying the map to see which animals they will visit

• Visitors looking through the binoculars to see the animals

• Tickets attendant taking the entrance fee and giving people tickets.

Area 2: Construction

Hut for Zookeeper

Construct a hut for the zookeeper using blocks. This could be integrated with the role-play area. Children must consider what a zookeeper may require, e.g. table and chair, kitchenette, bed, desk, laptop, phone, TV, area for sick animals, etc.

Area 3: Art

Binoculars

Using two empty toilet rolls, leaves, string and glues, the children can create their own binoculars.

Animal Free-painting

Provide children with paper and paints and encourage them to paint their favourite animal.

Week 4: 3D Zoo Enclosures

Provide children with plastic animals, playdough and craft sticks. The children can work together to make their own animal enclosures.

Aquarium

Let the children lead the play by encouraging them to interact freely with the materials. Discuss how zookeepers create a home for the animals similar to the home they have in the wild.

Basin ....... filled with cold water ....................Blue plastic bag, blue pebbles or pebbles, a variety of sea creature figurines (fish, shark, whale, tortoise, snake, seahorse, penguin, octopus, stingray, crabs, shellfish, various types of fish, etc.)

Area 5: Small World

The Zoo Small World

Setting up the area

Children could set up a zoo scene using plastic animals, trees, pieces of green and blue paper and crêpe paper. Figurines could be used for zookeeper, visitors to the zoo, the vet visiting the zoo animals