Belgrove Senior Girls' School

We used the school laptops today to practise our tables.  Click on the image to open the game.

We are doing a project on the Vikings this month. Today we used the school laptops to do online research on this website:

https://www.dkfindout.com/us/history/vikings/

We also read the chapter on Vikings in our ‘Unlocking SESE’ book.

The girls will bring home their research pages this week.  They will have lots of opportunity to work on their project in class.  The project is due on Tuesday 5th March.

Some of the x7 tables are a bit tricky.  I hope these videos will help you to practise and learn them.

Making up your own rhymes can help too, like ‘Multiplying 7 by 7 makes me feel fine, 7 x 7 = 49’. Can you make up one to share with the class?

Here’s a trick that you might enjoy, to find the multiples of 7 (the answers you get when you multiply by 7, or skip count in 7s).

The class read two lovely poems about St Brigid, one of Ireland’s patron saints.  One of the poems is about the conversion of Gaelic Chieftan from paganism to Christianity

Brigid wove a cross of rushes by a dying chieftain’s bed”
“Brigid what is that you’re making
From the rushes there?”, he said.
Brigid said,”A cross I’m weaving, like the cross where Jesus died.”
“Who was Jesus?” asked the chieftain,
“Why was this man crucified?”
Brigid told the gospel story to a dying pagan King.
Lying silently he listened,
Never saying anything.
Then he kissed the cross of rushes
Saying ,”Brigid, thanks to you,
I have come to love this Jesus,
I will follow his way too!”

By Emma Finnegan

We made St Brigid’s crosses from paper.  We were very glad to have help from our visiting teacher, Ms McEllistrim, and Sophie and Éabha, TY students from Holy Faith.

We studied Early Christian Ireland, and found out about monks that lived in Ireland over a thousand years ago.

We learned wonderful words and phrases like vellum, parchment, manuscript, filigree, high cross, refectory, beehive hut and abbot.

Teacher wanted the whole class to get new monk-style haircuts, but nobody wanted to get their head shaved into a tonsure.  Instead we did Monastery Drama Bingo to show off what we knew about life in Early Christian Ireland.

We created wonderful monastery art, with round towers, made from recycled kitchen rolls.

As we’re revising x9 tables for homework this week, here’s a reminder of our Maths trick…

Here are some YouTube videos that you may find helpful for practising Skip Counting in 8s, and x8 tables.

Challenge yourself to count faster and faster in 8s as the video speeds up!

These two videos will help you to practise your tables, and quiz you to see if you really know them.

This week, the girls received their Ask Me About My Reading page.  It’s a pink page, and will be kept in their Fillteán Obair Bhaile/Homework Folder.

This page is designed to encourage the students to engage with their reading, and can be used for their Library book or class reader.  It is hoped that the students will develop their comprehension skills by practising recalling, summarising, predicting, making connections, and answering questions about the setting or plot.  The girls are particularly excited about the imaginative questions in Section E.

Most days, for homework, they will be asked answer two questions, eg one from Section A, one from Section E.  Parents get to choose which questions they will ask from the relevant section.

This is oral homework.  No need to write anything.

I hope you’ll enjoy the literary discussions that ensue!

Anita Walshe

Ask me about my reading!                      Ainm ___________________

A – Recall and prediction
1 What happened in what you read today/so far?
2 What 5/10 words would you need to summarise what you read?

3 Tell the story from the perspective of one of the characters.
4 What do you think will happen next?
5 What do you think the character will think/say/do next?

6  What alternative ending can you imagine?

B – Making connections
7 Has something in this story ever happened to you, or someone you know?
8 Has something in this story happened in a film you’ve seen or a story you’ve read before?
9  Have you ever encountered another film/book character like one in this story?
10 Is there someone you know that resembles (looks like/acts like) a character in this story?

C – Setting
11 Where and when did this story happen?
12 Would anything be different about the story if it was set in the past (how long ago?) or in the future (how far in the future)?
13 What would be different about this story if it happened in your house/ Belgrove/ Dublin/ Ireland?
14 What setting would you love to see this story happen in?

D – Plots and problems
15 What is the plot (problem) in the story?
16 If this was a plotless story, what would it sound like?
17 Would you have reacted to that problem in a different way?

18 What happened to make the problem worse?

E – Imaginative questions about characters
19 What do you most like/dislike about a character from your reading?

20 If a character from your reading went on holidays, where would they go, and why?
21 What would be the character’s favourite game or hobby, and why?

22 If your character could read any book, which would they most enjoy, and why?

23 If a character could have a pet, which one would they most like, and why?

24 If a character could have any super power, what would it be?

25 What would a character from your reading bring on holiday in their suitcase?
26 What film/book would your character most enjoy, and why?
27 What job would they most like to have, and why?
28 What job would they be terrible at, and why?

29 What do you think the character looks like?

30 If you removed this character, how would the story change?

31 If you substituted a character from another story, how would the book change?

32 If you could choose any character to be your best friend, who would you choose?

33 If your character had a best friend from another book, who would it be?

34 If your character could eat only one thing for the rest of their life, what would it be, and why?

35 Which character from your reading would be most likely to appear on tv?  Which show, and why?
36 What reason would your character have for not having their homework done?
37 If you could give advice to any character, what would you say?
38 If this character could turn into any animal, what would they most like to be?
39 If your character had a favourite sport/dance/music style, what would it be?
40 What would be the worst present this character could possibly receive, and why?
41 What character from another book would your character most like to meet, and why?
42 If your character appeared in the newspaper, what would be the reason?
43 If your character created a company, what would it be, and what would it do?
44 What would your character do if they won the lottery?
45 If your character came to Room 9 for the day, what would they enjoy most? What would they enjoy least?
46 What does your character eat?
47 What does your character dream about?
48 What would you hear your character say?
49 What feeling/thought/wish does your character keep inside?
50 What invention would your character most like to create?
51 If they’d two wishes, what would they wish for?

Great Britain Project

A good project is easy to read and the information is presented neatly.  Here are some guidelines to help you. The title of your project is Great Britain and it is due on Tuesday 18th December.

• All projects can be 3 or 4 pages of an A3 scrapbook- no longer.
• You can find your information in: your SESE copy, ‘Small World’, online, books, newspapers or magazines
• Your project information must be written in your own words, so paraphrase when you can.
• Your project must include at least 4 pictures, maps or diagrams. They can be drawn or printed.
• Include a bibliography at the end, which is a list of where you found your information.

Here are some ideas of paragraphs to include, remember you don’t have to include all of them!

1. Where is Great Britain?  How can you get there?
2. What countries make up Great Britain? What are the capital cities?
3. Are there any famous or well- known places to visit?
4. Draw the Flag of Great Britain and Flags of England, Scotland and Wales. Do you know when or where they were designed?
5. Physical Geography- lakes, rivers, mountains, sea
6. What money is used in Great Britain?
7. What sports are popular in Great Britain? What are the most famous? Where are they played?
8. Any event in history that involves England, Scotland or Wales
9. The Monarchy ( Kings and Queens)
10. Famous people from Great Britain? ( pop stars, politicians, sports stars, authors)
11. What animals would you find there? Can you draw them and write about them?

Useful Websites:

• http://projectbritain.com/
• http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/countries/united-kingdom/#united-kingdom-abbey.jpg
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/25119208
• http://kids.britannica.com/

Please monitor your daughter carefully when using the Internet. These websites have been checked for suitability, but navigation away from them may not be safe for her.

Best of luck! I am looking forward to seeing your awesome project work!

Ms Walshe