Newtownmountkennedy Primary SchoolJunior School : 01 2819142Senior School: 01 2810048

June

1/6/2021

We had a wonderful June. It was such a lovely end to the school year. Ms Darcy is super proud of all the hard work which 2nd class have demonstrated this year. Best of luck in 3rd class!!

Rice Krispie Buns

We practised our procedural writing in such a fun way. We made delicious rice krispie buns.

Keeping Active

Keeping active is not only good for the body but also for the mind. We did lots of activities in June including a sponsored walk, litter picking, using the active walkway, dance with Zoe and many other activities during our sports day.

Persuasive Writing

Ms Darcy was really impressed by the persuasive language which 2nd class used when discussing many topics in class. One of the discussions which we had was the benefits and drawbacks of homework.

Nelson Mandela

We learnt all about the incredible life of Nelson Mandela who became the first black president of South Africa. He spent 27 years in prison for protesting against apartheid. We thoroughly enjoyed reading his autobiography.

Alpacas

We had such a pleasant surprise when we found out that we were going to have the opportunity to meet and pet the alpacas.

May

We made a May alter as May is the month of Mary.

Materials and their properties

We went on a scavenger hunt around the school and looked at different materials and investigated their properties. A window is made of glass. Glass is transparent, smooth, hard, breakable and waterproof.

Active Week

We had an amazing active week which included walks, relays, throwing, fun and run, dance and circuits.

Maths

We really enjoyed learning about data in Maths. We went outside to ask our classmates questions so that we could complete our block charts and pictograms.

Nature Weaving

We weaved flowers through our wool loom. They are all so unique and such special gifts for our loved ones.

Italy

We had such a fantastic time learning about Italy.

Mona Lisa

Leonardo Da Vinci, who was born in Italy, painted the Mona Lisa. We followed a step-by-step video to help us draw the Mona Lisa.

Romulus and Remus

We read the legend about how Rome was founded. After that, we went outside to perform the story.

Zoom call with Patty

Patty told us interesting facts about Italy. She told us that Ciao means both hello and goodbye in Italian. We were so interested to find out what our names were in Italian, Jack is Giacomo in Italian.

Italian Project

Ms Darcy was incredibly proud of 2nd class’ projects on Italy. We learnt so much from each other.

Curriculum Update for May and June

Please find attached an overview of the work covered in our class in May and June.

curriculum_update__may_-_june_2021.pdf
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April

3/5/2021

We had an amazing time learning all about the environment this month.

Anti-litter Mascots

We learnt about the importance of recycling. We made anti-litter mascots using the packaging from our lunches. We also learnt that we have to use kind words when working as a team.

Persuasive Letters

We feel very strongly about the lack of bins in Newtownmountkennedy so we have decided to write letters to the council so that more bins can be put in our town.

Environmental Awareness Talk

We had an informative zoom call with James Callery, the environmental awareness officer for Wicklow. Thumbs down to littering.

Paper Gift Bags

We made paper gift bags for our family and friends. As plastic bags never fully decompose, paper bags are a much better alternative. They are all so unique and personal.

Sunflowers

We learnt about the lifecycle of a sunflower. After that we planted sunflower seeds. Ms Darcy gave us two seeds; one was planted in a pot and the other one in our garden. We have to fill out our sunflower booklet each week to show the progress of our sunflower.

Sunflower Art

We drew sunflowers taking inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting. They are so colourful!

Length

We had so much fun using metre sticks to measure different objects in the classroom during our maths lesson. We are going to measure the height of our sunflower each week as it grows.

National Spring Clean

We did our community proud by picking up litter. We loved wearing our hi-vis jackets, gloves and using the litter grabbers.

March

8/4/2021

We were so happy to return to school in March after working so hard at home.

The Water Cycle

We absolutely loved learning about the water cycle. We listened to a catchy song about the water cycle. After that we saw how the water cycle works by doing the experiment 'Water cycle in a bag'. We could clearly see the different stages of the water cycle which are collection, evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

The Water Wheel

Hydroelectricity is renewable energy. There is a huge hydroelectricity station in Wicklow called Turlough Hill. Altidore house used to be powered by a watermill. Ms Darcy made a water wheel and we noticed how the force of water moved the wheel.

The Altidore River

We had a relaxing walk through the forest where we saw the Altidore river meander through the forest. The source of the river is up in the mountains nearby and the mouth of the river is Newcastle beach.

World Book Day

On the 4th of March we celebrated World Book Day. We had extra DEAR time and enjoyed listening to the story 'The True Story of the Three Little Pigs'. We made book covers and bookmarks in Art.

Kit

We had a wonderful zoom call with Kit. She told us about the games she used to play when she went to school. She played games such as marbles, spy (hide and seek) and three-legged races. We also asked her questions about her teachers, what she used to eat for lunch and who her best friend was. We were so lucky to have the opportunity to talk to a 100 year old. She coloured in this rabbit for us which we have stuck up in our classroom.

Seesaw

We learnt about how levers work by using seesaws. We used a rubber as a fulcrum. We figured out that if we put the heavier object nearer the fulcrum, we were able to find the balance point.

Seachtain na Gaeilge

We really enjoyed speaking Irish throughout the day during Seachtain na Gaeilge. Mr Keddy held 'Comórtas Ealaíne'. We loved designing posters for the competition. We also listened to Irish music played on the uilleann pipes and the bodhrán. The Irish topics which we learnt this month were Éadaí, Lá le Pádraig agus An Cháisc.

Easter Around the World

We were really proud of our contribution to the assembly. We informed the other classes in the school about different Easter traditions around the world such as in Moldova, Poland and India. Did you know that in Poland they have painted Easter eggs called 'pisanki' that are handcrafted and painted with traditional symbols of spring. We also learnt about Ramadan which is celebrated by Muslims.

Curriculum Update for March and April

Please find attached an overview of the work covered in our class in March and April.

curriculum_update_o.darcy_march-april_2021.pdf
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File Type:	pdf

Download File

Bualadh Bos Rang a Dó

26/2/2021

I am incredibly proud of all of you. You have worked so hard these past two months. I would also like to thank your parents and guardians for helping you to be the best you can be.

I can't wait to see you on Monday.

Ms Darcy

Kit

Ms Darcy introduced her 100 year old gran aunt to us this week. She broke her wrist so she is staying with Ms Darcy and her family until it heals. She received a cheque from the President for her 100th birthday. She was delighted to see everyone and she has loved looking at everyone's artwork. She can't wait to chat to 2nd class again so we will have a Zoom with her soon.

Hot Chocolate

We are doing procedural writing at the moment. We read a text about 'How to make hot chocolate with marshmallows'. Some of us even made some hot chocolate, others are waiting until after Lent.

Quentin Blake Art

Quentin Blake is a fantastic illustrator who has illustrated over 300 books including 18 books written by Roald Dahl. We followed Joan's excellent step by step video. Check out our illustrations.

Éadaí

We have loved learning all about clothes in Irish and we can't wait to practise using our new Irish words next week.

Making Good Choices

As this is the second week of Lent, we learnt about the importance of making good choices.

Welcome Back After Our Midterm Break

21/2/2021

I hope that you had a happy and restful midterm. You deserved it. You did some wonderful work before midterm which I would love to share.
This week you will be starting the topic of ‘Éadaí’ in Irish and learning all about the importance of water in Geography.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone at 9.30 on Zoom.

Ms Darcy

Lovely Work from 2nd Class - February 8th - 12th

Love Bugs

We really enjoyed making our love bugs for Valentine's Day.

1960's

We compared our life to Mary’s who was eight during the 1960’s. Her favourite band was ‘The Beatles’.

Time

We had so much fun learning how to tell the time. We looked around our house so that we could find objects which tell the time.

Compound Words

We particularly loved learning about compound words and looking for objects in our house which were compound words such as pencil case, flower pot and earphones.

Obair Iontach ó Rang a Dó: 1ú - 5ú Feabhra

8/2/2021

Dear 2nd Class,
Can you believe that you have been working so hard from home for over one month now?! You continue to impress me with your excellent work.
I hope that you have a fun time learning about how to tell the time in Maths.

Stay safe and healthy and I look forward to seeing you each morning at 9:30.

Ms Darcy

Lá Fhéile Bríde

We celebrated Saint Brigid's Day by learning about the story of Saint Brigid and her cloak. We also learnt how to make a Saint Brigid's cross.

Our wonderful narratives

We were super pleased to have completed our narratives.

Mental Maths

We absolutely love doing mental maths each day.

Spring Art

Spring has sprung. Check out our spring artwork.

Weight

We had lots of fun learning about weight last week.

Gaeilge

We really enjoyed listening to the story 'An Fathach Santach'.

Fantastic Work from 2nd Class - January 25th - 29th

1/2/2021

Dear 2nd class,
I am beaming with pride every time I see your work. You are completely engaged during our zoom calls. I especially love that you have the opportunity to chat with your classmates before our class begins.
All I ask is that you try your best and you are definitely doing that.
Enjoy all the fun activities, I have planned this week. I know that you can't wait to learn about weight!!
I am looking forward to seeing your fantastic work this week.

Ms Darcy

Maths

We are maths experts in 2nd class. Each day we do a page of our Mental Maths book and Planet Maths book. We have different tables to learn each week.

Andy Warhol Art

We learnt about pop art last week. Check out our colourful doughnuts!

Our Narratives Continued

We edited our introductions and wrote the next two paragraphs to our story which were the build up and the problem.

Music

We are really enjoying our music lessons. Each week Niall sends us an exciting lesson to do. Last week we also listened to 'Yellow Submarine' by the Beatles. Check out your pictures!

Lá Fhéile Bríde

Amazing Work from 2nd Class - January 18th - 22nd

25/1/2021

Dear 2nd class,
I am so proud of the hard work which you have been doing. I enjoy seeing your faces everyday at 9.30. It is a great start to the day. I love correcting all of your work. You are all doing your very best.
Your hard work deserves to be shared and I'm so happy that I can update the blog each week with your amazing work.
Ms Darcy

Spellings

Every Friday we have a virtual spelling test. We have to spell both Irish and English words. It can be difficult sometimes but we try to find patterns in the spellings to help us spell words correctly.
We do activities in the books 'My Spelling Workbook' and 'Bua na Cainte' to help us learn our spellings.

Teeth

We learnt all about different types of teeth. Did you know that you usually lose your incisors first?

Art

Taking inspiration from the artist of the month 'Wolf Kahn', we created action paintings by the artist 'Jackson Pollock'. Some of our siblings helped us as well.
Our paintings are so colourful!

Our characters

We created characters for our new story. We used incredible adjectives to describe our characters such as bossy, mischievous, sneaky, slimy and tame.

Our Engaging Introductions

We wrote our introduction last week. We included our characters and decided on our settings. A lab, a jungle and a hole are some of the places where our stories began. Some of us used descriptive adjectives and speech marks to make our story more interesting. Ms Darcy can't wait to find out what is going to happen next!

Keep up the great work!

Excellent Work from 2nd Class - January 11th - 15th

18/1/2021

2nd class were super busy last week.

In English, we read the story 'The Tortoise and the Hare'. We then drew a story map and described the characters.

Story Maps

Character description

My Teeth

We talked about our teeth in SESE. We then drew our toothbrush and toothpaste.

Toothbrush and Toothpaste Drawings

S.P.H.E - Poems about our friends and family

WELL DONE!!

Ms Darcy's Letter to 2nd Class

9/1/2021

Dear 2nd Class,

I hope you are keeping well and staying safe during our school closure. I know it is a strange and confusing time. I also know it is very hard for you to stay at home all the time and to be away from your friends. I am staying at home with my family in Tipperary. I'm not meeting with any of my friends either, so I know how it feels. I just wanted to check in with you and let you know that I am thinking about you and hoping that you are ‘being the best you can be’ at home.

I am extremely excited because I will be meeting with you at 9.30 every day on Google Classroom.

Each day you will receive some activities to do on Google Classroom. If you are finding the activities hard, please send me a message and I will help you.

In the meantime, let’s all do our bit to stay safe and healthy – Wash your hands, stay at home and remember the rules of social distancing.

Looking forward to seeing you at 9.30 on Monday morning.

Best Wishes,

Ms Darcy

Useful Websites for 2nd Class

Reading:
Reading is so important and I really love the Oxford Owls website. All you need to do is click on the link below to sign up. You can select a book by age (if it's too easy go up in age or too hard go down in age). You will have access to lots of books which your child can read alone, with a sibling or adult.
www.oxfordowl.co.uk/user/sign_up.html

Maths:
The IXL website has many maths' activities for your child to do. Your child will be learning about money next week. Click on the link to access the website.
IXL - Second class maths practice

<<Previous

​Welcome to 2nd Class

Rice Krispie Buns

Keeping Active

Persuasive Writing

Nelson Mandela

Alpacas

May

Materials and their properties

Active Week

Maths

Nature Weaving

Italy

Mona Lisa

Romulus and Remus

Zoom call with Patty

Italian Project

Curriculum Update for May and June

Anti-litter Mascots

​Persuasive Letters

Environmental Awareness Talk

Paper Gift Bags

Sunflowers

Sunflower Art

Length

National Spring Clean

The Water Cycle

The Water Wheel

The Altidore River

World Book Day

Kit

Seesaw

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Easter Around the World

Curriculum Update for March and April

Kit

Hot Chocolate

Quentin Blake Art

Éadaí

Making Good Choices

Lovely Work from 2nd Class - February 8th - 12th

Love Bugs

1960's

Time

Compound Words

Lá Fhéile Bríde

Our wonderful narratives

Mental Maths

Spring Art

Weight

Gaeilge

Maths

Andy Warhol Art

Our Narratives Continued

Music

Lá Fhéile Bríde

Spellings

Teeth

Art

Our characters

Our Engaging Introductions

Keep up the great work!

Story Maps

Character description

My Teeth

Toothbrush and Toothpaste Drawings

S.P.H.E - Poems about our friends and family

WELL DONE!!

Useful Websites for 2nd Class

Ms Darcy's 2nd Class

Archives

Categories

Welcome to 2nd Class

Persuasive Letters