Online resources

English

Free writing

Many pupils will be familiar with the concept of “free writing” and may have a special notebook or journal in which they write freely about any topic of choice, and in any genre. This is a simple idea that can be continued in the home setting. Children have the autonomy to decide what they wish to write about and there are a variety of different styles that they can practice:

• Diary writing (personal accounts)
• Recount writing (a report of an event)
• Fiction (short stories)
• Instructional writing (e.g. rules of a game *the children can even come up with a new idea and create their own game!)
• Poetry (Limericks, acrostic poems etc.)

https://storybird.com/member-family-plan (offer a free 7-day trial)

https://www.mystorybook.com/

Letter writing

Post from a pen-pal and the anticipation of awaiting the arrival of a response may be lost in our global world where social media has taken over the art of writing, but this may be the time to resurrect that magic!

Another interesting idea is to chart the journey of a letter from the writer to the recipient. An Post have an educational resource on their website https://www.anpost.ie/anpost/schoolbag/primary/our+people/the+journey+of+your+mail/

Children can also design their own stamp or begin a collection of stamps and look out for special commemorative stamps that were commissioned by An Post to celebrate a particular occasion. An Post is delivering five million free postcards to homes around Ireland, to keep people in touch during the coronavirus crisis.

People can write personal messages for posting on, free-of-charge, to family and friends across the country to help them stay connected in the weeks ahead.

Lists

If parents are venturing out to shop and stock up on groceries, children can help by writing the list of what is needed. Depending on the age of the child, elements of mathematics could be incorporated here estimating prices and weights etc. Children could also work out which option is better value (e.g. two individual boxes containing 80 teabags or one box with 160 etc.)

Book review

We all know that a grá for reading is one of the most important gifts that we can pass on to our children. Use this opportunity to read a wide selection of books. Children can then write a review, give their personal opinion, talk about their favourite character and give a star rating. They may have a chance to present this in front of an audience in their own home (i.e. immediate family – maintain social distance!)

https://pdst.ie/sites/default/files/Time_to_Read_Int_04_0.pdf

https://www.worldbookonline.com/ – Worldbookonline have now released over 30,000 ebooks on their site

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/ – ebooks for all ages

https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/ game based resource covering letters, sounds and reading full sentences.

• http://www.ictgames.com/mobilePage/lcwc/index.html
• https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
• https://www.starfall.com/h/im-reading/?t=268891669
• http://rivet.area120.com/read/#/endOfBookScreen     (Super selection of books available and different levels to suit all ages, no membership required)
• http://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/ (David Walliams reads a short story every day)

On Instagram Oliver Jeffers reads one of his books every evening at 6pm

Gaeilge

Caint agus cómhrá

Bí ag caint as Gaeilge chomh minic as is féidir!

Try to incorporate Irish into daily activities. As well as cartoons on TG4, children can play games such as “I spy” (Feicim le mo shúilín) as Gaeilge and perhaps put labels (lipéid) on items around the house. There are some useful websites online to support the learning of Irish (mar shampla Duo Lingo agus Seomra Ranga).

https://www.seideansi.ie/ – Games and activities for all age groups as gaeilge

Bua na Cainte

To access Bua na Cainte’s interactive programme at home, for a limited period, please follow the instructions below.

1. Go to edco.ie/bua
2. Select the file which suits your computer: PC or MAC
3. Select the Class Level you require, and then click on it to start a download of the file.
4. Once the download has completed, click on the file to install and follow the on-screen instructions.
5. A Bua na Cainte icon will appear on your desktop. Once you select this icon a login page will open where you will need to enter the details included below.

The login details below can be used for all class levels.

Login: trial
Password: trial

Abair Liom

To lend a helping hand to schools and parents over the coming weeks we are giving access to all our digital resources on FolensOnline.ie.

Parents and teachers can follow the steps below to get access:

1. Go to follensonline.ie and click register
2. Select Teacher
3. Fill in a username, email and password
4. For Roll Number use the code:  Prim20