Confirmation Name Art - Digital Artwork on the iPad

Here is a great little project for confirmation classes that incorporates both ICT and art work.

Children investigated their chosen name.  I directed them with the following guidelines: 

1. Choose a name of a saint or a family member who is a good role model or important person in your life.
2. Write about the work of that saint, or why you admire the chosen individual.
3. Research the meaning of the name. 

4. Include any other interesting information you may have discovered in your research. 

We then used the 'Comic Life App'  on the iPad to create our posters. 

Children can be really creative here.  Import pictures, use speech bubbles and word art. 

There are also some preset themes which the children can avail of. 

Here are some of our works of art! 

It created a lovely bright colourful display which could be suitable for either display in school or the church. 

Reach for the Stars! - Door Display

Set the tone for the classroom right at the front door with this 

'Reaching for the Stars' art display! 

Here is one of the very first door art displays I did this year.  

We personalised the entrance to our classroom by creating kites and arms.  

The children created the kites using a selection of coloured cards, pritt stick and ribbon.  I purchased some pretty coloured ribbon for about a €1 a roll from Tiger! 

For the kites you are best choosing an A4 piece of base coloured card.  

1. Draw a diamond shape and cut it out. 

2.  Children may decide to draw and colour their own designs or cut out some additional shapes from other pieces of coloured card.  I left this option very open for the children to interpret themselves.

3. When finished designing cut out 4 strips which will become your 'criss cross' for the kite. 

4. Attach ribbon at back using sellotape. (Some children created bows using the card as an addition)

For the arms, the children traced around their own hands. 

They then personalised it with their own tattoos or henna designs. 

We then backed these onto coloured card. 

Both lessons could be used in two consecutive weeks 

or separately depending on which you prefer! 

This lesson falls both into the Drawing and Construction Strands of the Art Curriculum. 

It could also be linked with Shape & Space in Maths 

and Self - Identity in SPHE. 

Chinese New Year Art

The 28th of January marked Chinese New Year. 

To change things up from the standard Chinese Lantern we decided to create some animals based on the story of the Chinese Zodiac. 

We also looked at the story of Chinese New Year and which animal represented our birth year. 

We used a variety of materials including cardboard, egg cartons, ribbons, paint, glitter and coloured card to create our animals! You name it we used it! 

The presses were well and truly raided! 

Most of the children opted for the dragon! 

But we had a few roosters, rats and snakes! 

One group created a bigger dragon!

This lesson falls under the Construction Strand. 

Its a nice lesson which allows the children to get creative and imaginative.

Here are some pictures of the created pieces and the work process! 

They might inspire your art this week! 

Enjoy! 

Yvonne 

Top Picks for iPad - Kahoot!

Kahoot! is fast becoming one of my favourite educational tools in the classroom. 

Quite simply it is a highly engaging and interactive quiz perfect for use on the iPad with the whole class. 

Here's how it works:

• Choose a multiple choice quiz already created from one of the thousands online or alternatively create your own on any subject of choice. 

• Share the code with your class on the interactive whiteboard as in the example below. 

• Children input the code. Quiz questions appear on the IWB, with four possible options. 
• The four colours representing the four answers appear on the children's iPads. 
• The children must choose the correct answer as fast as they can. 
• A fantastic way to revise content in any subject with the children and a huge variety of quizzes already created online. 

It's a winner with every class and great fun! 

Be warned though! 

It can create some great excitement and competition in the class!

Enjoy! 

Foil Embossing Art Lesson

I've had so many questions about the foil embossing lesson over on my twitter page.

 I said it'd probably be easier to write a blog post rather than keep repeating myself! 

https://twitter.com/MissWardsClass

This art went down a STORM both online and in school! 

It worked excellently with sixth class, but I can't see why it wouldn't be possible with a crafty fifth! 

It's simple and looks great! 

Step one: 
Get some old cardboard boxes.  Cut out the main panels.

Step 2: 
Draw out a pattern or picture of your choice with pencil.

Step 3: 
Using PVA glue paste down the wool on top of your pattern. (Don't be afraid to use lots of glue!)
Leave this to dry overnight.

Step 4: 
Cut out a large piece of tin foil slightly larger than the piece of card you've been working on.
Loosely place it down on top of the card. Press it down into the corners.

Step 5: 
Colour with markers! (Sharpies work best!)

Voila! 

A beautiful piece of art for all to admire! 

Maths: Data Investigation in 6th Class

Data is always a fun unit to complete at the start of the year in maths.
However, I sometimes think we underestimate the children's knowledge and understanding of graphs and charts.  We also need to show them the importance of 'interpreting charts' and how to 'read between the lines'.

On the sixth class curriculum the children are introduced to 'trend graphs'.
Some key teaching points are:

• The names of both the axes and how to label them
• The significance of a title
• How to space the graph evenly (Consistency)
• Using a ruler! 

In groups the children worked on devising their own research questions and carrying out some investigations.  The children had to gather their raw data and represent it using a variety of tables and graphs. 

I created this worksheet to help the guide the children in their work. 

Get it for free here : Data Investigation

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The children then presented their findings to the class. 

Start of Year Activities for 6th Class

A new year, a new class and the familiar fumble to try and root out last years start of year activities! 

In this post I've decided to compile some resources I've found useful and which I will be using again this year. 

If you've any more to add feel free to comment. 

Here are a number of activity sheets I use on the first day of school and they're all free! 

This is a brilliant little activity booklet.  It has a number of activities in it on getting to know each other, creating a summer image, etc. 

You can pick and choose what works best for you and your class. 

The main activity I'll be taking from this is the 'Class Contract'.  Here the children write down three goals for the year ahead and sign it. 

I like to hold onto this and revisit it in the new year and at the end of the school year. 

I always think its always a good start to be positive and set some goals. I usually use this worksheet after we have discussed the rules for the year ahead. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Free-Printables-289587

This is another great activity to help to get to know the children in the style of a Facebook profile. 

http://freeology.com/wp-content/files/facebookmypage.pdf 

And for a bit of gaeilge! 

This is also in the style of a Facebook profile on the topic of 'me fein'.  

Emer at 'A Crucial Week' has created this for a fifth class, but its also a fantastic first day activity to get the children thinking 'gaeilge'.  

http://acrucialweek.blogspot.ie/2011/09/facebook-style-me-fein-worksheet.html

Here's another little activity I've created to help me get to know more about the students.  I like to put this into my assessment folder at the start of the year. 

It helps me see areas the students feel they have strengths or difficulty.  It also helps me understand how they learn. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxDOdG_Zm1egMHZmdk5KaTFCV0U/view?usp=sharing