Welcome to Our
5th and 6th Class Page!
2019/2020
Please click on the link to access distance learning activities for 5th and 6th class for June. Stay safe and make the most of the sunshine!!!
Distance Learning June
Please click on the link to access distance learning activities for 5th and 6th class (May 18th-29th). I hope you are all well, safe and enjoying the beautiful weather:
5th and 6th Class Distance Learning May 18th-29th
Please click on the link to access distance learning activities for 5th and 6th class (May 5th-15th). I hope you are all well, safe and enjoying the beautiful weather:
Distance Learning May 5th-15th
‘Wonder’ PDF (Please click on the following link to access the novel ‘Wonder’ online): https://www.readingsanctuary.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Wonder.pdf
‘Wonder’ Comprehension Questions: Wonder Comprehension Questions – May 2020
Please see below a link to the work which the children can complete in their own time over the next two weeks (April 20th-May 1st):
Distance Learning Worksheet Term 3
If you have any questions or queries or would like to share some of the work which the children have completed, please don’t hesitate to email me at:
The SET Team can also be contacted via the email addresses below:
Ms. Mannion: setbns2020@gmail.com
Ms. King: ikingbns2020@gmail.com
Mrs. Rohan: a.rohan.ballygarns2020@gmail.com
Well done to Hayden, Olivia, Hazel and Alyssa who all created wonderful pieces of artwork for the Confirmation and Communion blessing and drive-by which took place recently!
Well done to all children who have logged in to their IXL accounts and have been working hard on the various Maths and English activities! You have answered 4,926 questions so far and spent 30 hours working hard on these games and activities! Superb work and keep it up in the coming week!
Daily activities and lessons take place on RTÉ 2 at 11am. Please find the link to the online resource below:
https://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/1127275-rte-home-school-hub/
Daily activities and lessons also take place on TG4 at 10am. Please find the link to the online resource below:
https://cula4.com/ga/clair/cula4-ar-scoil/
If you would like to share any of the work you have done during the school closure (writing, fun activities, nature walks, baking, science experiments etc) don’t forget to tag us on twitter @BallygarNs or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ballygarns/
A fantastic interpretation of ‘The Docks’ in Galway was created by one of our 6th Class pupils while learning about Galway!
More excellent art work and DIY activities!!
Some children have shared their projects, baking and what books they have been reading over the past few weeks. I was delighted to see all the time and effort that has been going on with home projects – keep it up and keep sending your work and activities! We love to see them!!
A list of some excellent resources for students and parents have been created on Padlet, some of which may be of interest to you and your children. Links to eBooks provided by publishers are also on this page. This Padlet will be updated regularly so keep an eye out to see what’s new!
https://padlet.com/msfahy2020/o6h61t8tb2z3blc
TRY YOUR BEST WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE AND STAY SAFE
Community Games Art
Heartiest congratulations to Hazel O’Malley and Olivia Kelly who both placed in this year’s Community Games Art Competition.
We are all very proud of you girls!
Pancake Tuesday 2020
5th and 6th Class had great fun learning how to make pancakes and also learned the procedure for writing the recipe for their pancakes in English! They mixed, whipped, stirred, flipped….!!! Well done to all!
Grandparents Day 2020 @ Ballygar N.S.
Phases of the Moon
5th and 6th loved learning about the different phases which the moon goes through in an interesting and tasty way!
St. Brigid’s Day 2020
The children in 5th and 6th Class worked extremely hard on their St. Brigid’s Day crosses! A massive thank you to Fr. Louis for blessing the crosses for us!
Christmas Nativity 2019
The children performed a fabulous rendition of the Christmas Nativity!
SESE
1916 Rising Project Work
Christmas Art 2019
We had super fun decorating the school in preparation for Christmas! The children worked very diligently on their window displays, Late Late Toy Show art and their singing reindeer!
Art
The children created pieces of artwork based on inspirations from Sandra Silberzweig and Piet Mondrian!
SESE
The children worked very well on their SESE projects based on Japan. They found out some fascinating facts about the physical features of Japan, what the Japanese like to eat and the fun activities Japanese people do in their spare time!
The children found out about different materials and how they change when mixed – mixing baking soda and vinegar causes carbon dioxide to form and the balloon to rise!
5th and 6th class created timelines in their History stations on the Titanic. They had great fun using iPads to collect their information.
Maths Week
The children enjoyed their Maths Trail and activities throughout Maths Week. Congratulations to all who participated and a special congrats go to Hayden Naughton and Serena Pyne on receiving Mathlete of the Week!
Special Visitor
We had a special visitor in our classroom last week! Oliwia brought along her farm snail ‘Nala’ for all to see! The children found out many interesting facts about Nala.
Mini 7’s Hurling Team 2019
History
We used Ipads to research the locations of Norman castles in Irelands
Christmas
Our 6th class decorated our school Christmas tree in the school corridor. We also painted the windows at the front of the school.
Gymnastics
Art
We made felt teddy bears. We learnt how to do a number of stitches including the blanket stitch.
Halloween
Maths
We were learning all about data and different types of graphs in maths. We surveyed each of the classes in the school and created multiple bar charts representing the results. We then presented our findings to the classes.
Maths Week
We celebrated maths week from 16th-20th October.
We had great fun answering the questions on the Halloween Themed Maths Week Board outside the office. Well done to everyone who got them all correct.
We also participated in a maths trail around the school.
We also particpated in our ‘Maths for Fun’ initaative. We went to our General purpose room and took part in a number of maths games.
Well done to Peter who won the Guess the Sweets in the Jar competition. Here are some photographs of us having fun on maths week.
Science
Chromatography Experiments
Music
We have been learning to play the tinwhistle.
Vegetable Soup
We harvested the vegetables from our vegetable garden and made vegetable soup for all the school. It was delicious!!
Geography
We have been learning all about the structure of the Earth, volcanoes and the different types of Rocks that are found in Ireland
Blackberry Jam
We made blackberry jam.
Cultural Day
We took part in celebrations of Cultural day in Ballygar. Louise Houlihan carried out a workshop with us. We looked at identity, place, the diversity of the group. We mapped the town of Ballygar and discussed our favourite places/amenities in Ballygar and the amenities and services they would like to see in the future. We then went out and about and visited our favourite places. We split up into groups and used our new ipads to take photographs of our groups in our favourtie places in Ballygar. We were very creative with our poses when it came to taking the photographs. A special thanks to Louise for organising the workshop.
Mesolithic People
We learnt all about the first people to come to Ireland the Mesolithic people. We then made models of mesolithic campsites. I am sure you will agree they are fantastic!!!
One of our very talented pupils Anthony Naughton made these Mesolithic tools using tree branches, tree bark (to tie them together) and stones.
School Year 2016/17
Local History
We have been studying and learning about the history of Ballygar and its surrounding townlands. We have been researching all about our townlands using lots of databases on line to find out information about histortial sites, people who lived in Ballygar and its surrounding townlands 100 years ago, the landlords who owned and planted the lands in and around Ballygar during the 1600’s, the geological features of Ballygar and its surrounding areas and much more. We created projects based on the information that we learnt and presented it to our classmates.
Here are some pictures of us conducting our research in our computer room.
WW1 Trenches
We learnt all about WW1 and about life in the trenches. We create trench models in groups.
Debates
We were learning all about persuasive writing. We took part in debates on a number of topics. Our motions included ‘Hunting should be banned,’ ‘Children should not have to wear school uniforms,’ ‘Animals should not be kept in zoo.’ We had great fun debating our topics and arguing our cases
Science
We conducted an experiment to show that fire needs oxygen to burn. We also discovered that the air we breathe is made up of approximately 20% oxygen.
Gymnastics
We have been having great fun doing gymnastics for PE over the last few weeks
Confirmation Retreat
Here are some pictures of our Confirmation retreat in Knock on 13th February.
Art
We learnt all about the artist Modiglani. Modiglani was known for creating portraits with elongated necks and faces. We created these Modiglani inspired.portraits using pastels
St. Brigid’s Crosses
We made these lovely St. Brigid’s Crosses for St. Brigid’s Day.
Maths
We are learning all about length in maths. We worked in groups to measure a number of objects in our environment and then had fun converting our measurements into mm, cm and m.
Halloween
Maths Week
We completed Maths Trails during Maths week Here are some pictures of us doing our maths trail.
We also completed travel tallies to compare the cars travelling to and from Roscommon. We then represented this data on multiple bar charts. Here are some pictures of us completing our travel tallies.
Cartoon Art
Look at our amazing Cartoon paintings. We had great fun choosing, drawing and painting our characters.
Leaf Imprint Art
We made leaf imprints using plaster of paris. Have a look at us making our creations.
Stroop Effect Experiment
We learnt all about our central nervous system and how our brain sends and receives messages. We conducted an experiement called the stroop effect. This test measures how your brain copes with information that is confusing. Read the words in the picture below. Now read them again but this time say the colour, not the word. What did you notice?
The Stroop Effect Test is used to findout if mountain climbers are suffering from altitude sickness
Blackberry Jam
We made Blackberry jam. Here is our recipe:
Ingredients
1kg jam sugar
1kg berries of your choice
1 tablespoon of water
Equipment
Large pot
Ladle
Large metal spoon
Some clean glass jars with lids
Method
- In your large pot put in your berries and water, place pot on a medium to high heated stove and let simmer for twenty minutes or until your berries are soft.
- If your berries are larger such as strawberries or gooseberries mush down your berries a little, add your jam sugar and stir for five seconds.
- Let your jam come to a violent boil and stir in any sin that might have formed and leave your jam to gently boil and stir once your second skin has formed.
- Leave your jam until it resembles a thick mixture with a few lumps of berries here and there, take your jam off the heat and stir and leave your jam to cool for 5 minutes.
- Using your ladle spoon your mixture into your jars and put on the lid and leave to set over night
- Enjoy your jam that you have made from scratch
Our Top Tip
- Don’t stir your jam to much or else it either won’t set or it will set to thick
Written by Eabha Conroy and Eabha McArdle
Here are some pictures of us making it.
Maths
We learnt all about Place value
Geography
We learnt all about the devastating effects that flooding can have on communities. Only last year Athleague, a neighbouring town was affected by flooding. We worked in groups to brainstorm the causes of flooding, the effects of flooding, how communities can prepare for floods, and how to minimise the effect the flooding.
2015-16
Halloween
We all had great fun dressing up for Halloween. Have a look at how scary we look
Maths Week
We learnt all about Multiple bar charts and trend graphs in maths. We made up our own surveys and we surveyed the other classes. We then made multiple bar charts based on our findings.
We also took part in a maths table quiz to celebrate maths week.
New Zealand
We learnt all about New Zealand and the Maori’s.
Did you know that New Zealand is made up of 2 different Islands called the North and South Island.
The Maori’s are the indigineous people of New Zealand. They were fierce in battle. When they captured their enemies, they ate them and kept their heads as trophies. The Maori’s had tattoos, which, traditionally they had on their faces to make them look fierce, and so scare off their enemies.
Look at our lovely Maori masks.
Science Week
During science week, we learnt all about Chromatography. Chromatography is the process of separating coloured inks. We conducted experiments in groups to demonstrate this process.
On Friday the 13th of November, in association with NUIG and Galway Science, Ms. Jane McLoughlin visited our school and we took part in a science workshop. We took part in various scientific experiments including making gloop, magical marbles, floating balls, the lazy coin, making a hovercraft and designing a boat fit for passengers.
Everyone had great fun participating in Science Week and can’t wait for next year!
Antarctica
We learnt all about Antarctica and completed projects in groups. Here are some pictures of us presenting our projects to our class.
Christmas Tree
We had great fun decorating the Christmas tree in the corridor.
Nativity
We were very busy in December practising our lines for our annual Christmas Nativity performance. Here are some pictures of our performance during our annual Carol Service.
Christmas Jumpers
We all got into the spirit of Christmas and had a Christmas jumper day. Don’t we look very festive
Clay Faces
We have been learning all about clay and different techniques when using clay in art. We made clay faces. We will be painting them once they are dry.
Light
We have been learning all about light in Science. We learnt that light is made up of 7 different colours- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (the colours of the rainbow). We conducted an experiment to demonstrate this. We also leant that the colours of the rainbow can be brought together to produce white light. We made coloured spinners to demonstrate this. Here are some picture of us making and using our coloured spinners.
Refraction
We also learnt about refraction. Refraction is the when light bends as it travels from one medium to another. Here are some pictures of us conducting an experiment to demonstrate refraction.
Refraction in action :
Water can look a lot shallower than it actually is, because of refraction. Because light which is reflected off say a fish in water, bends when it reaches the surface, your eye assumes light travels in straight lines and sees the fish nearer the surface than it actually is.
Have you noticed that when you paddle in water your legs appear to be shorter than their actual length? (This is for the same reason). SAFETY in the water! So refraction is important to think about before you jump into water – it might be much deeper than you think!
Soccer Tournament
On 20th January, we took part in a 6 a side soccer tournament organised by Coláiste Mhuire in the Matte McDonagh Centre. We entered two teams into the competition and competed against a number of local primary schools including Ballyforan, Creggs, Ballaghlea, Mount Talbot, Fuerty. We did extremely well and reached the semi-final, narrowly missing a place in a final. A great day was had by all. A special thank you to Ms. O Malley, Mr. Curran and to the transitions years for organising the tournament.
Drama Workshop
We completed a drama workshop with Tony Daly from Backstage Ireland Academy of Performing Arts on Thursday 21st January. The children had great fun taking part in a variety of fun drama games, and improvisations. Backstage is recognised around Ireland for its performing arts work with young people and have worked with Niall Horan from One Direction and their students have also appeared on television programmes such as ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Moone Boy.’
Gymnastics
We have been doing gymnastics in PE. We have been learning how to do different rolls and balances. Here are some pictures of us doing the ‘pencil roll’ and also partner balances.
How Much Sugar is in Our Favourite Treats?
We carried out an experiment to investigate how much sugar is in our favourite treats. We examined the nutritional value information of our favourite treats to see how many grammes of sugar they contain. There is about 4g of sugar in one teaspoon. To calculate how many teaspoons of sugar are in our favourite treats we divided the total number of grammes by 4. We then measured out the sugar into food bags.
We were shocked with what we found.
Did you know that a 500ml bottle of coke has 13 teaspoons of sugar? or that a bottle of rockshandy has 16 teaspoons of sugar?
St. Bridget’s Crosses
We made St. Bridget Crosses from rushes on St. Bridget’s Day. Fr. Breslin blessed our crosses before we brought them home.
Pancake Tuesday
We have been learning all about procedural writing. We made pancakes on Pancake Tuesday and wrote down the recipe so that we could make them at home.
Valentine’s Cupid Art
We learnt about the techniques of using stencils and printing during art. We made lovely Valentines art paintings using cupid stencils.
Did you know that we celebrate St. Valentine’s Day in honour of St. Valentine. Valentine was a priest who lived under the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius II. Claudius wanted a strong army, but many men did not want to be soldiers. He thought the men wanted to stay home to be with their wives and children instead of leaving to fight wars. Claudius thought of an awful solution to his problem. He decided to cancel all marriages! No one in all of Rome could get married. Claudius thought that if the men couldn’t get married, the men would ignore the women and want to be soldiers.Valentine however believed that people needed to get married. So he secretly and illegally married couples anyway! Claudius found out what Valentine was doing and arrested and executed him.
Parachute Science
We learnt all about gravity. Gravity is a useful force, without it everything would float around.
We also learnt how parachutes work. Gravity pulls a parachute down, but as it falls air gets trapped under the canopy. The trapped air pushes up against the canopy, making the parachute fall slowly. We worked in groups to make parachutes. We carried out an experiment to investigate whether the size of a parachute affects.
2d and 3d Shapes
We were learning all about 2d and 3d shapes in maths this month. We made lots of different regular and irregular 2d shapes using lollipop sticks. We also made 3d shapes out of lollipop sticks and nets (including cubes, cuboids, pentagonal prisms, hexagonal prisms, hexagon based pyramids, pentagon based pyramids, octahedrons).
1916
We have been learning all about the 1916 Easter Rising because this year marks the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising. We completed projects in groups based on what we have learnt.
