This post is especially for Aishlin who requested it forever ago. Sorry for the wait. I hope that it was worth it!

I think that this has been one of the toughest posts to write. I have sooooo many favourite things. All of the items shown are reasonably priced and are used frequently,  by this I mean daily or almost weekly, in my classroom. The would be a great starting for for any NQT.

1. Jolly Phonics Word Book.  This is literally list after list of words sorted by group, initial consonant blends, final consonant blends, digraphs and tricky words. I would be completely lost without it. In fact, I am the proud owner of 2 copies just incase one went missing!!!  Sometimes it can be hard to think of 10 or 20 words that contain “oi” or “ai”. It’s great to be able to just open an book as see lots and lots of examples. It is an absolute bargain at 3Euro including postage! Click here to purchase your own copy of Jolly Phonics Word Book!
2.  Pocket Charts!! I recently purchased this very one to add to my growing collection! It is sooooooo useful. I currently have HFW word flashcards in it. I can take them down to use them and just pop them back. So simple, no messing with blu-tac or thumb tacks. It is pretty light so I have been able to attach it to my noticeboard with just thumb tacks. My “other half” at work, Aoife, recently acquired one for her classroom too and loves it.  It’s great having a double stream because I have a buddy to plan with. So much more fun! Pocket Charts would be great in a “Sub tub” for those of you subbing.  You can just take it down when you are going home. I also use one for my Focus Wall. Click here to visit the page. Click here to purchase  your own pocket chart. It costs 18.93 including postage.
3. I use this smaller one for my Classroom Management.  It is actually a Daily Schedule Pocket chart that I have re-purposed for my own use. Click here to purchase a Daily Schedule Pocket Chart. It costs 10.03 including postage. It is much, much smaller than it seems. I will take a photo of mine tomorrow and post it on my Facebook page. You will get a better sense of its scale and how I use it. It would be great for displaying the names of helpers and classroom jobs too. My positive behaviour programme is based on 3 different types of frogs: happy frog, uh-uh frog and sad frog. Children start the day on happy frog and stay there by making positive behaviour choices.I simple stuck the laminated frog onto the pocket chart with blu-tac. The name cards are laminated and are an absolute breeze to move up and down, if necessary, on this pocket chart. It is an absolute life saver!!
4. Two Sided Counters and 5/10 Frames. Possibly the greatest find of 2013!!! How did I survive so long without them?!!!Two-sided counters come as a pack of 200 and cost 9.73 including postage. Click here to purchase . Anyone who has taught composing/decomposing of numbers a.k.a combining/partitioning to 30+ kids knows how “hellish” it is to have the right  quantity and colour of counters. You also spend way to much time talking about the colour of the cubes to use. Ring any bells? This becomes a greater focus than the actual combing and partitioning.                                                                
   Now we just count out  a defined number of counters eg 5  and flip them as necessary. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. And, oh yeah, the kids can actually do combining and partitioning without me dictating the colours to them.
   I like to Play “spill the beans“ when teaching combining and partitioning . Give each child an empty plastic cup. Place the desired number of counters inside,  shake and spill. Teacher: What way did you make 5?   Child 1:  2 yellow and 3 red. 2+3 makes 5. Child 2:  1 yellow and 4 red. 1 +4 makes 5  Child 3:  5 yellow and 0 red. 5 +0 makes 5.  I also use them on 5 frames/10 frames and for patterning. They fit perfectly on the 10 frames that I created. Click here for a free download. I will be uploading the Monster 5 Frame Board in the coming weeks too
5. Listening Comprehension (Lower) by Prim-Ed. This was one of the 1st purchases I ever made as a teacher and I still use it 10 years on! Simply read the detailed instructions twice and then allow children time to respond on their worksheet. It is just a brilliant resource. When I taught Senior Infants I created a booklet per child and  completed one activity per day for the first week in school. It is a great way to reinforce and encourage good listening skills at the beginning of a school year. “Listen to your teacher when she speaks” is one of my class rules.  Listening is a ‘skill’ that young children need to be assisted in developing. This book is great for that. It also shows me who recognises their colours, understands ordinal language, positional language and can write their own name clearly. It’s a great beginning of the year assessment.Prim-Ed Listening Comprehension also has a few sheets that I saved for seasonally appropriate times of year: skeleton,  Snowman, Easter Bunny and Sandcastle.Prim-Ed Listening Comprehension (Lower) is 14.95 and can be used from Infants to 1st or 2nd class. Click here to purchase.
6. Behaviour Punch Cards. I know that lots of people are using Classdojo but I am still happy with my regular ol’ punch cards I have had so much hardship with school laptops in the past few years, not to mention the endless wait for replacement bulbs for interactive whiteboard!  What would happen to my classroom management if I couldn’t access the programme?!For this reason I prefer my classroom management to be based on cardboard and a puncher.I use the Behaviour Punch Cards along side “smiley’s” and “frowney’s” for a whole class programme. It sounds kinda complicated but I assure you it isn’t. Perhaps it could be another post?! Anyway, I always feel for the “good kids”, you know the one for are always doing their best and keeping the rules, what is the gain for them? Poor behaviour by other class members can mean that they miss out. What’s the advantage to being perpetually good when  it’s only the “chatty” kids gets a prize for not talking!!!If you remain on “Happy Frog” in my classroom you are entitled to get your card punched at the end of each school day. Once you earn 20 punches you get to choose one of the prizes listed on my Prize menu. This is additional to any Golden Time etc. earned by the class. This is an individual prize that each child earns for himself/herself.The great thing about it is “eventually” everyone reaches 20. Even the “chatty” kid.  The closer they get to 20 the more motivated they are to get their card punched.

All you need is coloured card, a Sharpie to write their names and a puncher. It’s a single hole puncher that you need to purchase and they are not very expensive. I found on online for 4euro. I think that I bought me in Tesco? Not expensive at any rate.

“Google” the  phrase ” free behavior punch car printables” to find lots of versions for download. Notice that I it is the American spelling of “behavior” rather than “behaviour” that I used. If you are having any difficulties send me an email. I have one saved but I don’t know the original source

I hope that you found my Top 5 Teacher Resources useful. The total cost of my top 5 Teacher resources is 60.63 Euro. I know that they are so much more valuable than that to me. There is not one of these items that I could last a week without, perhaps even a day! Regardless of whether you teach Junior Infants, Senior Infants or even 1st class all of these items will be useful and worthwhile purchases. They are also all very small and portable for those of you who are working as substitute teachers.

I feel another ” Top 5 Teacher Resources” will be blogged about very soon. Thanks to Aishlin for requesting this. Keep your requests and comments coming. What would make it into your Top 5? Leave a comment below or on my Facebook Page.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh

I have had a great response to my “Maths Journal” photos on my Facebook page and on Twitter. In response to lots of questions I have decided to write a blog post in it!

Maths Journals are a wonderful teaching and assessment resource to have in your classrooms. They cost almost nothing and do not take very much time at all. I have used them with both Junior and Senior Infants in the past. I am currently teaching Junior Infants and we have started journaling. I am a huge advocate of challenging children with mental maths and oral maths problems. I mean why else do we need to learn maths if not to use it in our everyday lives!

How to Maths Journal:

Each child needs:

• blank copy, non-lined type, per child
• optional Maths Journal cover
• glue
• mental maths challenges
• a 5 minute timer

How do I start?:

From their very first maths class my class are exposed to problem solving and mental/oral maths challenges. It is just a normal part of our day. I “maths talk” and show children how a problem can be solved while illustrating it it on my whiteboard or with manipulatives. I ask for children to suggest and model how they would solve a problem. By the time we come to our “Maths Journal” enteries my class have already developed problem solving skills.

About 2 weeks before children are given their journals I begin to work more formal on recording their answers. I write a question on the board  and “maths talk” what I would do. Demonstrating how to illustrate and record my answer. I try to do this daily during that two week preparation period.

One their first day with their Maths Journal I explain my expectations and the practicality of where they glue the question and how long they have to answer the question. What are my expectations?

1. That children try to complete these challenges in 5 minutes.
2. That they focus on the maths rather than the colouring. Its about good maths thinking rather than beautiful drawings.
3. That it is a maths challenge so they will probably have to write a number to show their answer. That they do not look at another child’s work and if they do to remember that there are often multiple ways of solving a problem so both of them can be correct even if they look different
4. That the task is completed without talking to their friends about it. It is their challenge to solve

I will sometimes read the question and sometimes not, depending on the age of the children and their literacy levels.  That is as much help as my pupils are given. I ensure that the prompts relate to an aspect of the curriculum that we are currently studying or have already studied. Therefore the challenge should not required modelling. That is the beauty of these journals, I can see thought processes, strenghts and weaknesses at a glance. To my mind they are worth their weight in gold! I used handout last year and regretted it. It is so much better to have a running record.

Here are the Maths Journal covers that I designed for this year:

Click here to download

Here is a photo of what they look like in real life:

maths journal cover Here are some images of our very first journal entry. It was a revision page for the Number 3. I told my class that there was a “secret number” on their prompt. That number would tell them how many apples to draw. They had to draw that many apples, number them and colour them.
Then I set my 5 minute timer and wait to see how they would solve the problem. Click here for a link to the timer.

That is pretty much it! I aim to complete a minimum of 2 entries per week. In an ideal world I would favour daily entries. With severe curriculum overload those 5 mins/day can be very, very elusive!!!

To encourage you to give it a whirl here is a Junior Infant, a Senior Infant and a 1st Class prompt Click here to download

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh

As you have probably already worked out I tend to “theme” teach. Every story on our literacy scheme for February has a “love” theme to it.

On my suggestion  Aoife and I spent a lot of time way back in August searching our  book shelves for stories relating to lots and lots of themes. She assures me that she did not think me mad, but I am not sure! It was, however, time well spent. Our Literacy Scheme has been a huge success. Each week there is a different story that is ‘integrated’ into as many aspect of learning as possible.

I am not sure which one of us found this beauty, Love is a Handful of Honey. Could it be that it was languishing unnoticed in my room? Hardly!!!

Love is a Handful of Honey is a wonderful rhyming story where a young bear discovers that love can be found in everything you do — from the time you wake and jump from your bed, until the time you snuggle and hug and say good night. It is a very nice price at 4.80 Euro. Click here to purchase

With Valentine’s Day only around the corner I thought that you might like cute printable. It was created as  a Reader Response Sheet to “Love is is a Handful of Honey”. It would be a perfect “gift” for a parent as an alternative to a traditional Valentine Card.

Click here to download

Have a lovely week,

Miss Mernagh

I am making it my mission of 2014 to source some great stories that will supplement maths/science learning.  This beauty recently arrived in the post and I was chomping at the bit to use it!

“Beside the sea, there once lived a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a pig, and a tiny little mouse. One warm, sunny morning–for no particular reason–they decided to go for a row in the bay.”Do you know who sank the boat?

I love the “open ended” way in which the story is presented. Click here to purchase!

Shame that I have already completed my Maths Unit on weight.  It would be a great way to combine weight with sinking & floating. I should jot that down for next year!!!

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh

Who Sank the Boat? is just a fantastic resource for maths and science lessons! It is a no brainer for integrating “prediction” as a comprehension strategy. We follow Building Bridges of Understanding and have termly strategies to teach and revise.

I integrated “predicting” and Data Handling for this fun opening activity to Who Sank the Boat? In Junior Infants we are asked to:

• represent and interpret a set of simple mathematical data using real objects, models and pictures
• sort and classify sets of objects by one criterion
• match sets, equal and unequal

Firstly, I displayed the prediction chart below:

Secondly, I asked my pupils to “predict” who might sink the boat. They then completed the following sheet. Because my kiddos are still learning to write I had labels for them to choose from and glue on the line.

Click here to download Prediction Sheets.

Finally, we recorded our predictions and created a graph using Unifix cubes and larger images of the animals. Click here to download images.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh

I just love this St. Patrick’s Day hat, don’t you? I updated my tried and tested one with some new DJ Inkers Clip art and it is now even cuter than ever! Kids get such a blast out of  having a rainbow over their head. We always wear them to Assembly to celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Week) and sing a little song. It really is the most adorable sight that you have ever seen!

I have included all the necessary clip art in my download: shamrocks, rainbow, Leprechauns and a pot of gold. It’s kinda hard to see, but there is the obligatory “pot of gold” at the other side of the rainbow. Click here to download!

st-paddys-day-hat Clipart by DJInkers

Print my download onto an A4 sheet of white card (Card is essential for your rainbow to remain upright).

A sheet of A3 coloured card, glue, scissors, a stapler, a ruler,  crayons and creativity are the only other things you need.

1. Measure out the strips for your headband.

2. Cut out the strips.

3. Staple the two strips together to make one long strip.

4. “Wrap” it around your child’s head to get the circumference right.

5. Have your budding artist colour in all the necessary clip art and glue them to the band. I find stapling the rainbow works better than glue or tape.

That’s it, guys. I hope that you have lots of fun making and wearing my design.

*Beannachtaí na Feile Pádraig daoibh!

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh

Happy St. Patrick’s Day is pronounced:  bann/ockt/tee nih fail/eh pawd/rig dee/iv

I am so excited to have Aishlín Brown as a Guest Blogger this week. She is the most “AMAZING” teacher. While I hate to be sick I can rest easy if I know that Aishlín is at the helm. She is 1 in a million. I know that she is just dying for a class of her very own. Principals out there take note!! I’d hire her in a heartbeat!!

Anyway, it’s over to Aishlín:

As a substitute teacher, I never know what school I will work in next, what class I will be teaching or what material I will be covering. Often, this is a really positive aspect of being a “sub”; your days are always different, exciting and challenging! At the same time, it can be difficult to teach amazing lessons in an unfamiliar classroom with no preparation time.

To help me with this, I have a few things that I always bring with me when I am subbing.

My bag

The foundation of my “kit” is a large and sturdy bag with lots of pockets. Mine is also unintentionally waterproof which has been useful this winter! In my bag I keep the things that I have found that I need on a regular basis. I will always have packets of reward stickers, my whistle, some post-its, tissues, hand sanitizer, a selection of children’s books, a book of quiz questions, some DVDs of Tom and Jerry for wet lunchtimes, a packet of Happy Birthday balloons, plain A4 paper and lots of children’s colouring pages.

My bag is from Tesco, they run a special on them every August/September for the back to school season!

If it is my first time meeting a junior class, I will also have my “treat bag”. This is a colourful bag that I fill with nice things from the “Euro shops” like pens, rubbers, bubbles, “slinkies”, whistles, stampers etc. When I meet a new class I always give out name labels. Children form the junior classes can pick something from my treat bag at the end of the day, as long as they have behaved well AND they still have their name label on them. This works really well as it gives you a good chance to actually learn the children’s names!

My folder

I always bring a large binder folder with me when subbing. In this folder, I keep photocopies of the paperwork that substitutes need to bring and sheets of printed name labels (for me and the children!).

Often, I sub for teachers who were not expecting to be absent so they have not left any plans for me to follow. I really like this as it allows for a little more creativity for me!

I have sections in my folder with lots of lesson ideas that require few or no resources. I divide these lessons into two categories (Junior Infants to Second class and Third class to Sixth class) so that I can always find something suitable. I have other sections dedicated to Art, PE and Drama that are full of activities that are adaptable for different classes. My favourite subject to teach is art, so I update this section all the time with seasonal projects.

My USB stick

This is by far the most useful thing that I carry with me. I have a huge 32GB USB stick that I keep all my interactive whiteboard presentations on. Every time that I prepare something for a class, it goes on my memory stick so that I can use it again. I file everything by subject so I can find things straight away. One of my favourites is a presentation of riddles and maths puzzles that the older classes love.

I make my presentations using Activinspire software or PowerPoint. For a substitute teacher, I would recommend using PowerPoint because lots of schools do not use Activinspire and you will not be able to open your presentations!

My stamp

My stamp is one of my newer purchases and it was inspired by Miss Mernagh who also has a similar one. It is a pre-inked stamp that says “Miss Brown says well done!” Younger classes (and sometimes older ones too!) become incredibly motivated to do great work when they know they could get “Miss Brown’s special stamp” on their work. It has definitely become a prized possession!

I ordered mine from https://www.thestickerfactory.co.uk/ and I delighted with their service and the quality of the product. I think my next purchase will be a date stamp which would be so handy for corrections!

My timer

It can be hard for some children to have a different teacher in their classroom, especially for the younger classes. Sometimes a child will have to take a break from an activity for a few minutes. When this happens, I like to use my “ink timer”. This is similar to an egg timer but it is filled with ink drops or “goo”. The child can turn this over and watch the ink/goo drizzle down into the lower chamber. This is very relaxing to watch and always calms the child down. The timer finishes after about five minutes and the child will be ready to return to their task. This is a wonderful resource that has never failed me!

I bought my first one on Ebay (search ooze timer or liquid timer) but Amazon also sell them. I found my ink timer by chance in The Art and Hobby Shop in The Jervis Centre in Dublin.

My music player

My last item that I want to mention is my Veho music player. It is a portable speaker that is about the size and weight of a large potato. I received this for Christmas a few years ago and I love it. It plays music from a micro SD card and it has really clear and loud sound: I have never turned the volume up fully on it!

I use it all the time whenever I need some music e.g. PE, art, drama, music, SPHE, the list goes on!  It can also be connected to a laptop for those times when the interactive whiteboard speakers just will not work.

Ebay have a great selection of Veho portable speakers that are not very expensive. “Groupon” also often run promotions where they sell them at discounted prices.

When subbing I feel that preparation is key, but it is also really important to be able to adapt and improvise to handle any situation. These items really help me to do that.

I would love to hear some more ideas of resources for substitutes, if you have any nice ideas please leave them in the comments below!

Thank you so much for reading,

Aishlín

I mentioned before that I am trying to purchase books this year that have a “maths” component to them.  As I will be teaching a unit on Time when we return to school after Easter I have been exploring some possible literature tie-ins.

Here are those that I already own and use:

Jasper’s Beanstalk is a fantastic book. It integrated the days of the week and the process of growing a plant from seed. It’s good for literacy, maths and SESE. This book will sure work hard in your classroom/home!

It costs €6.89 from book depository.com. Click here for a link.

Click here to visit my previous blog post on Jasper’s Beanstalk

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is an absolute classic. I am sure most if not all of you own this beauty!

Click here to purchase

Here is a free sheet that includes all of the images that you need to re-tell or sequence The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Enlarge it to A3 and you really have something to work with.

Click here for a link

These are on my wish list ;)

Cookie’s Week by Cindy Ward and Tomie dePoala is a sweet story about a cat, Cookie, who gets up to antics every day of the week!

“On Monday, Cookie (the cat) fell in the toilet.” So what happens? Follow the Cookie’s escapades throughout the whole week to find out!

It costs €4.19. Click here to purchase.

Here is another Eric Carle classic. I can’t believe that I don’t already own it! It would make a fantastic book for Teaching Practice. I even discovered a song to accompany it!

“String beans, spaghetti, ZOOOOP, roast beef, fresh fish, chicken and ice cream are the delicious fare during the week in this popular children’s song. Until Sunday. Then, all the world’s children are invited to come together and share in the meal”

Here is a little video so that you can hear the “Today is Monday”. I have to admit that I didn’t know there was such a thing! Am I losing touch?! Did you know about it?

Here are the actions:

If you want to purchase the song in iTunes here is the link

It’sAbout Time is from the MathStart series of books. I absolutely want all of the MathsStart Level 1 books for my classroom. They look amazing and are really well prices.

‘It’s About Time. . .. . . to wake up.. . . to learn, to play, to read.. . . to cuddle up in the blankets and to dream.A twenty-four — hour day is full of great things to do!’

It’s About Time costs€4.47. Click here for a link

Can you recommend any other books or resources? Please leave a comment if you do!

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh.

I am exploring the topic of “Time” with my class at the moment. It is such a fun topic. We are really enjoying our sequencing activities. :)

Here are the objectives that we will cover during the year:

• develop an understanding of the concept of time through the use of appropriate vocabulary
• sequence daily events or stages in a story
• read time in one-hour intervals (Senior Infants)

Obviously, some aspects of time must be taught and reinforced on a daily basis over a long period e.g the days of the week, the months of the year, seasons…

I have a cute pocket chart and flashcards that we use on a daily basis to document “today” and “tomorrow”. I have recently made the jump to including “yesterday”. I like my pupils to be very confident with the sequence of the days of the week before we start going backwards. If you do it too early I swear that the two hemispheres of their brains do a loop the loop!

Knowing what “season” it is seems to be a bit tricker. Possibly because I am not the best at remembering to stress it. My fault entirely. I am on a mission to change this (with only a few days left in Spring ;)). I thought that I would share my new Season posters with you. I think that they are pretty cute. Cute season posters are  just what I need to keep me on track!

Click here to download my free season posters.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

I am getting in nice and early with my Monthly Maths Topics and freebie! “High 5ing” myself for my efficiency ;)

You may have worked out that I have been teaching “Time” as a my maths topic for the last while. I have already blogged about Literacy tie-ins and created a Seasonal Poster freebie for you all.

Here are the curricular objective for Junior and Senior Infants that relate to sequencing and ordinal language:

Maths:

Strand: Measures  Unit: Time

• sequence daily events or stages in a story

Strand: Number  Unit: Comparing and Ordering

• use the language of ordinal number: first, last
• use the language of ordinal number: first, second, third, last

History:

Stand: Story Unit: Stories

• display storyline pictures showing episodes in sequence
• discuss the chronology of events (beginning, middle, end) in a story

One a side note, I actually cover “first, next, last” and “1st, 2nd and 3rd” with my Junior Infants. I don’t know of any 2 step sequencing resources. Everything I have purchased starts sat 3 step instructions and works up from there. We are teaching them to count to 1o and add to 5 so it really isn’t too hard!

This week I have been exploring sequencing and the language associated with it. I am pleased that my kiddos are doing so very well at it. I have a commercially purchased set of images called Sequence Rummy that gets used year after year. We sequence 2 step images using my pocket chart rather than playing it as a card game. Where would I be without my pockets charts, LOL!  I purchased Sequence Rummy years ago and still love it. Here is a link. I have no idea where I purchased it from. If anyone knows where Trend Enterprise products can be purchased in Ireland please leave a comment below. I would  love to source more of their products!

I also find this  sequencing book indispensable. I  love that it covers 3-scene, 4-scene, 6-scene and 8-scene sets of images. I have used the same book with Junior Infants and Senior Infants. It gives me the option of differentiating and giving children harder or easier sequencing activities depending on their ability levels. Again, I have had it for years and am not sure where I purchased it from. My name is taped to the from on what appears to be masking tape. I am guessing that I might have purchased it from a Rep visiting the school. Here is a link if you want to find out more information about it. Here is a link that shows you the entire Make and Take Sequencing Fun book.http://carsondellosa.secure.miisolutions.net/media/iwb/IHDPPlayerContent/804007/index.html#?page=60

I have created the following headings for use in my pocket chart and decided to share them with you. I have covered the following language:

• first, next, last
• an extra page of “last” headings for those of you doing more than 3-step sequencing
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd
• first, second, third

Click here to download

I kept the colouring of the headings consistent in the event that you wanted to use the written words and the numerical representations in one lesson. If any of you need 5th to 10th as a resource for 1st class please let me know and I can make them. I don’t actually need them so I did’t create them.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

You, Me and the Big Blue Sea is a beautifully illustrated Irish publication. Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick takes us back in time to the 19th Century in this adventure filled voyage on The Colander.

We see a mother sharing some photos with her son:

On each two page spread, she remembers things they did, saw, and heard, followed by “But you were only a baby. You wouldn’t remember.” Keen and careful observation of the illustration reveals that Baby see more than his Mom or Aunt Alice sees! He sees he young stowaway in a lifeboat, a man falling overboard, a man falling from the ship’s mast, the Captain asleep at the wheel,  the whale outside the cabin porthole, and even the eventual fate of the Colander.

You, Me and the Big Blue Sea is a perfect book to explore Building Bridges Comprehension Strategies. We have explored predicting, inferring, visualising and making connections. My class just loved it! We also:

• added sound effects
• explored “thought tracking” and inferred what the Baby and other characters might say
• made Text-to-Self Connections: some us have taken the ferry from Rosslare
• made Text-t0-Text Connections: we read another book about the sea called Platypus
• made Text-to-World Connections: the ship in the story reminded some of us of Dunbrody Ship, New Ross

You, Me and the Big Blue Sea is also a wonderful portrayal of 19th Century life and fashion. I really wanted to explore this aspect of the book with my class but felt that the images were too small. I could hardly believe my luck when I stumbled on Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick’s own website. It contains a number of illustrations from the book. I used these images to create a very basic PowerPoint Presentation that I intend to use as part of a History Lesson next week. These larger illustrations will be perfect for this! Click here to download.

I have also created this fun Reader Response sheet that encourages children to look very carefully at the illustrations and to consider the story from the perspective of the Baby rather than Mom or Aunt Alice.

Click here to download

I hope that you like “You, Me and the Big Blue Sea” as much as my class and I do!

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

p.s Clipart is from mycutegraphics.com

With that blast of sunshine last week we were starting to get into Summer mode. Should have known that it wouldn’t last! Still, we can escape from all dreariness with the help of a good book. Speaking of good books, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch, is a great read!

Every day, Mr Grinling, the lighthouse keeper cleans and polishes his light to make sure it shines brightly at night. At lunchtime he tucks into a delicious and well-deserved lunch, prepared by his wife. But Mr Grinling isn’t the only one who enjoys the tasty food. Will Mrs Grinling think of a way to stop the greedy seagulls from stealing the lighthouse keeper’s lunch? Click here to purchase

I have created a free “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch” Book Report for you all to use!

Click here to download The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch Book Report

Here are a few snapshots of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch Book Reports that my class have been working on.

WARNING: Seriously Cute!!!

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch is a wonderful story. If you happen to be visiting the library this week I would highly recommend it.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

It’s that time of year again… Strawberry time!! I had a whole punnet to myself on my journey home. Never mind, they were 2 for 5Euro so I still had one to share with Ed. I won’t tell him if you won’t ;) Speaking of strawberries, here is a brilliant, brilliant story: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear     The illustrations are just superb. The facial expression on the mouse conveys such emotion, don’t they? He is starting to look a little worried. LOL! For those of you who don’t know, I come from the home of Irish strawberries, Wexford. We are renowned  for our strawberries and are very, very proud of that. I am so blessed to be able to purchase amazing strawberries at the exit of my school. It’s so hard to drive past them and not purchase a punnet or two. As a strawberry lover a book about a big, red, ripe strawberry is to hard to resist ! I can completely make a “text-to-self connection” with this book. How far would you go to hide the red ripe strawberry from a big hungry bear?! Pretty far I think… Hmmm. Looks like I can make another “text-to -self connection”. I would completely give in and eat it. No bear is going to put me off eating a red, ripe strawberry.   Click here to purchase the book. Strawberries must be purchased separately and from a roadside seller! Here are some fun facts  to accompany your reading of The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear .

Click here for a link

I never knew that strawberries were a member of the rose family? I also adore roses! Incredible! I am fighting a battle with aphids at the moment who seem to love my roses as much as I do!!!

Calling all teachers:

If you don’t have it then you really should! I just love it! I attended a professional development workshop last year on storytelling and the whole workshop was based on this book. As you can see Book Depository have The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear in a large format book also, which is what I purchased. Click here to purchase  Do you have a favourite summer read? Please leave a comment and share with the rest of us if you do!   Have fun, Miss Mernagh :)

Calling all teachers who love to give out award certificates but are broke from buying them or printing them with coloured ink!!

 I have created some cute Handwriting Award Certificates in the past and printed them onto coloured paper or card. They just never seem as appealing to me. They look a little cheap or something. I almost died when I saw these:

For 2.95 Euro you get 96 stickers. That’s a whole lot of awards people and at an absolute bargain basement price. Click here for a link.

Who knew that Prim-Ed sold stickers?! Was I living under a rock? Did you know? Break it to me gently if you did ;) Incase you are only hearing about it now here is a link to their stickers page. Worth checking out. Click here for a link.

Anyway,  these stickers inspired me  to create a new certificate for Handwriting. I think that the merit sticker is just perfect. It makes the award look far more “formal” and “special”.  Just the look I was going for. Click here to download your free Handwriting Award.

I will use these merit stickers for other forms of  “extra specialness” in workbooks, reading logs, attendance awards etc. Did you notice the “Good Sport” award? Perfect for  Sport’s Day or when a child shows good sportsmanly traits in P.E or in the yard.

I know that this award template can be used without the sticker but I think that 2.95 worth it for the effect. I don’t think that the photos do the stickers justice. The certificates really look like they  have teacher’s seal of approval.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

p.s the cute page border is from http://www.mycutegraphics.com

It is getting close to the end of the year and I thought that I would remind you all of the cute Memory Book that I created last year. It is a really great end of year activity and hopefully something that a parent would treasure.

It is a lovely way to help children reflect on their year in school. I have created pages that cover favourite subjects, friendship, maths, spelling, handprints, autographs, what I want to be when I grow up… The list goes on. It is a 12 page document.

Children love filling them in. They especially like gathering autographs from classmates. It tends be be a bit chaotic but a lot of fun ;)

Here is a sample page from my booklet:

                                 click here  to download a copy

I hope that you have fun completing my booklet. It is suitable for classroom, pre-school and home use. I can’t wait to begin making them next week. I hope you like it! Let me know what you think.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

Clipart by DJInkers

A love of books is something that I hope to pass on to any child I teach. That being said, the amount of contact time that children have with their class teacher is limited. I hope that through blogging about books that you will know what to look out for on a visit to your local library or to the book shop. Reading to your child or providing books for him/her to read has the potential to influence their lives in such a positive way.

Take a moment to read this poem and ponder just how powerful reading can be!!!

More

The more you read,
The more you know.

The more you know,
The smarter you grow.

The smarter you grow,
The stronger your voice,

When speaking your mind
or making your choice.

Here is a really nice series of books that have a summer vibe about them. My class really, really enjoyed The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. It is only one from an entire series of books by Ronda and David Armitage. They would make a lovely summer read!

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

Matching and Sorting/Classifying are likely to be the first maths activities that your child will explore in Junior Infants. I have to say that I love exploring Classifying. Its so much fun to see how kids will “sort” things out. I love giving them a “mystery box” a.k.a the contents of “the junk drawer” that never gets fully tidied. You know it, its the one with all sort of bits and pieces in it. Buttons, magnets, bits of lego, McDonalds Happy Meal gifts… The all sorts of everything drawer.

I would like to introduce you to some very dear friends of mine:

Meet the Venn Diagram:

It’s basically a circle. You can classify objects with your Venn Diagram in lots of different ways:

Sort by Colour: Here is a set of yellow bears:

Sort by Type: Here is a set of Bears:

A more advanced form of sorting by colour: Here is a set of yellow bears and a set of bears that are not yellow:

Now meet the Carroll Diagram. You can sort and classify objects in the same way that you did with your Venn Diagram. It’s a matter of preference as to which form of diagram you use.

Here I used the Carroll Diagram to sort my shapes into two sets. The one on the left is “a set of square” and the one on the right is a “set that are not squares’

These diagrams just as to help your child to organise his/her thought. I am sure that you all have lots and lots of bits and pieces that can be sorted and classified. If you would like to purchase some “counters” or “manipulatives” to use during the year then check out this link. I just LOVE Prim-Ed’s manipulatives. At a price point of 9,95 Euro,  for 144 plastic pieces, they are quite affordable. The quality of these counters is just fantastic. They are brightly coloured and robust.

I recently got the Vegetable Counters. I have some plastic fruit in my classroom . I think that sorting fruit from vegetables is going to be a nice maths/science lesson. I will be using them in lots of other lessons throughout the year.

I made a set of corn on the cob (my absolute favourite vegetable!!) and then a set of corn and a set of other vegetables.I’m pretty good at classifying, don’t you think?! 

You could add some yellow apples to the corn on the cob and make it a yellow set. Think of the possibilities!!!!

Here are the objectives as laid down by the Department of Education and Science for Junior Infants:

Strand: Early Maths Activities         Unit:  Classifying

• classify objects on the basis of one attribute, such as colour, shape, texture or size
• identify the complement of a set (i.e. elements not in a set)

Here are some free sorting mats that I have created for you all to use. Click here to download.

If you have older children then  print out the mats, pop them in polypockets and send them out to the garden on a scavenger hunt. How can they classify their findings? These “early maths activities” are not just “child’s play”. They prepare your child to collect, describe, assess and analysis data. Perhaps you could have a future scientist or engineer on your hands as a result ;)

Have fun sorting and classifying,

Miss Mernagh :)

This is a follow on from a previous blogpost about sorting and comparing objects. Please click here to visit this post.

“What’s the Difference?” is my favourite online sorting and classifying game. It covers lots of different categories of sort: by colour, safe/unsafe objects, objects that float/sink, 4 wheels/2 wheel… There are 10+levels for your child to play and explore. Why not see if you can re-create some of the classifications using  my Sort It Out sheets from the previous blogpost?

Click here to play What’s the Difference?

I hope that you have enjoyed using the sorting and classifying resources and games suggested in the last two post. Check back soon for matching activities!

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

Well, it’s only two sleeps until I head back to school and only three sleeps until I meet my new class. My Mom and I spent Friday morning setting up the classroom and hanging some decorations to welcome my new class. It’s always such an exciting time. No major changes to how I decorated my room this year. We are moving to a new school building in December so it seems silly to do too much chopping and changing. I will wait until I am in my new school to purchase new bulletin board borders etc. I have no real sense of what my new room will be like. I have lots of ideas that I am hoping will work in the new space…

It’s always handy to have some poems and rhymes for transitions. x Here is a copy of the poem that I will be using to settle my kid for floor work or when they need to get some “giggles” out. Two little feet go tap, tap, tap is a really cute poem that I have used before but kind of forgot about until the other day. I thought that if I typed it up really cutely and stuck it on my wall that I might remember to use it. I like to have a “print rich” classroom. I can’t wait until my class will be able to read it for themselves!

Click here to download Two little feet go tap, tap, tap

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)

Well, it’s only 3 more sleeps until I meet my new class. I am pretty busy right now between setting up my classroom and planning for the first few weeks of school. Starting school means lots and lots of pre-writing activities. I am delighted to have a new “helper” this year ;)

Say hello to my new Prim-Ed Write-On Posters. I think that I might be in love! They are going to be a fantastic resource in the weeks to come.  I just “love” that they are:

• A3 Sized- can be seen by kids when I demo. Hallelujah!!
• Can be used with whiteboard markers or traced with fingers
• Are double-sided: full colour on one side and blue and white on the other
• Cute and colourful: I ♥ the Russian Doll and the birds!
• They have all the patterns that I want to use. Yippeee!!!

I know that they are  also going to be  an extra special support to children who struggle with pencil skills and directionality. If you have a kid in your class with fine-motor control difficulties then these will be indispensable. I just wish that I had them last year for one of my kiddos. It would have made a huge difference. I found myself photocopying sheets to A3 and laminating them to create my own home-made version of these. They were just black and white, though, and not so appealing.

I am looking forward to clipping my Write-On posters to my mini flip chart and giving hand-on demonstrations and practice. My kids will have no problem seeing or reaching the posters.

If you are looking for whiteboard markers then these are my absolute favourites!!! They have a round tip like a marker and are nice and slim for little hands. They also rub away cleanly and easily. I have re-purchased them again for my class this year. Click here for a link. 

Don’t forget to check out my post on developing a good pencil grip. Click here to visit.

Prim-Ed New Wave Pre-Writing Patterns Write-On Posters are also a fantastic resource for Oral Maths and Mental Maths! I will be pulling out my Write-On Posters for lots of maths lessons:

Using the Christmas Tree for example:

• Counting from 0-10:

How many candy canes/hearts/stars/baubles are on the Christmas tree?

• Mental Maths/Oral Maths:

If there were as many gifts as there are hearts who many gifts would be under the tree?

How many children can have a candy cane if each child can only get one?

What season would it be? How do you know?

What else can you find on the top of a Christmas tree?

Let’s graph what we have on our trees and home and see which is the most popular: star or angel

• Comparing:

Are there more baubles or hearts on the tree?

Which bauble is the biggest?

• Algebra:

Who can find a colour pattern on the Christmas Tree?

I think that these Prim-Ed New Wave Pre-Writing Patterns Write On Posters are going to be a great addition to my pre-writing resources. At just under 20Euro they are not a bad price at all. Check back the week after next for some photos of the posters in my classroom.

Have fun,

Miss Mernagh :)