'Work' You'll Enjoy For Your Strengths and Needs

So, like we have learned, we all have strengths. We all have needs. We are all unique. We are all intelligent in many ways. 

Think of YOUR strengths, YOUR needs. 

What ones do you want to 'work' on right now? YOUR choice...

1. Maybe do "a little, a lot", which means do 30 minutes now, and take a break, 30 minutes later today, and take a break, and so on; OR
2. Maybe do a different "a little, a lot", with 30 minutes today, 30 minutes tomorrow, 30 minutes the day after, and so on... make it a great habit for yourself

First of all, before you try out MY links, give yourself a present and click here on Scoilnet and try out the links on the right hand side, sorted by subject. Enjoy!

Now, here are some of MY great links sorted by subject (just a few links per subject)...

Drama

I love when people IMPROV, but sometimes you can't beat a good script... 

• Use this site to find a script you like and then practice being one or all of the characters. Think: just how would each person say their line... what tone, what speed, what feeling... and how would they move their body? 

Music

• Love the orchestra... have fun exploring and discovering the gorgeous different sounds (thanks to Carnegie Hall). If you've already been on this trip, learn the same things in a different way at the San Francisco Symphony (orchestra)
• Try out their Music Lab to explore just what is it that makes music music!

PE/Physical Education

PE is hard to do in the home... but not impossible! 

• Here's a great five minutes of fun dance to try your best with. Enjoy!

ICT/Computer Skills:
During your life, you'll be typing maybe 100 times more than you'll be hand-writing. Wouldn't it be good to be good?

• Ten-Finger Typing from typingweb.com Can you improve your speed each day? Yes, you can. Now, no cheating! Ten fingers to do it right. Within a little while you'll be up to 20 words per minute, and maybe even faster! School record... 39 words per minute. 
• Already pretty good at ten-finger typing? Go straight on to the Most Common English Words typing. 

English Reading: 

• Tumblebooks and more--isn't it great that all these books are FREE! What are your favourites? Maybe tell the rest of us on our kidblog
• If you can have no problems with these BBC KS1 activities then you know the basics
• These BBC KS2 activities are harder! See what you can learn/practise. 
• Don't forget scoilnet!

Irish Reading and Sounds

• Simple Books in Irish with Sounds (Click on the boxes at the top to switch story)(Have the sound turned on!)(Try this one for your first story, about a dog called Brian's life)
• Don't forget scoilnet!

English Writing
The best writing site I've found... just in one site we can learn about how to write better... better arguments(!), better reports, better recounts... better! All on the the BBC KS2 English Writing site. And, if you want to make sure you know the basics, use the bbc ks1 site!

Vocabulary (The Words We Use)
How good are you at finding the right word to use at the right time? We ALL need practice at this. First we have to understand new words, and then it's so important that we USE them.

• This wonderopolis.org website has a new page every day with a new Wonder of the World... look on the right hand side to see the meanings of 'tough' words. It'd be best to write down new words and add them (when you can) to your Vocabulary notebook.

Religion
As Christians the key to following Jesus' example is (1) know about Jesus and (2) pray -- open your heart to God.

• The Lego Movie is out at the moment in the cinemas. Here Lego Men tell the life of Jesus and here Lego Men tell of the dangerous adventures of Jesus Apostles after they received the Holy Spirit. 
• The 5-minute meditation video with sounds of peaceful bells that we love (maybe use this when praying or to prepare your self to pray -- it calms you, it "stills your mind", meaning it helps you "shut up" (!) your noisy mind so that you can experience the beauty and peace of life all around you and in you right now)
• Prayers you could say that are said all over the world by Catholics
• Images of the Holy Spirit you could practice drawing
• A four-minute youtube cartoon about the life of Pope Francis
• Don't forget scoilnet!

Maths/Engineering/Construction/Science

• Here's the bridges game! :)
• And 23 (23!) more games like that: which one do you think we should all get time to play in ICT Class?  
• By the way, here's a NEW Irish site about bridge building that tells you everything you could want to know including "Bridges of Dublin" and Disasters!
• Curious about any thing? Got questions about any THING? That's what SCIENCE is all about? And here's MOLLY to answer your questions! What's the thing that most wow's you? 
• Ready for learning more about other animals in this amazing world: Is there a better site than the National Geographic for this?
• The amazing BBC KS2 Science site, with facts, videos, and games. (If you want to understand easier stuff, choose the BBC KS1 science site.) 
• Don't forget how good mathletics is for your maths :) 
• The amazing BBC KS2 Maths site, with lessons, videos, and games. (If you want to go easier, choose the BBC KS1 maths site.)
• Here's a post I already have up on this blog, giving you some of MY favourite links to great Maths sites
• And here's Maths Attack, an Irish Maths game that's quick and -- for me -- hard! What's your highest score? 
• Don't forget scoilnet!

Geography

• On another post, I've put my best geography and maps links for you. 
• Maps are really important. Here are maps showing how Dublin has grown from nothing.
• The stunning Google Earth (you might already have it downloaded onto your computer).
• And here is everything-geography from the BBC!
• Don't forget scoilnet!

History
History is HUGE! There's so much it's hard to put in enough links. Which do you find most amazing?

• the BBC site for primary school children or 
• the Channel 4 site? 
• Don't forget my links for World War One!
• Don't forget scoilnet!

SPHE

We all know how important it is to make the best decisions for our selves. 

• How well do you know about putting the best food into you, the best fuel, to power your life, to make you power-full!
• How well do you know what to do if you are being cyber-bullied?
• You'll all be leaders in your lives, including in the classroom. Here's ten ideas on how to lead others: all different ideas, much to think about: What IS a good leader? What does he/she do? 
• Choosing Positive Thoughts and not getting stuck in situations with negative thoughts: this little video is simple but it's simply brilliant too (did you see the bit with Nelson Mandela?)

Art

Art is hard to do on a computer. So don't! Do it yourself at home without the computer!! Or, if you really really want to do it on the computer, try these... 

• Create a collage using The Collage Machine (from the USA's National Gallery)
• Practice your drawing using one of your favourite uncles, Fred
• My favourite... Brushter! Have fun! (Try out all the different brush sizes, brush types etc at the bottom... it's [almost] just like the real thing!)

Have you ever heard any child ever say they're bored? 

With the web and all the great stuff above, could they be bored? (If you do have a younger brother or sister who's saying that, just show them this post and let them loose to enjoy themselves!)

Some of My Best World War One videos and resources for you...

I promised Glen and you all that I'd post up some links to the videos that we looked at today. I might as well also post up some other resources at the same time.

Remember, this year, 2014, it is EXACTLY 100 years since World War One began. Everyone thought it would be over after a few weeks. Nope. It lasted four long horrible brutal de-humanising years.

Is there ever any sense in a war? All the killing. All the heart-ache. All the injuries to the bodies. All the injuries to the minds. Can we really not sit down and work out our problems peacefully? Would you support a war?

Recruitment Posters (Which ones work best? Would they work on you? Notice how they try and put pressure on you to join up.)

Photos of Real Soldiers At War (Would you like to have lived like this? And probably died? Or maybe survived after seeing so many of your friends being killed?)

A Little Bit of Information on the Different Types of Battles: Land, Sea, and Air (which was safest? which was most important?)

A 'FUN' Video Introduction to WHY did everyone go to war... did it make any sense? was there a better way to work out problems between countries? did anyone get to vote on it? or was the decision made by the people in governments only? 

Shellshock--a short video on the horrible way many people were left: Soldiers were in SHOCK at how horrible it was to be in a war and to watch people being killed almost every day. (DO NOT watch this if you are afraid of seeing how bad soldiers were affected in their brains.)

A Sad Video Showing How Hard It Was For Families To Get Bad News from the Front Line of the War

A Real Letter (read by an actor) to a Mother from a French Soldier in the War 

A few Maps: They tell a story: See what you can work out... map of Europe BEFORE the War 

and map of Europe AFTER the war... 

map of Africa before the war (with the names of the European countries in charge)... 

map of the world before the war (with the names of the European countries in charge)...

Four Minutes of Actual Video Footage from the War

What can we learn from it? Stop the video at any spot and ask yourself a few questions. Like: (1) What was it like to be there at the time? (2) Was it exciting? (3) What would those people say to you if they could talk to you? 

I've got more. To do with a BIG horrible battle (called the Battle of the Somme), the Blitz in London in 1917, and more. Enough for now.

Some Useful Climate Change Websites for us to do research...

So, next week, February 12th we'll be presenting in the hall our knowledge about Climate Change. Working in one of four groups, you'll be an expert!!

Remember the four groups:

1. What is Climate Change?
2. What are the causes?
3. What are the effects?
4. What can we do about it?

Here's some websites to help us revise what we learned two weeks ago...

1. From the USA comes NASA's info on climate change, presented for kids your age
2. eschooltoday has lots of well-presented pages
3. the bbc also has some good pages, but they're for older kids so just look for the most important bits (ignore most of the detail!)
4. And this is a lovely-looking site featuring Tiki the Penguin

Most importantly, don't forget your great great notes in your Notes Copy from our afternoons learning all about Climate Change.

(Edit 4th Feb: For the group doing the "Effects" of Climate Change, have a look at today's news ...
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-facing-a-fortnight-flooding-due-to-atlantic-storm-factory-29976498.html ), especially where it says...

Some experts believe the melting polar ice in the Arctic as a result of global warming is fuelling the increased storms.

Peter O'Donnell from Irish Weather Online warned that many areas will be unable to take more heavy rainfall. "January was 70pc above normal for rainfall and about half a month's worth is likely to fall this week," he warned.

"This relentless heavy rainfall will be overtaxing the ability of smaller streams and urban drainage systems to cop. Eventually there will probably be some persistent flooding problems. These can be even worse near backed up tidal estuaries of rivers near the coastlines," he said. Residents coping with flooding in Limerick heckled Government ministers as they visited the scene of the storm damage in the city.

YOUR Projects: Listen to Yourselves HERE

Wow. I've just listened again to you guys presenting your shockingly-good presentations earlier today and boy o boy, you sound even better!

When you listen to it again, you will pick up things that you missed the first time. And that's a lesson for us all -- to learn something well, we need to listen to it again, and again.

Anyhow, click on this and enjoy listening to how great each of you were. I'll post the photos of your projects too (mabye on our kidblog site).

Best Sites to Learn About Geography — Maps, Nature, Environment, Animals...

Maps!

So, like we talked about in class, we've now had our parent-teacher meetings and we now have agreed-on individual plans for the next few months. I will give you the best resources I have to help you with your plans.

These sites below are for you all, but especially for those who plan to learn more about geography — maps, nature, animals, the environment...

I hope you have fun with them. Tell each other which you find best...

Interactive Maps (Ireland and the Whole World)

• Google Maps (Enjoy exploring traveling around the world with this); perhaps begin by typing in your own address and see what happens... where else do you want to travel? :) 
• An interactive map of Bawnogue thanks to the OSI (run by the Irish government)... can you find your home? can you describe your way to school? use this to explore Clondalkin or Ballyfermot or Lucan or Tallaght or the city centre or... it's up to you!
• And here's the interactive map of Ireland thanks to the OSI... go explore Ireland: have you ever been to Galway, to Belfast, to... (You can use the "Search" button to search by any address).

'All About Ireland' Maps

• Here's a map of the counties of Ireland (you can print this) to learn to help you with the games below...
• Two really fun games from the OSI to test how quickly you can find all the provinces and the counties of Ireland
• A fun quiz way to learn the Counties of Ireland
• Counties of Ireland on map (Drag and Drop)
• Mountains of Ireland on map(Drag and Drop)
• Rivers of Ireland on map (Drag and Drop)
• Cities and Towns of Ireland on a map (Drag and Drop)
• A Cool Photo of how Ireland looks from space: why do you think the east is smoother than the west?
• If you are doing a project on IRISH geography easily the best website is the OSI's: it has great information for you about Irish cities, towns, counties, mountains, rivers, and lakes.

'All About the World' Maps

• Here's a great map of the continents of the world (how many are there?)
• Here's a great map of the whole world (to help you with the games below!)
• Here's another great map of the whole world but this website has lots of extra things too, like all the flags of the world, timezones of the world, and so much more. Easily THE website to go to if you are doing a WORLD geography project.
• A fun quiz way to learn the 48 countries of Europe (the best score I've got so far is 130)
• A fun quiz way to learn the countries of Africa (got 83 for this, unimpressive)
• A fun quiz way to learn the 50 States of the USA (doh! I only got 86 for this... after having lived there for years!!)
• A fun quiz way to learn the countries of Asia 
• YOU Choose: A fun quiz way to learn ANYWHERE!

Other Map Skills

• Know the difference between W and NW, E and SE? 

Hope you like these. Soon I'll put up more geography websites here — about nature, animals, and the environment (the earth, space, pollution, and so much more). I love geography — one of my favourite subjects. Please email me any more great map sites you find!