Welcome to May’s post, probably the busiest one yet! We were very lucky to start this month by attending a wonderful exhibition celebrating Autism Awareness, organised by Ms. O’Connell. The boys loved interacting with the various activities prepared by the 6th class boys, from learning new lámh signs, to opening sweets with big gloves on, as well as all of the interesting sensory tasks that were prepared. Look out for our sensory Elmer board that our class collaboratively made!
We explored many themes this month and the first of them was ‘Pets’. The boys learned all about what is important when taking care of a pet, the different food and homes that pets need and have, as well as welcoming our very own class pet…Fred the fish! Each day we had a new fish monitor, who would feed and check on Fred. Using Ms. O’Connell’s exhibition as inspiration, and the boys’ positive learning experience from sensory activities, we made our very own ‘pet fish sensory bags’, using hair gel and hand made fish crafts.
This linked in very nicely with a school visit from a marine biologist who talked all about the different animals that live in the sea. The boys loved comparing their mouths to that of a sharks! They also listened to lots of beautiful sea shell and even some said they could hear the ocean!
Another theme we explored this month was ‘at the airport’ and ‘going o our summer holidays’. The class made their very own passports which were used to visit the class airport and definitely needed when boarding our plane! We made some sandy toe flip flop art as well as creating some ice-cream inspired art using cupcake cases and sprinkles!
Finally, we celebrated my last day with the class with a real Ice- Cream party. It was a pity about the weather, as we had to enjoy the treat indoors.
Thank you for taking the time to read these posts each month. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as the boys and I have enjoyed all of the activities carried out. I am so proud of the Junior Infants as they are now almost ready for Senior Infants! Enjoy the well- deserved summer holidays all!
Ms. L. O’Donoghue
Togher Boys' National School 