Burren Beo - Week 3

Burren Beo – Archaeology

By Peader Cunningham, 6th Class

On week 3 of the Burren Beo project, we talked about artifacts. Gráinne gave us a sheet with ancient artifacts. We had to label them from how old they were to how new they were (1 being oldest, 9 being newest). The artifacts were; Iron sword, shoe, horseshoe, cauldron vase, stone, scroll, shell and a coin. 

Later on, we got a sheet with a grid on it. We also got a cookie and a toothpick. We had to draw the cookie and we also had to extract the chocolate chips from the cookie as if they were artefacts. On the grid, we drew each chocolate chip we extracted. We did the ones on the bottom a different colour from the ones on the top of the cookie. 

A while later, we got small pieces of a picture of an artefact. We had to piece them together like a jigsaw and find out what they were.

It taught me a lot about archaeology. 

Flight Of The Bumblebee

Flight of the Bumblebee

Together with our Artist in Residence Veronika, we learned all about mixing colours. We made beautiful colour wheels and painted all the colours of the rainbow just by mixing colours using yellow, red and blue - the primary colours. Then we listened to the 'Flight of the Bumblebee' by the Russian composer,  Rimsky Korsakov and let our brushes dance to the music. We were very inspired by the music and mixed lots of colours together. Here is a little video showing you how it is done:

When we finished painting, we had a good look and we saw many bumblebees flying around through meadows, storm clouds and forests. In a storytelling workshop with Veronika, we listened to the music very closely again and thought about a story for the 'Flight of the Bumblebee'. What made it fly so fast? Taking turns, we each added a sentence to our story and imagined the fairy tale of 'Jeffie, the Bumblebee'. We then tore up our paintings to make collages telling our story. 

'Once upon a time Jeffie, the bumblebee, flew to a flower meadow to collect some honey. There, she met a bear. The bear was very annoyed at the buzzing of the bumblebee because he had been sleeping. He roared at the bumblebee and tried to hit her with his paws. 

Jeffie stung the bear in his paws, which made the bear even madder.

Jeffie tried to escape and flew really fast back to the hive, but the bear chased after her. He was really angry. 

Jeffie made it back to the hive which was up in a tree. She excitedly told her brothers and sisters about the bear who was chasing her and they could already hear him roaring outside the hive. The bumblebees all flew out of the hive and tried to chase the bear away.

The bear flung his paws around and knocked the hive out of the tree. It fell on top of the bear's head and the bear dropped dead. Jeffie and the bear both went to heaven, because bumblebees die when they sting someone. But the other bumblebees were safe and quickly built a new hive in the tree. 

The End!'

Poetry Writing Workshop With Denise Blake

A Visit From Denise Blake

On Thursday the 23rd of January, we did a poetry workshop

with Denise Blake who helped us compose poems. 

In the afternoon, she wanted us to study the different shapes and figures of popcorn.

She gave us a handful each.  We started to look at some of them.

When you examined them from a different angle,
they morphed into something else. 

We saw many random peculiar figures
such as a chef, an octopus, a cat and much more.

Denise said that this was to open our imagination so we can be creative

when we write our poems. 

I found the popcorn exercise different and great fun.  

Soon after she read out a poem called “My City”. 

The idea of the poem was to construct a place that you would want to live in. 

She told us that we would have to do the same thing but

instead we would have to do that with a beehive. 

We could do it from the bee’s perspective or we could design it for the bees.

In my opinion I found the writing exercise enjoyable. 

Soon after we drafted, we started another poem.

It was called “The Bees Poem”.

We had to write from the perspective of a bee.

It could be a drone bee, a queen bee or even

just a small little honeybee.

Our poems were then proudly displayed at school.

I would rate this workshop a 5/5 because it was different and I really enjoyed it.

Bee Poetry

The Beehive

I will put in the beehive,

The sounds of bees coming in and out with delicious sugary honey.

I will put in the beehive, 

The smells of honey dripping out of hexagonal capsules,

And the feeling of honey drizzling on my wings.

I will put in the beehive,

A supply of honey to last the winter and then the feeling of cosiness and safety.

By Mark Bruen 6th Class

Bee Poetry

The Bee Poem

By Sarah Divilly

I am a small, fluffy bee.

I love the sound of the buzzing coming from my fellow bees,

And the feeling of rose petals under my legs.

I know how to fly through dangerous storms without being grievously injured.

I am good at finding flowers and other plants within the hour.

I wish I could express my feelings to the other bees without being laughed at.

I love to fly alongside my friends. 

I care about the hive and every other bee across the entire world.

I am a bee with dreams!

Burren Beo - Week 2

Burren Beo Week 2 Visit

By Corey Greaney, 5th Class

When I came to school, I saw history cards lying in random places around the room. I wondered why they were there. When the lesson began, we were put into groups. I was with Ellie and Diarmuid. We were asked to write down all the stuff on the cards in order, in an allocated amount of time.
The first card told us when earth’s crust formed. The second card said when there was first life on earth etc. I managed to get them all down in order.
Soon after, she told us to put them on a timeline and draw a picture of what happened on each card. After, Gráinne told us to write about what changed in our local in the past 100 years, the good stuff and the bad stuff.
Then she told us to write about what we think of our local area now. I had a great day going around the room trying to write down the cards and I can’t wait for their next visit.

By Corey Greaney,  5th class.

Burren Beo - Week 1

Burren Beo Visit -Week 1

By Erin Fahy, 6th Class

Gráinne from Burren Beo began her eight-week programme here at Kiltiernan N.S. We learned about all the hidden treasures in our local area.

Gráinne Barron from Burren Beo Trust

Firstly, we were each given a CD and  a map of our local area that included the names of all the monuments there . We used the CD to draw a circle with Kiltiernan school in the middle. We cut that out, and then we used a green pen to highlight the monuments that we knew were there and a red pen to highlight the ones we didn’t know were there. 

I was so surprised with how many there were that I never knew about. Then we were split into pairs to recreate a monument. I was in a group with Orlaith and Killian. Each group were assigned a monument. 

My group got a Fulacht Fía. Our first impressions of it was that it reminded us of a tunnel underground. So, we built a structure with a shoe box but we cut of three sides so that you could see inside easily. Next, we used a toilet roll holder to make a tunnel -like structure. After gluing that own to the inside of the shoe box we then used green card and brown paint to make it look like grass and dirt. 

To make it more realistic we went outside and collected materials such as dirt, moss, grass, and rocks and stuck it to our structure. In my opinion our recreation of a Fulacht Fía was really good and it was very fun to make. If we were to build it again, I wouldn’t change anything about the decorative side of it but I would try and make it more stable. Overall it was really fun and it made me really excited for next week's lesson. I would rate the lesson a definite 10/10.

By Erin Fahy

6th Class

Living Willow Sculpture

Planting of our Living Willow Sculpture 

In January, we made a living willow sculpture with artist Veronika Straberger in our school garden.  Willows flower early in the year, and are very important for pollinating insects. Their catkins are rich in pollen and provide food for starving pollinators following their winter hibernation. 
To make our willow sculpture, we planted living willow rods, kindly supplied by Joe Hogan and Ciaran Hogan, basket makers from Finney, Co. Galway. We first formed a large circle and each child planted one willow rod into the ground.

 We then tied the tips together to form a dome.

 

... and finally, tied on the supporting branches to complete our willow sculpture. 

Come watch it grow!