The activity set “Where do you live?” provides many lesson ideas to explore a broader integrated theme of homes with young children. A thematic approach incorporating the theme Sa Bhaile, science, geography, art, global citizenship and global goals could be explored over a couple of weeks.
in my role as link teacher for the Junior Infants I think there are many opportunities to explore this theme through play and in language groups.
Describing a home/house/ shelter using a selection of pictures from different sources could be used to initiate conversation. I have kept all the Trócaire Lenten photo packs that were provided over a number of years and they are great for exploring this theme as well as the UNICEF book “ A life like mine” helps young children to understand what it means to have a shelter.
This could be further explored through play and art the children drawing and creating a house/ shelter for a particular climate or animal. exploring why some materials and designs might be more suited for different needs and climates.
This is another great resource that I have used in class.
To include the space theme the question “Could we live on Mars?” and ESA’s lesson
“Moon shelter- investigating different shelters on the Earth and space” (a simple version) with a lot of scaffolding would be very stimulating and exciting for young children even within SEN. It is a theme that could easily be used across all age levels within SEN particularly with ASD children who might have a specific interest in the area of space.