Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I have chosen hands-on classroom themed activities for this assignment. I haven chosen this as in September I will be stepping into the Junior Infant classroom, so I believe that hands-on activities is most suited to this age group.
Aistear is one of the main areas where I would choose to focus on the theme of weather. I would create one area for the children to focus on being a weather reporter. This would entail a background of a weather map and a microphone. I would use another area for art where children have to draw pictures based on. the clothing that they see suited to each weather forecast – e.g. raincoat for rain. I would also create an area of dress up where the children create their own play using clothing associated to summer/winter (sun hat, sunglasses, wool hat, scarf, gloves). I would create another station where the children have an activity based on weather – perhaps a colouring activity or join the dots of different weather scenarios.
Completely agree with this! So many opportunities for integration of play and oral language, etc. Aistear would be a great way to teach space in the classroom.
Activity: The Planets
– I love the idea of using station teaching for the younger ideas to teach the planets in our solar system. I think one station that would be fantastic would be assigning headbands to each of the children with the picture of the planet on the front of it. After explicitly teaching the characteristics of each planet, children should be able to converse with each other about where they are situated in the solar system and the colour that they are. I also love the idea of creating a station where children can dress up in costumes similar to that of an astronaut or working in the space station. This incorporates the element of play which is such a vital part of the junior curriculum.
Hi Claire. I really love this idea of stations. It would be a fantastic idea to keep the younger classes engaged, while at the same time ensuring that play is the centre of the lessons.
Hi Mairead! I just love this experiment. Such an effective activity for all ages. I have done this with both first and sixth class and each time they all loved it.
Hi I’m Aoife and I have been teaching 3rd & 4th class for the past number of years. This coming September I will enter into a mixed junior & senior infants class.
My favourite science fact is that human teeth are just as strong as shark teeth! The children were given a task towards the end of the year in my class to complete a science experiment or conduct research into one area and this was something a child told us. How interesting!
Inquiry based learning in science is effectively done through science experiments. This allows children to ask themselves questions throughout about what might happen next or what they could do differently next time. An experiment that I conducted with my class was creating a parachute for an egg. The children were then asked to drop the egg from a height. If their parachute worked their egg wouldn’t break. Children participated in groups and it was so interesting to watch their thought processes throughout.
