Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Finola, I love this theme of Where we Live. It completely engages children as it is obviously so relevant to them and they love finding out about other homes and houses – all over the world. It is also so practical as the children can design and build a home in art or do the same through play, using so many different objects. It’s a great general theme, for Aistear and across the curriculum and a lovely way to get to know them all after a couple of months, when they are settled in.
There is so much that we can cover using all of these resources. A month long theme of Space is definitely needed. This could be preceeded by the Where do I live and Weather lessons.
We would start with a book like Where we Live or even the Three Little Pigs – I feel that a Homes theme might be a good introuction before we discuss the world around us.The children would discuss their homes, types of houses, gardens, country versus city, etc. Then they could choose to draw or make a 2d or 3d version of their own home or the home they’d like. This could take a few days and involve lots of oral langugae and discussion / planning.
Each child could then stand up and tell the others about their home. I have one non national in my class, so it would be beneficial for that child and the others to learn about homes in another country. The child would need to do lots of prep work on the language needed, with the SET.Another week’s work could start with the weather where we live and how we adapt to that weather – our homes and clothing.
We could do the Animals in the Cold lesson, where we compare living in the polar regions and how animals and even humans adapt. I love the fact mentioned above about the Inuit’s having different shapes on their coats to identify themselves!
We could follow up the next week with the clothes we would wear in these conditions and in other places around the world. The dress up race would be a fun way of getting the children to think about different weather conditions.
Finally, as the chidlren would connect the sun with hot climates, we could focus on the Hot and Cold lessons – hotter in the sun and cooler out of it. The ice cube lesson could consolidate this.
The above would probably take place over a month, as there is so much in each topic and we know how children love to ask questions and find out more!
There is lots of scope for OL, writing, art and song in these lessons. Geography is an integral part of the lessons. It is so broad.Oh my God, getting an astronaut into the school – that would be amazing! I would love to be able to speak to someone like Chris Hadfield. . I just looked up irish astronauts and Norah Patten has ben chosen as the first irish person to go into space in 2026- 2027. We might hear more about her and how schools might connect with her in the next couple of years. What a way to engage kids.
Tracy, I love how interactive and engaging you’ve made this topic. Lots of cross curricular too, with the stories, music and touching off different aspects of space in a progressive way. I like that Day and Night lesson too – the children would get a good grasp of what causes day and night by actually moving themselves. The Aistear area sounds like great fun too. Lots of opportunities for oral language and discussion.
Module 5 Assignment: Teaching Space in Junior Classes
Space Week takes place in October, so Space Travel would also be a fantastic theme for the week.
The children could be exposed to lots of videos and images of Space Travel. I have just spent an hour looking at Chris Hadfield videos and always find him so engaging. I have shown him to the kids before, so I know they would enjoy it. So, I’d engage and motivate the children with a book based on Space Travel – like Aliens in Underpants save the World, or show them some images from the ISS and get them asking questions.
My favourite quote from this module is that Every Science Lesson should start with a question that needs to be answered by exploring and investigating, so this would be a good start. Most children want to know about how to travel in space and what it’s like. The many questions the children would want to ask regarding life in Space are asked and answered in a lot of the Chris Hadfield videos.I would then get the children discussing the ways we can fly to, or travel in, Space. We would then carry out a Rocket Launching activity, as it is hands on and would encourage so much prediction and oral language.
I particularly like the Mouse Rocket described here – it seems to be accessible to Infants, which I am teaching. Of course, we might need to help a few with the rocket’s pointy nose arrow, but my SNA is fantastic in these situations! Once we’ve carried out the experiment, this would lead to a discussion on how we got the rocket to launch, could we make it go higher or fly further?
We would watch a video of the rockets taking off and ask questions. There are lots on Youtube, but the https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home has some recent ones.
Then I might demonstrate the Fizzy Rocket launcher, or get some of the older and able students to make one too.
Once the children have a basic understanding of how a rocket takes off, that’s enough for me at this level. There will always be some children who want to know more and I would answer them to the best of my ability, even encouraging them to research with their parents at home. Again, the https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home has lots of information and videos, as well as competitions which children can get involved in.
Of course, it would be important to get the children thinking about what we need on a Space Rocket -what food, clothing, etc. Chris Hadfield does a great video on eating in space! Fun Fact – his favourite space food was dried Shrimp and something! TWe would then design and make space rockets with recyclable materials or clay. Maths could be incorporated here, by sorting the rockets in groups by colour, size, etc.
The children could then use role play to fly into space themelves!
I think that if the children are engaged and excited enough about the activities we do in class, then they will be motivated to find out more. That’s our job in teaching science, to make them want to find out MORE!Great idea Sinéad. Lots of scope for number work here and you could differentiate so easily with different groupings.
I love the idea of getting the small children to think about what is special about earth. This is a lovely way to get them thinking about the world around them.
Hi Niamh,
I love the listening game: Drawing the Alien -we all know how important listening skills are these days. I also love that you are placing all the onus on the children to listen, think and ask the questions. They have so much they’d love to know and I’m sure you would have lots of questions to answer. It sounds like lots of fun!
Again, this module is so interesting and full of lovely ideas and resources. I particularly love the Design a Martian activity.
I intend to do a theme of Space for the month, so after learning about the sun, moon and stars, I would focus on the planets – Mars in particular.
The children would watch and look at images of Mars from the Mars Webcam or the Red plaet Report. We would discuss shape, size, colours, texture of the surface,weather, etc.After reading a book like There’s an Alien in Your Book, by Tom Fletcher and based on what they have learned about Mars, the children would then be asked to imagine what a martian might look like. They would be put into groups at first, to encourage listening skills but also to encourage the children to use their imagination and to have fun with it. There would be lots of oral language and scaffolding here, if necessary.
Once they have discussed in groups, the chidlren are left to sketch their own martian. The images and vocabulary from the book as well as the open discussion should get the creative juices flowing.Art: The children would then use clay, pipe cleaners, googly eyesand a range of other materials to make their own martian. Children always surprise me wiith the ideas they have. They are able to use anything to create. After they finish, we would disucss colours / shapes /etc incorporating more OL and Maths into the lesson.
Maths: Children could sort the martians into groups by size / colour / number of arms, legs eyes. They would compare the different martians.
Literacy:
Oral Language is obviously a huge part of the lesson.
Sight words / phonics could be incorporated when discussing.
Senior Infants and some Junior Infants (depending on ability and the time of year), could label their alien, write a letter to their martian to come to earth – including why Earth is so special. (This would obviously have to be pre taught and discussed in a diffrent lesson).Music: I’m not overly keen on the songs about Mars that I gooogled, but I’m sure I’d find one, or we could make up a Mars rap!
Drama: Dramatise the story of the martians landing on earth and what happpens next!
We would finish up with a display of our Martians and a disccusion to reinforce vocabulary. This could also be extended by asking the chidlren to go back to Mars with the martian. This could lead to a lesson on designing the Mars landscape – similar to the one of the moon in the previous module.
There is so much langauge and song in this lesson. It sounds fantastic. I love that song Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re going to the Moon. Our yoga instructor uses it with the kids so they’d love it!
Claire, you’re so right. The What the Moon Looks Like video here looks like so much fun and so engaging.
I love the idea of getting the children to pretend they are on the moon and showing them the moon landings is a great idea as they would possibly have no idea that man did actually land on the moon.
Writing a letter home is a great way of incorporating literacy into the lessons and the play involved would be fantastic. This module reallly is full of fantastic ideas.
This was an enjoyable module, as it contains lessons and activities that I can see myself using in the classroom next year.
I chose the Sun and Shadows activity set as this is so hands on.
This would obviously be best done in the late spring or Summer time when the sun shines high in the sky.
Firstly, I would read the Moon Bear shadow book as described here, or the book, The Day I met my Shadow, then get the children talking about the book, about shadows, the sun etc. We would brainstorm all these ideas and I would write / draw them on our flipchart, for reference – basically, a KWL chart!
Then, we would all go outside the next morning. In pairs or more if necessary, the children would stand in the brightest part of the school yard and observe their shadows. The others in their pairing or group would trace the outline of their shadows – this is a favourite with all kids I believe! We would then go out twice more in the day – at midday when the sun is high in the sky and later, before the children go home. We would compare the position of the shadows and discuss how this happpened – all answers taken and a little explanation from the teacher.
We could also extend this by taking it indoors, giving pairs of children a small lamp each and using the 3D of the bear/figure on a sheet, the children could experiment and explore how the shadow of the figure moves across the page.This might lead to another lesson on how the earth goes around the sun. This would be a separate lesson, like the one here with the two bears living on different sides of the world. This might also reinforce how the sun moves and therby how our shadows move across the ground.
We would finish with making shadow puppets on the whiteboard. The light from the projector would be perfect for this.Also, we would return to our KWL chart and fill in what we learned. New vocabulary and language would be highlighted and children encouraged to use it.
I usually ask the chidlren to draw or write what they have learned -obviously this is limited with Junior and Senior Infants, but I would give them all the opportunity to do so.
I fully intend to do this lesson next year, as it is so engaging and fun filled.Hi Susan,
I love the idea of asking the children to create a new home for an alien. It’s great that they got to explore the different planets and choose the best. This lesson is so open to cross curricular work. You’ve covered science, engineering, maths (shape and space / number /measures /etc), technology. I might steal this one! You could even use the funny Aliens Love Underpants to spark their interest – what kind of home would they need to store all their stuff !
Hi,
I already posted about why I’m doing the course and a favourite space fact, but I’m not sure how to find it now!
As regards Inquiry Based learning. I have done a few investigations here and there – never enough. One simmple one we did in Winter, was figuring out how to get rid of the frost and ice outside the front door of school. I started with showing them the ice and I wondered how to get rid if quickly to make it safe for everyone to walk in. The children brainstormed ideas and they wanted to make it disappear.
We came up with suggestions of what to throw on it. Hot water was a bit uinsafe for them to use, so we needed something else. One of the childrrn said they used salt, so we asked if throwing different substances on the ice would get rid of it. The children suggested different substances and we included the salt.
I brought in bowls of ice from the school fridge. We placed salt on one bowl clay on another and sugar on another. We compared the ice after a few minutes and the salt had melted it very quickly. Simple, but they enjoyed it.
We also tried to find the best material to keep teacher’s cup of tea warm and we found out why it is important to wear gloves when playing in the ice and snow – how it keeps our hands from freezing ! Everything was hands on and lots of chat.
Hi,
My name is Colette and I’m doing this course because, every year, I plan to do a big thematic session on Space, integrating lots of play. It seems like the perfect topic to do so. But I never get to it. I’d love some ideas and guidance.
I’m fascinated by the moon and the stars, so it’s a topic I’d love to share with my Junior and Senior Infants. I know they’d love it. I just need to get started!
One interesting fact I’ve seen is that we wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface!
I’m generally interested in space and often wonder are we the only ones in this universe of ours!
