[Ciara Quealy]

Hi Grace,

Your lesson looks fantastic! I will definitely be using some of these ideas for my own class next year.

Thanks,

Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Choose one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module – How would you use the activity in your classroom?

I found the resources relating to Rockets to seem very useful. I really like beginning a topic with a story or book. I find that it works very well in infants and it also helps your lesson to have a literacy element to it. It can be so difficult to get everything covered that it is great to cover 2 subjects in one lesson. I have read the book ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ before with my class and they loved it.

I think that the children would love the rocket mice experiment. I also think the Marvin & Milo Balloon Rocket experiment would work really well in the classroom. I would love to try and have this as an Aistear station to allow the children to play but I do think that the station would require the support of an adult to ensure the children get the most out of it.

Thanks,
Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Hi Aoife,

I love the ideas for Aistear. I have senior infants and I had a weather station in the role play centre and it worked so well. The children really enjoyed it. I think adding clothing in as well is a great idea.

Thanks,

Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Choose one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module:
• Science skills and School Self Evaluation
• Online resources and tools
• Hands-on classroom themed activities
How would you use the activity in your classroom?

I found the hands-on themed class resources to be very practical and useful for infants. ESERO 5 Where Do You Live? could be used across subjects. We look at different houses and buildings in Geography and we examine the local community so that would tie in perfectly with this activity. I also think it would be a great starter for the children to discuss and analyse what we have in the local community. ESERO 7 Animals in the Cold would link in really well with the theme of winter in December. We already look at animals in the arctic and the antartic so this activity would be a great way to cover this topic. The Curious Minds Investigating the Children’s Coats is a fantastic way to combine subjects, I love the connection with data. I would complete this activity as I am always looking for a way to teach data by incorporating the children’s lives and interests. ESERO 12 Hot and Cold is a very fun experiment for infants to experience completing an investigation.

Thanks,
Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Hi Siobhan,

You’ve outlined a great lesson there. I really like the sound of the space exploration station with the different materials and textures.

Thanks,

Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Choose from one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module:
• Activity Set: Stars
• Activity Set: Space and Aliens
How would you use the activity in your classroom?

I would choose the activity set ‘Stars’. I really liked the ESERO 13: Lots and lots of Stars lesson.
The link with Maths is a great way to build in numeracy activities throughout other subjects. As I mentioned before, I think that for the infant classes covering topics in a themed, cross-curricular way works best. There is great potential in this introduction for extending the children’s learning for any high achievers while still catering to the majority of children.

If I was doing this activity, I think it could work really well as an Aistear station. The children would be able to choose the colour of the night sky that they wanted to pick and they could also pick the colour of the stars. Letting the children have a choice and control over their play is really important. The downside to doing an art activity like this with paint is that it has the potential to be very messy, so I would probably wait for a time that I had another adult in the room so that this table would be supervised during the art activity.

Thanks,
Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Hi Fiona,

I never considered how you would have to translate any resources since you are teaching in a Gaelscoil. That must be very time consuming! Hopefully more sites start to cater for Gaelscoileanna soon.

Thanks,

Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Choose from one of the activities or activity sets outlined in this module:
• Activity: The Spherical Earth
• Activity Set: The Planets
• Activity Set: The Moon
• Activity Set: The Sun and Shadows
How would you use the activity in your classroom?

The activity set I would use in the class would be ‘The Planets’. I teach senior infants and one of our SESE themes that spans a month is Space.

I really liked the planets lesson plan. I think that in the junior end of the school using cross curricular themes and lessons is a great way to cover topics. The children at this age don’t see learning as split into subjects and from my experience they enjoy activities and lessons that bring subject areas together. I like how active the lesson is as this is also enjoyable for the children and caters for different learners.

Using music to make the children more aware of topics is also very useful in the junior end of the school. I use music a lot as a transition activity and as a entry point to a subject as younger children generally love music and dancing.
I have also used this song in class and the children liked it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noiwY7kQ5NQ

[Ciara Quealy]

Hi Elaine,

I love that trick to remember the names of the planets. It’s always great to have a teacher that is passionate about a curricular area in particular.

Thanks,

Ciara

[Ciara Quealy]

Hi everyone,

My name is Ciara and I have been teaching senior infants for the last 2 years and will be again next year. My favourite space fact is that 1 million Earths could fit inside the sun.

An inquiry based activity that I would like to try with my senior infant class is exploring the question of how do boats float?

I would start with a story as a trigger. We would then move on to wondering about the topic of floating and sinking and how boats stay afloat.

The children would then complete an investigation activity into creating a design for a boat that would hold the most passengers. In groups the children would be given playdough and dried peas. The children could try different shapes of a boat and designs until they are happy with their design. They would be trying to make a boat shaped design that would hold the most number of passengers (peas).

For a conclusion we would show the class the designs, discuss what worked best and what they would do differently. We would discuss the concept of upthrust.

An extension activity could be to put a peeled and unpeeled orange in water and see whether it floats / sinks.

[Author]

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