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Séan I love these ideas and getting the paretns in is a great idea. I also love the space jounal: like a maths journal. Great idea thanks Séan 🙂
Using Exploring Rockets and extending it into the other areas of the curriculum really interests me.
So, using the story book that I used this year to introduce the idea of Space, and that we live on a planet called Earth, called ‘We are here’ by Oliver Jeffers. This is a story book that gets conversations going, I then use the book by Osborne Look inside Space to help too.
I would like to link this all into the curriculum, by first creating a rocket mouse, and getting the children to design their own rocket (using paper, toilet rolls and card). For the maths lesson I would link this to shapes: as this a good way to link in the 3D shapes the children in Senior infants are learning. By creating a rocket, we can use a cone, a cylinder, maybe two pyramids at the bottom. The children can create using 3D shapes they have learned.
For English: I could link it into our writing, getting the children to recount the trip to space: Who, What, When, Where and why. A postcard to home: from Space.
For Irish we could learn our directions: up, down, go, start, stop, and right and left.
In PE, I have played rocket tag and space invaders before, so these are always winners with the children.
For Rocker Tag: use hula hoops as ‘spaceships’. Depending on class size: 1 alien on for tag, Students travel across the hall using different skills (running, hopping, sliding).
When the teacher calls ‘Meteor shower’ all the students must get inside their spaceship. Students ‘tagged’ by an alien must do jumping Jacks or another exercise util the astronauts lift their hula hoop and the movement around the hall starts again.
For Space Invaders: Two teams face off against each other. Each team has their own Spaceship area. An Outer Space area (in which there are meteors) separates the two Spaceship areas.
On the teacher’s signal, team attempt to send meteors crashing into the opposing team’s Spaceship. Teams achieve this by making the meteors roll by hitting them with a underhand thrown Space Ball.
The Spaceship that got hit with the fewest meteors wins the round.
Aistear/SPHE: Myself and others: working together to create a space station: packing for a space trip, training for a trip to space, lots of discussion and creation around this. New vocabulary learning and cooperative skills, along with listening and teamwork skills.
SESE: Story and change: looking at the story of Neill Armstrong, along with natural environments: Weather and features of the Earth. I’m thinking as this summer it has been very warm; looking at the photos of land before and after will be interesting.Sarah these are great ideas, I love the dressing up box, and you have given me an idea to have that linked to the theme which is such a simle thing but I think I need to do that in my class.
Using the hands-on activities of Where do you live? In my classroom to enhance the learning. I love this lesson for the Senior Infants as it can progress so much in the class and depending on the children and their circumstances the learning as a teacher and a fellow pupil is great. However, the lessons on ESERO will change the learning and extend it more. I am prone to revisiting what worked well the year before so looking at these lessons has ignited new ideas for me. I also want to make an area of inquiry so that the language is displayed and the children can record as they go. So having the What/How/Where and Which displayed along with ‘I WONDER’ will help in my classroom self-evaluation. Hoping I can then extend it throughout year, to link in with maybe a picture of the week; (the different houses) linked to the theme we are doing so this will encourage questioning and conversations.
The Special Life Activity: I really enjoyed this activity because it is simple but gives the teacher a lot of information about what children know and understand. It allows children to share their ideas about the Earth and other planets in a fun and creative way. I liked seeing how the children used their imagination and expressed themselves through movement, art, and classroom discussion.
Maybe using one star and a wish would encourage children to talk about their ideas and learn from each other. It also gives them the opportunity to use language they already know to explain their thinking. The class discussions that would follow, would help the children build on their understanding and confidence.
I think this activity fits well with the Junior Curriculum because it is playful, and engaging. It also helps the teacher identify each child’s prior knowledge of the topic. By observing the children during the activity, the teacher can learn more about their interests, understanding, and individual personalities.WOW Claire, fab ideas there and really well thought out. Love that book also, you ve reminded me I have it in my class somwhere.
Looking at The Sun and Shadows: What makes shadows activity. I have thought about what I have done in previous years.
This year I purchased cyanotype paper and as a class we gathered flowers, leaves and sticks and placed these on the paper and left them in the window, unfortunately some worked and some didn’t. But thinking abut it now, I should have gotten A3 paper, and had the children place an item on the page, and checking every hour or so, where the shadow was n the page as they day went on. Using a pencil to draw the outline and time stamp it each time. This would help the children see the rotation of the sun throughout the day.
I also would really like to make a un dial for the yard and looking at the videos and getting ideas now from other research I think this is something I am going to bring back to school in September, as it would benefit all class levels.Hi Elaine,
That is a cool fun fact, I never knew that but it makes sense. It also sounds great for the Astronauts as we probably all need ours to stretch out instead of being hunched over.
To explore Night and Day on Earth. This can also be brought into sequencing in maths. It also helps children understanding time difference around the world (Australia v Ireland)
I would then bring out a globe and a flashlight and let the children pretend the globe is Earth and the flashlight is the Sun. They could watch what happens as I slowly turn the globe and chat about why some parts are in the light while others are in the dark. I would ask them to make little guesses along the way and tell me what they notice. Before long, they would start to see that the Earth’s spinning is what gives us day and night.
It is bright, hands-on, and fun, which is perfect for young children. It gives them a chance to wonder, talk, and explore instead of just listening to the answer straight away. That kind of learning is something I love to bring into my classroom whenever I can.