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I would engage with the Rockets activity with my infant classes.I would use the Aliens In Underpants story as a prompt to engage the children.I would also include a movement activity such a Blast Off where the children could pretend to be rockets taking off at different speeds and directions to teachers countdown.Using the school yard would be great for this.Then we would explore making rockets.I would use Marvins and Milos ballon rocket suggestion as the cartoon is engaging and poses questions for children to wonder about.To investigate further I would encourage the children to consider how we might make the rocket move further along the string,maybe blowing balloon up really big and getting them to predict how far it might travel on the string or comparing two different shaped balloons.Taking the next step I would encourage the children to think of other object moved by the foce of air such a sailboat.I would finish the lesson with a reflection on what the children learned during the lesson.The Penny Rocket and Rocket Mice are also very suitable ideas for use with infants
Hi Cait,what a great detailed plan for space week,I especially love all the digital resouce opportunities,will definitely be passing on your ideas to my collrgues in higher classes.thank you.
I would like to do What Clothes To Wear activity with my infants.The Discover Primary Science and Maths lesson plan Investingating Childrens Coats is very engaging for infant level and I think using childrens own coats will keep children highly motivated to engage with lesson.The suggestion for a pre-lesson on materials and associated vocabulary is great as a foundation for the lesson.It incorporates plenty of active hands on learning through games and scientific equipment such as magnifying glass.There is huge opportunity for oral language development through the Trigger Question as well as links to history ,geography and S.P.H.E.. The use of graphs and Caroll or Venn diagram can be easily incorporated into this lesson and using hoops and the children themselves to create the Venn diagram is brilliant.The follow up activity could be used as a pair/group activity especially if you have a mix of junior and senior infants.This lesson could be done alongside the theme of Éadaí during the year.
Hi Geraldine,I think that one S.T.E.M. activity per term is a great starting point to ensure whole school engagement and to help develop both teacher and childrens confidence in the area .Thanks for suggesting as part of S.S.E.
I would focus on the activity Special Life as I will be teaching junior and senior infants and I feel that it is a very accessible lesson for that age group have a high level of engagement.I would start with story Aliens Love Underpants either on whiteboard as read aloud or in Big Book format,using the images to assess childrens thoughts on the idea of aliens.Then we would focus on reasons an alien might visit our planet.Using think-pair-square children will share what it is they love about living on our planet and what they would like to share with a visiting alien.Then we might workin pairs ,one child as alien and other child telling them about for e.g. what a rose is and why it is special,then they could swap over. As a conclusion children could use clay to create a mode3l of their own imagined alien. This activity offers great opportunities for cross curricular links/integration in art,oral language,drama and maths. I have previously used a maths page from Busy at Maths Infants (P.C.M.s sheet) with aliens on it, that I have laminated and used as a fine motor and counting activity that would be perfect with this lesson.
hi Niamh, thanks for sharing that website,very useful.Also love the idea of ownership leading to greater engagement with the task.I teach infants but will be sharing this with my collegues in older classes when we go back to school.
I would teach about the names and positions planets to my infant classes.I would use the story Ollie Discovers The Planets by Anya Acres to spark interest and assess prior knowledge of the planets with the children.We would then listen to The Planets Song to hear the names of the different planets.I would use balloons of different sizes to represent the planets and have the children,in groups,line up in correct order from the sun.I would have pictures displayed on white board/i-pads to assist the children with the relevant order.The mneumonic My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos would be useful here also.We would play lots of games to reinforce the names like Guess which planet is missing?/Which planet is not in the correct place? e.t.c..
.To finish the lesson the children could,inpairs, would try to create a new planet with a new name to insert into the order.I would record the children through photographs we could print and place in their scrapbooks to record the learning.This would be a wonderful lesson with infants as it incorporates lots of active learning and children could work in pairs to draw around each others shadow at the dfferent times of the day.Using digital techonology to record results makes lesson accessible for all.
My enquiry based activity focuses on Day and Night-What Happens when the sun goes away? using the Curious Minds/E.S.E.R.O. Framework for Enquiry for infant classes. To engage the children I would read the story Day and Night by Teresa Porcella.Then we would use pictures to compare and contrast night and day scenes and activities.The we would investigate identifying objects in bright and dark environments(maybe use blindfold if classroom cant be made sufficiently dark) ,moving objects in and out of the light/closer and further from light sources.The next step could be allowing the childre to explore shadows made by different toys and objects,talking about night time routines at home. To reflect on the lesson children could talk about what the noticed and what sparked their interest most encouraging them to share in pairs or in groups. Further lessons can incorporate areas of high interest from observation and listening to childrens thoughts on areas explored.
Hi Niamh,lovely ideas there on how to demonstrate gravity with infants.Lots of active learning for them to engage with lesson,thanks for sharing.