Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Ciara, that sounds like a fabulous lesson and so engaging, their imaginations must have been doing over time!! I love the Smeds and the Smoos book, a great one aliens.
Activity set: rockets
I would focus on rockets for this activity and perhaps would introduce it with videos and images for the recent Artemis II mission around the moon as it so current and topical at the moment and I know children were enthralled by it at Easter. I would have discussion about rockets and spaceships and gauge the level of information children have. I would then introduce Rocket Mice. I think it would be good experiment as the variables of the different sized containers would evoke a good conversation around pressure and height of the flying “rocket”. I would also interlink it with Art and allow children to design and decorate their rockets purely off imagination or based on real rockets, depending on the class.
I had never heard of Marvin and Milo comic strips and I think they are excellent. They are so child friendly and engaging but really explain the point of the lesson and is something I will definitely be using in the future.I’m also guilty of looking at science as one off activities rather than a process and one that needs to be revisited. I’ll be more conscience of this going forward after this course.
Activity Set: Where do you live?
I would pick this theme as I think it would grab children’s attention and would be a nice to cover in the month in October as I often cover the theme of homes during this month.
I would begin by reading ‘Town Mouse and Country Mouse’ and then have children discuss their homes, and then to connect with the story – homes that you would find in the cities that are not really common in the country (apartments, housing estates).
I would put a spin on the ESERO worksheet of creating dioramas rather than modelling material due to the fact I have middle classes and it might suit the mix of ages and abilities better. Students would make dioramas of homes in pairs and create buildings they would find in villages, e.g. homes, shop, school, doctors, etc. Once completed (which may take more than one lesson) we would group these together to display our “village”. We would reflect on what makes a village and perhaps what was missing to improve it and what do we like about our local village. I look forward to doing this type of lesson as I think the creativity would be flowing out of the students!‘The Way Back Home’ is such a good choice of book. I am trying to make a list of any space related picture books and will be adding this one! Thanks
Activity: Stars
I would choose the topic of stars as children are naturally fascinated about stars in the night sky. I would probably begin by gathering any prior knowledge that children may have and would be a good opportunity to use a KWL chart. Also, as I have middle classes, I would keep it a really basic level to ensure optimum understanding.
I would show children pictures of the night sky and have a little discussion about what they see and maybe in pairs they could try to make shapes or patterns from the starry night shown and talk about constellations. I would then explicitly teach about The Plough and then introduce the activity of ‘Seeing Star! The Plough in Two Different Ways”. I would use straws rather than wool as with middle classes in would be easier for them to measure and cut. I think they would really enjoy the aspect of sticking their pictures under the table and looking up at them as they would with real stars and would further consolidate learning of The Plough. I think this type of lesson would very effective as its so hands on but practical in is result. I would also use the worksheet of Draw Your Own Constellation as a conclusion or revision of the topic at another time.I would chose the Activity set: Planets and it could be used in a thematic approach for week/fortnight for the majority of subjects in the middle classes. Children have a natural curiosity about space and the fact that there are other planets in the solar system so I think they would be engaged from the get go.
I would preteach / revise the names of the planets as part of the introduction. I would introduce the concept of the solar system through posters / images and let children discuss the appearance of the planets, their proximity to the sun etc., At this stage I would introduce the “The Planet Song” which I think is really good as it gives a little bit of information about each planet in a simple, fun but catchy way. It is a good opportunity to have a curricular link with music. I think then a group activity of labelling and drawing / colouring the solar system might way to conclude the lesson by allowing the children to use the facts from the Planet Song to help them.
The Planet Dance would be a lovey PE lesson in the Junior end of the school and regards art children could create a hanging mobile of the solar systems. The cross-curricular links would be endless on the topic of Planets!This sounds like a great activity and one that could be easily planned and executed. Also a lovely one for the month of June to keep them engaged!
An inquiry based activity that I would consider with middle classes would be floating and sinking but with fresh waters Vs salty water from the Strand: Energy and Forces and Strand Unit: Forces.
I would begin with a brief discussion about the sources of fresh and salty water and the obvious similarities and differences between both.
I would then concentrate the discussion on the topic of the lesson which is floating and sinking items in fresh Vs salty water. I would show a variety of items that students could use for the experiment and then record predictions and brief discussion around that.
During the active experiment I would ensure that children record their results and I would ask students in their groups about their findings and anything particular they noticed.
In the group discussion it would be good opportunity to compare predictions and results, allow students to explore why somethings may have sank slower in the salty water and would lead to ideas for future lessons looking at density or linking it with falling and timing items sinking in the different water types.
I think it would a really engaging inquiry based activity as children may not have thought about less obvious differences between different water types.