[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

love this idea, the class would really enjoy making their very own lava lamps!

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

I would begin my inquiry-based activity by asking the class questions about night and day. We would make use of a KWL chart to record their previous knowledge if a class discussion were to arise from the questioning.

Some of the questions I could ask would be:

Why does it become dark at night and bright during the day?

Why do you think it gets dark at night?

Is it night-time everywhere at the same time?

I would then get the class to write their answers on their whiteboards and discuss them with their partners, groups and the class.

Next up we have a hands-on exploration/investigation. We would do this by sticking a little person on our class globe. We would shine a flashlight on one side of the globe and slowly rotate the globe and observe what happens to the person. We would discuss our findings and relate them back to the classes’ predictions/answers.

I feel this inquiry-based activity would develop the children’s critical thinking, their observation skills and give them a basic understanding of astronomy.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Hi my name is Fiona and I’ll be teaching third class this year. My fun space fact is space is always getting bigger so it’s impossible to reach the ‘edge’.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Some fantastic ideas here, well done! I especially like the song composition ideas.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Describe how you would involve your pupils in an art, music drama or creative writing project based around your local natural or scientific heritage.

To involve pupils in a creative project based around Tinakilly, Rathnew, I would like to undertake a creative writing project The project would center around exploring the history, landscape, and cultural heritage of Tinakilly and Rathnew, engaging the pupils’ creativity and allowing them to express their learning through the medium of creative writing

Walking Trip: we’d begin with a visit to Tinakilly House and the surrounding areas in Rathnew. The children would explore the grounds, learn about the history of the house (including its connection to Captain Robert Halpin and maritime history), and take note of the natural environment, architecture, and any local stories or legends.

Storytelling: Pupils could write short stories or poems inspired by their visit. They might focus on imagining the lives of people who lived in Tinakilly House, creating fictional stories based on the area’s history or even mythologizing local landmarks.

Journals and Diaries: Students could write diary entries as if they were inhabitants of Tinakilly in a particular historical period, blending factual research with creative imagination.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Catherine, great idea to use Minecraft! Children in my school are obsessed with it and coding so its the perfect platform to use for this activity.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Using the suspension bridge in Birr Castle Demesne or a bridge in your local area as inspiration, describe how you would plan a class or whole school challenge to design and make a bridge. How would you integrate mathematical thinking and incorporate the maths skills appropriate to your class level.

There is a seven arch stone bridge spanning our local river that was built around 1690. I would use this bridge as inspiration to plan a class challenge to design and build a bridge. We would first have a class discussion about bridges are constructed, the materials needed and their previous knowledge about bridges. We would create a mind map to record this information. We could even list any of the famous bridges they know. I have also climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, so if the local bridge didn’t inspire the class, that might.
We would also discuss (in pairs/groups/whole class) how maths could help them to build their bridges and possible challenges that may arise. We would focus on shape, length (measure twice, cut once is perfect mantra for this) and problem-solving in particular.
The next step in the challenge would be dividing the class into groups for the design and construction phases. In other construction lessons I have done the class have brought in recyclable materials for a week or two previous and I would do the same for this lesson. This way the class would have a treasure trove of different materials to draw on for their construction activity as well as the normal resources we would have in our classroom.
One of the best ways to learn is by doing and through working with their peers they will learn from each other. Finally, they would display their bridges outside our classroom with a synopsis of how they were constructed/what inspired them/maths that helped them construct them for example for other classes to learn from.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

I love the idea of the divide and conquer of the trees , birds and minibeasts. Will definitely give that a go next year.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

There are many fantastic resources in this module but the ones I would like to start with would be the Minibeast safari and the tree/ leaf identification challenge.

There is a nature reserve and lake a short walk from the school and classes have gone there on trips before. I have yet to bring a class there but would love to incorporate the mini beast safari next year when I bring a class there.  The tree council website would be particularly helpful as I work in a Gaelscoil and the children would need to know the names of the trees in Irish.

I would hopefully visit this area twice or three times during the year so as the class could focus on the seasonal differences seen/if there is a difference in the Minibeasts in the area.

The school has tablets so we would make use of these to record their findings and where they could work on a project about this area. This could be integrated with art (line, clay and paint/colour in particular), geography (local area), maths (recording information) and Irish (new vocabulary and project work) in particular.

We would make use of the worksheets associated with these resources (although I would have to translate to Irish). I would also like to create a Kahoot quiz to reinforce what they have learned (what leaf/insect is this type questions for example).

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Barbara,

 

I love using books to engage a class with a topic, thanks for the titles!

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

For younger classes, describe how you would plan and conduct a lesson on map making and explain how you might incorporate some online tools such as Google maps or Geohive.

Engaging the children from the get go is always important but especially in younger classes. I would try to introduce the concept
of map making by reading them a story; ‘The Boy Who Loved Maps’ by Kari Allen.

Next we would make a class KWL chart through a class discussion. We would discuss what they know about maps already and what they would like to know. I would make use of Geohive or google maps here focusing on their locality (a built up town) and where I live (rural). We would compare and contrast (lots of buildings vs lots of fields for example) what they could see on the two maps.

Our next step would be identifying maps as a ‘bird eye view’ and imagining a bird flying above our classroom. As a class we would draw a map on our individual whiteboards/class whiteboard. Here we would focus on the key items in the room (tables, chairs, cupboards) and ensuring their sizes are to scale in relation to each other.

Our next activity would be the children working in groups. The class would create giant maps making use of different art materials where needed. We would focus on key areas; infant yard, basketball courts, roads and entrances for example. Geohive and Google maps would be particularly relevant here to help the children to identity the key items around our school grounds.

Finally, we would return to our class discussion in relation to what they have learned and complete our KWL chart.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

What STEM education looks like in my classroom;

I work in a Gaelscoil and will have fifth class for the coming school year. I have been looking at my science/maths plans from a previous fifth I have taught and have been trying to improve them and to integrate more STEM activities into them, rather than focusing on STEM for their particular weeks (we celebrate Science, Engineering and Maths weeks particularly in our school). The lessons mentioned in this module about telescopes would fit amazingly into these. I try to start STEM lessons with a trigger to actively engage the class from the start (hopefully J ). The hope if someone were to walk into a STEM lesson in my classroom would be to see a hive of activity and a buzz of chat as children work collaboratively, thinking critically about the task they are undertaking and problem-solving when its needed.  During Science Week our school has an open day where family can come in to see the experiments etc. that the children have undertaken.  These experiments are children-led from 1st class on which I feel is a great way to develop their STEM curiosity as well as giving them ownership of their own learning.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Thank you Niall, I was having difficulties uploading it last night and couldn’t see it until today. Norah is fantastic role model and one I look forward to focusing on next year.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

module 5

Class Plan to engage with Space Week (Rang a 2)

The activities below would be be tailored to the class level.

 

English

·         Postcard from space

·         Acrostic poems related to space

·         Diary entry while in space

·         ‘If I could invent a planet’ creative writing activity

 

Irish/Science

·         Table quiz on facts they have learned during the week.

·         PowerPoints on different aspects we have studied; planets, rockets etc.

 

Maths

·         Spaced themed maths games; subtraction, addition, telling the time.

 

Geography

·         Study about Dr Norah Patten.

 

History

·         Space travel through history; famous astronauts.

 

PE

·         Astronauts and aliens in space; children create a game and teach it to the aliens.

·         Meteor Ball

https://www.thepeshed.com/_files/ugd/ff464b_807905806d444fc983b9d2cf9af99035.pdf

·         Meteor Battle

https://www.thepeshed.com/_files/ugd/ff464b_7d29cc54ba334b6bb1e5c169c92be089.pdf

 

Music

·         Songs based on the planets, space and rockets in Irish and English.

 

Art

·         Tonal aliens.

·         Mindfulness collaborative work

·         Space sun catchers

·         3D rockets

 

Drama

·         Space themed stick puppets; groups create mini-stories including some of the facts they have learned.

·         Hot seat as Dr Norah Patten.

 

SPHE

·         Discussion on how they would feel about going into space and what they would be looking forward to/worried about etc.

[Fiona Ni Shuilleabhain]

Class Plan to engage with Space Week (Rang a 2)
The activities below would be be tailored to the class level.

English
• Postcard from space
• Acrostic poems related to space
• Diary entry while in space
• ‘If I could invent a planet’ creative writing activity

Irish/Science
• Table quiz on facts they have learned during the week.
• PowerPoints on different aspects we have studied; planets, rockets etc.

Maths
• Spaced themed maths games; subtraction, addition, telling the time.

Geography
• Study about Dr Norah Patten.

History
• Space travel through history; famous astronauts.

PE
• Astronauts and aliens in space; children create a game and teach it to the aliens.
• Meteor Ball
https://www.thepeshed.com/_files/ugd/ff464b_807905806d444fc983b9d2cf9af99035.pdf
• Meteor Battle
https://www.thepeshed.com/_files/ugd/ff464b_7d29cc54ba334b6bb1e5c169c92be089.pdf

Music
• Songs based on the planets, space and rockets in Irish and English.

Art
• Tonal aliens.
• Mindfulness collaborative work
• Space sun catchers
• 3D rockets

Drama
• Space themed stick puppets; groups create mini-stories including some of the facts they have learned.
• Hot seat as Dr Norah Patten.

SPHE
• Discussion on how they would feel about going into space and what they would be looking forward to/worried about etc.

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