[Gwen Williams]

In my children’s school (not the school I work in) this year as part of science week for one whole week for homework the only thing the children had to do was to make an experiment and bring it to school to show to their classmates. I thought this was a wonderful way to motivate and enthuse the child but also to engage their parents in their learning.  My own children learnt so much from their peers and the depth and breadth of learning and variety of science topics and themes covered was fantastic.  This for me was a wonderful way to bring learning to life.  I believe these are the type of learning experiences that children will bring forward with them in life.

In my own school I made paper rockets and we used paper straws to propel them.  We then measured the distance they travelled and discussed the designs that travelled the furthest and why we think this was.  We also chatted about the designs that didn’t travel far and why we think this was.  It was a fun and engaging activity which the children really enjoyed.  It developed lots of skills such as design, making, measuring, hypothesis testing, problem solving etc. I love the rocket mice idea and think this would be brilliant to do with the infant classes in my school.

While I enforced the rules of a fair test last year, when I did this lesson I did not highlight this to the children.  This is something I will discuss with them and draw their attention to in the future.

I love the idea of stimulating the children’s interest and imagination through story ones that spring to mind are

‘Aliens in underpants save the world’ by Claire Freedman,
‘Zoom Rocket Zoom’ by Margaret Maya
‘Alex Ayliffe’ or ‘Rocket says Look Up’ by Nathan Bryon.
‘The Way Back Home’ or ‘How to catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
I think it would be also interesting to use youtube clips of the various rocket launches down through the years to help the children link the past to the present and the relevance of what they are learning about and its practical application.

The topic of rockets lends itself very well to integration and cross curricular learning some ideas I have include – writing procedures for how to build rockets or writing a postcard home from space, history sequencing rockets over time, song singing – rocket man, Art construct an astronauts suit, dance – astronaut moves incorporated slow motion walking and jumping in zero gravity.  I look forward to trying some of these ideas in school next year.

[Gwen Williams]

I enjoyed exploring many of the online tools in this module.  This is how I plan to use some of them in my classroom.

https://stellarium-web.org/

This online tool offers fantastic graphics and engaging subject matter related to space. It’s particularly appealing for children interested in astronomy. For an infant classroom, I recommend using it in a teacher-led manner, as it is a complex site to navigate.  After introducing lessons about stars, I would have students observe the stars above our area, identify patterns, and draw shapes on whiteboards. We could explore constellation patterns on screen and compare them to what the children observed. Finally, consider investigating whether the night sky on the opposite side of the world has similar star families.

https://spark.iop.org/collections/marvin-and-milo

I really enjoyed the Marvin and Milo cartoons and these are very relevant for my school as we are a junior school so they will be a fun and engaging way to help younger learners understand topics.  I will be using these videos next year. I think they are a nice way to engage parents in their children’s learning.  I will discuss how our HSCL teacher could use these with some of our parents.

https://esero.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/07_Animals-in-the-cold.pdf

I think the resource “Animals in the cold” will integrate nicely with one of my Aistear themes ‘arctic explorers’, this will help me to develop cross curricular learning for the children and broaden my scope for developing this theme.

[Gwen Williams]

Thanks for sharing your idea Sinead.  I agree there are so many ways it can be integrated into Literacy, Numeracy and the Arts. The children would be really excited and motivated to engaged in all of those lessons.

[Gwen Williams]

Thanks for sharing these photos and ideas for Aistear.  We are reviewing some of our themes in Aistear this year and integrating them with our new Oral language scheme so this is the perfect opportunity to add Space as a theme. I think the teachers and children would really enjoy this.

[Gwen Williams]

Thanks for sharing these books Dympna.  I love working with books based on a theme, I’ll add these to the list for September

[Gwen Williams]

The topic that I would like to use in my classroom next year is that of Stars.  This module has helped me to reflect on how I would plan and develop this as a topic in an infant classroom.  It has been particularly helpful in helping me think about using many curricular areas to teach science themes and topics..

I work in a DEIS school. We always try to place an emphasis on literacy.  I love using books, especially picture books in the infant classroom to spark the children’s interest in a topic.  For this topic I would use How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.  This is a beautiful book that really captures the children’s imagination and it’s a bonus that Oliver is an Irish author

https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tLP1TcwKTHOTUoyYPQSzsgvVyjJV0hOLEnOUEhUKC5JLAIAp7EKeQ&q=how+to+catch+a+star&oq=How+to+catch+a+st&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEC4YgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyBwgBEC4YgAQyBggCEEUYOTIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBDTEwNDEwNjQ5ajBqMTWoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_-DexZMz-IOmhhbIPufuN0As_57

I would introduce the lesson asking the children some questions

I wonder what is in the sky at night?
I wonder what a star is made of?
I wonder how many stars are in the sky at night ?
I would do a looking and responding activity with the children. I would show them the following three pieces of art

Vincent Van Gogh – Starry Night Over the Rhone
James Whistler – Nocturne in Black and Gold
Rita Oates – A Star
We would explore and discuss these artworks together, focusing on how each artist uniquely portrays the stars. During winter, I’d encourage the children to observe the stars before bedtime (although in summer, it stays light too late for this). Equipped with art supplies, the children would create a piece of art inspired by these artists,  their imagination or their observations from the previous night. I would share their artwork with the entire class and establish a class gallery, where each child receives positive feedback from a classmate.

Integration with maths – sorting stars from planets, making patterns with stars and various materials, word problems involving stars e.g. I saw two stars shining in the sky, then three more stars appeared. How many stars are in the sky now?

Integration with Aistear – going to Space theme

Integration with English – write star acrostic poems

Encourage the children  to explore the night sky with their families and share their discoveries.

[Gwen Williams]

I plan to use the planet’s activities in my classroom next year.  I work with a child who has ASD and one of his interests is the planets.  While I have taught the planets before. I have learnt so much during this module that would enhance and improve my teaching and the children’s learning.

The Plants is a great topic for stimulating STEAM teaching and learning in the curriculum. I really enjoyed the planet’s song from youtube and I think the children I work with would really enjoy it too. It also supports different types of learners and children who are more auditory learners.

I would use this one with older children from second class

I think this one is more suitable for infants

I employ KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned) charts with students at the start and conclusion of a topic. This approach allows me to assess their existing knowledge, identify misconceptions, and discover their genuine interests. Additionally, it serves as a valuable assessment tool to track their progress and guide my planning.”

I would ask the children to work in groups with a picture of the solar system to talk and discuss some of the following questions depending on their age and ability/level of understanding

What is the name of the planet we live on?
Do you think that we are the only planet?
What are the names of any other planets you know?
If you discovered a planet what would you name it?
What do you think a planet needs to have for humans to live on it?
Why do you think each of the other planets are not as good as earth for living on ? (Make a list for each planet)
If you have to live on another planet which one would it be and why (give at least two reasons)?
In the past, I’ve achieved great results by creating models of planets with children in first and second class. I organise the children into groups, assigning each group a specific planet. Providing them with pictures and relevant details, I guide them in using balloons or sphere-shaped styrofoam (which can be obtained from Mr. Price) and Papier Mache to construct their planets. They then get creative, using various materials like plastic, marla, paint, fabric, and recycled items to craft the planet’s surface. Once each group completes their model, I hang them from the ceiling, ensuring they’re arranged in order and measuring the distance between each one.

To finish off the topic of the planets I would go back to the questions we had at the start of the topic and complete the KWL chart section ‘what I have learnt’.

Some of the support materials and videos on youtube could be watched during wet play days to enhance the children’s understanding and interest in the planets.

[Gwen Williams]

Module 1

 

My inquiry based activity would be – Where would an alien like to live ?

I taught a similar lesson before and this module helped me to reflect on this and how I could broaden the lesson and make it more inquiry based.

I had a little alien sensory teddy filled with flour.  I integrated this with literacy and art.  We read a story about different types of aliens and predicted where they might like to live based on their different characteristics. In art the children drew and painted their own aliens and using a variety of construction materials they designed spaceships and alien homes for their aliens.

I think talk and discussion plays a pivotal role in inquiry based learning.  With everyone adapting and changing their opinions as we learn from each and gain more information.   I think this would lead to exploration of the habitats, climates and living conditions of different planets.  There is plenty of scope for the development of SPHE themes about feeling different/the same, celebrating uniqueness and developing inclusivity.  I work in a Junior school so I think this would be a good starting point for some simple project work. The children could be put into teams and given a planet each to research.  They could make a pros and cons list for each planet before conducting a graph or chart about where the aliens might like to live – this would link nicely with the strand of Data in Maths.

Using themes and topics like this makes learning fun for everyone and sparks curiosity in the children.  It is a great motivational tool.

[Gwen Williams]

Hi,

My name is Gwen and I am a behaviour support teacher and Nurture teacher for children aged 4-8 years old.

My favourite space fact is that gravity on the moon is only about 1/6 of that on Earth.  So you weigh less, can jump higher and carrier heavier objects.

[Author]

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