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I teach thematically and I find it is a great way to reinforce learning for pupils and to present the new vocabulary and content in a range of different ways. I think there are so many opportunities to integrate songs, poems, stories, art etc. into the dark skies theme. As I am teaching Junior Infants I would be looking at stories such as The Owl Babies, How The Moon Found Its Glow, The Light in the Night, The Man on The Moon to name just a few. If I was working on any one of these stories I would be using it as a basis for my language development. I would be using the story as a basis for my Aistear and play based learning and this would incorporate some drama which would allow pupils to develop their imagination. I would also engage in artwork based on the story. In relation to SPHE I would discuss the characters in the stories and their feelings. For Maths we would engage in some hands on sorting based on the story. I would try to incorporate some Gaeilge to the theme as well through use of some new vocabulary as Gaeilge. Other opportunities for dark sky art activities are Halloween artwork based on creating a night scene which could include some bats and sometimes I would get the children to add in some glitter to represent the stars. I have done artwork based on Starry Night previously and this has always worked very well.
This is a lovely idea. I teach Junior Infants and I agree with you that this activity would really appeal to them and allow for great creativity and imagination.
I teach in a rural school and we have a range of different habitats in the school grounds which offer great opportunities for exploring. I often take my class on little nature trails to explore the different habitats and to see what we can find and identify and they really enjoy this and engage well with outdoor learning. I would firstly get the children out and about and we would explore the biodiversity which is within our school grounds. I would make use of different identifier resources to help us identify the different wild flowers, trees, insects etc. in the school grounds. I would then teach the children some information in relation to light pollution and how this can impact our biodiversity. After teaching about light pollution we would go on a little trail of the school grounds again and record if there are sources of altricial light near the different habitats and discuss the impact it may have and see if we can come up with any possible solutions.
I think you have some great ideas here Gráinne. I am the Green Schools coordinator in my school and I think this course is really going to benefit the work of the Green Schools as well as my own class work.
I work in a rural school and even in the last number of years there has been an increase in outdoor lighting. Light pollution isn’t something I ever even considered when addressing different forms of pollution in school so this module has really benefitted me and raised great awareness for myself. We have a community building next to the school and there are lots of activities on there in the evenings and at night so from a safety point of view there has been an increase in lighting. I think it would be great to address this in school and ask the children to observe the night sky with their parents at home. We could do a walk through the school grounds and record any sources of artificial lighting and also record the different habitats that we have and the animals and flowers on the school grounds. I would show the class some suitable video clips about the impact that artificial lighting can have on plants and animals and we could discuss the school environment and any potential issues and if there are any possible solutions.
I think this is a great idea Clare to partner up with a rural school and do a comparison. I also like the homework link as it is a nice practical activity but involving a parent will also make them aware of what is being taught in school and raise further awareness of light pollution.
I think observing the moon would be a lovely activity to do with Junior Infants. They may require some assistance with it but they would really enjoy it. I would introduce the topic with the short story about The Man in the Moon and I would discuss with the children some of the things mentioned in the story like the man guiding animals home and why this might be and how the moon might help? Then I would ask the children if they have ever seen the moon and is it always the same or does it look different? Then we would look at some images of the different types of moons. I would then ask children to observe the moon and record it. They may need help from an adult for this. Each day in school we would discuss the moon from the previous night and what it looked like and what shape it was. At the end of the week we would paint a night scene for art using a paper plate. I will cut a slit halfway in the plate and the children will paint different types of moon on a different piece of paper. I will give the children some blu tak and a lollipop stick. The children will be able to stick whichever moon they observe each night onto the lollipop stick and place it in the night sky scene.
This is a great idea Sarah and I really like the way you refer to watching once a week. I always feel it is nice for children to have an opportunity to use new information and knowledge for a prolonged period as it becomes more meaningful for them.
I thought there was some lovely content in Module 1 and lots of different ideas to suit different class levels. I am currently teaching Junior Infants and I like to teach thematically as it assists with Aistear and play based learning. I would use each season as a theme throughout the year. Summer would provide a great learning opportunity for learning more about the sun. In the younger classes shadows are a great learning opportunity and the children really like to see their shadows in the school yard. To introduce the topic of the sun I would get the children outside on a fine day with some chalk and allow them the opportunity to see their shadows and even draw around some shadows. From here we would discuss why we can see shadows and I would ask them if shadows are always seen and why/why not? From here I think the simple idea of using a plant pot and a stick to monitor the sun is a lovely idea so we would create this and children would have an opportunity to observe it over the course of a few days and reflect on what they notice.
Aoife I think this is a lovely idea and I think it is great the way you would integrate different subjects like History as I always feel that children get greater learning opportunities if the content is addressed through different subject areas. From a practical level with time constraints etc integration of subjects is also very effective.
There are lots of great ideas throughout this course which could be used for Space Week. I particularly like the work around rockets and I think this is something which always appeals to the children. As I will be teaching Junior Infants I would like to try to Mice Rockets. I am the Green Schools Coordinator and we recently had a ‘Junk Art’ competition whereby we encouraged the children in the school to create something using materials that they would be recycling. We got such a great selection of fantastic art work. Rockets were one item which many children made and it was great to see the different variations and how they made them. The art competition is something which we intend to run again but I am thinking it might be nice to incorporate something similar for Space Week whereby the children in the school make rockets using recyclable materials. We could do some paired work whereby some of the older kids could partner up with younger kids and help them. I think this is something which would be great fun and I would imagine we’d get a great selection of rockets.
I would do work based on the theme of Space and Aliens. There are lots of different activities which could be integrated into the theme. I would use the story Aliens Love Underpants as a stimulus for the lesson. This would a nice literacy lesson based on the theme as well. From here we would do some work around aliens and I would provide the children with lots of scraps of paper, tin foil etc and I would ask them to create their own aliens. These would be displayed in the classroom them. We would use some aliens for counting activities and pattern work. For STEM the children would have to build a space ship for their aliens. This would require some planning so that the alien has a seat in the spaceship to sit on. We would do some work around the planets but as it is infants I wouldn’t teach anything too technical and the children would decide which planet their alien lives on and which planet it would like to visit. The class would then discuss the journey and which planets it would have to pass to get to its destination etc. For Irish we would do some work around Is mise and the children would give their alien a name.
There are some lovely ideas here for the theme of stars and lots of integration opportunities. Thanks for the great ideas.
I would use the Where is my Home? activity. As I currently teach Junior Infants I would be covering the topic of Houses and Homes as one of the play based learning activities. I would use this for station teaching. Normally, I have one oral language station with different images of different types of houses and homes and the children discuss these and talk about them. I would have another station where I would get the children to design and draw their dream house. This is a great activity and great fun. The children come up with great ideas with toy shops and swimming pools etc all forming part of their dream home. I would have a second oral language station which might include a game of bingo or a game of headbands of items that you would find in the houses and homes. The final station then would be construction and STEM related whereby the children build their houses and homes. Following from this module I might adapt this station to allow the children to create models of the houses and homes using modelling clay as this way they could be displayed in the classroom for awhile and then the children would later get to take them home.
