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Activity Set : space and aliens
Circle time discussion about the planets and with a particular focus on Mars. Have a photograph of the planet.
Trigger question : what would aliens look like if they lived on Mars.
Think pair share about their ideas and teacher records some adjectives on the board.
Children are then invited to sketch their alien on a piece of paper and share it with the class.
Children can make their alien with playdough and can mix colours and display their work on a large 2d planet mars. The children can paint it and add craters etc.
As an extension lesson the teacher can read Oliver Jeffers “the way back home” and integrate space with a literacy lesson.I will definitely be stealing this idea of the oliver J book. I love his illustrations and it’s a lovely way to integrate with English.
This is a lovely lesson, I will be noting the story and song you used. Storiea and music are so helpful with junior infants when teaching SESE.
I have chosen the activity set of the planets. We teach the planets in junior infants but at a basic level.
I would introduce the planets by some work on planet earth and the children would have prior learning about earth.
I would ask the children to sit in a circle and show them an orange balloon and tell them this is our sun. I would ask questions to elicit knowledge about the sun. Then I would show them the planets video by story bots.
I would put a visual of the planets on the white board and then ask the children if they can remember any planets from the story. As children named them, I would match them to the visual. I would also ask children to pick from a selection of balloons and we would label the balloons with name and a small photo of each planet.
We would finish by sharing their favourite planet and why.
The next lesson we would move on to the position of the planets and the children would be active and moving around. Subsequent lessons would involve some recording of learning in their SESE journal.
We would try and remember some planets mentioned in the videoThis is a super idea. I can imagine the children captivated by their own shadow and also it’s a super way of getting the children outdoors.
An inquiry-based activity I would use to teach children about space would be a lesson on “a real spacesuit”
Engage
Prompt a picture of an astronaut and a diver
Wonder / Explore / predict Discussion about weather and what clothes we wear. Picture of the astronaut and the diver -Show the photograph of the diver. Explain
That a diver has to take air with him to be able to breathe underwater. People in
space cannot breathe like they do here on Earth. That is why astronauts have to
take their own air supply with them. It can also be very cold in space. That is why
the astronauts wear special suits. Show the photograph of the astronaut. Explain to the children that they are going to make a spacesuit that will keep the
astronaut warm and have its own air supply.
Experiment and Investigation :Allow the children to design clothes for the astronaut and give them a copy of a template of an astronaut.Discussion and applying learning: Encourage them to describe what their
astronaut is wearing. Why did they choose this? Can their spacesuit keep the astronaut warm? For example, did they use lots of cotton wool? Does their astronaut
have a helmet?Hello,
My name is Kathy and I am a teacher in a DEIS school in Dublin. I will have junior infants next year. I have been in SEN for many years and need to learn some ideas for engaging with younger children about space.
