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I have chosen to consider how many songs/poems/art I can think of that can connect us with the night sky. I think this is a really lovely idea as it can create many art/music/literacy links with SESE.
The most obvious book that I can think of is the classic ‘Goodnight Moon’ by Margaret Wise Brown. While looking up other stories, I actually found a link that shows many storybooks for younger children that discuss stars and the constellations that I will link below that I think I would definitely use in the classroom:
Two traditional nursery rhymes that also come to mind are: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Star Light, Star Bright. I am sure that are much more. There are also more modern and current songs which might be nice to introduce to inspire interest for the children. A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay, Rewrite the Stars that was in The Greatest Showman, and Counting Stars by One Republic are the first songs that come to mind.We are lucky in my school as the whole school has really focused on biodiversity in recent years, I think due to the Green Schools Flag. This means that I need to do less work on the topic of biodiversity than many other schools need to as we have a lot of the ground work done and I can focus more on light pollution.
I think what I would do is look at this topic at Christmas or Winter. In Ireland, robins are a big symbol of Christmas and I think you could focus on this in the classroom and maybe do a study and a lovely art lesson on Robins to get the children interested. Then, I would move onto the topic of light pollution and how it affects biodiversity and focus in on this article I read about the effects it has on robins. I will link this below:
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38317255
I think this would really motivate and interest children and I would look at ways we can study our light pollution in the area and things we can do to help.Hi Katie, you have really reflected and thought about this topic. Your answer is very detailed and I found it very informative. Thank you.
I was actually very disappointed to view the pollution level of my local area on the online interactive map that shows light pollution and sky brightness. I just assumed living in the countryside of Ireland would mine that my local area was not majorly polluted but I was very surprised to see this and as a result, I would definitely show my group of learners this map as they may also feel the same. When teaching my class, I think I would start off with an SPHE lesson discussing phone and other technology. I would discuss blue light that these devices omit and to discuss the harmful effects of these blue lights on people, particularly the negative impact these lights have on people’s sleep. I would then continue this into an SESE lesson, which looks at light in general and the negative impacts that this pollution also has on our sleep, but further to animals. I would then show them the many videos and resources that were included in the slides on light pollution and then I would have the class to observe light pollution around the school and in their local environment.
Hi Patrick, I also looked at this topic, but I love the idea of making models. This is a great idea for the Senior Classes.
I selected to look at a plan to observe the moon. I particularly liked the exercise that was included in the slides which had the class fill in a moon log and to colour/draw what the moon looked like. What is nice about this particular exercise is that you can do it with many different class levels. For the younger classes, the teacher could take a photo of the moon each night or maybe once a week/month/etc. The class can look at it and discuss what it looks like and draw/fill in the moon observation log. As stated in the slides, this could also be linked to the study of light and three-dimensional activities, and it may also be integrated into a drawing or other art lesson. Therefore, it is a nice activity for integration. There are also many nice storybooks and songs for the younger classes based on the moon, which is nice for a thematic approach. For the older classes, they could fill in the observation log themselves at home and looking at the moon in the morning.
Hi Una,
I love how you divided the lessons clearly into 4 lessons. I do not teach this age group so I cannot apply it directly to my own class, but I am sure there are many people here who will be easily able to implement it into their class.
Thank you for your response.
I have selected to look at the One Year on Earth – Understanding the Seasons Resource (ESA) resource that was discussed in Module One.
The resource is designed for children 8-12 years old, which I would assume is for the Senior Classes (3rd Class – 6th Class) and since I have more recent experience with the younger classes, I think I have a slightly different activity idea based on this resource for the Junior Classes, which would be most suitable for the 1st Class age group.
This resource looks to enhance pupils’ knowledge of seasons and has two great activities available for teachers. However, something that stood out to me in Module One was the section on observing the seasons that states ‘Children should be familiar with the effects of the seasons before they can explain them’. This resource mentions that the ‘starting point’ for learning about seasons ‘is a general discussion about seasons by considering the changing colours on Earth over the course of a year’. As this resource is for the older classes, you could introduce this topic and help the children to become familiar with the effects of seasons from first-hand experience. What I would do is to create four lessons to be taught throughout the year. Lesson 1 would be Autumn taught in September/Octover; Lesson 2 would be Winter taught in November/December/January; Lesson 3 would be Spring taught in February/March/April and Lesson 4 would be Summer to be taught in May/June. In each of these lessons, the class could take a nature walk around the school or local environment to spot and record the signs of the particular season. With the older classes (1st/2nd), they could take an iPad or other technology with them to photograph a particular area, such as a big tree, and take a photograph of the same tree throughout the 4 seasons and compare as the seasons change. This incorporates digital learning with SESE, which I know is becoming an important aspect of the new curriculum. I think it also incorporates the students’ immediate environment also which is an important stimulus for learning.
I know this doesn’t exactly correspond to the activity given within the One Year on Earth PDF, but I think this is an important pre-teaching lesson before the students will complete the activities within the PDF, and gives them a good basis and foundation for learning about the seasons.