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I would look at the activity set ‘Where you live? And Weather’ for this module. The lesson I have focused on is Hot and Cold – Use the Sun. This is a lesson I would do during the summer term when there is more heat coming from the sun and the weather should be better. We would begin the lesson by having a discussion about the sun itself and what we know about the sun. We would discuss what the sun looks like, when we see the sun, when we can’t see the sun, why it is important etc. We would then discuss ways we can shelter from the sun and what we should do to protect ourselves on sunny and hot days.
For the experiment itself we will investigate if an ice cube will melt quicker in the sun or in the shade. I will have two bowls and will place an ice cube in each. One will be placed in direct sunlight and the other in the shade. Children will decide which ice cube they think will melt first and will sign their name to a piece of paper picking either the sun or the shade side. Children would also give reasons for their choice. We will then watch the two bowls and discuss what is happening during the process. Following on from the experiment we will go outside and spend time in both a shaded area and also an area that is in direct sunlight and discuss how the areas feel different. To finish off the lesson, back in the classroom we will discuss our predictions and discuss the results. Children will realise from this that the sun gives off both heat and light and that it is important that we have the sun but children will also be reminded of the dangers of the sun especially on hot days.I would look at the topic of Space and Aliens for this module. I love using the Aliens love books as a stimulus for these lessons. The children in my classes have always really enjoyed these books and it would get them interested in the lesson. We would then have a class discussion about Aliens and Martians and what they might look like. We would also discuss about whether they think there might be life on other planets and what this might look like and how it would differ from our lives here on Earth. Following on from our discussions the children would be given the opportunity to create their own Aliens or Martians using play doh and other junk art materials like pipe cleaners, googly eyes, sequins etc. Once the children have all created their creature we would look at them all and see if we could group them at all into ‘families’ and look at the ways that they could be grouped. This would be a good way of using our Maths skills within the lesson.
Ursula I really like your idea of drawing your own constellations using the black paper, chalk and star stickers.
The cbeebies song is something I really like and will definitely be using with my class.
Lucy these are some really lovely simple but effective ideas to use while teaching the topic of day and night in the infant classroom.
I would choose the activity set on the topic of the Planets. I really like the Planets Song and I really like using a song as a stimulus for beginning a lesson. The children always love anything involving music and songs so this is a great way of getting them interested. The Planets – Journey through the Solar System lesson plan gives great ideas for teaching young children about the planets. The Planet game would work really well during PE and would give the children a good overview of the planets as they would need to listen out for names of actual planets. It would also remind them that the sun is in the middle of all the planets and that the planets move around the sun. Following on from the Planet game we would move onto the Planet Dance also done during the PE lesson. To finish off this lesson we would do the Planet spin which will reinforce to the children that all planets revolve around the sun on their own axes. This would be a great way of introducing the theme of the Planets and I would then look into the topic in more detail back in the classroom.
Hi my name is Laura and I will be teaching in Junior Infants in September.
A fact about space that I find interesting is that ‘Driving a car at 70mph to the nearest star would take more than 356 billion years’!
An inquiry based activity that always is well received in Infants is the Dancing Raisins experiment. For this what you need is 2 clear glasses. In one glass you put regular water and in the other you put a clear fizzy liquid such as sparkling water or 7up, the more fizz the better. I would ask the children prior to adding in the raisins what they think will happen in each glass and if there will be a different reaction in each glass. After this discussion we will add raisins to each glass. The children will observe the raisins in the glass with the fizzy liquid begin to move/dance in the glass. After we have observed the raisins dancing we will discuss why they danced in one glass and not the other and also if we could change anything to alter the outcome. We would then test out the different ideas the children have come up with.Enda I really like the idea of organising a tree planting programme. This would be a great way of including people from the local community in the initiative. The children would really enjoy the whole process and would have ownership over the trees.
Climate Change is global issue that is effecting every one of us in the current climate. Weather is something that immediately comes to the fore when we think of climate change. There has been a huge increase in weather events over the past number of years with a huge increase in the number of storms we have had. Even teaching in Senior Infants this has been an issue that the children have been very aware of this year. These storms don’t only cause weather events but can also have an impact on infrastructure and trees and wildlife in the area.
Some actions that could be implemented within a Junior School to slow down Climate Change might include:
• A Walk on Wednesday style initiative, Encourage children and families to walk, cycle, scoot or skate rather than going by car. We could start with one day a week and then look at increasing this as we become more used to it.
• Recycle initiative. Giving each classroom 2 separate bins so that children can separate their rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable. This could be further improved by adding in a food bin for food waste also.
• Energy Savers would be a third idea that would be very easy to implement. We could have children in charge of ensuring lights are off and doors are closed when we aren’t in the room to conserve both energy and heat. They could also encourage people to unplug devices at the end of the day.Community events like those you have mentioned are a great way of making refuges feel like a part of their new communities and is also a great way of these families sharing different aspects of their lives and cultures within their new community.
There are quite a few resource centres and groups/organisations which work with refugees within the Tallaght area. These include a Migrant Integration Team through the South Dublin County Partnership, Crosscare and there is also an Intercultural Drop in Centre based in Old Bawn which is open 5 mornings a week. These are just a few of the organisations that offer support on a more local level to refugees in the Tallaght area.
Within schools something that I think works really well is having a multi-cultural event. During this event all cultures within the community are invited to take part and the school community is made aware of the diferent cultures within our school. Different flags, foods, clothing, homes, hobbies etc are all explored. Children love having the opportunity to tell their classmates different things about their cultures or how they maybe celebrate different events differently.Enda I agree that Quality Education is a highly important Sustainable Development Goal. We are lucky in Ireland that all children regardless of what their economic backround or where they live still have access to quality education. This unfortunately can’t be said for all children and their are huge disparities in access to quality education around the world. This is an area that needs a huge effort so as to combat the issue.
There are 17 sustainable development goals set of in the document by the United Nations. Although some of them don’t appear completely relevant to the children in my school, a number of them did. One in particular that I think could affect the children in my school at both a local and global level is goal 8 ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’. Working in a disadvantaged area there are high levels of unemployment and low paid or zero hour style jobs with little worker protections. There is also high levels of school dropout and children not completing second level and therefore not carrying on to third level education. Children from this area need to really be encouraged that they can do what they want educationally and also to remain in education. Having past pupils in to speak to the children and encourage them would be great for the children as it would show them what others from their area can achieve. Also working with the parents and involving the home school liason teacher to encourage children to remain in education is a vital component in encouraging children to stay in education. It’s really important that the children are shown that they are capable of being what they want to be and showing them that they can be whatever they want to be. This isn’t an easy task however, as they are fighting against the grain of what is normal within their area.
Shona, I agree that gender stereotypes are often very evident through books, tv programmes etc so they’re already ingrained either consciously or subcounsciously in the children’s minds. I agree that as teachers we need to be deliberate in our actions and words to promote a gender equal and inclusive learning environment.
Children appear to always come in with gender identities already fairly strongly embedded. I feel this is often even more evident with boys. I often see that boys will regulary need encouragment to play with dolls or the kitchen area whereas the girls are quite happy to play with construction activities and more traditional ‘boys activities’. I think you also see it a lot when speaking about clothing and boys will often say that they can’t wear pink because ‘it’s a girls colour’. These stereotypes are all important to be aware of as teachers so that we ensure the children in our classes are aware that boys or girls can become whatever they want regardless of their genders.
