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Rachel this sounds like a great bank of lessons on the theme of homes. I agree that its so important to make your lessons as hands on as possible with infants to ensure engagement in the lesson. I like the idea of the mini project where the children can pick an animal to write a informative piece about and think by letting the children choose which animal to pick this would ensure even more engagement.
Aine I agree, I think this would be a great lesson to do and would really get the children thinking and predicting while also having lots of fun.
I really like this song Rebecca and I think the children in my class would really enjoy it so I will definitely be using in next year.
Siobhan I really like the idea of having the children create their own starry night scenes and think I might do this also.
Ciara I love the idea of using songs to help the children learn the names of the different planets. I find the children are always far more engaged when we using music and songs as they get such enjoyment from this
I would look at the Activity set of the Moon for this module. I found the Universe in a Box booklet to be an invaluable source of information and activity ideas that I will definitely be using in my classroom.
For my lesson on the topic of the moon we would start with a story book such as ‘I took the Moon for a Walk.’ We would then discuss what we know about the moon. I would discuss some of the facts about the moon found in the Universe in a Box booklet such as:
· The moon can be seen from anywhere, be it city or countryside.
· The moon has a spherical shape, just like the Earth.
I would then show the children some different moon shapes on paper and ask them to discuss why the shape of the moon appears to change at different times. Children will then get the opportunity to create their own moons using a variety of different materials. After the children have finished we will discuss the different projects and why the children have designed them as they have. We will also discuss why the moon appears to us to be a flat shape when it is in face spherical.
We would finish the lesson with a song such as ‘The Tale of the Sun and the Moon’. I find that children really engage with this song and it gives a good sense of the sun and the moon and could further aid conversations of why we sometimes still see the moon during the day.
Hi all, I’m Laura and will be teaching Senior Infants in September in a DEIS 1 school. I’m looking forward to this course and in particular to upskilling and bringing some new ideas into my classroom in September. One of my favourite space facts is
The Sun is HUGE: You could fit 1.3 million Earths inside the Sun!
An inquiry based activity that I will try with my class will be around the area of forces and push and pull. The children will be put into small groups or pairs and be tasked with moving a small toy car without using their hands. They will first brainstorm and discuss together how they think they can move their car without using their hands. As a group we will discuss the different ideas and decide which ideas we think will work best. A variety of materials will be available for the children to use, such as straws, magnets etc. Children will then get the opportunity to test out their different ideas to see which works best. I will also pose the question to the children of Why do the cars slow down? This will be a way to introduce the idea of friction and how it will slow things down when a force is placed upon them.
This activity sounds great Rachel. I love the idea of using bouncy balls and water balloons which I think the children would really engage with. I would further question the children on why they think the bouncy ball bounces less high after each time it touches the ground.
I’ve never heard this song before but it’s one I think the children would really enjoy and the video for it is great aswell.
I love using the Aliens love Underpants and Aliens in Underpants Save the World books in my classroom. The children love these stories and so they can easily be used as a stimulus for a lesson looking at Aliens. We would discuss what we think Aliens might look like and how they might differ from us. Children will then be given the opportunity to create their own Aliens using a variety of different materials. They will also describe how and why they create their Aliens in the way they did.
Following on from this I think it would be great fun to do the Rocket Mice experiment with my Junior Infant class. I think they would have great fun making the mice and then launching them. We could investigate how we might be able to launch the mice further and whether different types of paper or card make a difference to the launch and also would try it with different sized milk cartons.This sounds like a lovely lesson Siobhan. I really like that book ‘Big Bear, Little Bear’ and children always really enjoy reading it.
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.
