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Computer science and coding in primary school education is extremely important for equipping students with important skills that are needed in a technology-driven world. Exposure to coding from a young age fosters critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. It also teaches them to approach challenges in a step-by-step fashion, breaking them down into manageable parts. Digital learning provides endless opportunities for integration across all curricular areas. By learning to code, students gain opportunities for creativity and expression though technology. It’s so important that all students regardless of their academic ability or socio-economic circumstances have the opportunity to engage in digital learning bridging the digital divide. Computer science and coding are a vital part of teaching and learning in today’s world as a vast amount of career opportunities exist in this realm. Primary educators and schools must provide education through digital technology to ensure that the children are given an opportunity to gain tools and skills from an early age. This in turn will provide transfer of skills regarding their proficiency digitally in the future.
I have done scratch and bee bots with different classes over the past few years and have found it to be very beneficial as a tool for teaching coding. I enjoyed partaking in this course and broadening my knowledge on coding. It has encouraged me to engage in further CPD to broaden my knowledge on digital learning in preparation for the digital strategy for schools 2027.I would split the children into groups of 4 and discuss our project topic. I would use a KWL chart to set the intentions for our project-based work. Our project will be based on sustainability and how to create a sustainable world considering what we have learned. The children would first begin their research and gather information to inform the creation of their sustainable world.
The curriculum areas we would be exploring would be Geography-caring for the environment and environmental awareness. This project also has cross curricular links with sphe-developing citizenship, literacy-while doing our research, science-composting, maths-elements of counting regarding plastic use etc and spatial awareness. The learning outcomes are recognise and investigate aspects of human activities which may have adverse or positive effects on the environment and to become aware of the Earth’s renewable and non-renewable resources.
I would assign four different roles to the groups that the children would then choose which role they would take on setting the precedence for good collaboration.
When each group have completed their research, they can begin the creation of their sustainable world via Minecraft education (they would have had previous experience with this). Upon completion of their group projects, each group can showcase their work to their class with a detailed presentation.Digital tools create engaging and enhanced learning environments for children by offering interactive, personalised experiences that differentiate for the different learning styles in the classroom. Through gamified lessons such as Minecraft education, multimedia content, and real-time feedback, these tools make learning more engaging and fun. The learning can be child led for the most part aiding children’s decision making and critical thinking skills. There is also great scope for collaborative work which is fantastic experience for children. Adaptive learning technologies tailor content to each child’s specific needs, ensuring they learn effectively. This combination of interactivity, personalisation, and collaboration makes digital tools essential for fostering a deeper, more engaging learning experience. Developing my use of digital technology as a teacher will impact my school by enhancing the overall quality of education and fostering a more dynamic learning environment in my classroom. This approach can improve student outcomes by making lessons more interactive and accessible. In terms of SSE, it is important to bring your learning back to the school and share it with your colleagues. This might provide scope for conversions/reflections about where we feel we are in terms of our proficiency in digital technology as a school. Whole school evaluations and action plans then could be formulated to improve this.
Some songs that I would pick that connect us with the night sky are:
Twinkle, twinkle little star, catch a falling star, star light, star bright, moon river, when you wish upon a star and sky full of stars by Coldplay.
Here is a list of some possible art projects that the children could engage in when learning about the night sky.
They could create their version of starry night by Vincant Van Gogh, they might make a phases of the moon hanging mobile to consolidate their learning on the topic, They could create the plough using a box, tinfoil and black string, planet tubes and a constellation jar made from using a jar, fairy lights and craft paper.
Here is a list of some poems that would connect us with the night sky:
“The Star” by Jane Taylor, Silver” by Walter de la Mare, Stars” by Sara Teasdale and “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson.
I think there is a clear connection between these songs, poems and art projects and the night sky.I would use these in my classroom for the purpose of integration when teaching about the night sky and I think the children would enjoy them.Hi Sinnead. That’s a great list of resources to connect us with the night sky. I will be using some of them with my own class next year:)
Hi Patrick. I like your idea of having a guest speaker in explaining about biodiversity in the local area. I think would be very beneficial and a hands-on way for the children to gain knowledge on biodiversity as it is such an important topic for them to be knowledgable on.
I would engage my learners to explore biodiversity in our local area by starting with a hands-on outdoor activity. I would organise a class trip to a nearby park where we could observe different species of plants, insects, birds, and other living things. We would make a biodiversity survey to record biodiversity in the park we are visiting. The children would bring their surveys, notebooks and four tablets would be used to take pictures. We would have some talk and discussion around the importance of each species in the ecosystem, their roles, and how they interact with each other. To consolidate their understanding, I would have them create a biodiversity map in their notebooks, marking the locations of different species. (We would have previously learned how to create a biodiversity map)
To address the impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity, I would show the children a video regarding the impacts of this on nocturnal and diurnal species. I would explain how artificial light can disrupt the natural behaviours of nocturnal animals, interfere with plant growth, and affect the migration patterns of birds and insects. I would let the children engage in some group research to broaden their knowledge on the topic and present their findings afterwards. I would question the children on possible solutions to minimise light pollution in our community, recommending changes that could be made to public lighting or promotion of public awareness campaigns. I feel this approach would give the children the autonomy to come up with an action plan for changes that could be implemented to improve light pollution in our locality.I agree Aisling. I think it would be great for the children looking at contrasting light pollution in urban and rural settings as it’s probably something they haven’t really thought about before.
I would begin a lesson based on how light is affecting your local area by questioning the children about light pollution to spark their interest.
I would use questions such as:
What is light pollution?
What are the main sources of light pollution?
How are we affected as humans and how is the environment affected?After some talk and discussion on light pollution, I would show the children the video from NSW ‘What is Light Pollution’ as a trigger to spark their interest in the topic. After this, we would discuss the impact on humans’ circadian rhythm, effects on nocturnal animals and on sea life as well as the cost of money regarding artificial lighting and the waste of fossil fuels.
I would ask the children to discuss in their groups ways in which our local area contributes to light pollution and ways in which we are doing well in this area. After they discuss this, I will hear their thoughts. I will then take out the tablets and introduce the children to the website ‘planning.nsw.gov.eu’. I will model on the IWB how I might research planning to reduce light pollution and help with the issue in your locality. I would tell the children we will be going on a field trip to our local town to investigate light pollution in the coming days. The children would then research in their groups ways in which they could reduce light pollution. After they have done that, they can present their findings in their groups. Before their field trip the children could do research on their tablets on the light pollution website measuring light pollution in their locality. After the fieldtrip the children could discuss their findings regarding light pollution from their town and discuss if their research on the light pollution in their locality coincides with the reality of what they saw on their field trip.
As a follow on from this lesson the children could be given an individual project based on light pollution for their homework. The children could be given recommendations for various websites and useful images to aid their research. Recommendations could include the wondering in the dark video for the older children, growth of light in Ireland slides, articles on dark skies for your locality and the light pollution map website, measuring light pollution affecting your area. This lesson could be integrated with history and a lesson on artificial light over time could be done and a timeline of artificial light could be created.Hi Tom. I like your lesson on making planet tubes. This would be beneficial for the children’s understanding regarding the properties of each planet. I agree, it would provide good opportunities for team work skills.
I would complete a lesson based on our observation of these two phases of the moon. We would begin our creation of a KWL chart on the phases of the moon. I would begin some talk and discussion around the different phases of the moon to find out what the children already know about it. I would then for the W part question the children on what they want to learn by engaging with this activity. After that, I would show the children ESA’s Paxi video on the phases of the moon and eclipses of the moon. I would then ask the children to think pair share about the new learning on the phases of the moon. I would ask the children to remain in their pair and each pair would then be given a ball and a lamp as a model of the moon to demonstrate how it relates to night and day. I would model this activity first and then get the children to do this. After this, I would give each pair a tablet where they can access Stellarium web version to observe the appearance of the moon. After the children have engaged with this, we would together as a class fill in the L part of our KWL. At the end of the lesson, I would show the children a flip chart with the days of the week, time and observations of the moon. I would explain to them that over the course of a week we would be observing the phase of moon at 10am each day and will note our observations. We would also engage with Stellarium to further our understanding over the course of the week.
I would begin the lesson by using a trigger to demonstrate the earth orbiting the sun and how this predicts day and night as well as the seasons. The Paxi video could be used for the younger classes to demonstrate day and night as well as an explanation for the seasons. A more suitable video could be used as a trigger for the older classes. I would use spaceweek,ie to obtain the template for my sundial and explain to the children how this works. I would get predictions before we engage in this experiment and get a group discussion going on what knowledge we want to obtain. A KWL could be used at the beginning of the lesson to gather this information. I would explain why we chose the position for the sundial and the science behind it. I would integrate this lesson with history and explain that Egyptians used to use this to tell the time before the use of clocks. It could also be integrated with maths when doing time. Art lessons based on the theme of the sun could also be done. Once the sundial is placed on the yard, we could do hourly check ups on it and record our predictions. For homework, the children could make a sundial for their backyard/green /balcony and see if it works at home also. I feel this would be a great experiment for the children and that they’d have lots of fun doing it.
