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Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the documentary Home. It provides lots of powerful imagery which focus on a wide range of topics as you have outlined. You could consider choosing different clips from the documentary to focus on with your class and then working on the posters and art displays you have mentioned. I like how you are planning to explore ways the learners themselves can take action, beginning with the school and perhaps they can transfer this to home and their local community also.
I like how you are planning to explore it in history also, looking at the changes in cars, electricity and the impact it has had on Earth over time.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Donna,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your insight into Liston’s paper given your educational setting. I agree that learners with dyslexia are ‘think outside the box learners’ and this thematic approach allows them to explore all areas of STEM within project based thematic learning. This would allow for skills development such as collecting data, analysing and communicating results without the need for text based activities. It is great to hear how you will adapt the activities to suit the needs of your learners in a very practical way and you have also demonstrated inclusion through the use of technology which allows learners to share their thinking and knowledge. This is so informative and something we can all reflect on when working with learners with reading difficulties.
Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Irene
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the activities in this module.
When I had infants, it was the natural start to the day, news and discussing the weather and dressing the weather bear. You could also explore the weather in both Irish and English. As you have mentioned the weather detectives activity is great at helping the learners to discuss the weather every day. While the weather station might be a little difficult for the infants, you could model the different instruments over time and build up the vocabulary on the weather and focus on the weather chart every day. You could also give responsibility for some learners to update the chart after their observations too. I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Carol,
Welcome to the course. What a lovely idea to use the school buddy system and drawing shadows to explore this concept initially. While the junior infants will learn about their shadow moving, the 6th class will get the opportunity to use this knowledge and apply it when they are making their own sundial.
The shadow activity, while very engaging, also allows for lots of discussion and critical thinking and as you have mentioned, the sundial would then be a very engaging project for the school. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Grainne,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson ideas on the sundial.
I like how you are planning to link with history initially and explore how ancient civilisations were able to tell the time. I also like how you are planning to bring your own sundial in for the learners to explore prior to making their own. Using the compass will allow for lots of skills development too.
It is a great idea to use stones to mark the time each day as other classes might benefit from this too. I hope you enjoy the other modules in this course.
Hi Emma,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea on using Stellarium. Stellarium is a fantastic resource and as you have mentioned it allows the learners to explore the phases of the moon along with identifying constellations. I have used Stellarium with my class and I used it to guide their own observations at home. If planets were visible in the night sky, I would use Stellarium to show the class where in the night sky it would be. I also sent the link home to further support parents.
I like how you are planning to explore different constellations with the learners and you could follow up with tasks to build models of the constellations to further extend their learning.
Hi David,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson ideas using the Globe at Night resource. I think that exploring general themes initially will give the learners a broad understanding of many themes when you can then focus on light pollution. As you have mentioned, if the learners have the background knowledge on light pollution, they can use this in a meaningful context when using the Globe at Night site and I like how you plan to record the data and take part in the project with an adult at home.Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Kathryn,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your ideas to support nocturnal species within your biodiversity plan.
I like your idea of a Moon Garden area, while it raises awareness of the nocturnal insects and how to support them, it also has an element of awareness of the dark skies that are needed for these insects. I also like how you are planning to use your dark sky audit and identify changes the learners can take ownership for such as the dark zone and bat boxes. It gives the opportunities for the learners to take action themselves and will be a very meaningful learning opportunity. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Olivia
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson ideas that suit the learners in your school. I really like how you want to incorporate the family and make it accessible and inclusive for every learner. I really like how you have changed the observation tasks with simple questions and a simple checklist. We can often focus on bigger tasks which can make it overwhelming for some learners.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Katie,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the activities in this module.
Your plan for the sundial allows for lots of inquiry based learning, while the learners may have covered shadows and how they changed. They can make meaningful connections with their learning on this topic when creating the sundial. As you have mentioned this also links with history and how they told the time in ancient civilisations.
Reflection is also great to allow learners opportunity to recognise their learning and also what they can change if they were to repeat the task. I always try and allow time for reflection in STEM based activities.
I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Niamh
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the sundial lesson. I like how you are engaging the learners with the video initially and then allowing them to choose a location in the school grounds prior to making their sundial. This allows for meaningful connections with the video and applying what they have learned from the video.
I also really like your plan to integrate it with Gaeilge and explore the meanings of words and phrases as Gaeilge, I actually hadn’t thought of the term taobh thiar before. Thanks for sharing!
I hope you enjoy the other modules in the course.
Hi Darerca
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson ideas based on the One Year On Earth resource. The video provides a child friendly explanation and as you have mentioned allows for discussion guided by prompt questions.
I like how you are linking with time in maths for the collaborative work and using different images, this would allow for critical thinking and discussion among the learners. And as you have also said, there is the opportunity to link with literacy also. I really like how you are planning to engage the learners with the activity to create a game including music. It sounds like good fun.
I hope you enjoy the other resources across the modules in this course.
Hi Kaytlyn
Welcome to the course. It is great to hear your feedback on the Leaf Identification App. It is easy to use and the visuals are also great and a good idea to use it ourselves now so that when we use it in the classroom we are very familiar with it and encourage the learners to use it and keep their own records.
I like your idea to plan for a scavenger hunt initially and record the flora and fauna in their local area and identify it with the digital tools which can also be recorded with the National Biodiversity Data Centre to become more involved in citizen science. Pupils can also come up with their own projects as you have mentioned, based on their observations from the scavenger hunt or threats to the local area that they might have noticed. Thanks for sharing, I hope you enjoy the course.
Hi Laura
Welcome to the course and thanks for your thoughts on Liston’s paper. As you have mentioned a mini garden project is an excellent example of addressing all areas of STEM in one task.
There are many digital tools that we can use to address the Technology aspect of STEM as you have mentioned. We can often focus on coding or other uses of technology rather than digital tools which support our learning.
Addressing all areas of STEM will also address other curricular areas and allow for meaningful tasks and activities. I like how you plan to give roles to the learners in your class which would ensure everyone contributes and shares their ideas as you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Rory,
Welcome to the course. Thanks for sharing your lesson idea on biodiversity and how it can be impacted by light pollution. I like how you begin with images and asking the learners how this habitat can survive and thrive. This allows for lots of discussion and critical thinking and making links between different habitats. I also like how you are making the connection between light and the human world which the learners can relate to and then making connections with the nocturnal wildlife. Images are well used in your lesson idea to support critical thinking on the impact of light pollution also. It is important to explore the difference between natural light and the concept of artificial light which as you have mentioned is a keyword for this task. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you enjoy the other modules.
