[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Nose High Up in the Sky resource. I have used weather proverbs with my own class this year and there was lots of discussion as to what they could mean. I also asked them to check with older relatives about weather lore they knew and this integrated well with History.

I like how you would give the children responsibility over how they will record the weather in their weather diary. This would also allow for differentiation in the class.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Eimear,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Climate reporters activity. I like your idea of children working on this task with varying levels of emissions to allow for discussion and for the pupils to make connections between changes that can be made and what effects this could have. As you have mentioned, this could provide for real life examples of climate change and encourage the pupils to come up with possible solutions.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Patricia,
Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper. In developing STEM activities in our classrooms, it is important to bring in lots of meaningful cross curricular links so that the pupils can make connections in their learning across the subject areas. Linking with real life examples such as the weather station will also develop this approach.

Thank you for sharing your feedback on the ESA resources, there are a side variety of resources across the course that I hope you will keep for your own class in September.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Clare,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper. It does provide guidance and ideas on how best to develop STEM experiences in the classroom to provide for critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Ad you have mentioned this can be further developed in creating a weather station and then the pupils will have access to real life data that they can use to compile charts etc. This will integrate with Data in Maths also.

Thank you for sharing your ideas, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Victoria,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the ESA resources. They are invaluable for the classroom and can be adapted to be used across all the classes.

In like how you are making connections with the weather and the local area and the visit from a local farmer to recognise the impact weather can have for farmers. In creating the weather station the pupils will have ownership of the station and develop responsibility in their learning.

Thank you for sharing your ideas, I hope you enjoy the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Brendan,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the EO Browser. As you have said there are many meaningful learning opportunities from using this tool.

Through integration the children can make connections with their learning and real life scenarios to further engage them. I like your idea to look at changes in the landscape using the EO Browser in History.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Valerie,

Thank you for sharing a comprehensive list and lesson opportunities. I like the poem you have chosen also to incorporate both the night sky and dreams for the future, children could imagine being an astronaut or living in the ISS.

Starry Night from Van Gogh is also a very nice activity to link with the theme of the night sky.

Thematic planning and teaching provides for so many meaningful learning connections for children.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for sharing your list, there are lots of lovely learning opportunities in it. I particularly like the Moonlight Sonata as you could use this as a stimulus for an art lesson, children could respond to the music through art.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Niamh,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this module.

Within early years and play based learning, there can be many connections to real world that we may not recognise at first, whether it is building towns in Construction or Small World there can often be real life links to themes and topics in play that are unplanned.

I like your idea of the weather station to encourage whole school involvement such as the notice board and providing for hands on learning through using weather instruments or even older classes making the weather instruments.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Eimear,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this module.

A weather station will allow for many learning opportunities in a school, skills development as you have mentioned and integration with other curricular areas along with developing ICT skills.

I like how you have planned to develop this approach across the school through the sharing of resources and organising group projects, this could also encourage and provide for peer learning opportunities.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Pat,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on this module. Having experienced the smog in Dublin and sharing this with your class would engage them and provide for lots of discussion. Making links with videos of smog in China would also engage them. A friend of mine was teaching in Shanghai and there were days when they couldn’t let children out at break time due to the poor air quality. I shared this with my class and it led to lots of discussion and connections with their own knowledge of greenhouse gases. Discussions like these can also provide children with the opportunity to reflect on what they know and make connections with their own lives.

I hope you enjoy the course. There are many great resources across this course.

 

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Catherine,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your plan on using the earth tube activity with your class.

Using the guide and allowing the children to fill the tubes themselves would allow for maths integration and also skills development. This hands on activity would also allow for critical thinking skills as children can compare the different tubes and comparing the weight across different planets. I like how you have also given the children the opportunity to write about the different planets to support literacy.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Aisling,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the earth tube activity.

This activity can be adapted and used across the different class levels as you have mentioned. I like how you would also use this activity to support skills development in the senior classes and also integrate with maths for measurement skills.

I agree that this is a good activity to introduce the concept of mass and weight as it can cause confusion in secondary school. I hope that you enjoy the course and find many resources to use with your class in September.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sarah,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the lesson to create a sundial.
Exploring the sundial in other curricular areas will provide the children with knowledge to support them in creating their own sundial. It will work as an effective stimulus and ensure there is meaningful connections of the learning across the SESE subjects.

I also like how you plan to support learning across all classes by placing the sundial in the school environment. Your own class will benefit from the responsibility of creating a sundial for others and presenting their work also.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Clodagh,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Day and Night in the World resource.

The images used in this resource would be a great stimulus for an infant class and as you have mentioned that would really appeal to children at this class level.

I like how you are going to get children from senior classes to support the younger class with the activity, children really respond to peer learning and it would support learning for both classes.

There are many different resources in this module to support learning about the earth’s rotation of the sun across many different classes. There are many resources across this course that I hope you will use with your own class in September.

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