[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.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Fiona,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your sundial lesson. I like how you have planned for integration with history and maths which would make meaningful connections across the curricular areas.

There are lots of opportunities for critical thinking when making a sundial as you have outlined in the questions that could be asked such as length of shadows and what makes the shadows. These could also be carried out as initial investigations prior to making the sundial to further support critical thinking and problem solving.

 

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Roisin,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your plan to observe the moon. I like how you have introduced the topic with the video, it is a great stimulus and will allow for open discussion. I like how you will teach the topic specific vocabulary prior to observing the moon also. It will give the class an opportunity to use the topic specific vocabulary in a meaningful context. The use of Stellarium would also allow for this.

There are opportunities for integration as you have mentioned as writing, children could engage in different genres of writing with the moon as the main theme. Children could also engage in art activities to show the different phases of the moon.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Padraic,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your thoughts on Liston’s paper.

A sundial would be a great opportunity for STEAM activity as you have mentioned. I like how you would start with observations which would encourage critical thinking skills such as tracing shadows with chalk across the day. The children using site specific materials would also encourage them to become more aware of materials in their own local environment. I’m sure lots would like to try construct them at home also.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Sean,

Welcome to the course and thank you for your comments on module one. There are many resources across the course that I hope you will get to use in your class.

Having a weather station that the class have made gives them ownership of their learning and they can record their own data too which you can integrate with maths.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Mary,

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

The images in the One Year on Earth module allow for discussion and as you have mentioned allow for thinking outside of the box. Children could also recreate the photos focusing on a tree in their own school yard to note the differences between seasons. This can work well in an infant class.

There are lots of resources in this module that provide for active learning in exploring the seasons and how the earth rotates around the sun.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi James,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your idea for the sundial. I like the idea of using the cone to establish and create your sundial. It also allows for discussion and critical thinking of the location and factors such as shadows etc. There are many opportunities for open ended questioning and problem solving for the pupils in this case.

Creating a sundial is also great for integration with History and for children to make their own meaningful connections between the curricular areas. I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.

[Michelle Mannix]

Hi Ruadhan,

Welcome to the course and thank you for sharing your ideas on observing the moon.

It is important to explore the stages of the moon using visuals like you have mentioned. From exploring the stages using the visuals the children can then make meaningful connections when they observe the moon for themselves. It is also important to address the misconception that the moon comes out at night and this can be covered in the observation session  that you have mentioned on your post. Using the journal is also a nice activity for the children to record their own learning and observations.

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