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Great ideas Sarah, I love the idea of using the book as a stimulus. I think it’s a great way to introduce it to a junior infant class. They would definitely love the Aistear station too.
I would use the rockets lesson with my second class. I would show the class some short videos on the moon landing (Apollo 11) as a stimulus. We could discuss how to make our own rockets; using paper, foam, balloons, or empty milk bottles. Through talk and discussion along with some exploration of the materials we could discuss how each of the rockets would launch. The children could make predictions about which materials might work best and explain their ideas to their classmates before beginning the activity.
We would then make our own rockets! It would be great if the children could have a choice of materials – between making paper rockets or rocket mice with the empty milk containers. Once completed we can then have a challenge between which rocket can launch the highest. This would bring in a more mathematical element too. The children could measure and compare the height or distance travelled by each rocket, record their results, and discuss what made some rockets more successful than others.
I really agree with you Elaine, it can become overwhelming at times in schools where there is such a focus on literacy and numeracy, teaching the curriculum and then school events each week. Often times I even find myself that STEM activities can fall to the bottom of the list. It would be great to have these implemented into everyday activities and integrated across subjects rather than once off lessons.
For my second class the lesson which I’d chose to use is the ‘Hot and Cold’ hands on lesson. At the beginning I’d show the students two identical ice cubes and ask them which one is going to melt first? The one in sunshine or in the shade? And why?
I’d get the children to make predictions and record them giving reasons. Every five minutes the students could make observations and note which is melting quicker. We’d make sure to have both ice cubes in the same containers to promote fairness. When children see that the one in the sunshine has melted quicker we could have a discussion around why that has happened. I’d help introduce that sunshine gives us heat if the children were stuck.
We’d then engage in an ‘ice cube race’ where each child would place their ice cube in a place in the outdoor school environment and time how long it takes to melt. They would each take a photo of where they placed it and record why. We would have a whole class discussion afterwards to compare who’s melted fastest and why. This will consolidate the concept of the sun giving heat.
I really like your point Aisling on the fact that doing the constellations activity means that you’re allowing for differentiation . There is no right or wrong answer when the children themselves are creating them and gives every child a chance to feel success. It’s a lovely idea to have each one on a class slideshow which could be presented to other classes or at a school assembly.
I would use the activity set; stars for my class.
As I am teaching second class next year I think that maybe using Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting may be a good stimulus or introduction to the children to spark their interest in the night sky. We could discuss as a class what’s up there, what we see at night and what they already know about the stars. This could be taken down on a class KWL chart.
We could then do a class investigation using our Ipad time on stars brightness, where they appear and why. Delving deeper into constellations. They could each research a constellation and present facts about their chosen one to the class. This could be a great space for student led and peer led learning.
The children could then create their own ‘Starry Night’ during art – drawing a constellation that they have learned about during our lesson or creating one from their own imagination.
I love your use of a puppet to initially capture the children’s attention! I think it’s a great idea to then have the children use Murph to cast shadows and see if shadows can change. Younger classes would definitely enjoy it.
I have second class next year and would chose the sun and shadows activity for them as it provides a simple and hands on way for them to investigate the relationship between the sun and shadows in a way that’s relevant to them!
We would have a discussion in the morning about what they think causes shadows and whether they think they change during the day. We could write our predictions down.
In the morning, at noon and after lunch time the children could go outside and take pictures of shadows on the school grounds. These digital images would be evidence for them as to whether shadows do change and how the positioning of the sun effects them. They could record their findings after each outing and compare pictures with their peers.
I like this activity because it’s student led and helps them to become active agents in their own learning.
A great inquiry based learning activity! I enjoy how it used the school environment too! I look forward to using this idea in my own school in the future.
The class I’m teaching this year is 2nd class. My favourite space fact is that the sun is 400 times the size of the moon!!
An inquiry – based activity I would use in my school would be about why we experience day and night! Mainly based around the question ‘If the sun is always shining, why is it dark at night?’ I’d let the children work in small groups using a globe or sphere and a torch as the Earth and the Sun. They could try investigate themselves what happens as the Earth is rotating. This would hopefully give them an opportunity to learn by experimenting rather than just direct teaching and having a teacher – led session. I would use questioning throughout the activity to help guide them in their investigation and also to challenge their thinking. afterwards they could each present their finding and explain their reasoning behind why they think we have day and night. Inquiry based learning is so valuable here as it is giving my students a chance to see themselves as scientists and problem solvers.
Thanks for sharing such insightful perspectives Patrick. Harvesting rainwater is a great idea and could then be used by students for watering indoor plants! It’s an idea which I will definitely bring forward to my school in this coming year.
Living and teaching in Kildare, I would focus on the impact of increased rainfall and the risk of flooding from the rivers that run through the local area. The children are already aware of the difference in water levels during the winter as many of them live close to flood plains and they themselves have noticed an increase in the lack of outdoor play at lunch time due to heavy rainfall.
It would be easy to investigate this with our students as they could collect rainfall over a period of time and compare it to historical rainfall information – charting the difference. They could also in more senior classes map areas around the school and local town which may be vulnerable to flooding and research how the local council managed the flood risk.
Actions which we could take in school to slow down climate change and to make the world a better place would be to;
1. Plant trees and native plants in our school grounds to increase biodiversity.
2. Encourage walking or cycling to school where possible.
3. Reducing waste and encouraging the children to recycle in school.
These actions would help the children to see that small local actions can help tackle a global problem.
Having researched our local area I was surprised to find that Kildare County Council’s Local Authority Integration Team (LAIT) does a lot of work in these areas. In particular it helps to connects refugees with local services, and supports – such as education.
In our school context I think this would be a great opportunity for our students to learn about integration from a more local perspective – within their county. We could potentially ask the LAIT or national organisations such as the Irish Red Cross to come into our school and host a workshop to help us to challenge stereotypes around refugees and to understand their experiences more.
Our students could then take actions by creating a welcome project – creating a welcome leaflet in multiple languages. Having signage in multiple languages around the school or simple visuals so that all children feel included. A buddy system for children who are new to the school to help them to settle in would be great also.
Thank you for your insights Siobhan, I think the buddy system is a great idea and one which could easily be implemented with our school. I think you’re right – making sure it isn’t just a tick the box activity is most important when welcoming new student members who are refugees.