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I live in Kerry and there’s a fantastic organisation called the Tralee International Resource Centre (TIRC) . The TIRC provides a range of services to integrate and support newcomers and refugees. TIRC offers language classes, social activities, legal advice, and other vital resources to help refugees adapt to their new environment.
There are definitely a number of steps our school could implement to support and welcome refugees. Firstly, organizing cultural exchange events can promote understanding and inclusivity. These events could involve sharing meals, storytelling sessions, or music and dance performances from different cultures
Also raising awareness through school projects and presentations can educate the student body about the challenges refugees face and the importance of a welcoming community. Fundraising events, such as charity runs or bake sales, can also be organized to support local refugee services. By taking these steps, our school can play a crucial role in creating an inclusive and supportive environment for refugees in my area.
I’ve observed the same over the years with the colour pink only being allowed to be a girls favourite and blue as a boy’s . I do think it’s changing but it’s very slow so by facilitating children to have open discussions on this , their own perspectives and ideas have a platform to be heard and provoke thoughts around changing these stereotypes.
When I reflect on when I have seen gender stereotyping in school it’s a common trend regardless of whether I’ve taught infants or the senior classes. When it comes to allocating class jobs , for example brushing the floor or taking out the bin there is a very obvious sense that brushing the floor is more a “female” job and taking out or emptying the bins is a “male” job. Development education
methodologies I think would help immensely in breaking down gender stereotyping from a very young age. There are a number of ways this could be done in a school environment including exposing children to a wide range of books and reading material that celebrate different cultures and promote positive portrayal of gender roles. Play is another important factor where development education methodologies can be taught. Encouraging all children , regardless of gender to play with dolls, unicorns, football , physical activities for example will eliminate stereotypical behaviour from a young age.Development Education is critical when trying to make sense of the multitude of issues that exist in
our everchanging world. Development education increases understanding and brings awareness to
the world we currently live in and its ever-changing nature. It’s vital that children are made aware
that we are all global citizens and by doing so from a young age, we as educators are creating and
developing that understanding. From further research on this topic I wanted to understand how I
could further enhance the understanding of development education in my classroom. I found a
great example of a game called a walking debate which would be suitable for 5th class. During this
game children are given statements asking them if something is good development education? They
then have to walk around the classroom , debating and deciding if they agree, disagree or don’t
know. I think this is something that I would look forward to doing with my class as it would be very
interesting to hear their own perspectives also .I am choosing Rockets as the activity set.
I will introduce the topic by reading the book ‘We Have Lift Off’ by Sean Taylor.
I would like to do the experiment ‘Rocket Launch’ with the children. I will break the children up into groups.
The children will need large balloons, string, drinking straw, clothes peg, Sellotape, two chairs.
1. Blow up a long-shaped balloon and let it go.
2. Notice what happens.
3. Pull string through a drinking straw.
4. Tie the string to two chairs and pull it tight.
5. Blow up a long shaped balloon and keep the air it in it using a clothes peg.
6. Using Sellotape attach the balloon to the side of the straw.
7. Pull the whole thing back to the beginning of the string and take off the clothes peg and… launch your rocket!
We will compare how far our rockets went- whose went the furthest? Etc.
I will end the lesson by doing the poem ‘The Rocket’ by Andrew Frinkle.Incorporating hands-on classroom themed activities is a fantastic way to engage students and promote learning.
I would choose Weather as the theme for a hands-on classroom themed activity.
• Observe and discuss a variety of weather conditions
• Read some poems/ rhymes about the weather e.g. Wind Tricks or the Playful Wind.
• Record weather using a weather chart or a diary
• Make a weather vain/ sundial/ rain gauge etc.
• Become aware of the effects of weather on human, animals and plant life.
• Aistear: dress up for various types of weather conditions. Role play- weather forecast.
• Art: design various weather pictures using a variety of materials- make a collage using magazines etc.
• Music: ‘Four Seasons’ by Vivaldi. Discuss and listen to the various parts of this piece of music. Respond to the music through pictures and movement.
• PE- different movements.
• Drama – express a winter storm in drama or movement.I love these ideas and would be great to include some of these during Aistear. Weather is such a broad topic and could be integrated into lots of subjects!
The activity Set I am going to pick for this module is ‘Stars’.
I would introduce the topic to the children by showing pictures of stars and constellations. We will look at the different shapes and see can the children identify them e.g. Leo, looks like a crouching lion, Ursa Major, forms the shape of a bear. I will encourage the children to go out at night and see can they identify them.
Experiment: Learn why stars appear to twinkle.
Fill a bowl two-thirds full with water. Crinkle up some aluminium foil and wrap it around the bowl. Darken the room and switch on a torch. Point the torch into the bowl. Tap the bowl to ripple the water and see twinkling light. The light is bent as it passes through the rippling water, in the same way the starlight is bent as it passes through the air around the Earth.Hi Eleanor, I love the way you integrated the theme across a number of subjects. Teaching thematically is very beneficial for the children.
I love the idea of using the poem as part of the morning daily routine, as this is a effective way of teaching them facts and language.
The activity Set I am picking is the Sun and Shadows.
I would tell the children that we are going to use the sun and shadows to tell time. Discuss that this is what they used long ago to tell the time before phones/ clocks etc. People long ago used a sundial.
Have any children ever seen a sundial? Do they know how it works? Explain that a sundial has a stick or pointer that makes a shadow. This is called the gnomon. It is important that in the Northern hemisphere the gnomon always points North, or you will not be able to read the sundial. Explain that the Earth turns on its axis. This means that the position of the Sun with regard to the Earth is always changing. Demonstrate this using a torch and an orange. Explain that the shadow of an object also changes as the Earth rotates. The sundial uses this fact. By looking at the position of the shadow of the gnomon on the sundial, you can tell what time it is.
Make a simple sundial with the children- poke a straw through a paper plate and take it outdoors when it’s sunny. Every hour, mark the time of day where the shadow from the straw strikes the plate. Use your sundial to tell the time on the next sunny day.My favourite space fact is that space is completely silent. There is no air or atmosphere in space. Since it is a vacuum, sound waves have no medium to travel to.
I really like the idea of the exploration stations. It would allow for children to really zone in on a certain topic and cover various activity.
Hi,
My name is Rachel and I am excited to learn more about how the theme ‘Space’ can be used in the classroom.
Inquiry based activity- Floating Ice Activity.
• Talk to your students about the chemical bonds that hold water molecules together. Explain how those bonds stretch out when water freezes so that ice becomes less dense than liquid water.
• Pour water into a plastic bottle and then place it in the freezer. Compare the volume of the liquid and solid water after freezing.
• Fill a jug of ice water. Draw a line where the water level is before the ice melts. Allow the ice to melt into the water and make a second line where the water level is now. Compare the two.
• This activity could also lead onto “Floating & Sinking”- the children have large bowls of water. In each group they will have a number of materials. They will have a sheet predicting what will float and then they will record their results. This will encourage group work and co-operation as well as inquiry based learning and investigation.
