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One strength in my current practice:
Instead of me spoon-feeding my pupils, I prefer to introduce a topic briefly, then task the boys with researching the information for themselves – depending on the topic, they can note-take, use a word document or create a brief presentation. This is done in groups/pairs or individually, depending on the outcome I am looking for. I have also tried jigsaw teaching where each group delves deeper into their topic, then teach each other in small groups with an ‘expert’ from each topic. Feedback is usually via 2 stars and a wish, by pupils and/or myself.
Sometimes we brainstorm questions first, then cluster the similar questions for research.
Emphasis is always on the source of the information. Each year, I used to ask my pupils to research the Tree Octopus – this was a great lesson on fake websites, however, this year my lesson was scuppered at the very start – ai informed the pupils that this was a fake website. We still had the discussion, but I felt that some of the impact had been lost…
One area I would like to develop:
I would like to broaden my use of digital technologies throughout the subjects, without losing the traditional forms of learning as well. I find it easy to bring tech into science, history, geography, English and Irish, but PE, music, and the arts is more of a challenge, and I find that I am less likely to use technology in these areas, if at all.
Two or three specific, measurable actions:
At the start of the year, brainstorm with the pupils as to how they envisage tech being used in the above subjects or beyond what they are already used to.
At least once a month, present a lesson where the children use Digital Technology to support and stretch their learning in P.E., Music, Drama, or Art.
Collect feedback on these lessons from the pupils – to inform and guide future lessons.
There are SO many songs, poems and art to connect us with the night sky, that the class library could be turned over to just that topic
and the walls lined with pictures for a month.
It would also be a great research question for the pupils. We pair the senior pupils with the junior pupils for reading – this would be a lovely way to introduce the Night Sky and Biodiversity to the younger classes. The older boys could select materials to bring to the younger classes and start the discussion with their reading buddy. It would also give the older boys a certain amount of responsibility too.BOOKS:
Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear?
How High is the Sky
The Light in the Night
Little Red Hen (falling sky)
Why is the Sky Blue
Good Night Moon
Full Moon and the Napping House
Peace at Last
Owl Moon
When the Moon Forgot
The Star that Fell
Indian/Celtic/Dreamtime stories of how the stars, moon and skies were madePOEMS
Twinkle, Twinkle
Star Light, Star Bright
Ah Moon …and Star! E.Dickinson
Catch A Falling Star
Night Dreams
The Wishing Star
Fireflies in the Garden
Christmas Star
When You Wish Upon a Star
Like Catching A Falling StarART
Starry Night and Starry Night over the Rhone – Van Gogh
Starry Night – Munch
Moonlight – Homer
Nocturn in Black & Gold – Whistler
Fishermen at Sea – Turner
Moonlit Shipwreck a Sea – Moran
Starlight Night – G.O’KeeffeHow you would engage your learners to explore biodiversity in your local area and
the possible impacts of light pollution on local biodiversity.We have a garden attached to the school that we can access, therefore, that would be a good place to begin exploring biodiversity.
I think that I might bring the pupils out with me to observe the environment around and to note the different life forms in the garden. Then when we come back into the class, we could share our information, pool it together, and then explore the meaning of biodiversity.
The conversation would be opened as to whether our concept of biodiversity has changed or not and whether we need to revisit the garden with a sharper focus and a broader understanding.
We have a large no-mow area, but I question its usefulness – there hasn’t been anything done to encourage or invite mini-beasts. I would challenge the boys to re-invent the no-mow area and/or to re-design the broken down bug hotel that lurks in the garden. What bugs did they see? What bugs are missing? Can they figure out a reason why? What do we need to do to invite into our garden?
For light pollution, the pupils could investigate the lighting around the school. They could consider a night camera (explore which one is most suitable, cost it out etc.) and investigate why a night camera might be beneficial to us.
We have a few raised planters and a sensory garden which are falling into disrepair, perhaps the class might like to take one of these on a their project – again making it a worthy place for biodiversity.
Once the investigations have taken place, we could then present our findings to the principal and request permission to start on our chosen project.
This project would be regularly monitored to assess the impact it was having and to guide our further efforts.David Attenborough: What is Biodiversity
David Attenborough: Why is Biodiversity important
Hi Sarah,
That’s a great plan. I like the choice that is included, it allows for students of different abilities and talents to get stuck in.
It would be lovely to encourage the pupils to bring their findings/ideas to other classes or to the student council and maybe even present it to the principal or request that their ideas/suggestions for a particular project be brought to the Board.
Hi Tara,
I’ve just been looking at the David Attenborough video on What is Biodiversity and then Why it is important. They’re a great find. I’ve bookmarked them for use with my 6th class next year. Thank you.
I agree with you – starting from the beginning, and just finding out what biodiversity exists already in you school is a very worthwhile and eye-opening exercise. It is a great start to the discussion and as the pupils become more familiar with what is around them during the day, it won’t be such a huge step to bring their thoughts to the nocturnal world.
The globe at night is a great website and resource. There are maps of the constellations, information on light pollution etc., and my favourite – Dark Skies Rangers Programme https://globeatnight.org/dark-skies-rangers/ a light pollution awareness programme with lots of resources and a completion cert as well.
The class can partake in the Globe at Night programme on a monthly basis, 10 days after the full moon, when the moon is not up and more than 1 hour after sunset (so in Ireland, that won’t be too late for the pupils in the winter months especially). The information being looked for is:
1. When
2. Where
3. Current constellation of the month & then the pupils select the chart that matches the visible constellation
4. sky conditions at time of observation – clear/cloudy etc.
5. sky quality (optional)
6. submit (and your data will be visible on a data map along with worldwide data )This could be run alongside the moon charting in the morning as both are nicely linked.
It could either be run as a class observation activity – which would be interesting to see how their observations develop and refine throughout the activity, or a group each month could be responsible for entering the data. If it was too big an ask to observe every month, I think that an autumn, winter, spring and summer viewing would open up conversation nicely and lots of comparisons could be made.Hi Louise,
That’s a great story about driving at night & the Americans. I reckon that could be said of an awful lot of rural places.
I had relations from mid-UK over a couple of years ago, we were driving home to Dublin late at night on the motorway & main roads and they were shocked at how much lighting there was. Like yourself, they reckoned that we should be using our car lights and not overhead lights at night. It wasn’t something that I had thought about until they pointed it out.
Plan to observe the Moon:
I love the moon – it’s such a peaceful object in the night sky, but I never thought about observing and mapping it during the day/morning.
We’ll be seeing a Super Moon on 18th September this year, that could be a very good jumpstart to the conversation about the moon and a launchpad for observation. From approx. 24th September, we could begin observing and noting the moon’s phases in the morning. This could be done as a first-thing activity in the morning when the pupils are lining up to come into the school and then different pupils keeping record when we enter the classroom. Discussion, observation and inference would increase as the Moon Chart gained more information.
Naming the Super Moon would lead me into questioning the pupils as to the why of the name, and then to looking at the orbit of the moon and seeing if there were other related names/positions.
As observation of the moon continued, we could identify the phases of the moon and again, investigate why the moon ‘changes’ – using torches, spheres and physical demonstrations.
But there is more to the moon – it has such a mystical presence throughout the years, that each new moon has a different name – these names can change depending on the country, religion or era (Harvest Moon, Wolf Moon….). This would be a nice side-investigation and would bring history and culture to the fore as well.
Hi Niamh,
I love the idea of looking at the stars from different cities. It could be used as a group, pair or even an individual exercise, depending on your class. I also like that there is peer teaching happening as they tell the class what is going on in the sky in their part of the world.
In the paper ‘Unravelling STEM’, there were a couple sentences that really spoke to me:
‘Engineering is the glue that integrates science, mathematics and technology and forces them towards workable solutions.’ For me, this is very encouraging, as in the senior classes, construction, design, hands-on, concrete learning can often be left aside in favour of book/rote learning. Challenging the pupils to solve real-world problems gives them a sense of purpose and also allows for many different answers/solutions‘Technology is anything that is made by human and used to solve a problem.’ A paperclip, a door stop, a biro the wheel – these everyday items become elevated. They had to be thought about, constructed, trialed, etc., but now that we use them everyday, we don’t even give them a thought. This Technology statement, frees the pupils to think small in order to be able to think big. It encourages them to observe, to see needs, to come up with solutions and to keep thinking.
For my assignment, I intend to construct a sundial with my class in the coming year.
I like this activity as it incorporates history, practicality, maths, construction and teamwork.
We have a very small garden that could possibly be used – so after looking at time keeping through the ages and discussing the possibility of an apocalyptic world with no electricity (it’s all over the tv nowadays – earth disasters/zombies etc.) The pupils could group up and look at how and where we could design a sundial in our school.
They would need to ascertain the direction that the garden faces and allow for the trees and walls etc. that will block their shadows (this they will find out through trial and error – I won’t be telling them) or maybe they will decide upon the paper design from the video.
Back in class they will present their ideas to the class who could suggest further ideas or note an issue.
For the next lesson – the pupils will need to work on the nuts and bolts of construction – what do they need? paper? glue? stones? chalk? and what time frame do they need to construct it (allowing for trial and error)
Then they can view each of the other sun dials and as a follow up to their own construction – they could note 2 things that went well for them and 1 thing that they would change the next time.Hi Valerie,
Yes, I immediately liked the idea of making the planet tubes when I read the assignments. The integration is quite wide, you’ve got measurements as well as science etc. I wonder if the groups could decide how to decorate their tubes… paint, drawing, paper pulp, fabric & fibre or…?
I really like your ideas of adding 2 pieces of information on each tube and then presenting them at an assembly. I’ll probably steal those! Thank you.
Thank you – you found it. 🙂
It was my second attempt and I was crying at the thought of typing it up a third time!
Wow, what a great selection of great activities and resources! And all of them are very do-able with infants, even in our large Irish classes.
I’m looking at the Sun Activities, in particular the ‘What Makes Shadows’ section.
We could start outside, if it’s a sunny day and play Shadow Games.
Don’t Step on My Shadow – the boys run around trying not to get stepped on.
Then there’s Shadow Tag: this is where a child is caught if another child steps/stomps on his shadow. He then has to freeze and hold his hands up in the air. To be freed, a friend must either release him by pushing his arms down or if the boys are able – they can try to use their shadow-selves to do it.
After all of that activity, the boys could either go indoors or stay outdoors and discuss what was happening. What did they notice? (if anything) Why do we have shadows? Are they always there? Are they always the same size? How do we make them go away? Do they need food/sleep? Do plants or animals or buildings or other things have them? What makes the shadow? Why?
If outdoors: draw around your shadow. Can you change it? Can you go somewhere your shadow can’t? Go out at a different time, is your shadow still the same? Why/Why not?
When Indoors: Ask the boys how they can make shadows when they are indoors. Again explore changing size and shape once they have figured out how to do it.
Play ‘The Day I Met my Shadow’ for the class. Discuss the book in light of their investigations.
Give out compare bears and/farm animals/trees etc. and ask each group to make a small scene. Then give them a torch and ask them to create different shadows – long, short, in front, behind, tiny….
To finish the class off, depending on how the session went and the boys’ level of understanding/energy, I would show either ‘The Day I Met my Shadow?’ or one of the two stories.
Extension:
Shadow heads: Draw around each boy’s shadow head. Can the boys guess whose head is whose?
Videos/Books:
MoonBear’s Shadow: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=eP__dfb6Yh0
The Day I Met My Shadow: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=8L52xSUtJNg
What Makes a Shadow?: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=mdW7xyH7mXs
Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=u1aJimzuzbg&t=117s
Frances,
I submitted my piece about Shadows about 10/15 minutes ago, but I think it has disappeared into the ether…
<span style=”caret-color: #163c42; color: #163c42; font-family: ‘Hind Madurai’, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”>Hi Katie,</span>
<span style=”color: #163c42; font-family: Hind Madurai, sans-serif;”><span style=”caret-color: #163c42; font-size: 12px;”>I like the way you have incorporated such a variety into your Moon theme. I particularly like the cultural aspect to it. My boys love to listen to a story before hometime, so a Moon themed set would be perfect for the week I was teaching that topic. </span></span>
<span style=”color: #163c42; font-family: Hind Madurai, sans-serif;”><span style=”caret-color: #163c42; font-size: 12px;”>Aistear would indeed lend itself very nicely to this theme too – role play, lists of what the astronauts might take with them – design a space-suit/space rocket. Making a tactile moon using sand/playdough/fabric/found objects would really fire up some of the boys’ imaginations. </span></span>
