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The activity set I would choose from is stars.
As I have stated in previous posts I like t use a story or song as a starting point for my lessons. My students at times find it hard to engage with lessons. I find stories and songs capture their attention. I would use the story ‘How to Catch a Star’ by Oliver Jeffers. As I teach an autism class, I sometimes use the physical storybook and a youtube version of the story as some students like to feel and touch the book and others like to watch it on the screen. Once we have watched the story and identify the topic as being stars, I would use a tuft tray to examine and play with types of stars. I would use popsicles for some children to create stars, others may like to use their fingers in sand to draw stars with support. One of my students loves space so I would differentiate his lesson further to involve constellations. He is very good at making planets out of playdough and paper so I like the idea of him creating his own constellation. I think he would really like this idea.
I would again use stars as a topic throughout many lessons such as music with Twinkle Twinkle as a previous participant has mentioned. Maths for shape and counting stars, grouping stars of different colours together. Art I would use the idea mentioned in Lots of Stars article of using a splatter painting screen and a tooth brush to create a Starry sky. We could display our finished pictures and compare them to a photograph of a starry night.
Hi Eleanor, I loved these ideas and the stong integration across so many subject areas. How to catch a star is one of my favourite books to use in the infant classroom
I think the topic the sun and shadows is always something that interests children. I would start my lesson using the song ‘Mr Sun’. I would ask the children what they know about the sun. I would lead the children towards where is the sun located, what is it made of, colour, texture, and ellict that it is very hot. I like to document childrens answers so I would put these on a large cut out of the sun.
I would ask the children what the sun can do. I would lead the topic to how the sun makes shadows. As a class we would go to the yard, where I would put the children in pairs and ask them to make shadows. I would ask them to make funny shadows to encourage engagement. Then I would ask the children to use chalk to outline their friends shadow. I would do the sam with my shadow. Later in the day we will come back and draw our shadows again standing in the same location. I would ellicit off the children are the shadows different and how. I would then bring a focus to my shadow and how its changed. I would stand in the same position and encourage the children to look and see how the sun has changed. We would discuss my two shadows, the differences and why we think they occured.
As part of an art lesson I would again use shadows to create shadow silhouttes of the students. I would place a large A3 sheet on the board and encourage each child to sit facing sidewards with a light shining on the board. I would show the children how I can make different types of silhouttes using the torch. I would then draw a silhoutte for each pupil which they can then colour in or add positive phrases about themselves. We would display these in our classroom.
I liked the lesson shown in this module regarding Moon Bear Shadow. I would use this lesson as my follow up lesson. I would have the children create the shadows and experiment with them on their own and in small groups. I would ask questions throughout and I think the use of challenge cards is a great idea. I would then conclude by bringing together all the information we have learned on a chart for the children to see.
Hi Coral, I like how you suggested using Dojo and creating a home and school link. I think if you are teaching about the moon its important the children are looking at and talking about the moon they see as well as pictures and videos so I think this is a great way to incorporate it and discuss as a class what they saw using their real lie experience.
Hi my name is Sheelagh. I have taught infant classes in my school for over 10 years. For the past two years and again next year I am teaching the Autism class in my school. The children are of first class age and we engage with activities at a range of different levels. One of my students loves space so I’m looking forward to learning more. All the children love science lessons which is great!
My fact about space is that space is completely silent because it is a vaccum and no sound waves travel through. Great to suggest let’s pretend we’re in space if you want a quiet classroom to engage with an activity!
Inquiry based lessons in my classroom are slightly different to mainstream but one that was very successful was ‘Bouncy bubbles’. From building relationships with the children I knew bubbles were a favourite activity of a lot of the children. They love catching, blowing and popping bubbles. I mixed warm water with sugar and fairy washing up liquid (you can also use dish soap), I placed a sock on my hand and showed the children how when I blew from this mixture I could make the bubbles bounce. The children loved it and their were a lot of excitement. Some children tried on the gloves and more watched closely as I bounced the bubbles. Language is limited for some children in my class but we used simple words to explain what was happening through speech or AAC devices. One student who is very verbal compared the bouncy bubbles and the bursting bubbles. We examined why the bouncy were bubbles. I then showed the children how to make the mixture and we again experimented. Some children then tried to make the mixture with some adult support. We spoke about why the bubbles were different and experimented blowing both types of bubbles. We discussed the shapes of the bubbles. We tried putting more and less sugar and fairy liquid in to see if it had a difference. We revisited the lesson a number of times and by the end some children were leading with how much of each ingredient we needed. I was deligthed when at the end of our year I asked the students will we do normally bubbles or bouncy bubbles and they could distinguish between the two as well as letting me know they wanted Bouncy bubbles.
