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I think when it comes to planning different weeks in school, school calendars can become full very quickly. This is leading schools to choosing certain weeks to mark. The activities suggested for space week in the resources folder make preparing and planning the week very achievable. See a copy of some suggested activities below. These activities include inquiry approach aswell as using digital learning. The space week can also been linked to STEM and maths week in the month of October.
Activity Suggestions:
Art activity based on “Warm as the Sun, Cold as the Moon” or their own Starry, Starry Night picture based on Van Gogh’s art. Use the children’s handprints to make aliens, sticking on googly eyes to each finger!! Write a postcard from Space. Rocket making competition. Table quiz based on Space/Moon/Planets. How does light in the playground change over the day? Present their finding on charts and graphs. Astronaut Dressing up race with helmets and wellies. Drama and Dance based on sunlight travelling to Earth. Space Cinema: Watch a movie with the theme of space (Wall-E, Space Chimps, Fly me to the Moon, Space Buddies). Short films from the Literacy Shed: https://www.literacyshed.com/the-sci—fi-shed.html. Creating our own constellation creatures and writing their stories.
Hi Fiona,
The dress up race is a fabulous idea. Active learning Cath core and very engaging and motivating for the children.
Activity Set: Where do you live and weather?
1. Where do you live?
2. Weather Animals in the cold
3. What clothes to wear?
4. Investigating Children’s Coats
5. Hot and ColdI would begin to teach this unit of work by integrating the key vocabulary with our talk time programme/ word of the day. This vocabulary would include community, village, apartment, bungalow, dethatched, semi- dethatched, garden.
We will then read the three little pigs and talk about the different types of homes and materials that are best used for building homes.
We will then partake in the lesson and make models of our homes.
Before moving on to animals in the cold. We will investigate hot and cold and use the ice cube experiment to do this. Children will sort and classify items of hot and cold.
We will then read the story of the Emperor penguin, discuss where a penguin lives and hypothesis on how they keep warm. We will create a mind map based on our discussion.
I will then present the class with the Vaseline and ask them how do they think animals might use grease to help them keep warm.The penguin’s feathers and the polar bear’s fur are also covered in a layer of grease to repel water. Rub Vaseline on one of each child’s hands. Now the children also have a greasy layer on their skin. Drip some water on this hand.
What happens to the water?
To finish off this we will discuss what tools we have to keep us warm. We will then move on in the next lesson to investigating materials and change and make a raincoat for teddy as I outline in module 1.As part of our school self evaluation we have a theme of work to complete in SESE per term. We could include some of these lesson options and survey pupils and teachers to evaluate how effective our teaching practice is.
Great Idea to use the Vincent Van Gough painting. Also lovely way of integrating and facilitating learning through Aistear.
I love the idea of the hands on activities for studying stars.
I would use the books how to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers as a stimulus. This book will introduce the children to stars. We then will sing twinkle twinkle little star.
We would then move on to the lesson lots and lots of stars. Again I would use the KWL chart to introduce the knowledge we might already have. We would work together as a whole class on this or small groups. I would use the key questions at this point.
Have you ever seen the stars? What did they look like? Were there a lot of them? Do stars give light? When do you usually see the stars? Is the Sun a star too?’I love the ides of using marbles toad clear transparent jars to discuss stars. I may even use sweets like jellies to draw the children in.I thinks it would be lovely to create the paintings and stick them althoghetr as one big display to really show the children that there are lots and lots of stars.
Hi Sue,
I love the idea of using the picture book of Can’t you sleep, little bear as a stimulus to begin the lesson. Picture books are an excellent way of engaging children and opening the lesson for discussion. It also integrates very well with the primary language curriculum and critical literacy.
Planets Journey through the solar system.
Activity SET The Planet
I think this lesson is excellent for reinforcing content learnt in the classroom. I would use this lesson in a junior classroom. The learning objectives are very clear
1.Know/recognise the names of the eight planets
2. Know that the planets revolve around the Sun and that the Sun gives light
3. Differentiate between in front, behind, above, below, left and right
4. Be given opportunities to listen, understand and respond
Begin by showing the children a model of the planets.I will ask children to draw what they see and then in partners speak to each other about what they are drawing.
We can then create class KWL chart to direct what we want to learn.
We will then focous on the planet song. The planet song is an great teaching resource. As again you can appeal to all learning types.
Following this we will move to they school hall. Through the active learning of the lesson. It is very easy for the teacher to assess pupils achievements. This lesson will keep pupils active and engaged and learning through play.
To conclude the lesson the we will watch story bots and return to the KWL chart.
Hi I am Sinead.
My favourite fact about space is Mars is the first nearby world that people from Earth will eventually visit. I am interested in the fact that mars is said to have four season similar to earth .
For Junior infants I like to learn about materials and what materials would be best to make a raincoat/ umbrella and why for our teddy bear.
The children are given a pack with different materials such as tin foil, paper towels, blue roll, plastic, felt. They are given water and are asked to investigate what material will be best to make the umbrella/ coat. How did they decided on this and why.
Or can they think of a better material that would make a perfect raincoat for teddy.
Hi Rebecca,
I love this lesson. I actually completed it for my diploma when I was being inspected about 15 years ago. Although we made volcanoes out a clay first and did not have the reaction in the jar. I love the idea of the jar.
A nice way to introduce the lesson could be a KWL chart and this will maybe keep the children focused and on task.
As a parent myself now, I can see the effect that these inquiry based lessons have on children . My child loves to come home and reenact this type of learning at home. Shame he isn’t as enthusiastic in other areas of the curriculum but it does just prove how important hands on inquiry learning is.
