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Picture books I use in the Junior Class are:
1. Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle – A lovely story about a little girl who wishes she could play with the moon.2. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown – A classic bedtime story that introduces the night sky in a calm, comforting way.
3. How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers – A charming story about imagination, curiosity, and reaching for the stars.
4. The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield – A story about overcoming fear of the dark and discovering a love of space. – He is an astronaut and has previously captured pictures of Ireland from space. I think his daughter may have been studying in Ireland at the time!
Nursery Rhymes
Twinkle, twinkle,
Hey diddle, diddle
Thanks so much for the recommendations here Lorraine. I think Coldplay’s song ‘A sky full of stars’ will really connect with the pupils, particularly an older class. I will certainly look johnwalshatro.
Biodiversity in the local area: Teaching in Dublin provides lots of opportunities to help pchildren explore biodiversity through their local environment. The River Poddle is in walking distance of our school and is an excellent example, as it supports a variety of plants, insects, birds, and small mammals, even though it is located in an urban area. By focusing on this local river the children can realise that biodiversity exists on their doorstep.
I would begin the lesson by introducing the River Poddle and discussing the different living things that depend on it. I would organise a local walk to an accessible section of the river where we could observe birds, insects, trees, wildflowers on the riverbank. Learners could use simple tally charts, or nature journals to record what they find.
To explore light pollution, I would ask learners to think about the artificial lighting they see near the river, such as streetlights, buildings, and traffic. We would discuss how excessive lighting at night can affect local biodiversity by disrupting the behaviour of nocturnal animals, including bats that feed on insects along the river Poddle.
Back in the classroom, learners could compare photographs of the River Poddle during the day and at night and discuss how the environment changes. We could make use of laptop time to create projects to show to other classes and the wider community.
I agree Lorraine, Emer’s ideas of a school audit sounds very practical and worthwhile exercise. It really empowers the children to become more aware of their own environment and promotes active participation in their own learning.
I am originally from a rural part of Ireland, but have lived in Dublin for the past twenty years. It always strikes me how darker the skies are in rural Ireland in comparision to living in Dublin. It is like chalk and cheese. So different. Some of the children I teach may never have experienced dark sky with stars yet it is one of the first things I notice when I spend time at home in the west of Ireland where I am originally from. The dark sky is beautiful with stars and constellations. It is such a pity children living in cities don’t experience it more.
To engage my learners, I would begin by asking them what they notice about the sky at night and whether they have ever seen the Milky Way or a large number of stars. We could compare photographs of the night sky taken in areas with high and low light pollution and discuss the differences. As a class, we could carry out a simple investigation by observing and recording the brightness of the night sky from home over several evenings, with the support of parents or guardians. Maybe children could visit places where there is less light pollution and discuss with the class.
Back in the classroom, we could share observations, create posters about reducing light pollution, and discuss practical actions families and communities could take, such as switching off unnecessary outdoor lights.
I have Junior Infants next year and I have chosen to look at the Night Sky with Stellarium. I will start by looking at the picture book Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. This is a story about a little girl who wants to play with the moon. I think this would be a great starting point for sparking the children’s curosity about the night sky and would allow me to ask questions about the children’s curent knowledge of the night sky.
I would open Stellarium and display the night sky above Dublin. Slowly move around the sky, pointing out the Moon and a few bright stars. I would explain that the computer is showing what the real sky looks like. I would encourage the children to describe what they notice.
Is the Moon big or small?
Can you count some of the bright stars?
What shapes can you imagine the stars make?
We would finish with an art activity. Children create their own night sky picture using black paper and white or yellow crayons (or star stickers), adding the Moon and stars they remember seeing. I would then send a link for the parents to look up Stellarium at home and further discuss this at our next lesson. We could share what we have learnt with older classes.I really enjoyed reading your plan. I like how you combine outdoor observation with classroom discussion and digital learning, as it gives the children several ways to explore the same concept. Using the Twinkl visual aid before going outside is a great way to prepare pupils for what they are looking for, and comparing their own sketches with the Scoilnet learning path encourages careful observation and reflection. I love the learning paths. They are a great resources and are really easy to use.
The introduction of a book at the start of the lesson is a great starting point to capture interest and engagement from the pupils.
Sundial Activity
For this activity, I would engage my class by constructing a simple sundial in our school yard. Before building it, the children would discuss how people told the time before clocks and make predictions about where the shadow would fall during the day. Working in small groups, they would help position the sundial, measure the shadow at regular intervals throughout the school day and record their observations in tables and drawings. We would compare the results over several days and discuss why the shadow changes in length and direction as the Earth rotates. We also are very luck to have a school garden. We could position the sun dial there also and compare results. I think this would work very well with both older and younger classes.
Hi Alyson
I really like your idea of keeping a weather diary. There are great opportunities for integration with SESE and it would be very interesting to track weather changes in general. Often there could be four seasons in one day lately!
Climate change is huge global issue that is now visible in our local area here in Dublin. In recent years, we’ve experienced more unusual weather patterns—intense rainfall leading to flooding in local areas like Harold’s Cross and Rathfarnham, and longer, drier periods in summer that affect local parks and gardens. I am from Roscommon and my family were badly affected by recent winter storms and had no water and electricity for days. This had huge impact on local services in the area.
To help pupils explore this issue, I would start with a local climate inquiry project. This could include investigating changes in local weather data. We could invite environmental speakers or parents who were experienced in this field to come and take to the pupils in the school. I know there is a local group in our area Dodder Action that is concerned with cleaning and protecting our local river. It is very positive example of a community responses to ecological changes with our own local area of Terenure.
Three actions we could take to make a difference:
1. Continue to develop our biodiversity garden in the school to support pollinators and local wildlife.
2. Organise a “low-carbon week” with no single-use plastics, walk/cycle-to-school days, and meat-free lunches.
3. Create a student climate council to lead awareness campaigns and green initiatives year-round. We already have a green team and student council but a climate council might have further impact within our school.
In our local area in Terenure, they have set up the Terenure Community Support and Integration group in 2022. They provide English lessons, host playgrounds, crafts, evening walks, outing and inclusive events for all migrants and local people who are interested. Their Wednesday English classes, and community meet up offer language learning but also create social connections and build community links. I know of the CSI, the City of Sanctuary Dublin helps schools and local groups to create a culture of welcome and inclusive projects that promote integration.
In the past few years, we have had an increase in children living in direct provision attending our school. Often, they have to take buses to school and can be moved to another centre but then have to travel to our school. We take great care to ensure they feel welcome and safe in our school. We meet with the parents and use translation apps to explain school routines and provide uniforms and other essentials that we think they may need or benefit from. We provide after school activities to these children and endeavour to make our school as supportive and as welcome as possible.