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Hi Aisling,
This is a great post and I really enjoyed reading you thoughts and ideas. I agree with you that our school too regularly uses songs, stories and art as a stimulus to learning. You’ve given some excellent suggestions in your post so thank you. I hope you enjoyed the course.
The nights sky, stars and space has always been a popular learning theme for the students in my class. Typically I have taught it in the month of June as it is a nice end of year theme that the children enjoy and leave my class with great learning memories. This module has inspired me to think about the time of year in which I cover this learning theme. Would it be better to have it at the beginning or middle of the year, or would it be best to keep an eye on astrology calendars and cover content as it is relevant throughout the year based on what is happening in the real world. Nonetheless, in my class I would use Michael D Higgins’ concept as a starting point – looking up into space, remember we are all connected to the universe and look to the stars in wonder. I would cover simple, familiar songs with the children like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Smeds and The Smoos, Mr Moon, and Zoom Zoom Zoom we are going to the moon. We would also look to inspiring art work like ‘A Starry Night’ BY van Gough – encouraging the children to then create their own variations.
H Karen, Many thanks for you informative and insightful post to this forum. I loved reading all your wonderful ideas and certainly gave me some food for thought. I love the experience of observing the dependency baby birds (chicks) have on their parents to bring them food, take care of them and protect them from harm. As a junior infant teacher I can see how this would certainly link back with the children on the topic of who looks after them, how they look after them and who they can trust. Furthermore, your idea of placing a camera on a nest is such a wonderful idea and would bring great excitement to the class for sure as the children have access to daily updates and would certainly build anticipation to the big day of hatching, and the days that follow as the chicks grow up and get older. Thank you for your great post and as I said, it has given me great food for thought.
This September I will be teaching a wonderful class of 25 Junior Infant students. We are fortunate enough to have our school located only a 10 minute walk from the plains of The Curragh of Kildare which is rich in its biodiversity. This will give the students in my class a wonderful, hands on and real life experience with local biodiversity. I would begin by bringing the class on a little nature walk identifying plants, inspects and animals. Using simple picture checklists the children could carry out their own field research and develop their understanding of how the Curragh is such an important environment for so much life. With the children we would talk about the importance of sleep and how animals need their sleep too. We would talk about how bright lights might interfere their sleep and also explore the impact of light on nocturnal animals. Bright lights at night can make it more difficult for these creatures to find food, navigate and communicate. To conclude the lesson we would make posters in the class of the importance of turning off lights at night, especially ones that are not needed and share it with the school community.
This is a wonderful idea Dympna, thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us and I hope you are enjoying the course so far. One thing I really like about your post is how you very cleverly link objectives from different curricular areas to make learning more grounded and connected. You have given me some very interesting and creative ideas. Thank you.
For the purposes of this post, I have decided to talk about light pollution in my local area and how I would engage y young class of Junior Infants on the topic. Light pollution is certainly one of the more common pollutions that we do not take notice of – even though our locality is not a brightly lit city, we as a town still have street lights, shops and buildings etc that prevent us from seeing the stars clearly at night. The objective of exploring this issue with my Junior Infant class is to highlight the importance of darkness for us, animals and astrologists. To engage the class and begin by conversing about anyone in the class who has ever star gazed. I would then use images to encourage conversation. As a home activity I would encourage families to take a walk together at night to look at the stars. In the class the next day we would talk about and share our observations. I would integrate art in by asking the children to recreate what they saw on their walk. I would ensure their work is displayed proudly in their immediate environment.
Reflecting back on my own teaching experience, space is often an exciting theme or topic to explore with students. I think perhaps one of the most interesting stories we have that is based on fact is the visit to the moon which the students always enjoy. Following on from this module, I would plan a lesson to observe with my Junior Infant class the moon, as this is something students are typically curious and intrigued about. Based on notes from this course and links provided by the slides, the best phase to observe the moon in the morning is the last or third quarter moon as it is clear to see in the morning sky before and during the school day. I would initiate dialogue with the children before going outside to jog their memories and establish what they already know about the moon – what it looks like etc. and encourage them to think about what they should expect to see outside (full moo, half moon, eclipse). We would then observe the moon from the safety of the yard, encouraging them to describe it to a friend – its colour, shape, position. As a form of inclusion and differentiation the children could draw what they see, or record their audio description of it to play back in class. When we return to the class, I would further reinforce learning by using the Esero Moon phase activity and simple photos to explain how the moon does not actually change shape, but rather humans or people are seeing different amounts of it based on how the sun light hits it.
Hi Siobhan, Many thanks for your insight and ideas on this topic. I really lie how you have taken a picture book – an everyday activity for an infant class – and adapted it for the purposes of this lesson. Not only are you promoting discussion but also engagement in a really meaningful way and accessible way for your students. It is clear that you value the home-school partnership as you mention your intentions to send home a link to parents to consolidate learning and to show the children’s that what they learn at school is not only purposeful in the context of the classroom, but also in everyday discussions. Thank you again for sharing your ideas and I hope you enjoy the rest of the course.
Michael this is a great answer and many thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas with us. What stood out to me in your post was how you draw attention to the history of the clock and how there was a time humans told time without numbers and devices using only shadows, the sun and angles. You cleverly mention how the children can work together, learning form one another and opportunities to make predictions, ask questions and wonder. You very instinctively link other curricular subjects and show how this is a highly beneficial lesson activity in which you can cover objectives in science, maths, geography and everyday understanding of the world around them. I am sure all students in every class would enjoy this hands-on learning experience and a lesson I am sure they will remember for very long time. They will make promising young scientists and engineers. Well done and thanks again.
This September I will be teaching Junior Infants in an Educate Together School. For the purposes of this post I have decided to talk about the Day and Night Activity. As I will be working with Junior Infants I would adapt the lesson so that is it language rich and play based in its approach. As a stimulus we would gather on the carpet and open a conversation about activities they do during the day and activities they do during the night. We would then look at photographs in which we would establish if it is an activity you would do during the day or night. The focus of this part of the lesson would to be to draw on the children’s own experiences and understanding of the world while encouraging to develop their language orally. What really stood out to me in this lesson was the paper-chain activity whereby children begin to explore the idea that what they are doing during their day time, other children around the world are doing their night time activities. Using a lamp and a globe we can show the children how the sun shines on the earth and rotate the globe to show day and night. I would conclude this activity with a drawing task where children can draw a picture of them during the day doing something and on the opposite side of the page drawing a night activity. This is a great lesson as it allows the children scope for curiosity, room for dialogue and tasks to demonstrate existing and new knowledge.
Hi Shauna,
Thank you so much for sharing your learning, ideas and thoughts with us. It is great to read such a comprehensive answer and gives great food for thought. I immediately love how you link your chosen activity with science week. You have a fantastic, visual stimulus that will instantly capture their attention and senses. It is clear that excellent, open ended and inquiry based questions are at the heart of your lesson as you ask the children if they could visit any planet what would it be? You appeal to all types of learners as they are watching videos, drawing their ideas and mission path as well as discussing through talking and listening all about their learning. You expertly outline the cross curriculuar links and it is clear that you are on to a winner here with this great lesson. Thanks again for all your work on this, you can be sure that I will copy and paste it straight into my learning path folder.
From my learning in the module, the activity I would choose to do with my infant class would certainly be the balloon rocket investigation. I really liked the example by Marvin and Milo because the characters model curiosity by asking genuine questions before and while carrying out the investigation. This encourages the children to think like scientists and shows how science can begin with a simple question that can go answered or answered – it is the process and not necessarily the product. Working with infants this September I would begin by establishing what the children already know about rockets through conversation and questioning (open ended questioning that fosters dialogue). The children would take turns to launch their rocket and time to observe and talk about what happens. Once they had sufficient time to explore, I would guide the inquiry through ESEROs framework for Inquiry . During the process the children can ask questions e.g. I wonder will the rocket travel further/faster if there is more air in it? They could then record their results using simple smiley faces.
Hi Caroline, Thank you for your informative posting. I love the introduction of hot and cold using hands on materials and experiences. I agree, the idea of using ice is excellent from ESERO. Getting the children to draw on their own previous personal experience is always a great start and grounds learning in a very real and meaningful way for them. There is a collective beauty of song singing in infants and that coupled with the opportunity to get out of their seats and move and dance is a wonderful idea. I think categrising clothes into hot and cold weather is also a great idea – and you may even link in Gaeilge Eadaí here too. A word wall is always a excellent idea for infants to well done for thinking of new vocabulary too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, ideas and learning with us – it has certainly given me some food for thought as I move into the next academic year.
Reflecting on this module, one activity that I would certainly use is the ‘Where do you live?’ activity. I think the exploration of this topic in my Junior Infant class would be perfect as it begins with the children’s existing knowledge and experience asking them to begin from a very real and meaningful place for them. It starts with what is immediate to them and builds gradually on that to help develop a great sense of the earth and space. It builds on the objectives of the primary school framework where children develop on their understanding of the world around them through curiosity, communication and developing understanding of their surroundings. In my infant class I would introduce the topic through story, encouraging them to share what they know about where they already live and establish what they already know about space and earth. We would follow the ESERO module whereby children approach their learning by asking questions, making observations, and discussing their ideas with others. This module taught me how a simple idea and conversation can foster curiosity and expose children to the benefits of STEM. It has given me practical ideas and activities that I can implement in my classroom with confidence.
This is a fantastic idea and what a wonderful idea to initiate learning on the topic of space in your infant question. I think a particular strength of yours is your questioning. It is balanced and open – instead of asking what is a falling star – a falling star is this…. you ask a more open question – what do you think a falling star is – this allows room for speculation, and to tease out preconceived ideas in the classroom. A very natural and enjoyable way to link in maths with the infants is to count out stars in the sky. Again, you expertly integrate in movement and PE by having your students move around the space like twinkling stars. What fantastic ideas you have given the group. Thanks very much for sharing. Your questions are perfectly balanced and challenging and I am sure the children would enjoy thinking about them and sharing their thoughts.