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I would love to do the rockets lesson in my junior infant class. To get the children excited about space and rockets I would read the story. “The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet”. This is a laughing out loud picture book that gets the children thinking about space and rockets. The children would then get a chance to create their very own rockets. They’ll need , toilet paper holders, tin foil, glue, red card, lollipop sticks, strips of colorful foil. As the children are making their rockets I would ask questions like “what do rockets need to fly?” “Where do rockets go?” “Would you like to go to space?” “What might we see from a rocket?”.
When the students have made their rockets they could practice counting down from 10 , 9 , 8 ….. blast off! Children jump into space and pretend to orbit around and float like astronauts. They could “fly” their rockets to different planets they have previously discussed and tell the class where they travelled to and what they might have discovered.
Hey Sarah. I haven’t heard of that storybook before, ‘Whatever Next!’ Definitely sounds like a great one to get students thinking about rockets and how might they actually work to get to Space.
I would use the ‘animals in the cold’ activity in my junior infants class. I would start the lesson off with a ‘mystery box’. I love doing this for different lessons as the children are always intrigued straight away. In the box I would have things related to cold places e.g ice cubes (in a sandwich bag), toy penguin/polar bear, cotton wool (as snow) , blue hat & scarf. The children put their hand in and guess what they feel. I would ask ‘ is this hot or cold?’ ‘What animals might live in cold places?’ .
Sorting activity: Pictures of different animals, some that live in cold places and some that live in warm. Children, as a class, sort them into cold place box and warm place box.
I will take the hat and scarf from the mystery box and ask ‘why do we wear these?’. ‘what else might we wear to keep warm in winter?’ ‘how do animals keep warm? – That should then lead us into a discussion about polar bears having thick fur or seals have blubber, penguins huddle together. Students get a cut & stick activity to sort animals into their appropriate habitats. Hot or cold?
Conclusion – Penguin movement game. Music plays they must waddle like penguins, seals sliding on ice, polar bears moving slowly. When music stops they must huddle like penguins to keep warm.
I love this idea Jessica! Such a simple activity to set up but yet so effective. That sure would get the students chatting about colder vs warmer climate for animals.
Space and Aliens: Junior Infants
A simple lesson that I would do with my JI is ‘Do you think Aliens Exist?’
As an introduction I would show the children a picture of a friendly cartoon Alien and ask: What do you think this is? Where might it live? do you think Aliens are real? What colour could an Alien be? How many eyes might it have?. I would emphasise that nobody knows if Aliens really do exist , so everyone’s ideas are welcome.
Class discussion- Thumbs up/thumbs down, hands on head = maybe, activity. Example questions could be – could an alien have three eyes? could an alien live on the moon? etc.
Creative Activity- Children draw their own alien. Children are encouraged to think about their alien’s name, what planet does it live on? what does it eat? Is it friendly? .
Conclusion – Share and think if an Alien came to our classroom , what would we like to show it?
This lesson encourages imagination , oral language and creativity.
I love the idea of introducing this lesson with the storybook ‘Aliens love Underpants’. This story sure is a great hit with the younger students.
I would use the planets activity in my junior infant class. To gain the students attention I would use the planets song as a stimulus. Since it would be one of the first lessons with JI based on Space, I would keep it simple and very hands on. I would show them a picture of space then and ask questions like ‘what can you see?’ ‘Is space hot or cold?’ ‘Have you ever seen the moon at night?’ ‘What do you know about planets? – create a simple mind map together. This would also help me plan the rest of my lessons based on Space & the Planets.
A simple lesson idea based off the planet activity would be a ‘Planet Hunt’. Put laminated pictures of the planets around the classroom where the students can walk around the room to find. When one is found we could discuss ‘what colour is it?’ ‘Is it big or small?’ ‘Does it have rings?’ etc. The students can hang them up on the whiteboard and we would count how many planets there are in total. The children can then be introduced to the name of each planet.
During that same week/month I would play the planet game during PE. I love the idea of using the planet names that the children have just learned in PE too and also that they shouldn’t land on the sun as it is way too hot there!
Hi Tracy, I love the idea of the students using chalk to trace their own shadows. They would definitely love getting stuck into this! Also important to note that shadows are made when light is blocked. With plenty of time given to the students to investigate their own shadows , they have a great opportunity to come to that conclusion themselves!
Inquiry-based activity for junior infants.
Theme: Floating and Sinking
Question: What things float and what things sink?
Materials: Basin of water, cork, spoon, leaf, plastic book, toy car, coin , small ball , pencil, paper clip.
I would gather the children around one table. I would encourage the students to discuss and make predictions about the objects. (thumbs up for float, thumbs down for sink)
One child at a time place an object in the water.
Discussion questions: Why do you think it floated? Which objects are heavy? Are they all sinkers? Were any light objects sinkers?
Extension activity: Draw one object that floated and one that sank.
This activity encourages students to ask questions, investigate and communicate their discoveries.