Valerie King :@muinteoirvalerie.com

Thematic Unit: The Seaside

Class level: Junior Infants- Second Class

Lessons:

English x 3

Science x 3

SPHE x 1

Religion x 1

Art x `1

Geography x 2

Music x 1

Date:

Subject: Visual Arts
Time:

Class: Junior Infants- Second Class.

Duration of Lesson: one hour

Number of Pupils: 16

Theme: The Seaside
Strand: Construction
Strand Unit: Making constructions
Differentiated Learning Objectives:
1. That all children will be enabled to make a beach scene in a shoe-box using shells and sand
2. That most children will be enabled to create their own version of a beach in a shoe box by using a wide variety of materials, such as card paper, cut-out figures etc.
3. That some children will be enabled to add a lot of detail to their shoe box beach, such as waves, clouds and different colours.
Assessment:
Teacher Observation:
I will observe the children while they create their art. I will observe how the children make use of various lines and shape. I will observe how they make use of the materials available to them. I will record my findings in my observation notebook.
Language / Literacy Development:
Oral Language:
The children will be using oral language at the beginning of the art lesson, when the children brainstorm and decide exactly what it is they will include in their beach scene.
Vocabulary:
The children will be learning new words such as, scene, imagine, invent, create.
Teaching Methodologies: (Underline where relevant)
  • Talk and Discussion: listening, questioning, brainstorming, think, pair, share.
  • Collaborative/Co-operative Learning: group work.
  • Active Learning: hands on experience.
  • Skills Through Content: observing, predicting, investigating and experimenting, estimating and measuring, analyzing, synthesizing, describing, categorizing, recording and communicating.
  • Using Local Environment: use of pupil environment and lived experience.
  • Problem Solving: apply logic and rationality to given situations

Introduction:
  • We will have a brain storming session.
  • I will ask the children to think of the beaches near their homes.
  • I will ask them what they see when they think of the beach- sea, sand, shells?
  • I will explain to them that we will be creating a beach scene in a shoebox.
  • I will ask the children to engage in a ‘Think, Pair, Share’ activity. I will ask them to discuss with each other what they will include in their scene. They will then share it with the rest of the class.

Development:
  • The children will gather the materials they need for their beach scene.
  • I will circulate the room as the children begin their beach scenes
I will help the junior and senior infants with gluing and deciding what to put in their beach scene. I will have cut out templates of sea creatures for the infants who may struggle in drawing them.
1st and 2nd class won’t need as much guidance as the younger classes. I will ask them what they will include, and why.
  • I will encourage the children to draw, colour and cut out fish for their breach scene.

Conclusion:
  • When the children finish their beach scenes I will bring all the children up to the top of the room. Each child will have a go sitting in the artist’s chair.
  • The child sitting in the artist’s chair will describe their beach scene. The child will tell the rest of the class what materials they used, why they included certain objects etc.
  • I will encourage the rest of the children to ask questions and to evaluate the work of the child in the artist’s chair.

Teacher Questioning (throughout the lesson):
Higher order questions
What do you see when you think of the beach?
What does the beach beside you look like?
What is your favourite thing about the beach?
What do you think you will include in your beach scene?
What materials will you use?
What do you like most about your work?
Is there anything you would change about your work?
Resources:
Shoe boxes
Sand
Seaweed
Shells
Coral
Cut out templates
Glue
Images of sea creatures on IWB.
Integration:
English- 04-02-13-
SPHE-
Music- 05-02-13
English 05-02-13
Science 07-02-13
English 07-02-13
Religion 07-02-13
Visual Arts- 08-02-13
Science- 08-02-13
English -08-02-13
Record of Assessment: (To be written after lesson is taught – Report on observations & show how information gathered is interpreted and used to inform future planning and teaching)
Action Plan:

Date:

Subject: Religion
Time:

Class: Junior Infants- Second Class.

Duration of Lesson: 30 minutes

Number of Pupils: 16

Theme: The Seaside
Strand:
Strand Unit:
Differentiated Learning Objectives:
1. That all children will be enabled to listen to and enjoy the story ‘Jonah and the Whale’
2. That most children will be enabled to understand the moral of the story. Most children will be enabled to answer questions posed by the teacher.
3. That some children will be enabled to discuss the story in detail during a whole class discussion.
Assessment:
Teacher Observation:
I will observe the answers the children give to the questions I pose. I will observe what the children say during the class discussion- this will give me an indication as to whether they understand the story and the moral of the story.
Language / Literacy Development:
Oral Language:
The children are using oral language as they discuss the story ‘Jonah and the Whale’ during our whole class discussion.
Vocabulary:
Forgiveness, belief, savior.
Teaching Methodologies: (Underline where relevant)
  • Talk and Discussion: listening, questioning, brainstorming, think, pair, share.
  • Collaborative/Co-operative Learning: group work.
  • Active Learning: hands on experience.
  • Skills through Content: observing, predicting, investigating and experimenting, estimating and measuring, analyzing, synthesizing, describing, categorizing, recording and communicating.
  • Using Local Environment: use of pupil environment and lived experience.
  • Problem Solving: apply logic and rationality to given situations

Introduction:
I will introduce the children to the story. I will tell them that we will be learning all about a man who God needed to help him.
Development:
  • I will read the story ‘Jonah and the Whale’ to the children.
  • I will ask the children to retell the story to me in their own words. Each child will give one sentence.
  • I will have sequencing cards for junior and senior infants to put the story together
  • I will ask the children what Jesus is trying to tell us in this story.
  • I will ask the children why the whale saved Jonah.
  • I will ask the children what they would do in that situation.
  • Once we have completed our discussion based on the story, I will give the infants the sequencing cards to sequence the events in the story.
  • I will give first and second class a sheet with pictures of various parts of the story. They will write three/ four sentences beside each picture to explain what happened in the story.

Conclusion:
We will conclude the lesson by revisiting the moral of the story- God wants us to help each other to be the best people we can possibly be.
Teacher Questioning (throughout the lesson):
Higher order questions
Imagine what it would be like to live inside a whale for three days.
Why did Jonah not want to help the people?
Why did God send the whale to save Jonah?
Did God send the storm?
I wonder what happened after Jonah helped the people to be good again.
I wonder why God picked Jonah to go to the people for him?
Resources:
Sequencing cards
Usborne’s Children’s Bible- ‘Jonah and the Whale’
Teacher-designed task for 1st and 2nd class.
Colouring sheets for early finishers in junior and senior infants.
Integration:
SPHE- 05-02-13 –Myself- water safety at the sea-side.
Science 07-02-13- Materials and Change- making ice-cream for the sea-side.
English 07-02-13- Writing - project work on the seaside.
Visual Arts- 08-02-13- Construction- making shoe box beaches.
Science- 08-02-13- Materials and Change- using water to make lava lamps.
English –Writing- 08-02-13- project work.
History: Story: ‘The Salmon of Knowledge’
Geography: Environmental Awareness and Care- looking after our beaches.
Music- 05-02-13- Listening and responding- ‘Baby Beluga’
Music- Performing- Song Singing- ‘My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean’
Record of Assessment: (To be written after lesson is taught – Report on observations & show how information gathered is interpreted and used to inform future planning and teaching)
Action Plan:

Date:

Subject: English
Time:

Class: Junior Infants- Second Class

Duration of Lesson: 30 minutes

Number of Pupils: 16

Theme: The Seaside
Strand: Oral language/ writing.
Strand Unit: Receptiveness to language, competence and confidence in using language.
Differentiated Learning Objectives:
  1. That all children will be enabled to listen to (infant classes) the poem about the shark in the book ‘Commotion in the Ocean’. 1st and 2nd class will be able to read the poem aloud themselves in turns, focusing on how to make it sound scary and exciting.
2. That most children will be enabled to discuss what we already know about sharks.
3. That some children will be enabled to hypothesis on the creature the shark.
Assessment:
Teacher designed task:
  • I will listen to 1st and 2nd class read the poem and see if they can read it clearly, lowering and raising their voices at certain points in the poem. I will assess the infant class’ comprehension of the poem by asking questions about it, and by discussing what kind of the person the shark might be.
  • I will record my findings on a checklist under the following headings:
  • Can 1st and 2nd class read the poem, using effective story telling techniques, such as lowering and raising tone of voice, whispering etc.
  • Can junior and senior infants comprehend the poem and tell me what it is about? Can some of the children read the poem?
  • Can 1st and 2nd class discuss sharks and hypothesis on what their lives are like? Each child will write a fact file on the shark.
  • Can junior and senior infants make sentences orally from the picture flashcards of the sea?

Language / Literacy Development:
Oral Language:
The children will be developing oral language as they discuss the life of a shark.
Junior and senior infants will be using oral language as they make sentences orally out of the seaside flashcards.
Vocabulary:
Life cycle, techniques, nature, facts, poetry.
Literacy:
The children in 1st and 2nd class will write a fact-file about the shark.
Teaching Methodologies: (Underline where relevant)
  • Talk and Discussion: listening, questioning, brainstorming, think, pair, share.
  • Collaborative/Co-operative Learning: group work.
  • Active Learning: hands on experience.
  • Skills Through Content: observing, predicting, investigating and experimenting, estimating and measuring, analyzing, synthesizing, describing, categorizing, recording and communicating.
  • Using Local Environment: use of pupil environment and lived experience.
  • Problem Solving: apply logic and rationality to given situations

Introduction:
  • I will ask the children if they can remember the name of the book we read yesterday. I will ask if they can remember the poems we read.
  • I will ask the children what they know about sharks.
  • I will write a ‘KWL’ chart on the whiteboard and we will fill in the ‘know’ and ‘want to know’ sections.

Development:
  • I will gather the children around me in a semi-circle. I will ask one of the children in second class to read the story aloud in his/her best story telling voice.
  • I will ask another child to pretend to be a newsreader, reporting the news that a shark has been found in Mannin Bay. The child will describe what the shark looks like and the danger it poses to the children in the school.
  • We will then have a discussion on sharks. I will divide the children into their groups, three groups of three in 1st and 2nd, and 2 groups of three in junior and senior infants.
  • Each group will try think of as many facts as they can about sharks.
  • I will help the infant classes with this task.
  • When the children have delivered the facts to the rest of the class, I will put up extra facts on the whiteboard which they may not have known.
  • We will also look at pictures of all the different sharks on the interactive whiteboard.
  • I will show them the ‘mermaid’s purse’ from the Beach Display table. I will explain that the shark’s eggs are in the purse.
  • When the children in 1st and 2nd class are well armed with facts, they will fill out a fact-file on a shark.
  • Senior infants will write three facts about sharks from the board and will copy the facts onto a sheet of paper.
  • The child in junior infants will orally describe to me what a shark looks like, what it eats and so on.

Conclusion:
We will gather all our facts about sharks and we will read them together at the end of the lesson. This will consolidate the learning for the children, while getting them to read at the same time.
We will place our Shark Fact Files in the project folder.
Teacher Questioning (throughout the lesson):
Higher order questions:
Do you remember the book we read yesterday?
What was it about?
Which sea creatures did we read about?
Do you want to learn about another sea creature?
Are you afraid of sharks?
What do you think of them, are they scary?
Imagine what would happen if a shark came to Ballyconneely?
What would you do if you saw a shark whilst you were swimming in the water?
Are there sharks around here do you think?
What do sharks eat?
What do you think of the shark in the poem- why does he want you to come closer to his mouth I wonder?
Resources:
Chart containing facts about sharks.
Big book – ‘Commotion in the Ocean’
Flashcards of images from the seaside.
A toy shark.
Integration:
SPHE- 05-02-13 water safety at the sea-side.
Science 07-02-13- making ice-cream for the sea-side.
English 07-02-13- project work on the seaside.
Religion 07-02-13- Jonah and the Whale
Visual Arts- 08-02-13- construction- making shoe box beaches.
Science- 08-02-13- using water to make lava lamps.
English -08-02-13- project work.
History: Story: ‘The Salmon of Knowledge’
Geography: Environmental Awareness and Care- looking after our beaches.
Geography: Human Environments- People at work- Fishermen.
Record of Assessment: (To be written after lesson is taught – Report on observations & show how information gathered is interpreted and used to inform future planning and teaching)
Action Plan:

Date:

Subject: SPHE
Time:

Class: Junior Infants- Second Class.

Duration of Lesson: 30 minutes

Number of Pupils: 16

Theme: The Seaside
Strand: Myself
Strand Unit: Safety and Protection- Safety issues.
Differentiated Learning Objectives:
1. That all children will be enabled to discuss the seaside and what games they play at the seaside, what they do there etc.
2. That most children will be enabled to discuss ways in which the seaside may be dangerous. Most children will be enabled to recognise water hazards at the seaside.
3. That some children will be enabled to discuss ways to be safe at the seaside.
Assessment:
Teacher Observation:
I will observe the children during the class discussion. I will assess the answers they give to questions, and whether they understand the dangers associated with the seaside. I will record my findings in my teacher observation notebook.
Language / Literacy Development:
Oral Language:
The children will discuss water safety at the beach. They will engage in the ‘Think, Pair ,Share’ activity. Most children in the class live right beside the beach, hence, I will ask them to give examples of when they were at the beach, what they played, have they ever been in a dangerous situation?
Literacy:
The children in 1st and 2nd class will complete a ‘Stay Safe at the Beach’ poster. They will each write a safety rule on the poster. Junior and Senior infants will illustrate the poster.
Vocabulary:
Hazards, safety, depth, precautions, drowning.
Teaching Methodologies: (Underline where relevant)
  • Talk and Discussion: listening, questioning, brainstorming, think, pair, share.
  • Collaborative/Co-operative Learning: group work.
  • Active Learning: hands on experience.
  • Skills Through Content: observing, predicting, investigating and experimenting, estimating and measuring, analyzing, synthesizing, describing, categorizing, recording and communicating.
  • Using Local Environment: use of pupil environment and lived experience.
  • Problem Solving: apply logic and rationality to given situations

Introduction:
I will show the children a poster on the interactive whiteboard of a boy playing at the seaside. I will ask them to point out all the dangers in the poster.
Development:
  • We will have a class discussion on ‘Safety at the Seaside’.
  • I will divide the children into groups. They will engage in a ‘Think, Pair, Share’ activity. I will ask the children to discuss what they play at the beach, and how it might be a dangerous place.
  • I will show the children the ‘14 steps to safety’ pictures from the website ‘Aqua Attack’.
  • We will then discuss as a class, ways in which we can be safe at the beach.
  • We will write up a ‘Stay Safe’ poster on the whiteboard for the sea-side. Each child in 1st and 2nd class will write a safety rule each on each poster, in their best handwriting.
  • . I will divide the children into groups of three. Each group will draw a poster.
  • We will display the posters in the school hall for the rest of the school to see.
  • I will work with the infants while 1st and 2nd are making their posters. I will show the children a water safety ‘spot the difference’ activity on the interactive whiteboard. I will allow them to play the game as a cool down activity. I will also let them play the game ‘Get Dopper Home Safely’ in which they will steer a dolphin home safely from the sea, or ‘Find the Match’.

Conclusion:
  • We will discuss our posters and the rules we made. We will hang the poster in the school hallway.

Teacher Questioning (throughout the lesson):
Higher order questions
Do you ever play at the beach alone?
Why is it important to have someone with you at all times?
Is it safe to swim after eating?
Is it safe to swim alone?
How should you swim at sea?
Have you ever encountered a dangerous situation at the seaside?
Is sun protection important?
Resources:
Aqua Attack website.
Poster paper.
Games from the ‘Aqua Attack’ website for junior and senior infants.
Integration:
English- 04-02-13-
Geography- 04-02-13
Music- 05-02-13
English 05-02-13
Science 07-02-13
English 07-02-13
Religion 07-02-13
Visual Arts- 08-02-13
Science- 08-02-13
English -08-02-13
Record of Assessment: (To be written after lesson is taught – Report on observations & show how information gathered is interpreted and used to inform future planning and teaching)
Action Plan:

Date: