TT: Thematic Unit: Let's Go Shopping

There is so much scope for integration when covering the theme of shopping with infants! Here are some of the shopping centered activities that were undertaken by me in my own senior infant classroom.

1) Oral Language Development: 
Add a play shop area to the classroom for use during structured play and put price tags on all the items in it (1c - 20c). Have real/plastic coins for them to use when paying.

2) Maths: Money (1c up to 20c) 

Source

• Talk about the different characteristics of various coins and play 'what's the mystery coin' games as a class and in pairs. Have them listen to the characteristics of the coins and name the coin me/their partner is talking about. 
• Play feely bag games to identify various coins (using size recognition mainly).
• Play bank and exchange 1c coins for a single coin (to make them aware of the value of each coin).
• Sort coins in terms of value.
• Use coins to buy items from a shopkeeper in their groups. 
• Add coins to solve problems and see how much money you have in a wallet (Put dots on coins to remind us of their value and aid counting of money).
• Have the children fill these laminated piggy banks with coins their group have been supplied with. Make quantities of 2c-10c using 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c coins. Use this as a class activity or add it to your daily/weekly Maths station activities to ensure repetition and frequent revision.
• Keep a class piggy bank as a reward scheme for a week and count the money at the end of each day to see if they have enough to buy a class 'prize'.

3) Creative/Functional Writing: Writing a Shopping List

Read the story 'Wallace's Lists' (see: Wallace's Lists book preview) and talk about all the things one can make lists about. Use words from a food word wall in conjunction with sounding out skills to write their own shopping lists to be used in the play shop.

Source

4) Gaeilge: Ag Siopadóireacht

• Hide food items for the class siopa in a mála draíochta. Ask them 'An maith leat ___?' after removing each item from the bag and placing it in the shop. 
• Teach the phrase 'cheannaigh tú' by trying to guess what each pupil has bought and hidden from us. They can also describe their actions by saying 'cheannaigh mé___' or 'níor cheannaigh mé ' when a guess has been given. 
• Sing and act out the song 'Cheannaigh mé ___, cheannaigh mé ____, cheannaigh mé ____agus d'ith mé é.' (To the tune of Polly Put the Kettle On). This can be changed to 'Cheannaigh mé ___, cheannaigh mé ____, cheannaigh mé ____agus chaith mé é' when discussing an siopa éadaigh.

5) History: Shops in the Past

Name and discuss grocery shops, pharmacies and sweet shops. Match items sold in each to the correct shop. Look at pictures of what these shops looked like in the past, guess which type of shop it is and note the differences and similarities between the old version and the new version. 

Images do not belong to me. They are used for educational purposes. 

6) Geography: Mapping the Monster's Shopping Trip
Discuss places and things you would see if you took a walk through a town. Listen to the Monster's Shopping Trip on the British Council Website.
Discuss the journey the monsters took, the shops they visited and how you would go about making a map of this journey. Show them how to start by drawing the monster's house and then the road. Discuss things that might be around the road: buildings, bridges, lakes, trees, signs etc. and add the shops mentioned in the story. Then, you can have them create their own map of the Monster's Shopping Trip.

7) Art: Class Bakery
Talk about things you might buy to eat in a bakery. Show them pictures of these foods (cakes, buns, croissants, pies, doughnuts, biscuits, pastries) and discuss different cake designs. Have them create their cakes and pastries from clay. When they have dried, cover them in PVA glue to harden them a little before painting them. Make sure all of the decorations they have added are properly stuck. These pastries/cakes could also be made from homemade playdough in various colours and then baked in the oven to harden them, meaning they wouldn't have to be painted. 

8) Music: 'Let's Go Shopping' Song

"Let’s Go Shopping,

Put on your coat and hat,

Carry your little bas-ket,

Over your arm like that,

And we’ll go walking, walking, walking, walking,

Walking down the street.

Shopping, shopping, shopping, shopping

Shopping for things to eat!

Good morning Mr. Grocer man and how do you do?

(Talking) A very good morning Madam

      What can I do for you?

Id like a dozen new laid eggs,

a pound of butter too,

A nice jar of honey (Doe, doe doe, doe, doe-me)

Here is my money (Doe, doe doe, doe, doe-me)

Good day, (me-doe) (pause)

good day

to you

And we’ll go walking, walking, walking, walking,

Walking down the street,

Shopping, shopping, shopping, shopping,

Shopping for things to eat!"

Thematic Unit: Food (Senior Classes)

For the past two weeks I have been teaching lessons based around the theme of 'Food' with my 4th and 5th class. If you have considered covering this topic with your senior class, you may find some of the following lesson ideas useful.
 
Science: The Food Pyramid

HSE/Safefood.eu

Begin the lesson with a short quiz on food and nutrition. I used one in the children's S.E.S.E. books, but something like this may also suit. Then, having printed and laminated these cards, have the class play a food pyramid matching game. They can either do this in pairs or as a class (by giving each child a few cards to add to the class pyramid as each food group is called out). If you do this as a class, discuss whether they agree with the choices their classmates have made e.g. should butter/ice cream be in the dairy category? Would it also fit anywhere else? Discuss how many portions of each food group they should be having each day and what nutrients each contain (in pairs and as a class). Finally, have the children complete a quiz here. They could also complete this Irish soccer team related worksheet (in pairs) as an extension or follow up activity.

SPHE: Healthy Lunches/Making Decisions

Source

Discuss with their partner an item of their lunch which they felt was healthy and one which was unhealthy. Discuss which food group each belongs to.
Have the class work in pairs to sort food cards (which can be found on pages 24-29 in this document) into three groups: 'Healthy', 'Unhealthy' and 'Unsure'. Discuss these cards as a class following the activity, naming their food group, why they are unhealthy or why they may be both healthy and unhealthy. Following this activity, they must create a 5 day lunch menu including an item from the fruit/vegetable group, a protein, a carbohydrate, a dairy food and a healthy drink each day. Put images of some lunch items (see pages 30-32 in this document) on the board to give them some new ideas. Share ideas with the class and have them self assess their menus by ticking off each nutrient they have included.

Gaeilge: Bia

Along with covering the verbs 'ith' and 'ól', whatever scéal they have in their textbook on the topic of 'Bia' and covering vocabulary associated with the topic (using games such as biongó, cluiche mím, cluiche kim, etc.), the children can take part in a comhrá beirte:

• Céard a d’ith tú ag am lóin?
• An raibh sé blasta?
• Céard a d’ith do chara inniú?
• Céard ba mhaith leat don lón amárach?
• Cén bia is fearr leat?
• Cén bia is fuath leat?
• An ndearna tú dearmad ar do lón riamh?

Once they have practiced these phrases for a few days, they can then write their own 'food story'. 

Art: Pears with Perspective

I have taught this lesson a few times and the end results are always amazing! I found this wonderful lesson idea on angelaandersonart. When I teach this lesson, I begin by putting up some pictures of pears on the interactive board so that we can discuss the shapes, outline, light, shadows and colours of the fruit. Then I give them some real pears to draw on their sheet of card. After this, they paint the entire picture in red paint to add depth to the painting. They can then paint the pear using yellow as a base colour and adding brown and green as blending colours (they are encouraged and taught how to blend on the page). They then add light using white paint. Paints for the background are only lightly mixed to add to the texture and colour of the painting.   

English: Procedural Writing (Recipes)

You can find a link here to a post I wrote this time last year on recipe/procedural writing in 5th class. It contains a step by step guide, along with every resource and template you could require to teach a block of creative writing lessons based on this theme.


If you are looking for more ideas for thematic units to use with your senior class this year, check out my posts on the following topics: Myself, Italy, Space and the Aztec Empire.

TT: Thematic Unit: Clothes (Infants)

I'm back again with another thematic unit, this time based on the topic of clothes. I used this thematic unit in Senior Infants but no doubt it could be adapted for use with Junior Infants also. I have tried to include as many useful resources as possible - I hope you find it helpful!

Geography: Clothes from Around the World

Discuss clothes we wear for special occasions and when and where these occasions might be. Talk about the clothes they wear in other countries for special occasions. Follow Teddy on Tour (you can download it when you sign in here) on his visit to some countries to find out all about the clothes they wear:     

Teddy on tour from SeniorInfants

Have some children try on a sari (piece of material or a scarf), a furry coat and a kilt (if possible) and see if they can remember which country they are worn in.

Write the country names under these pictures (with help from the board!) and colour them in beautiful bright colours!

History: Growing and Changing

Baby paper doll             Child paper doll

Talk about how different the clothes they wear now are to the clothes they wore as babies. Discuss why they don't wear the same things babies/adults wear. Dress the paper dolls (above) on the board (baby, child, adult) using paper doll clothes you can find online. 

Adult paper doll       Adult dolls clothes

Baby clothes      Child's clothes

Have the children draw pictures of a child, baby and adult and the clothes they would wear. Label  appropriately.

Science: Materials
Play a game (preferably in a PE hall, outside or in another spacious area) where they must touch different materials called out e.g. wood, plastic, metal, glass, cloth, touch something smooth, soft, rough, that can tear, that won’t tear, etc. Look at some clothing items: a woolly jumper, leather runner, cotton t-shirt, furry collar, feather filled jacket, etc. and discuss whether the material is hard, soft, rough, smooth, waterproof, would it tear, etc. Have them walk to the picture of the animal/plant (laid out on the floor of the PE hall) that the material/piece of clothing was made from. After you have discussed all this and they have identified the correct animal/plant for all objects, hold up the items one at a time and have them run to the correct picture. If they run to the wrong one, they are out. 

Art: Paper Dolls
Discuss what kinds of clothes they might draw/stick onto their paper doll templates. Have them design trousers, t-shirts, jumpers, dresses, etc. for them and stick on buttons and hair to bring them to life.

English: Poem: Put on your Coat

Stuff an arm 

into each sleeve,

put on your coat

before you leave.

Zip the zipper

right to the top,

and cover your head

whenever rain drops.

James Hörner

Gaeilge: Éadaí agus 'Cóchailín Dearg'
Do some drama based on the story 'Cóchailín Dearg'. Dress a group of the children up in costumes as the various characters using a red cloak, wolf ears on a hairband, showercap, axe, apron and hat. These children can then act out the script as it is being read. Keep repeating the story until every child had a chance to act out the story (you can also use this activity to practice 'cé hé seo?' before you start each drama). Gradually they should started to join in with the story and understand various words in the script.

http://students.ou.edu/J/Curtis.N.Johnston-1/red_riding_hood.jpg

Here is my script:

An Cochaillín Dearg:

Bhí an Cocaillín Dearg sa bhaile. D'fhag sí slán le Mamaí agus le Daidí. Chuaigh sí go dtí an choill. Bhuail si leis an Mac Tíre. Bhí scanradh uirthi roimh an Mhac Tíre. Rith sí go dtí teach a seanmhathair. Chonaic sí a seanmhathair. (All join in) 'Oh, feach ar do shuile! Feach ar do chluasa! Feach ar do fhiacla!' An Mac Tíre a bhí ann! Rith sí amach an doras. Tháinig an gearrthóir adhmaid agus maraigh sé an mac tíre. Bhi an Mac Tíre marbh agus bhí áthas an domhain ar gach duine eile!

If you have any other ideas on how to tie the theme of clothes in with any other subjects, feel free to comment below. Happy Teaching!

Practical Storage Options

Over the past few years I have been attempting to find storage options for my classroom that look neat and as well as being practical and simple to use. This year in particular, I have very little built-in storage options (shelves, presses, etc) and really needed to come up with creative ways to store things in an organised, tidy manner. Here are some organisational methods I am currently using in my classroom:

1. Long term storage:

I store decorations, resources, games, books, art supplies, etc. in these storage boxes. I have stacked them under the workbench style counter in my room. I use similar boxes to hold paint and paint brushes in our art press so that when we are painting, we can take out the box with all of the supplies we will need and put it back when we are finished. It also makes moving classroom every year much easier!

Homebase Storage Boxes

2. Whiteboard storage: 

I use these green Ikea boxes to hold my class whiteboards. When we are using the whiteboards in a lesson, the table leader collects their box and distributes the whiteboards to their classmates. The boxes work well in preventing the whiteboards from being damaged. Within each box, each group has a blue box for holding their whiteboard markers, Pritt sticks and scissors. 

Green Ikea Whiteboard Boxes
Blue Ikea Stationary Boxes

3. Flashcard/behavioural management storage options:

I have attached these wall pockets to my desk to hold various items I want to have easy access to. At the moment it contains lollipop sticks with the children's names on them, my yellow and red behaviour cards and various vocabulary flashcards.

Ikea Wall Pocket

4. Worksheet storage:

This expandable folder is divided into different subject areas, a compartment for school notes, another for staff meeting notes, another for 'Tomorrow's Work' and a 'Work Children Have Missed' section. This storage system works well as long term storage for worksheets as well as providing an easy way to file spare worksheets without having to deal with folders and plastic pockets. 

Eason Expanding Folder

5. Drawer storage:

Using drawer dividers helps me to keep my desk drawers organised while keeping everything visible and easily accessible in them. 

Ikea Drawer Dividers

6. Teacher book storage:

This year I'm storing my teacher books in these Ikea magazine holders. They are very durable, bright and help to keep my books organised. 

Ikea Magazine Holders

7. 'Busy Bee Work' storage:

This year, I have given all of the children a display book filled with worksheets and activities I have found on Teachers Pay Teachers. They keep this folder on their desk for when they have finished work early (this is really useful to have with a combined 4th and 5th class!). When they have completed all of the worksheets in their folder, they then get a new batch to put in and complete. 

Display Book, Mr. Price

8. Poster storage:

A rectangular bin can be used to store rolled up posters. Posters can also be stacked down the two sides of the bin (as is often not the case in a round bin) so that you can keep posters you use regularly nice and flat.

9. Task card/C.D. storage: 
I store C.D.s, D.V.D.'s, Maths cards, task cards, etc. in these baskets from Dealz. 

Dealz Baskets

10. Stationary Storage:
Whiteboard markers, spare pencils, pencil parers and rubbers that are used by me and the children (if they are missing their own), sit on my desk in these mesh stationary holders from Ikea. They are easy to grab when needed.

Ikea Stationary Storage Baskets

11. Ziploc Bags:
I keep a box of these at all times in my classroom. I use them for so many things: to store cables, flashcards, resources for each literacy station,  SESE resources, to divide out science equipment for each group in preparation for an experiment, etc.

I hope you found some inspiration on how to organise your classroom in this post. I am by no means an expert when it comes to keeping my classroom organised and tidy, but I have found these systems to work well for me over the past few years.
If you have found this post useful don't forget to check out some other posts in my Back to School Series for more ideas and inspiration.  

Thematic Unit: Myself (Senior Class)

The theme of 'Myself' is a popular unit of work at the start of any school year. Here are some activities I have used with 4th and 5th based on this theme.

1.a) Art: Van Gogh's Self Portraits

Study Van Gogh's self portraits and facts about his life. Have the children draw their self portrait on a sheet of card. Using the tips you can find here, have the children paint a thick textured layer of PVA on their page. They can then put paint on top of this and use a plastic fork to gently add texture (optional).

b) Art: Andy Warhol

Study the work, life and artistic style of Andy Warhol. Have the children create self portraits (with or without a mirror) on a sheet of A4 paper. Once they have completed the drawing, have them use carbon paper and a paper clip to copy the portrait 4 times onto a sheet of A3 paper. Once they have completed this, paint the portraits in various bright primary and secondary colours.

2. Music: Almost There

Sing the song 'Almost There' from Disney's 'The Princess and the Frog'. You can find the backing track here. Discuss what the song is about, times when they faced difficulties in trying to reach a goal, etc.

3. History: Place Names

Have the children discuss the name of their town/locality (English/Irish) in pairs and attempt to guess what the name tells them about the history of the place. Discuss as a class. Give some examples and discuss the meanings behind various Irish place names (see this source for information). Have the children look at a map of their local town, with street names marked on it. With a partner, discuss and write down what these street names tell us about the history of the town (e.g. castle street, market street, etc). To conclude the topic, get the children to research the history of their town online (either in school or at home) and create a fact file/project on the history of their town.  

4. Geography: Mapping

Show the children the 'Understanding Map Keys and Symbols' activity featured on Ask About Ireland and answer the questions with your class. Discuss the map located here in a similar manner. Complete the 'Make a Map Key' activity on Ask About Ireland after this. Discuss and model how one would go about creating a map of their locality/their trip to school (start with the road, add in water features, add in symbols, etc). Add a key to the bottom of their map to decode their symbols.

5. Science: The Senses

Discuss this powerpoint as an introduction to the lesson. Split up the class into groups. Create a station for each sense: a set of tasting droppers (salty, sweet, bitter, sour), sound boxes to match similar sounds with each other, smell jars (label as vanilla, almond or vinegar), a sight station (where they have a close up picture of something and must say what the whole picture would be) and a touch station (where they must catagorise the feel of objects as smooth, rough, soft or hard and then guess the object). Have the groups rotate around the stations and complete the worksheet. Conclude the lesson with an interactive game on the senses.

6. SPHE: Myself

Any of the Walk Tall lessons would suit this theme.

7. English: Poetry and Creative Writing

Discuss and recite the poem 'All My Great Excuses'. Write their own poem about homework excuses. Creative writing could also be linked to the theme of 'Myself'.

8. Gaeilge: Mé Féin
Teach the language of a comhrá based on the theme of Mé Féin. Model the comversation and then have them practice it in pairs:

Dia Duit. Dia is Muire duit.
Conas atá tú? Tá mé go maith/dona.
Cad is ainm duit? ____ is ainm dom.
Cén aois thú? Tá mé _____.
Cá bhfuil tú i do chonaí? Tá mé i mo chonaí i _____
Cén rang/scoil ina bhfuil tú? Tá mé i __________.
Cén t-ábhar is fearr leat? Is fearr liom ________.
Cén bia is fearr leat? Is fearr liom __________.
Cén scannán is fearr leat? Is fearr liom ______.
Srl.

After practicing this comhrá for a few days, have the children write a piece about themselves in Irish on this worksheet and add a picture of themselves to the top. Give them a word bank for difficult words if you feel this is necessary.

If you are on the look out for more thematic unit ideas for senior classes, check out my 'Italy', 'Space' and 'The Aztec Empire' thematic unit posts.