Lesson Plan Guide for how you might plan for a whole group or small group.

Learning Development Area:

Communicating
Active learning
Wellbeing
Connectedness
Identity

Routines & transitions

Real-life engagements
Play

Implementation Date
14/10/16 fri
Duration

Context for learning:

Links to the statement of intent

For children to remember by recognising through sensory
stimuli.
Feely bags/boxes
Books on space and planets
For children to develop their knowledge of the world
through exploring space and planets.
Does this build on prior experiences/interests of the children?
On the statement of intent, the children are focusing on learning about their world with a focus on
space. We have been doing space paintings using black paper and stars etc and the children have
also been using their imagination and senses to engage in learning such as feely boxes etc. This
activity will allow the children opportunities to use their senses and explore the topic of space using
their imagination.
What is the focus? About what am I being intentional? Will I observe/record information?
What sort of things are in space?
Space
Using sensory objects
Guiding Behaviour Consider what you need to put in place to support children:
Only four children per table
Close proximity
Positive reinforcement of good behaviour
Reminder of best listening skills- referring to pictures
Asking children to stop think and do, if they have a problem
Moving children around on the mat if they are distracted
Encouraging the children to put their hands up if they need to talk on the mat
Resources: sand tray, moon sand, space characters and pictures, paddle pop sticks,
sticky tape
Differentiation strategies: Students can make their own props to use in the sand, have more
than one sand box so more children can play or small groups and individuals can play, providing pre
made props, having space words and pictures stuck to the table- space theme table.
You will use a lesson plan for group times (music, language, story, beginning a session etc). You need to think
though how you will engage with the children, the language you will use, the questions you might ask etc.

Introduction:
Introducing the
topic and settling
children
Body:

I will have the space book open on the table of this activity. The feel box
will be painted black and have images of stars, planets, milky way etc
around it so the children can continue looking at and imagining what
space looks like and what is in space.

I will sit at the feely table and observe how the children use the objects in
the feely box. I will listen and record conversations, which will give me
information about how children are interpreting space.
I will ask some open ended questions about what characters the children
are using and what the sand feels like, where they think they would find
sand like this etc. This will encourage discussion about the activity and
link meaning to it.
During reflection, I will ask questions about the feely box and what the
children thought the sand felt like etc. I will ask also ask them if they saw
any pictures in the box that they recognised from the book or what they
thought the pictures were of. I will also hold up a few of the puppets from

Conclusion:

the feelie box and the children can discuss what they think the characters
are and why they might find them in space.
Evaluation / Reflection:
The children enjoyed this sensory experience, and were not afraid to get their hands in there. They
used the characters to mostly dig in the moon sand rather than imaginatively play with them. Some
children used them as characters and a few of the boys used them as fighting characters on the
moon. I was able to record some conversations that occurred at the table and many children were
talking about the feel of the sand and what their characters were doing when they were playing
with them.
The discussions that we had during reflection prompted the children to think about their experience
and tell me and their peers what they thought the characters were and what they would do in
space. I think this was a really rich learning experience for all children as many of the students
wanted to have their input and discuss the topic.
WHAT NEXT:
Develop more space activities based on conversations and observations of interest
points- digging in the sand, squishing the sand.
Make space dioramas using pictures and characters we have discussed
Read space books based on interests- aliens, the moon, rockets.