Thematic Unit Reviews!

October 15, 2018
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0 minute read

Hi guys

Earlier this week, I asked student teachers to review my thematic unit for teaching practice. The pack basically contains seven weeks worth of lessons for teaching practice, so that’s highly detailed daily lesson plans for each subject.The themes covered are listed below.

Here are the reviews!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Muinteoir Valerie’s thematic plans. They have given me lots of ideas on what to do with different topics which would extremely interest the pupils and fuel their learning.

Múinteoir Valerie’s plans are absolutely brilliant! I am currently doing Bia with 5th and 6th class so these plans are ideal as they differentiate for each class and have given me a lot of tips and activities to try out with the students that I wouldn’t have thought of before! The attention to detail regarding assessment is carefully laid out in her plans. I was struggling with activities to do with the class regarding Bia but Valerie’s plans have given me food for thought regarding ideas about Bia.

What I really like is the way that each day is planned for, teachers aren’t getting just a general scheme for a period of time, the detail is much greater and is very easy to follow.

I love how subjects are planned according to a theme. For Placement Students in particular, it relieves stress and shows us how to link subjects together according to a particular theme. They also provide plenty of ideas of topics that can be linked together in each subject. There are some topics included that I wouldn’t have thought would have gone together before, but it works! I would 100 percent recommend these to others who sometime struggle with linkage and integration.

I love how differentiated learning outcomes are outlined in each subject. It really gives a clear focus as to what each ability in the class should and will achieve. Sometimes, I struggle with differentiation, especially when teaching multi grade. This has made it much clearer for me and any other Placement Student out there regarding including differentiation in our planning. It also provides teachers a clear focus as to what each child should achieve and of course, teachers can adapt it to the needs of their own students in the classroom.

The actual lesson plans themselves are extremely detailed, which is a bonus. I love Múinteoir Valerie’s lesson plans! They are easy to follow and are clear regarding what is happening during the lessons. Introductions, developments and conclusions are outlined wonderfully.  

I absolutely adore the resources that are included in her plans. Drama scripts and questions are also attached onto the plans. This would definitely be a big help to us Placement Students! Sometimes, I find that I repeat a lot of the same games and activities and I can see the students getting tired of participating in them but sometimes, I simply can’t think of anything else. Múinteoir Valerie’s units have given me a huge amount of inspiration regarding activities to use in the classroom.

I think it was very smart how science was linked into Tom Crean. The children would absolutely love to make their own ice cream and eat it at school! Especially coming into the Summer. I wouldn’t have thought of that myself and was struggling on how to teach about materials.

The junior classes’ plans really impressed me. Just like the senior plans, they are laid out fantastically. One can follow them with ease. The units for the junior classes, just like the senior classes, include exactly what we need which will help me with my Junior Placement in a few weeks time!

These lesson plans include exactly what we need, is laid out brilliantly with differentiation, resources and learning objectives. Would I recommend these plans to other Placement Students, Dip Students and Teachers? Absolutely! Without a doubt, I will put these to good use and use Múinteoir Valerie’s plans again definitely!

 

Review two:

Valerie’s lesson plans are absolutely fantastic. She involves a lot of discussions, co-operative learning, hands on experience, skills through content and problem solving through all subjects. I think this is fantastic because you are not giving the students the information, you are giving them life skills to figure out problems and do the research themselves. When children learn this way, it makes them remember what they learn easier due to them researching and presenting their findings. They are proud of their work and want to show off what they have learned.

What I also love about these lesson plans is the integration between nearly all of the subjects and how well it is done. For example, her environmental awareness lesson plan spans across all subjects apart from PE and Gaeilge. Which, in my opinion, is fantastic as it shows the children how equally important all the subjects are and how important they are in everyday life. Whereas when I went to school all the subjects were their own and they overlapped and showed the importance of them all as a group. I also love the broad range of themes that are available.

The higher order questioning that she uses throughout each lesson is brilliant as they are thinking deeply about the subject, growing their opinions and not just scratching the surface.

The variety of fun and interactive activities that she has involved will really boost a classroom atmosphere and will aid the students overall learning throughout the lesson. These are the lessons that students will be talking about for weeks after and will reminisce about when they are older.

I think the most important point with Valerie’s lessons is that the children are having fun and learning at the same time. They aren’t your usual run of the mill lesson from a book, they are active and engaging facilitating the students overall learning experience and making them excited about their learning experience. They are lessons that I cannot wait to teach in the classroom as I know the students will thoroughly enjoy them.

 

Themes:

Units include:

Tom Crean (4TH-6TH)

Africa (4TH-6TH)

Communications and the Media (4TH-6TH)

Transport and Travel (4TH-6TH)

Environmental Studies (4TH-6TH)

Spring (JI-2ND)

Marine Explorers (JI- 2ND)

The Rainforest (4th-6th)

Bia (4th -6th )

These can also be purchased individually for ten euro each.

There are only ten of the Thematic Unit Bumper Packs available at the sale price!

http://www.muinteoirvalerie.com/product/thematic-unit-pack

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