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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Star Gazing
Star Gazing
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spinney
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Star Gazing
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Hello to everybody, I hope you are all looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend and a well-deserved rest. Sorry, I haven�t been active on here for a while, I am up to my neck in work ever since getting back into this summer camp malarky. A couple of pleas for help on a pair of topics: 1. One of the camps we are organising has decided to do a star-gazing night. I would like to include some kind of English speaking workshop or series of games/activities to complement the night-time astronomy session. 2. I have to hire somebody who will take charge of a group (5 only) of kids between the ages of 7 and 8 who are going to a summer camp but cannot join in the main activities because of health and safety (activities such as surfing and kayaking are not allowed for that age group). The person I am hiring will also need to keep a group of 40 kids entertained on a bus for nearly 7 hours. This person will also have to look after one kid of 7 years of age for one week at the same camp after the first week has finished. I have some ideas for this monitor, but two weeks is a long time so, any more suggestions for fun, non-writing, speaking and listeining activities would be really appreciated. Actually finding someone willing to do this, well, that´s another story ...  |
18 Jun 2021
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ElizBth
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Summer camp sounds wonderful, I would love to do that job, to bad I�m in Peru and we are in the middle of the school year.
Arts and crafts are a good idea with that age group, if I had outdoor access I would have them collecting things first, leaves and twigs and rocks or even sand to build something or to use in a painting of sorts. That can keep them busy for sometime.
Lots of songs and stories for the bus drive.
Sorry I�m new here, I hope it�s ok to talk a lot. My cousin recommended the site, I�m a new teacher.
Cheers
Eli |
18 Jun 2021
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spinney
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Thank you for your contribution, Eli. Sound ideas, every one of them. Every little helps, and you are more than welcome to chat as much as you want. A big and hearty welcome to you. This a lovely site full of lovely and very helpful people. It�s good to have you with us!  |
18 Jun 2021
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yanogator
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Hi, Dale, For star gazing, I recommend telling the stories from classical mythology behind some of the constellations. Bruce |
18 Jun 2021
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redcamarocruiser
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/atlanticcoastcharters.com/avoid-boredom-on-a-charter-bus-for-a-school-field-trip-with-fun-games/amp/ suggests thr I SPY game. |
18 Jun 2021
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kwsp
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Thinking of star gazing reminds me of a poem we always used to say:
"Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight." - -
Maybe the students could make a planet mobile? - - You might find some craft ideas and recommended book titles here: https://www.fun365.orientaltrading.com/article/fun-space-crafts-for-kids
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18 Jun 2021
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Jayho
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Hi spinney
Malarky - love that word!
I think a really interesting activity would be to do something relating to the zodiac star signs. This worksheet here (by an astronomical society) has some interesting ideas to give food for thought. Link: https://astrosociety.org/file_download/inline/b93fa8d7-4dc5-4372-9270-feacd73ac56d OneStop English has a free worksheet on comparing Western and Chinese astrology, so that might be a fun concept to explore as well. Link: https://www.onestopenglish.com/reading/reading-lesson-plans-astrology/154507.article Here is a link to a science project exploring whether astrology works. It uses Myers-Briggs. It looks really interesting to me because I know about Myers-Briggs. Maybe it is something to consider? Link: https://www.education.com/science-fair/article/does-astrology-work/ Cheers Jayho
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19 Jun 2021
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redcamarocruiser
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bus.com/blog/songs-to-sing-on-the-bus/%3famp suggests songs to sing on the bus such as "99 bottles of pop on the wall."
What about "Going on a bear hunt" or "the house that Jack built."
https://campsongs.wordpress.com/songs/repeat-after-me-song-list/ has some "Repeat after me chants".
How about an audio book you play for the students?
Snacks? Card games?
Does the bus have wifi?
https://www.parentmap.com/article/stargazing-crafts/1#pager-content has ideas for crafts related to star gazing.
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19 Jun 2021
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douglas
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Similar to what some have suggested, but based too on their English levels-- a round-robin story-telling using the constellations a s focal points could be fun and effective. "Okay, I will start the story. We all know that Orion is the hunter and quite easy to find in the sky." (point it out). "Well, one day Orion was out hunting, it was a rather warm day and he had been tracking his game for some hours. He came a upon a stream and knelt to fill his water skin and quench his thirst." (some depict the constellation to depict Orion as kneeling at a stream) "Well, as Orion was filling his skin, he heard a noise and looked up to see..." At this point another student picks up the story and ties in another constellation, etc. etc... alt: students pick their favorite constellation or star and write a continuation of the story.
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21 Jun 2021
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yanogator
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I think Douglas�s idea is great. Have each of them choose a constellation before the activity begins, so they can all think about how they want to bring it into the story. Bruce |
21 Jun 2021
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spinney
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Hi People! Thank you all so much for these ideas. As it goes, bringing mythology about Mars, Jupiter, and the likes has already been discussed and decided on by our specialist story-telling monitor. I was thinking that we could also get the kids to invent reasons why some constellations and asterisms have their names. But now we have even more ideas, thanks to you guys! |
22 Jun 2021
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