March 2019 – Mash.ie

Review: Science: A STEM approach (Prim-Ed)

Science: A STEM Approach is a series of copymaster books that runs from Infants class to Sixth Class. It uses a STEM project(more about that later) to support the Science curriculum. Each book is divided into four sections-Living things, Energy and forces, Materials and Earth and the environment so it can also support integration of the geography curriculum as well. What is STEM? STEM is the buzz word currently, especially with the Department of Education despite the fact STEM is not a curriculum subject! STEM is the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts using project based and cooperative learning. Breakdown of the units Each of the four units detailed above is broken down further into lessons, summative assessment test with teacher notes and a STEM project. Science: A STEM approach...

Using Musical Instruments in the Classroom

This month we welcome one of our sellers Shane Mc Kenna from Dabbledoo Music. You can find Dabbledoo Music's Mash Store here. The first time you hand out instruments to a room full of eight year olds is a scary moment. The noise levels start to rise. One child is putting every ounce of strength and concentration into banging that cymbal as loud as possible. Another puts their triangle down to covers their ears. You are in the middle of it all handing out shakers and trying to keep control. This was my first experience anyway. I had studied music education for secondary school and then a Masters in music technology, so it had been a while since I'd been in a classroom and I had never attempted to give a full class an instrument! My Masters thesis was about new types of music notation for education and use in the classroom...