From the offset this lesson reflects the enquiry/constructivist approach.

The children are first shown

a short film on climate change which outlines the gravatas of the situation facing the planet but
doesn’t provide all the information the children will need to know. This film forms a great basis for
the lesson as it stimulates the children’s interest and gets them engaged with the subject matter.
From this the children begin to construct their own knowledge about the subject.
The lesson then moves on to fun activity which gets the children up and moving. From using the
bingo cards children learn about what contributes and helps stop climate change. Some children will
be able to piece together if these activities positively or negatively effect the environment before the
teacher provides the class with context about them. This way children are constructing their own
learning before their learning later being validated by their

Beginning with my first step of my lesson the enquiry/constructivist approach is evident. The
children are asked straight away upon arriving at the 5-stone circle to take responsibility for their
own learning by observing and analysing the historical site. The teacher takes a backseat for this part
of the lesson and only guides children along the right path without providing the answers. This
enables children to construct their own learning by piecing together the presented information,
using their prior knowledge and cooperating together and sharing ideas.
The second part of the lesson extends upon the enquiry/constructivist approach by employing
elements of art to display visually their current ideas on the topic. With this, children are asked to
implement their understanding onto the page and then sharing this with their peers and comparing.
This use of enquiry allows children to not only share their owns thoughts on the subject but also take
a step back and take in information obtained from their peers.
Finally for the last part children are presented with the correct information about the 5-stone circle
and then get to compare this newfound information with their own theories. Through this and group
discussion children make full use of the constructivist/enquiry approach, whereas they are able to
apply what they’ve learned about the site and see how it differs from it’s true purpose, thus giving
them a greater understanding overall of the topic.

I believe my teaching and learning strategies will be perfect for teaching 5 th and 6th class children. The constructivist
approach to learning allows the children to take responsibility for their own learning to a certain degree. The children
in charge of their own learning at the beginning and tasked with constructing their own hypothesis/ theory for the
purpose of the historical site based off the information presented. I believe this strategy of learning is the most effec
way of developing understanding of a giving topic as the children piece together the information themselves.
The use of pair work and group discussion will be key to achieving desired learning outcomes in this lesson. Children
to bounce ideas off each other while also giving and taking feedback on ideas to develop their thinking around the to
this is central to the constructivist approach.
Another lesson could be done on the Celtic iron age period in Ireland which proceeded the bronze age people. This w
add context to the previous lesson about how people of the bronze age evolved over time. The key differences betw
the two periods could be emphasised also. The lesson could revolve around the preserved celtic iron age man that w
found in a bog in Cashel for example (Which could pertain to local studies/place).
Further development of this lesson could be done in a geography lesson where the types of rocks and how they are
formed could be covered. This could provide context for the children as to how old these rocks are and where they c
have been sourced from.

 Investigate and cooperate together to surmise a theory of what the 5-stone circle was used
for.

 Develop a deeper understanding of why the 5-stone circle was so significant to the bronze
age people.
 Be able to differentiate fully between given ancient peoples (stone age, bronze age, iron age
etc)