Gaeilge Mé Féin Sheets

I have used these differentiated worksheets in many different ways in the classroom. They are particularly useful if you work in a multi-grade setting or have a wide range of abilities in your class, as there are 5 of each worksheet included.

I really like using these to reinforce vocabulary for the theme of 'Mé Féin' and I have doubled it up to use them for their spellings also.  I usually make a 'Litriú Workbook' and the children add these pages to it each week.

Rather than just learn to spell individual words, I feel it is important that the children can use the word in context so the sheets allow the children to use the vocabulary in sentences.  It also connects all three strands of reading, writing and oral language.

I have used these in station teaching groups and again the children can use a sheet that suits their ability.  I have also used them as a form of assessment of learning.

Included in the bundle are:

-4 subthemes of 'Mé Féin' (aois, Mo Chorp, Mothúcháin and Mé Féin (gruaig/súile)
-5 differentiated worksheets in each (20 sheets in total)

Simply click on the image below if you would like to be redirected to the resource!

Focus on Fuaimeanna

This post focuses on the impact of explicitly teaching fuaimeanna in Gaeilge.

From my own experience, it is an area of Gaeilge that I take for granted especially in the senior end of the school, often presuming that the children understand . However, a couple of years ago when teaching 4th and 5th, I quickly realised that I needed to be more explicit in my teaching of fuaimeanna, just as I would in English.

The benefits were evident in the children's reading fluency and pronunciation. It also really aided their spellings both in written tasks and the weekly scrúdú.

In my class, I used display posters, which I referred to almost daily. I also used these cartaí during Gaeilge stations: matching the fuaim to the correct flashcard.

They are available in 3 different versions on my TPT store: the posters, the matching cards and a set which has both (cheaper as a combo!).  Click on any of the images below to be redirected to download.

  
Any other tips for teaching fuaimeanna in Irish? Add them in the comment box below!

Oral Language Prompt Cards

I usually use these prompt cards during Station Teaching at an Oral Language Station. Generally, I will use one set per month to discuss a certain topic that might tie in with other subjects. However, they could also be used with the whole class.

 

It is a great way to practice turn taking skills with the children and also offers a great opportunity for quieter children to voice their opinion in a smaller group setting. I found the children really engaged well in the discussions and I had more time to listen to their ideas than in the whole class setting.

In Set A, there are 5 topics with 12 prompt cards in each. Set B also has 5 topics with 12 prompt cards. If you rather, you can also get all 10 in one bundle.

If you click on the images below you will be redirected to Teachers Pay Teachers where you can download them.

Jenga Blocks in the Classroom

I purchased this set of Jenga blocks for only €4 in Tesco's last week.

I try to have a few games on each set, to get extra value for money! For example I have multiplication on one side of the blocks and a division set on the other.
Here are a few ways I like to use them in station teaching or as an early finisher activity.

 Maths

• Multiplication and division tables (useful to leave a multiplication square at the station so they can check answers)
• Addition and Subtraction tables for younger classes
• Fractions: 1/4 of 20
• Percentages: 30% of 10
• Decimals: 0.1 of 20
• Number Sequences or patterns: 12, ____, 14 or 3,6,9, ____
• Rounding numbers to nearest 10, 100, 1000

Gaeilge

Write the root of the verbs on the blocks and the children can change the verb to one of the following:

• Aimsir Chaite
• Aimsir Láithreach
• Aimsir Fháistineach
• Question form/negative of verb

English

• Prefix/Suffix

Add a prefix/suffix to each block and the children have to give a word that contains the prefix or suffix

• Phonics 

Put letters and letter blends (e.g. th) on the blocks and the children have to say a word with that letter sound

• Conversation Starters (Oral Language)

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Ways to play

Remove one piece at a time and keep it of you get the answer correct. When the tower collapses, whoever has the most blocks is the winner.

OR

Place each piece on top after you answer the question. Use a whiteboard or paper to record correct answers.

Feel free to add other ideas for using Jenga blocks in the comments below.

Gaeilge Mé Féin Stations/Activities

In another post I have outlined how I approached and structured Gaeilge Station Teaching last year. 

Here are some ideas for doing stations based on the theme of Mé Féin.

Guess who/ Cé tusa?

I had a Guess Who lying around at home from years ago. It is a great way to get the children to use the language based around hair colour, eye colour etc. A little pre teaching of the questions beforehand is all that is needed or give them a laminated list for questions for the first few games to help them. Here are some ideas of questions:

• An bean/cailín í?
• An fear/buachaill é?
• An bhfuil gruaig ________ air/uirthi?
• An bhfuil súile _________ aige/aici?
• An bhfuil sé/sí ard?
• An bhfuil sé/sí íseal?
• An bhfuil sé/sí ramhar?
• An bhfuil sé/sí tanaí?

A lot of families probably have the game so you could ask children to bring it in. Otherwise team up and allow two children to work against two others. For the older students, you can make it trickier by making them miss a turn if they speak any English.

If you don't have the board game, print an A4 page with a photo of each child in the class on it. Use counters to mark off the children as they narrow it down.

Puppets/Puipéid

Last year, I printed out various images from Google, laminated them and stuck them on a lollipop stick. On the back I wrote a number for their age. The children then pretend to be the character and use sentences such as:
'Dia duit! ______ is ainm dom. Táim __________ bliana/mbliana d'aois. Tá gruaig ______ orm. Tá súile _____ agam.'

The children had great fun putting on different accents, especially when they had the opposite gender on their puppet. Alternatively, they can describe the puppet, to practice using air/ uirthi and aige/aici. 

Roleplay/Rólimirt 

Practicing the questions about themselves is very important, not only how to answer questions but also to be able to ask questions. There's a poster set of the questions as well as differentiated rólimirt worksheets available on my TPT store. Click the image below to be redirected.

                                

Mé Féin Bunting

This is a nice scríbhneoireacht activity to do in station teaching as it doesn't take too long and once the children know the language they should be able to do it almost independently. Again, I have differentiated versions available here. 

                                                    

Draw the person/ éist, tarraing agus aimsigh an duine

This could be a nice éisteacht lesson. Read a description of a person to the children (cailín/buachaill, cén sort gruaig, dath na súile,  possibly include éadaí, and a badge with their age).

The children have to draw what they hear in the description and choose who they think it is in the classroom. Maybe it could also be a member of staff!

ICT Games/Cluichí Ríomhaire

These games are from one of the few Gaeilge sites that is very good and has some lovely interactive games. It has some differences in the words as it uses the Northern Irish dialect but is still a great resource to use.

Here are two games that link nicely to Mé Féin. Click on the images to be redirected to the website.

       

       

You could also download the Anseo Corp App onto the computers which has 6 games to revise the body parts. The clickable image will redirect you to where you can download it.

Bingo/Biongó

The children love Biongó. This is a set for the body parts (click on image to download resource). For the older children I make it more challenging by giving them two cards to mark. You can also make it more challenging for the child calling out the words by getting them to put it into a sentence e.g. Ghortaigh mé mo chos.

                                                   

Gaeilge Station Teaching (how it works in my room)

Last year, we decided to try team teaching and station teaching for Gaeilge. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical as to how it would work especially at the independent stations but the benefits were more than I ever expected. These are just a few of the advantages I found:

-development of Oral Language skills,  it gave the children a chance to USE the Gaeilge they already knew in a small group setting
-confidence boosting
-alternative from book (although I did base some stations on tasks similar to the book rather than totally reinventing the wheel!)
-amount of Gaeilge covered (I would never have covered the amount of material in one whole class lesson as I did at the stations)
-FUN for the children and teachers
-opportunity to work with small groups at their pace

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STRUCTURE

• 1 session per week on a Thursday  (as children had opportunity to learn some of the language)
• 4 stations
• 10 minutes per station (manageable and they didn't get bored as time was short)
• 2 teachers (this year I will be doing it by myself but it is great if you have another teacher)

Click on the image below to download free station labels.

Content of Stations

This varied each week but I always linked the content to the theme we were covering. Here are some of the stations I alternated between:

• Labhairt (at least one station every week)

This station changed every week. A few of the activities we did were:

rólimirt, 

board games,  

poster discussion,  

dánta,

nuacht,

conversation flashcards

PE

• Scríbhneoireacht

Some weeks children would practice their litriú for their scrúdú on Friday, write about a picture, put verbs into sentences etc. I usually used the whiteboards at this station so time wasn't wasted ruling copies.

I also worked on sentence structure with the children at this station. Even the older classes find it challenging to follow the correct structure of an Irish sentence. We used lots of flashcards and worked on forming sentences together.

• Gramadach

I found it a really effective way to teach some grammar points and reinforce grammar already taught such as tenses and prepositions.

                                                       

• Éisteacht (usually alternate weeks)

Either using the éisteacht activities from the class book or reading instructions myself, I did éist agus tarrraing, éist agaus scríobh

• Léitheoireacht

I often used texts from the book for this station as I didn't want to bombard my class with more and more texts-the book contains a large amount already. 

• ICT (usually alternate weeks)

This was a great independent station, unfortunately there aren't many high quality Gaeilge websites. Check out http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/snas_ar_sceal/ which has some great interactive games.

Resources

Our school did invest a lot in resources for the Gaeilge Station teaching. Here are some of the resources the school purchased.  Click on each image to be redirected to the website.

                  

Find other Gaeilge ideas here:

Mé Féin Stations/Activities

Literacy Stations Oral Language

In our school this year we have decided to do Literacy Stations in every class once a week. In my room, we do 4 x 20 minute stations. One of the stations we do each week is Oral Language.  All teachers have found it hugely beneficial as some children feel more confident speaking out in a smaller group setting rather than the full class. I have also found that they are more engaged and willing to speak out and it gives me the opportunity to listen to them more than a whole class setting often allows.

Here are a few examples of the types of activities we do during Oral Language.

1. Conversation Cards

Sometimes we use these for the full station and other times we use them to start off the 20 minute lesson.  The school purchased these ones from www.clevermindtoys.ie. They really get the children thinking and also encourage them to wait their turn and listen to others!

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There are also lots available online that can be easily printed and laminated. Click on the images below to be redirected to the resources.

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2. Poetry            

I find this a really effective way to teach poetry as it can be difficult to always get around to it.  I usually pick a poem directly related to what theme I am teaching at the moment and recently we compared and contrasted two poems.      
Some activities we do include:

• our likes/dislikes about the poem
• the theme of the poem
• draw a picture to visual what the poem is about
• make connections to ourselves/other poems 
• identify rhyming patterns
• identify any alliteration, metaphors or similes

3. Discussion Questions

This is similar to the Conversation Cards except it is usually based on our theme or something topical. I usually assign a number to each child and we roll a dice. Whoever's number comes up picks a discussion card and we have a chat together about the issue. Over the past few months we used discussion cards to explore:

• Internet safety
• Friendship Week
• Christmas Traditions around the World
• Racism/discrimination  

Again, the ideas and thoughts that the children come up with as part of a small group never fail to surprise me!

4. Listening & Instructions Activities

I tried this out a few weeks ago as some children still find it difficult to listen to a simple set of instructions. 

First of all, I called out a set of instructions for the children to listen to and draw what they heard. I made it more challenging by not allowing them to ask any questions and I only said each instruction once.

Afterwards, we discussed the challenges including listening carefully and how some instructions were more vague than others.

Then it was the children's turn to pair up. One child had to describe a picture to while the other drew what they interpreted. 

I teach 4th and 5th and they found the exercise really interesting. Now I just have to transfer that to everyday teaching!!

Here are some types of images I used:

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5. Board Games

Not only does it encourage Oral Language skills, it also helps children to pay attention, wait their turn and work co-operatively together.  Our school invested in these board games but we also use the ones from our toy shelf.

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Anyone have any other ideas they find useful or engaging for the children? Feel free to comment below.

Find more resources pinned on my Pinterest for Oral Language here.

Download free station teaching labels by clicking on the following image:

                                         

  

Maths Station Teaching Ideas

This post is about how I structure and plan Maths Stations for my class.

There are many reasons why I feel station teaching is hugely beneficial to the children. These are just a few:

-more child led than teacher led

-allows me to work with smaller groups and give them more reinforcement or challenge them further

-peer learning 

-a chance to tackle problem solving 

-makes Maths FUN

-chance to use concrete materials 

-ICT can be integrated easily

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Structure:

Once per week (in an ideal world but not always the case.)

Two Teachers

It is a lot easier to have a second teacher (usually a Learning Support Teacher) to help you but I have done it myself too.

3 x 10 min slot: 

This year I am hoping to do 3 x 10 minute slots on a Friday. (With the emphasis on the Language Curriculum this year, it is hard to find more time to allocate) In the past, I have spent up to 1 hour at station teaching.

Planning

Grouping

This can be mixed ability or by ability depending on your preference and your class.

 This year I have 5 groups of 4/5 children in each.

Stations

I have six stations organised that the children will work at over a two week period (3 per week). Again these change a bit depending on the topic but here is an idea of how I break it up:

1. Teacher Led (Class Teacher)

The children work with me on a topic we are currently working on such as steps to long division. It gives me a chance to see if the children have any difficulties or if they are ready to move on.

2.  ICT

Using iPads/classroom computer, I will set out 2/3 games on a particular website for the children to try. It will be linked to the topic we are covering or developing tables. In September we will be using www.crackingmaths.ie 

3. Card games

This month we will practice multiplication and place value using cards.

4. Problem Solving

Our school invested in these Maths Boxes (4 levels) a few years ago. It also comes with a CD so you can put them on the IWB. 

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5. Maths Boardgame

Again, we invested in these board games to reinforce maths skills in a fun way.

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6. Teacher Led (Learning Support) 

The Learning Support Teacher will also work with groups so that each week the children work at a teacher led station and two independent stations.