I remember my early days in Mary I when 'integration' was the buzz word and it was mentioned at least twice every lecture! I can't say that it made a whole lot of sense to me at the time as I was only learning my craft. The Revised Curriculum was in the process of being launched (shhh don't tell anyone that I was around way back then!) and one of the guiding principles of this Revised Curriculum was that 'learning is most effective when it is integrated'. (Introduction, Revised Curriculum 1999, p 9)
Na laethanta seo agus níos mó blianta ná gur mhaith liom a admháil déanta agam ní fhéadfainn mo stíl mhúinteoireachta a shamhlú gan nascadh, comhtháthú nó téama. Bíonn tábla agam fiú ag tús m'fhillteán pleanála ag déanamh cur síos ar an bpleanáil téamach don bhliain!
And now here I am, with a fair few years teaching under my belt, unable to imagine describing my teaching style without using terms like linked, integrated or theme. I even have a table printed at the beginning of my planning folder detailing my thematic planning for the year!
Bíonn sé éasca téama a roghnú ag amanta áirithe i rith na bliana, na cinn a léimeann amach ná Oíche Shamhna, An Nollaig, Lá 'le Pádraig. Tarlaíonn sé go héasca, uaireanta ní bhíonn a fhios agat go bhfuil sé á dhéanamh agat! Uaireanta eile níl sé chomh héasca san. Déanaim iarracht litearthacht a bheith mar chuid de mo cheachtanna staire agus is as sin a thosaíonn an téama. Muna raibh fhios agat faoin am seo is aoibhinn liom filíocht freisin agus bíonn sé éasca go leor sna hardranganna teacht ar dhánta a théann le tréimhsí áirithe staire. Mar shampla, nuair a bhím ag múineadh faoi shaolta Florence Nightingale agus Mary Seacole (nascadh!!!) déanaim an dán "The Charge of the Light Brigade". Ní luaitear éinne den bheirt sa dán seo ach is cur síos é faoi chath le linn Cogadh Crimea, agus is lena linn a tháinig clú agus cáil ar Nightingale. Is féidir níos mó nascadh a dhéanamh leis an dtéama seo má dhéanann tú Cúram na nEaslán tríd na haoiseanna sa stair freisin. Is téama gearr é seo ach tríd an nascadh thar churaclam na staire is féidir leis na daltaí comparáid agus codarsnacht a dhéanamh ar éispéireas dhá altra agus tuiscint a fháil ar an gcaoi a d'athraigh cúrsaí leighis tríd na haoiseanna.
Certain times of the year lend themselves to thematic planning such as Hallowe'en, Christmas and St Patrick's Day; you may not even realise that you're doing it! Other times it isn't so easy. I try to integrate literacy into my history lessons and this generally is where my theme starts. In case you hadn't guessed by now, I also love poetry and it's easy enough in the senior classes to find poetry about certain periods in History. For example when I teach about Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole (linkage!!!) I generally do the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". This poem makes no mention of either women but it is about the Crimean War and this is where Florence Nightingale rose to fame. Further linkage within History is also possible with a lesson on Care of the Sick throughout the ages. This is a short theme but the linkage across the history curriculum allows the children to compare and contrast the experiences of two nurses and to build on their understanding of how medicine has changed.
Thíos tá dhá íomhá le 12 téama a d'úsáid mé le Rang 6 anuraidh.
The images below contain 12 themes that I used with 6th Class last year.
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