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Téamaí Gaeilge/ Themes for Teaching Irish
In the 1999 curriculum, the teaching of Irish was based around 10 themes:
- Mé féin
- Sa bhaile
- Caitheamh aimsire
- An scoil
- Siopadóireacht
- An teilifís
- Bia
- Éadaí
- Ocáidí speisialta
- An aimsir
With the publication of the Primary Language Curriculum in 2015 and its revised version in 2019, prescriptive themes are no longer listed. This doesn’t mean that teaching thematically is no longer recommended, it just means that there is more freedom and choice for teachers with regard to the themes that they choose. This is a welcome change as themes can be chosen to reflect the current interests of children (for instance, the theme of “An Teilifís” can be replaced with “teicneolaíochta”.
I find thematic teaching excellent as it allows for integration across subjects, and the themes that I use for Gaeilge lessons can be developed further in other subjects. When I plan for Gaeilge, I still use most of the original 1999 curriculum themes, but I also like to link in themes from the Up and Away Curriculum so that it ties in with the work that the children who are English language learners are doing with the EAL teacher.
The following are the themes that I use for teaching Gaeilge and the period of the year that I would them. All of the content within each theme wouldn’t be taught in a single year. I would be inclined to keep the same themes for each class and to develop and build on them more each year.
|
Mí |
Téamaí |
|
M.Fomhair |
-Mé féin (Cé hé mise, na baill chorp, mo cháirde) -An Fomhar (aimsir, éadaí) -Am (laethanta, míonna, an clog srl.) agus na hUimhreacha |
|
D.Fomhair |
-Ar scoil -Ócáidí speisialta: Oíche Shamhna |
|
Samhain |
-An geimhreadh (aimsir, éadaí) -Sa bhaile |
|
Nollaig |
-Ócáidí speisialta: Breithlá (mo bhreithlá, breithlá mo chairde, breithlá Íosa srl.) -An Nollaig (ócáidí speisialta, bia, siopadóireacht, bréagáin, cluichí) |
|
Eanair |
-Bia & siopadóireacht -Daoine a chabhraíonn linn/ postanna |
|
Feabhra |
-An t-earrach (aimsir, éadaí) -Lá fhéile Bhealaintín (ócáidí speisialta) |
|
Marta |
-Lá Féile Pádraig agus Éire (ócáidí speisialta) -An Cháisc (ócáidí speisialta) |
|
Aibreán |
-Caitheamh aimsire (spórt, damhsa, amhránaíocht, bácáil, léitheoireacht, cluichí, ealaín srl.) -Mo cheantar áitiúil |
|
Bealtaine |
-An Samhradh (aimsir, éadaí, saoire) -Éadaí & siopadóireacht |
|
Meitheamh |
-Caitheamh aimsire: teicneolaíochta -Ócáidí speisialta: Lá spóirt -Saoire agus tasiteal (ócáidí speisialta) |
I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any suggestions for other Gaeilge themes, please leave a comment below.
A great post. Very informative. I love your idea of mirroring EAL themes in Gaeilge lessons – a simple and very effective idea, which I’d never thought of! Thanks for your informative posts!