UNIT 08

Title: THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY (Unit 8)

Level: Third cycle (Y6)

Topic:  The Irish Atlantic Coast (Geography and culture)

Didactic main aim: To extend the pupils’ communicative competence by learning the most relevant social and cultural aspects of the English speaking countries studying Irish geography and traditions.

Vocabulary: erosion, bay, cliff, lagoon, cave, arch, blowhole, sand dune, inlet, islet... // break, collapse, eroded, formed... // coastal, large, larger...

Structures: Where's the Wild Atlantic Way? // What can you do there? // Do you want to go there? // What is your favourite hobby?

Socio-cultural aspects: The students will learn the most relevant aspects of the culture: Irish traditions and culture.

Resources: Written and oral descriptions, internet links, the written lyrics of the song of this unit, and videos.

Timing: 7 sessions (45 minutes each one).

SESSION 1 (LISTENING)
a. Warm-up activities: Guess what it is! (8 minutes)
b. Listening (Video about Ireland: The Wild Atlantic Way). (2 minutes)
c. Initial Test: What do you know about this? (17 minutes)
d. Picture Dictionary (Diagrams about coastal landforms) (5 minutes)
e. Final task presentation: Three things we will do in Ireland (10 minutes)
f. End of class routine: Song (The Irish Pub) (3 minutes)

SESSION 2 (SPEAKING)
a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)
b. Invisible words (10 minutes)
c. Vocabulary Bingo. (14 minutes)
d. Bets. (10 minutes)
e. End of class routine: Singing and dancing (6 minutes)

SESSION 3 (READING)
a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)
b. Phonics: Guess the magical formula! (5 minutes)
c. Reading aloud  (20 minutes)
d. Comprehensive reading: Discover the hidden treasures! (9 minutes)
e. End of class routine: Singing and dancing (6 minutes)

SESSION 4 (WRITING)
a. Warm-up activities: Picture Intro (5 minutes)
b. Short Reading (10 minutes)
c. Complete the story (10 minutes)
d. Crosswords. (10 minutes)
e. End of class routine: Fill in the gaps of the lyrics (10 minutes)

SESSION 5 (4 SKILLS)
a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)
b. Let’s Investigate as an archaeologist! (20 minutes)
c. Let’s make a map of Ireland (with play dough) (15 minutes) 
d. End of class routine: 30 seconds (5 minutes)

SESSION 6 (EVALUATION)
a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)
b. WRITTEN TEST
b1. CROSSWORDS (15 minutes)
b2. PICTURE DESCRIPTION (15 minutes)
c. End of class routine: 30 seconds (5 minutes)

SESSION 7 (EVALUATION)
a. Warm-up activities: What's happenning there? (5 minutes)
b. FINAL TASK: Oral Exposition (30 minutes)
c. PORTFOLIO (5 minutes)
d. SELF EVALUATION (5 minutes)

Attention to the diversity - Reinforcement activities
Memory games (words-images), picture dictionary, picture dictation, ordering words...

Early Irish History

Historians estimate that Ireland was first settled by humans at a relatively late stage in European terms – about 10,000 years ago. Around 4000 BC it is estimated that the first farmers arrived in Ireland. Farming marked the arrival of the new Stone Age. Around 300BC, Iron Age warriors known as the Celts came to Ireland from mainland Europe. The Celts had a huge influence on Ireland. Many famous Irish myths stem from stories about Celtic warriors. The current first official language of the Republic of Ireland, Irish (or Gaeilge) stems from Celtic language.


The Viking Era

At the end of the 8th century and during the 9th century Vikings, from where we now call Scandinavia, began to invade and then gradually settle into and mix with Irish society. The Vikings founded, Dublin, Ireland’s capital city in 988. Following the defeat of the Vikings by Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, at Clontarf in 1014, Viking influence faded.

These texts have been taken from this web page:
http://www.livinginireland.ie/en/culture_society/a_brief_history_of_ireland/

You can listen a video in which native speaker reading the texts aloud, so you can use the video as a model of pronunciation.