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60 mins
Teacher/Student led
+75 XP

Two Years of Noticing

Reflect on two years of noticing languages through placenames and maps. Decode familiar place names independently and discuss the difference between knowing about languages and learning one as you prepare for next year.

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    1 - From Counting to Choosing ~5 mins

    Two years ago you counted the languages in this room. You pointed, you guessed, you listed what people already knew a word of.

    Next year the school starts teaching one language properly. One language, every week, with spelling and speaking and real sentences.

    By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

    • Share my language noticing story
    • Decode place names by myself
    • Say knowing-about is different from knowing-one

    2 - Our Two Years as One Story ~10 mins

    Here is the story of what this class has done. After each memory, show a thumbs-up if you remember it.

    • Placenames: churches, forts and oak groves inside Irish road signs
    • False friends: words that look helpful but mean something else
    • Irish nearly stopped: a language can fade when its last speakers go quiet
    • Mixing as skill: using more than one language on purpose
    • Sayings: what people value when they keep repeating the same lines
    • Tunes: a melody passed by ear versus one fixed on a page

    Next year is different. Stage 4 asks you to know one language: greet someone, ask for something, listen for real meaning, and write with care. Everything you have noticed still travels with you. It is the toolkit, not the whole journey.

    Hold this: noticing many languages taught you how language works. Learning one language will teach you how to use it.

    3 - Leinster Names, Read Without Help ~10 mins

    One last decoding for Stage 3. These are Leinster counties and places, names you have met on maps and road signs your whole life.

    We will open each name on the board together. When it is your turn, say what chunks you can see before we reveal.

    4 - Advice for Next Year's Third Class ~5 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    Open your copy. Write the one thing from these two years you would tell next year's 3rd Class not to miss.

    One clear sentence is enough. Make it something only this class could say, not a slogan from a poster.

    5 - One Last Listen ~8 mins

    One last listen. Five short clips, drawn from both years of Stage 3. Name the language you hear, then say the one clue that made you sure.

    These are the sounds you have been collecting since 3rd Class: a rolled r, a nasal vowel, a soft Irish consonant, an ending you have met before.

    Pupil practice
    Module 5 · Cultures, Compared with Care
    Lesson 30 · Two Years of Noticing
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