Welcome to the SLSS English Support Service Website

Brief Guide to 2012 Texts

Brainfood.ie Fantasy Writing Competition

The Brainfood.ie Fantasy Writing Competition wants to feed the imaginations of primary and secondary school students in the Republic of Ireland by asking them to compose their own original fantasy short story. This competition will enable students to really tap into their creativity while simultaneously improving their writing and vocabulary skills. Please click here

for further details.

Schools' Performance of O' Casey's The Plough and the Stars 2pm, Tuesday, 21st September 2010

As you may know the Abbey Theatre is staging Sean O' Casey's classic The Plough and the Stars over the summer and the run will continue into the autumn school term until 25th September 2010.

Given that the play is one of the prescribed texts for the Leaving Certificate 2011 the Abbey Theatre would like to faciliate students and teachers to see this first class production. Therefore we have scheduled a performance for schools at 2pm on Tuesday, 21st September 2010.

Now regarded as a masterpiece, The Plough and the Stars is one of the plays most closely associated with the Abbey Theatre. Set in a tenement house, againgt the backdrop of the Easter Rising in 1916, The Plough and the Stars is both an intimate play about the lives of ordinary people and an epic play about ideals and the birth of our nation.

Heartbreaking, disturbing and very funny, The Plough and the Stars is an historic play that every generation needs to see. Director Wayne Jordan brings the fresh perspective of a new generation to this iconic play.

We anticipate that there will be great interest in booking for this performance and that is why we are notifying you at this early stage. Tickets are €13 per student (with one free ticket for a teacher for every ten tickets purchased). We advise booking as soon as possible. Please contact our Box Office on 01 8787222 or email groups@abbeytheatre.ie

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your students the best of luck for this year's state exams.

A Meath Anthology

Poems to do with County Meath by Heaney, Longley, Mahon, Fallon, Boland, Ni Dhomhnaill, Carson, Bolger, Kavanagh, Ledwidge, Swift and a host of other poets will be launched in Navan Library on Wednesday, 30th June at 7.30pm. English teachers from secondary level are invited to the launch on behalf of the County Librarian and Meath County Council.

Teaching English Magazine - Spring 2010 is available to download

Teaching English Magazine Spring 2010 - Full Colour resource/virtual

Teaching English Magazine Spring 2010 - Text Only resource/virtual

To coincide with the special edition of the magazine on First Year English, eleven teachers of English speak about their involvement in our First Year project.

Meeting Billy Roche

Larry Cotter describes introducing his first year class of boys to Shakespeare’s ‘Shall I Compare Thee?’ After their exploration of the poem, the students viewed and discussed Shakespeare in Love. The final activity in this unit of work was a visit from the playwright, actor, director and musician, Billy Roche. The audio file concludes with a number of students describing ‘Meeting Billy Roche’. http://c/6/35/Larry Cotter 'Meeting Billy Roche'.mp3

Success and Enjoyment

Martin O’ Neill gives an overview of his work with his first year English class. He describes the effect of reading Private Peaceful aloud in class. Another success was the film, Bridge to Terabithia. The students compiled their own anthology of poems. Martin expresses a number of wishes for first year students. http://c/6/36/Martin O'Neill 'Sucess and Enjoyment'.mp3

A Letter to Your Future Self

Maria Foley stresses the benefits of collaborating with a colleague. She mentions the emphasis placed on the personal reading of the students and then describes two units of work undertaken with her first year class of girls. One was a language and autobiographical unit, built around Roald Dahl’s Boy, which finished with the girls writing a letter to their future selves. The letters will be presented to the class at their graduation. The other unit was an introduction to Shakespeare. Maria expresses amazement at the amount of work the students undertook. http://c/6/37/Maria Foley 'A Letter to Your Future Self'.mp3

The Importance of Being First Years

Niamh Murphy reflects on the importance of the year for students. She recalls the students’ enjoyment of simply listening to the novel Private Peaceful being read aloud. The reading of the novel lead to interesting group projects which demonstrated the students’ understanding and knowledge of the text. http://c/6/38/Niamh Murphy 'The Importance of Being First Years'.mp3

Directing Yourself.

Catherine Leddin extols the virtue of individual reading and self-directed drama and describes how the students organised themselves to dramatise excerpts from a number of plays. http://c/6/39/Catherine Leddin 'Directing Yourself'.mp3

Departing from the Textbook

Kevin Mc Caron discusses departing from the textbook and creating units of work. He describes using film in a planned way and the issue of covering the school’s first year programme for English. He recommends the film Bridge to Terabithia, Private Peaceful and the DVD of Janey Mary. http://c/6/40/Kevin Mc Carron 'Departing from the Textbook'.mp3

Freshening Things Up

Niamh Martin reflects on the success of the Reading Factor and Bridge to Terabithia. She refers to the usefulness of student profiling and notes how the project helped her to take a fresh look at First Year English. http://c/6/41/Niamh Martin 'Freshening Things Up'.mp3

Reading Groups

Catherine O’Sullivan gives a clear account of Group Reading with her first year class. She describes how she set up the groups; the various stages in the project; and the success of the venture both from her point-of-view and that of the students. Catherine concludes by mentioning the novels that worked well.http://c/6/42/Catherine O' Sullivan 'Reading Groups'.mp3

Astounding Students

Una Smith reports that using short films worked really well, particularly Vanessa Gildea’s The White Dress. Students were astounded that so much work was accomplished using freeze frame or working in groups to make large posters of individual poems. The novel Private Peaceful was new to Una and generated a whole variety of work, with the students contributing their suggestions. http://c/6/43/Una Smith 'Astounding Students'.mp3

Getting Everything Done

Catherine O’ Sullivan and Una Smith speak on the benefits of profiling students and the balance between having fun and covering all the topics and skills for first year. http://c/6/44/Catherine O Sullivan and Una Smith 'Getting Everything Done'.mp3

Mary Ate the Cake

Frances Cotter describes a unit on developing presentation skills for debating with her first year class of girls. http://c/6/45/Frances Cotter 'Mary Ate the Cake'.mp3

Reading, Reading, Reading

Joan Colbert relates the emphasis placed on reading novels during first year. She describes how the novels were used to cover all the writing tasks for the year. She mentions the popularity of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses. http://c/6/46/Joan Colbert 'Reading, Reading, Reading'.mp3

The Reading Factor

Joan Colbert outlines the Reading Factor, a scheme of group reading that incorporated public speaking and peer assessment. Joan goes on to describe her own use of criteria for success in her teaching of the class and the way in which this fostered independent learning and reduced corrections. http://c/6/47/Joan Colbert 'The Reading Factor'.mp3

Teaching English Magazine National Poetry Competition - Write a Poem Competition 2010 - New Closing Date

Last Year, the Teaching English Magazine Poetry Competition attracted over 1000 entries. This year the Teaching English magazine is again inviting students to Write a Poem. There are two categories: Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle. We hope that the competition will encourage young writers to compose poetry and encourage teachers to support the writing of poetry.

Rules of the Competition.

Each entrant may submit one poem.

Each entry must be typed or written clearly in legible handwriting

Each entry must contain:

The Title of the Poem.

The Name of the Entrant,

The Name and Address of the School.

The Category.

Each entry must be stamped by the school or signed by an English Teacher.

Where an entry is modelled on, or written in response to, a poem, the name of the poem and the poet must be clearly stated on the entry and, where possible, a copy of the original poem should be enclosed.

All entries must be sent to Joan Shankey, English Administrator, SLSS, Navan Education Centre, Athlumney, Navan, Co. Meath.

Please note that entrants should keep a copy of their poems, as no poems will be returned.

Prizes

For the Writers

The winning poets in each section will receive a cash prize, a commemorative plaque and their poem will be printed in the Winter 2010 issue of the Teaching English Magazine.

Prizes will be presented at an award ceremony organised in association with Laois Education Centre and Poetry Ireland.

For the Teachers

The teacher of the winning entrant, in each section, will receive a copy of the poetry anthology, Being Alive.

For the Schools

The school of the first and second place winning poets, in each section, will be invited to participate in Poetry Ireland’s Writer-in-Residence Scheme.

New Closing date for receipt of entries is Friday, 23rd April, 2010.

Blackwater Projects presents Playing with Shakespeare for Leaving Certificate students

at The Helix Theatre April 26^th- May1st.

Touring Ireland during 2010.

Theatre production company Blackwater Projects has devised a series of workshops called Playing With Shakespeare to help Leaving Cert students approach the Shakespeare question on the English exam paper.

Recognising the difficulties that many students face in understanding the language and cultural context of Shakespearian text, Blackwater Projects’ workshops aim to build a basis of understanding of the relevant and contemporary themes and characters that lie beneath the text of their Shakespearian play. The workshops will help to motivate and educate the students to a level where they can comprehend and engage with any question on the prescribed Shakespearian text in the Leaving Cert exam paper.

The workshops are run by a team of professional actors and tutors. Working with this team the students will re write, perform and critique certain scenes- translating existing dialogue into contemporary and colloquial English. The tutor engages the students verbally while the actor works interactively with the group.

The Shakespeare exam question offers a potential 60 marks out of 180—the workshops merge academic and theatrical disciplines to equip the student with the necessary skills to tackle the exam question.

Playing With Shakespeare strives to provide the students with a key to open the door to understanding and celebrating the language of Shakespeare, and appreciating the themes and context of the text.

Most importantly, the workshops aim to help the students bring a new found confidence and dexterity to the Shakespeare question on their Leaving Cert exam.

Playing With Shakespeare at The Helix Theatre April 26th-May 1st. Booking 01 700 7000

Playing With Shakespeare will operate nationwide on an advance booking basis. Booking Information: www.blackwater.jp

Blackwater Projects producer Greg McGeough spent four years working and studying in Japan along with company partner Niall Mulligan. They worked on a number of theatrical projects there before returning to Dublin to begin producing for the Irish theatre.

Phil Kingston has been teaching children's drama and running story telling workshops in Northern Ireland for the last 10 years. He has designed educational materials for children and teenagers, and trained teachers in the use of drama in the classroom. Phil is the primary author of Playing with Shakespeare.

Members of the panel of tutors Phil Kingston, Charlie Bonner, Niamh Shaw, Duncan Hamilton, Malachy McKenna www.blackwater.jp

Listings and Booking Information

The Helix Theatre 01 700 7000

April 26th-May 1st

www.helix.ie

Christine Sheridan.
Lan: +353 1 2843479
Mob: +353 86 8977798

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Special Film Event for TY

Dublin City Libraries’ One City One Book has nominated Oscar Wilde’s classic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray as its choice for 2010. To mark the event, the IFI will screen a number of films, including the1945 adaptation of Wilde’s novel by the director Albert Lewin. For full details of the screening, click here. resource/virtual

Prescribed Material for English in the Leaving Certificate in 2012

Prescribed List of Leaving Certificate Texts 2012

Teaching English Magazine Autumn 2009 Edition is available to download

Teaching English Magazine Autumn 2009 - Full Colour click here

Teaching English Magazine Autumn 2009 - Text Only click here

Language Teachers

Local Facilitators for Languages

The Second Level Support Service is looking to work with English teachers and teachers of Modern Languages interested in facilitating events in their local education centre for fellow language teachers. We are looking to meet teachers who love teaching their subject and who would like to share their enthusiasm with colleagues. If you are interested in becoming involved as a local facilitator, you are invited to contact Dr Kevin Mc Dermott, National Co-ordinator of Languages, Second Level Support (kevinmcdermott@slss.ie) with your contact details and you will be added to the mailing list for future events. Initially, we will be holding three one-day events around the country (Cork, Athlone and Dublin) in October and November. So, if you would like to meet other dynamic, creative teachers of language and attend one of our events, forward your details without delay.

Kevin Mc Dermott, National Co-ordinator for Languages, Second Level Support Service, Navan Education Centre, Athlumney, Navan, County Meath.

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Posting a Contribution on the English Website

All participants on our courses who would like to post a contribution on our website please click on this forum link or on the menu bar on the left hand side of the home page

Developing Approaches to Learning and Teaching in the First Year English Classroom

Alec Mac Alister of the English Support Service has uploaded these two documents which he has used in the Modular Course on Learning and Teaching in the First Year English Classroom.

The first is the 'SMOG Readability Grading Process' (the short version) which can be used as a useful check for a general indication of the readabilitiy of any piece of text in English. This is not a test for reading age.

The full article can be accessed at http://www.harrymclaughlin.com/SMOG_Readability_Formula_G._Harry_McLaughlin_(1969).pdf

SMOG_TEST.doc

The second is an editable Word Document: 'Talk about yourself as a learner of English' to help pupils assess themselves as learners as an aid to teachers in all settings but particularly so inmixed ability environments. First_year_learning_ASK.doc

Resources for Teaching Junior Certificate English

The English Support Service has put together a folder of resources for teachers of Junior Certificate English. The folder includes: English Support Service Handouts; Articles from the Teaching English Magazine; Book Suggestions; Offical Documents from the DES and SEC; NCCA reports as well as resources on Reflective Practice. We think the folder will be of interest to individual teachers, English Departments and teachers considering undertaking a project on any aspect of teaching English in a Junior Cycle English class.

Click on link to download resources http://www.crisp.ie/slss

New Organisation for Teachers of English

The Irish National Organisation for Teachers of English (INOTE) was established in October 2008 and already has 21 branches around the country.

The Chairperson of INOTE is Larry Cotter of St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny

The other national officers of INOTE are:

Fiona Kirwan, Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne, An Daingean Ui Chuis

Theresa Mc Kenna, Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Co. Meath

France Rocks, St. Vincent's Secondary School, Dundalk, Co. Louth

Cathy Keane, Rockford Manor School, Blackrock, Co. Dublin

Roisin Ni Mhorain, Colaiste Cois Life, Lucan, Co. Dublin

The establishment of the organisation is an exciting new chapter in the history of English subject associations in Ireland and the English Support Service wishes the new organisation every success. For more information on the Irish National Organisation for Teachers of English, please go to www.inote.ie

Created: September 29, 2005 19:59, Last Updated: September 01, 2010 10:51.