’Ireland in Schoolsă
Delivering the NLS through Ireland
QLS, Staffordshire
Myths & legends
The Sea Woman
Year 5 Scheme of Work
Literacy Hour & Beyond
’Irish literature has created a magical learning environment for our children, its
range and quality enabling all of them to participate in our Ireland project and to
produce work of fantastic quality.
Barbara Heath & Jo Robinson
Gorsemoor Primary School
Contents
Gorsemoor‘s Irish project
1
The story
2
The author and illustrator
3
Lesson plans
4
A range of activities
5
Writing frames
7
Children‘s work
The seaman‘s first dive
Mood graph of the Seawoman
The Ocean Times: áSea Woman Washed up‘
Poems: áI need you ...‘
14
15
16
17
Gorsemoor‘s Ireland project
Gorsemoor Primary School lies on a large new housing estate on the outskirts of Cannock in Staffordshire. A 5-11 school
with an Early Years unit, it has 430 pupils on roll. For two years the school has made a special study of the island of Ireland
in Years 5 and 6, particularly by using Irish texts in the Literacy Hour. The school re-inforces this learning experience with
visits by Irish authors and by forging links with children in a primary school in Belfast and another in County Dublin.
Involving all children
In Years 5 and 6 there are some very gifted children, but there is also a significant minority of children on the Special
Education Needs register - 18 in the current school year (2001-2), of whom 15 are boys. The range and quality of Irish
children‘s literature suits such a mix of children, allowing all the children to participate in a common project. They can all
enjoy reading books which are suited to their individual interests and abilities.
Teaching schemes
For the texts used, Gorsemoor has produced teaching schemes, which generally contain NLS weekly planning sheets,
examples of worksheets etc., and samples of children‘s work. The schemes are reproduced in pdf format in the ’Ireland in Schools
CD-ROM, No. 01. The location of each scheme on the CD-ROM is given in italics.
Setting the scene
Children are introduced to the island of Ireland through cross-curricular activity sheets (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the History &
citizenship directory: C208 Ireland Activity Sheets) .
Myths and legends
Among Irish myths, legends and fairy tales, the one which most captures the children‘s imagination is áThe Sea Woman‘
as retold by Sionbhe Lally in the lavishly illustrated Favourite Irish Fairy Tales.
Other texts used
The favourite novel is an historical one - Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna (O‘Brien Press, O-86278206-6), the first of an award-winning trilogy, with exciting cross-curricular potential (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the Literature & literacy
directory: L217 Under the Hawthorn Tree - Famine Story). A Channel 4 film of the book assists the less able and reluctant
readers, as does the existence of excellent easy readers on the famine (such as The Great Hunger by Malachy Doyle,
Franklin Watts, 0-74963-447-2, and Famine by Arthur McKeown, Poolbeg, 1-85371-505-0).
Reluctant readers among the boys have responded well to fast-moving fantasies by Irish authors, such as The Battle below
Giltspur by Cormac MacRaois, Wolfhound Press, 0-86327-356-4 (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the Literature & literacy directory: L211
and L216), and Cirque du Freak, by the young Irish author Darren Shan, Harper Collins, 0-00675-416-3 (IiS CD-Rom 01in
the New trials directory: NL221 Cirque du Freak). Finally, it remains to be seen how the children respond to the reality of urban
life in contemporary Ireland when they begin reading The Moon King by Siobhan Parkinson, (O‘Brien Press, O-86278-5731).
SEN
Books like The Lough Neagh Monster (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the New trials directory: NL223 Irish & Other Monsters) enable the
children with special education needs to play a full part in the Ireland project. Such stories provide high interest material
at a low reading age while at the same time offering opportunities to address key grammatical features and extend spoken
vocabulary.
Another favourite with this group is the tale of the two giants, the outwitting of Cucullin by Finn MacCoul and his fearless
wife (IiS CD-Rom 01 in the New trials directory: NL222 Giants Week). The group will shortly read two books by Siobhan
Parkinson, an author who is fast becoming a favourite in Years 5 and 6: The Leprechaun Who Wished He Wasn t (O‘Brien
Press, 0-86278-334-8) and Cows Are Vegetarians, the misadventures of a Dublin girl visiting her cousins in the country
(O‘Brien Press, 0-86278-694-0).
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 1
The story
The Sea Woman‘
There once was a fisherman who was spreading his nets near the seashore one day when he heard a sweet voice singing a
strange lonesome song. He looked to see where the singing came from. On a rock at the edge of the waves he saw a
beautiful sea maiden combing her long hair and singing.
He saw that she had taken off the magic cap which sea people wear under the water and left it sitting beside her on the rock.
He crept up behind her while she combed and sang and, when he was close enough, he seized her in his arms. The sea
maiden screamed and struggled but could not escape.
So began a life on the land in which the Sea Woman married the fisherman and had children, apparently enjoying a normal
family life but secretly pining for the sea. One day, however, the Sea Woman discovered her sea cap, which her husband
had hidden in the potato pit, and fled to the sea with only one álong lonesome look‘ at her sobbing children who never saw
her again. It was said that they and their descendants never ate fish for fear of eating one of their own relations.
The collection
áThe Sea Woman‘ is one of seven stories in Favourite Irish Fairy Tales (Poolbeg Press, 1-85371-777-0). The other stories
are áThe Story of Bran‘; áThe Children of Lir‘; áHow Cuchulainn Got His Name‘; áOisın in the Land of Youth‘; áThe Brown
Bull of Cooley‘; The Salmon of Wisdom‘.
Retold by Soinbhe Lally and sumptuously illustrated by Finbarr O‘Connor, they create magical worlds where magnificent
heroes, beautiful maidens and evil villains abound.
Many of the stories Soinbhe Lally áheard from story tellers when I was a child. Others I found in books. To a child they
are windows which open upon glowing landscapes of the imagination.‘
Cross-curricular possibilities
The Sea Woman offers rich possibilities for further work on the Literacy beyond are and beyond, some of which are
suggested in áHuman Beings under a Spell‘ on the Ireland in Schools CD-Rom 01in the Literature & literacy directory:
L219.
Literature & literacy
Oral tradition - seal folklore
áThe Conneelys and the Seals‘,
http://www.wildireland.ie/irishsealsanctuary/html/folklore1.htmframes.folklore.hmt
A modern story - a merman
áKevin‘s Story‘ in Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (maybe), by Siobhan Parkinson, O‘Brien Press,
0-86278-515-4, 82-9
Natural history
áSeal Hunters, Co. Mayo‘, National Library of Ireland, Ireland 1860-80 from Stereo Photographs
The Irish Seal Sanctuary, Garristown, Co. Dublin, & the Release of Bran, the Grey Seal,
http://www.wildireland.ie/irishsealsanctuary
Music
áThe Maid from the Sea‘, a traditional Irish air, recorded for áIreland in Schools‘ by Extra Stout, an ensemble
specialising in traditional Irish music (about 3 minutes).
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 2
The author & illustrator
Sionbhe Lally was born in Northern Ireland. A graduate of Queen‘s University, Belfast, she lives with her husband and
children in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. A playwright, short story writer and a winner of awards, she has
written several children‘s books for the Poolbeg Press including A Hive for A Honey Bee and The Hungry Wind, a
compelling story about flight to Australia from famine in Ireland in the 1840s.
Finnbarr O‘Connor was born in Cork in the Irish Republic, where he lives and works. He obtained a Higher National
Diploma in illustration at Falmouth School of Art and Design in England. He has illustrated an Irish language book on
World Folk Mythology, Irish postage stamps and many book covers. Favourite Irish Tales is his first picture book.
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 3
NATIONAL LITERACY KS2 PLANNING SHEET
Class: Year 5 Text used:
Term 2
SPELLING PATTERNS
áSea Woman‘ in Favourite Irish Tales
by Soinbhe Lally, illustrated by Finbarr O‘Connor
Y5 spelling folder
TOP:
} sea woman descendant
MIDDLE: } empathy
submarine
BOTTOM: } marine
aqeous
mermaid
sub aqua
depend
Week:
Range:
Myths/legends
* indicates opportunities for Speaking and Listening
WK
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
WHOLE CLASS
SHARED TEXT WORK
WHOLE CLASS
WORD/SENTC WORK
Homework:
㺥 To write sea woman poems using
the writing frame (T10)
INDEPENDENT WORK
GUIDES GROUP
READING/WRITING (Y3/4)
PLENARY (Y5/6)
M
Oral/written story telling (T1)
To identify/consolidate spelling
patterns linked to verbs - spelling
conventions, word ending with
short vowel, eg, sit/sitting (W4)
To understand consistence of tense
and subject (S2
Read the story of the Sea woman.
Stop at appropriate points to raise
issues/questions, such as magic
cap/potato pit/ she could not speak
To identify the verbs in the test.
Make a list of those ending in áing‘
and áed‘. Discuss spelling patterns
in terms of when you double
consonant (sit/sitting) and ád‘ and
áed‘ endings (ceased/screamed)
What evidence is there to say she
is/is not a mermaid
Class discussion on moral
issues/key questions:
Was it right the man trapped her?
Do you think he loved her?
Her mixed feelings to stay with
children/return to the sea
Why didn‘t she look back?
Why didn‘t they eat fish again?
To explore the children‘s feelings
about the story (PSHE link)
To relate to children‘s own
feelings of happy/sad times in their
lives
T
Adjectives/antonyms (W10)
To identify pictures in the text (T1)
To identify the point of view from
which the story is told and how it
affects readers‘ responses (Term 3
T2; T1 patterns of relationships etc.)
Reread the story but this time the
children, not the teacher, read it,
with emphasis on appropriate
expressions and the use of
punctuation
To consolidate áadjectives‘ brainstorm adjectives that describe
the emotions of sea woman to
assist in mood graph
(Extension for higher group: dad;
children)
To devise mood graphs (see
attached writing frame)
Reflecting on the previous day‘s
discussion, ask the children to
empathise with sea woman‘s mood
Children to read out their mood
graphs, encouraging children to
reflect on personal emotions/bad
language, especially the boys)
W
Children to write clear sentences
(S6, S7) that express a child‘s point
of view (W12), using metaphorical
expressions/everyday life
Poetry writing - structure of a
poem/review editing (T12, T13)
Read áemotions; poems to
stimulate feelings:
áWho‘s been sleeping in my
porridge‘ by Colin McNaughton
áThe bogey man‘ by Jack
Prelutsky
Dependent theory. Explain what
we are looking for in poems áI
need you like ...‘
á... a mother needs a child‘, á... a
boat needs a lake‘ etc.
Think of examples.
Discuss in class
áI need you work‘ - see attached
writing frame
Children to write about the
importance of áneeding‘
someone/thing, linking the need to
people/tangible objects
Children to read out their poems to
the class as an audience
Thought tapping from the freeze frame. Teacher to tap one of the children
and ask a key question and children answer in role, eg,
(Child) áHow did it feel when you saw your mum run to the sea? ‘
(Sea woman) áAre you sad at leaving your children?‘
(Dad) áWhy did you trick your wife?‘
To summarise the drama lesson
and as a class discuss how each
character felt in the story
T
F
No direct NLS strand
Drama work/empathy
(Term 3, T 2; term 2 T3)
and speaking and listening skills
Using objects/pictures as stimuli for
drama
Children in groups recreate in
áfreeze frame‘ various scenes of
the story, paying special attention
to facial expressions
*
Literacy Hour only four days a week at Gorsemoor
Extended writing:
Think if you were going to leave your family and friends, how would you feel?
Make a list of ten things that you would miss if you went and why.
’Ireland in Schoolsă Staffordshire Pilot Scheme Gorsemoor PS
A range of possible activities
A. Shared reading
Following Shared Reading general discussion could be guided by the following questions:
1. Who do you feel most sorry for?
2. What do you think would happen next?
3. How is this story like other traditional tales that we have read?
4. What is the general mood of the story?
5. What sort of feelings are described? (Locate, specific examples in text.)
6. Why did the Sea Woman leave her family?
7. How would local people/the family try to explain this?
B. Word study
1. Find examples in the text that fix this story in a particular time and place. Look for cultural
references, for example, creel, trap. potato pit, fair.
2. Cloze exercise: passage from the text with words omitted.
Level 1: áFill the gaps‘ then check your choice of words and spellings.
Level 2: Consider substitutes for the words underlined and check them using a thesaurus.
3. Identify examples of powerful evocative language and repeated phrases, words that create a strong
impression.
C.
Group tasks
1. Create mood graphs for the fisherman and the Sea Woman showing áhighs‘ and álows‘.
2. Imagine you are the Sea Woman.
You write a letter to your husband/children/family before you leave.
This should explain why you go back to the sea, and make your feelings clear.
3. Poem: áThe Sea Woman‘s Song‘.
Use poetry anthologies to gather words/phrases/lines related to the theme that you find impressive.
Now re-order these, discard, add your own words to create typical thoughts, feelings, images of the
Sea Woman longing to return to the sea.
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 5
4. The Fisherman‘s Tale.
We read that he explains his wife‘s appearance being due to a shipwreck.
Write down his account of the discovery of the Sea Woman.
5. Drama, e.g, rehearse an extra scene: áThe Sea Woman Returns‘.
How do the family react when she returns to explain her departure?
Perform for the class.
Then stay in role for áhot-seating‘ activity. Class to ask questions.
Tape the scene.
6. Read Kevin Crossley Holland‘s The Wildman in British Folk Tales (Orchard).
List the differences and similarities eg; merman and Sea woman are captured. (Both are friendly
with fish and sea creatures, both speak a different language. The differences are that the merman‘s
appearance, frightens he escapes and then returns etc....)
7. Poetry writing.
Imagine someone who is so special that you want to describe them as a perfect match.
Write a list poem that follows the pattern.
I need you
like a palette needs paint
like a halo needs a saint
like a key needs a lock
like a ship needs a dock
like a pillow needs a bed
like a hat needs a head
like green needs blue
I need you.
8. Diary extracts.
The fisherman or the Sea Woman keeps a diary that starts with the day they first met.
Write two entries that deal with two important events in the story.
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 6
Writing frames
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 7
The Sea Man’s First Dive
By
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 8
The Ocean
Times
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 9
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 10
I Need You!
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 11
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 12
Examples of children‘s work
The seamanăs first dive (high)
Mood graph of the Seawoman (high; middle-high)
The Ocean Times: ’Sea Woman Washed upă (high)
Poems: ’I need you ...ă (low; low, high, middle-high)
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 13
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 14
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 15
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 16
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 17
Heath & Robinson, The Sea Woman, 18