Ynys Hwyl a Sbri
Secondary foci: Literacy Skills, Numeracy Skills,
How was it used?
A resource that was used to support the Welsh Second Language scheme of work to develop particular sentence patterns.
Learning Objectives: to develop the sentence patterns ‘Dyma...’ , ‘Ble mae...?, and ‘Mae ... yn ...’ and revise the vocabulary relating to colours, weather and pirate vocabulary.
The focused activities were:
- Reading the story and singing the song (Activity1)
The pages from the story were made into flashcards showing the island, boat, sun, chest and Barti Ddu and used to play memory games to reinforce the vocabulary. The teacher asked ‘Can you remember where we have used ‘dyma’ in a sentence before?’ and the children repeated sentences they remembered using the pattern. - The coordinates activity (Activity 4)
This activity was used on the IWB and then a plan of the school grounds was drawn up and the children were given different clues to go to to look for ‘treasure’. The treasure was a page from the story and the plenary activity was piecing the pages back together to recreate the complete story. The children used the sentence pattern ‘Ble mae ...’ and ‘Mae....yn..’ Differentiation was managed in the pairing of children so that they could support each other with the task.
The other activities were used as either enhanced or continuous provision within the classroom. They were used alongside a pirate smallworld, a pirate ship role play and with a BeeBot dressed as a pirate and moving over a treasure map to collect various items of treasure. The BeeBot activity was developed for higher ability children with them writing their own clues for the BeeBot to find treasure. The teacher asked questions like ‘Can you show me how we would move to...? and ‘Where would BeeBot be if we did ....?’
Impact and Outcomes
The resource was engaging and motivating and complemented the other resources being used in the classroom at that time. Through the focused tasks the children were able to develop enough vocabulary to engage bilingually with the role play and small world. Prompt cards next to the smallworld area reminded children to use Welsh rather than English at this activity. Through learning about co-ordinates with the resource they were able to apply the knowledge and use it with a full scale treasure hunt in the school grounds. The activities were differentiated by outcome, i.e. the amount of Welsh spoken, and the amount of support given to the children.
Learner Feedback
The learners enjoyed playing the pirate game (Activity 5) independently as it was based upon the familiar game of ‘Snakes and Ladders’.
Other Resources
The children learnt other pirate songs
Lesson Learnt
Prompt cards worked well to remind the children of the vocabulary when working at either an enhanced or continuous provision activity. Welsh speaking adult interaction helps with the flow of the language.