Teachers' Resources

This resource encourages the children to become familiar with important events in the history of the locality, referring to the wider national context where relevant.

Things To do
1.    Go on a building ramble. Ask the children to look at the different types of houses that are in their neighbourhood. Do a mini survey of where they live and what kind of house/ apartment they live in.
2.    Download the Front Doors worksheet below and draw a picture of four different doors they see on their way to school.
3.    Tell the three Little Pigs Story and get the children to draw the three different types of houses.

Skills and concepts development
Children should be able to:
1.    Time and Chronology:

• Describe events as before/after/ later/earlier
• Use a simple timeline

2.    Change and continuity:

• Identify features that have remained the same, for example the houses and the bridges near the river
• Identify how the River Nore has changed

3.    Cause and effect:

• Examine the reasons for the flood and the effect it had on Kilkenny City

4.    Using evidence:

• Photographs of the river today
• Photographs of the flood
• Edited version of articles in the Kilkenny People

5.    Synthesis and Communication:

• Communicate an awareness of the story of the flood and stories associated with it, in a variety of different ways such as drama and art.

5.    Empathy:

• Imagine and discuss what it was like to be rescued in a boat on the evening of the flood.
• Imagine and discuss what it was like to have your home destroyed by floodwater.

Methodologies

• Among the methods which may be used are:
• A story lesson based on the accounts from the Kilkenny People
• Examining a photograph taken of the flood
• Listening to personal memories of the flood (oral evidence)
• Integration with other subjects: the river (Geography)

Assessment

• Teacher observation
• Outcomes of pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil discussion
• Teacher-designed tasks
• Work cards designed to help children examine the evidence

Alfred's Big Adventure is all about the antics of an ant, which takes place in the great expanse of a back garden! It's a great way of engaging younger pupils with what's going on just outside their backdoor. 

The Secret Diary is aimed at slightly older children and contains some funny and engaging commentaries on the changing seasons, a really lovely way to engage children with the changes taking place in nature throughout the year. 

The Agony 'Ant' is great fun and highly entertaining. Children should get a real kick out of the disgruntled inhabitants of the natural world, including a very upset tree who wants advice on how to rid himself of the nesting 'squatters' on his branches!

This resource ties in to the strand unit, ‘my locality throughout the ages’, which requires the children to become familiar with important events in the history of the locality, referring to the wider national context where relevant.

Once the cross is woven, it is blessed with holy water by a priest. It is then hung on the front doors of homes and left in place all year, to be burned and replaced with a newly-woven cross on the next St Brigid’s Day.

How to make a St. Brigid’s Cross
You will need:

• bowl
• 28 long reads or straws (if not available why not try pipe cleaners).

Instructions:

• Position two straws to make a plus sign, putting the horizontal straw on the top. Fold the upper section of the vertical straw on top of its other half. Rotate the weave counter-clockwise 90 degrees. Repeat to fold the now-vertical straw.
• Rotate 90 degrees counter-clockwise. Add another straw by placing it to the right of the folded vertical straw and beneath the folded horizontal straw. Fold it and rotate it again.
• Keep repeating the process without letting the straws bunch up on top of each other. Rest the straws side by side.
• Tie each arm 4 inches from the centre of the St. Brigid’s cross after all the straws have been added. Trim the ends of the straw.

Skellig Michael is also an internationally renowned site for breeding seabirds with its steep rock slopes and cliffs providing nesting places for a variety of seabirds. It is this combination of cultural and natural history which imbues the island with a strong sense of beauty and spirituality. When inscribing the site on the World Heritage List in 1996 UNESCO described Skellig Michael as a unique example of early religious settlement which illustrates, as no other site can, the extremes of Christian monasticism.

Things To do
1.    Explain the difference between fresh water and sea water. And try some of these experiments.
How do we know that there is salt in the sea water?
You will need:

• bowl
• 480 ml ocean or sea water (You can make your own by mixing 10 ml of salt with 480ml of water)

Directions:

• Pour the water into a pan.
• Place the pan in a warm, dry place.
• Allow water to evaporate—this usually takes a few days.
• Make observations.

2.    Is it easier to float in the ocean or in fresh water?

You will need:

• 1 uncooked egg
• 1 jar filled with fresh water
• 1 jar filled with sea water

Directions:

• Put the egg in the jar of fresh water.
• Observe what happens.
• Put the egg in the jar of ocean

Today, the Castle's past can be visited while enjoying adjacent Loughnaneane Park and Playground, a 14 acre recreational area.  The natural features of the park include a turlough and a wildlife conservation area which is a habitat of unique flora and fauna.

Image by Mike Searle and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

However, more importantly, these top predators command a special interest and respect, particularly with children. Clare, Galway and Tipperary County Councils have collaborated with BirdWatch Ireland and with support from the Heritage Council, have developed workbooks for primary schools focused on the amazing birds of prey in Ireland, from the smallest - which is a falcon called the Merlin, to the largest - which is the enormous White-tailed Eagle.

Through animations, ecological information, fun facts and games, the different raptor species are used to introduce and explore topics such as ecosystems, food chains, conservation threats, and the importance of a healthy environment.

Watch this video piece on Hen Harriers produced by Birdwatch Ireland which was filmed in the Slieve Aughty Mountains, Co. Galway.

It also the ecosystems that wetlands provide, the associated threats and measures to ensure wetland protection for the future.

The book includes a range of Irish species, such as the red squirrel, hedgehog, pygmy shrew, rabbit, Irish mountain hare, Irish stoat, pine marten, red fox, and the various species of deer, bats, seals, whales and dolphins. There is also a section on tips to support wildlife and to help your pupils connect with nature.

Also, your purchase supports Irish wildlife, for each copy sold, the Irish Wildlife Trust will receive a commission from Juanita.  The book costs €9.99, plus €2.50 doe postage and packaging.