I’ve only recently become aware of some nice Gaeilge resources on the Foinse website. Foinse, the Irish language newspaper, has created a number of resources to support the teaching of Gaeilge in the primary school. They have resources to support almost every one of the ten themes in the Gaeilge curriculum. The resources are arranged under the following headings: Ceachtanna; Cluichí; Póstaeir; Líon na Bearnaí; Míreanna Mearaí; Crosfhocail.
The Cluichí are just fun Flash-based games that really don’t have anything to do with Gaeilge. There is a great range of downloadable posters in PDF format which are well illustrated with Gaeilge vocabulary and phrases and with a suitable seanfhocal. I found some broken links in the posters section which is a shame. The Líon na Bearnaí section has short stories with spaces which are completed online using a “drag and drop” method. The Míreanna Mearaí section has some photographs based on the Gaeilge “téamaí” which have to be put together online. The Crosfhocal section is another online activity with the clues given “as Gaeilge” and the answers are vocabulary to do with the chosen topic. There are ten lesson plans in the Ceachtanna section and they are laid out in a similar fashion, using a recommended methodology for teaching a Gaeilge lesson.
This collection of resources is a great addition to the teacher’s treasure chest for the teaching of Gaeilge in the primary school. They can be accessed in this section of the Foinse Website or you can get to them by clicking on the “Acmhainní” tab on the Foinse homepage.
