The Bua na Cainte interactive online resources contain animated interactive daily lessons for all ten themes of the Irish curriculum and are delivered in Bua na Cainte A, B, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the following way:
- Comhráite le Beochan
- Amhráin
- Rainn agus Dánta le Beochan
- Scéalta le Beochan
- Tascanna Éisteachta, Tuisceana agus Cluichí
- Acmhainní
- Clár Bán
- Cabhair don Mhúinteoir
- Measúnú
Comhráite le Beochan
There is an animated conversation for each lesson where the children watch and listen to characters converse through Irish in exciting and interesting settings on topics that are of interest to pupils and that relate to their experiences.
The language throughout the programme is graded carefully and systematically from Bua na Cainte A right through to the NEW Bua na Cainte 6.
Amhráin, Rainn agus Dánta le Beochan
Each theme features an extensive range of stimulating and lively songs, rhymes and poems to teach Gaeilge to children in an enjoyable way. Characters perform the songs on-screen, with actions, making the whole experience more interactive. The teacher can control whether or not the text of the story appears on-screen and can also control the text line-by-line, forwards and backwards.
- Bua na Cainte A and B: each level contains over 57 Animated Songs/Rhymes/Poems
- Bua na Cainte 1 and 2: each level contains over 40 Animated Songs/Rhymes/Poems
- Bua na Cainte 3 and 4: contain over 45 Animated Songs/Rhymes/Poems
- Bua na Cainte 5 and NEW Bua na Cainte 6: contain over 38 Animated Songs/Raps/Poems
Scéalta le Beochan
Each level of Bua na Cainte features a wide range of stimulating animated stories, incorporating new and traditional tales that appeal to children of all ages.
The teacher can control whether or not the text of the story appears on-screen and there is also provision for manipulating the text line-by-line, forwards and backwards.
- Bua na Cainte A and B: each level contains 13 animated stories
- Bua na Cainte 1 and 2: each level contains 11 animated stories
- Bua na Cainte 3 and 4: contain 12 animated stories
- Bua na Cainte 5: contains 12 animated stories
- NEW Bua na Cainte 6: contains 13 animated stories
Tascanna Éisteachta, Tuisceana agus Cluichí
- Bua na Cainte A and B have a wide range of attractive games to motivate students to learn Irish in a fun way. The games include Tasc Éisteachta, Faigh an Difríocht, Cuir Ceist, Ceann Corr, Ceangail na hUimhreacha, Cluiche Kim, Cluiche Cuimhne, Tarraing, Biongó, Dathaigh, Cad é? Interactive Jigsaws, Dress the Character, Matching Games and Drag and Drop activities.
- Bua na Cainte 1 and 2 have additional games including. Bí ag Léamh, Bí ag Scríobh, Faigh an Abairt, Feicim le Mo Shúilín, Faigh an Focal, Líon na Bearnaí, Cuir na Pictiúir in Ord. Bua na Cainte 2 has a Litriú section which presents spelling activities in an engaging and innovative way.
- Bua na Cainte 3 and 4 have a wide variety of new and attractive games to facilitate many different learning styles. These include Líon na Bearnaí, Bí ag Caint, Tasc Tuisceana, Scríobh na hAbairtí, Suimeanna Focal, Spraoi le Briathra and Freagair na Ceisteanna, along with other games such as Biongó, Cén t-am é?, Cluiche Kim, Bí ag Scríobh, Bí ag Léamh, Cuir na Pictiúir in Ord, Foclóir and Scríobh an Scéal.
- Many of these games can be played at different levels to facilitate differentiation. The Bí ag Caint game gives the opportunity to record and replay the pupils’ responses.
- Bua na Cainte 5 and 6 contain additional new games to those in Bua na Cainte 3 and 4 including Ar Thóir an Óir, Crosfhocal and Tóirfhocal. Scéalta le Beochan Tascanna Éisteachta, Tuisceana agus Cluichí
Acmhainní
A full range of printable teaching resources to help teach the content of the Bua na Cainte programme is included for each level. These include:
- Pictiúir
- Cártaí
- Maisc (JI – 4th class)
- Puipéid (JI – 4th class)
- Cártaí Biongó
- Feasacht Teanga (5th & 6th class)
- Gaeilge Neamhfhoirmiúil (5th & 6th class)
- Luaschártaí
- Leidchártaí
- Mo Leabhar
- Abairtí
Clar Bán
In the Interactive Learning Environment, teachers are given a library of resources which provide plenty of opportunity to design differentiated activities.
Teachers can design their own lessons to meet the needs of a
particular class. There is a variety of features in this section which
include a library of pictures, a choice of backgrounds, and the unique feature of access to all the pictures and backgrounds of the other themes.
The options vary for the different class levels. For example, Bua na Cainte A and B have the option of colouring in the characters, Bua na Cainte 1 and 2 have a section on the letters while Bua na Cainte 3, 4, 5 and 6 have a save button which allows teachers to save their lessons.
The Clár Bán section contains many features including:
- Increasing / Decreasing character size
- Inserting text on-screen
- Writing/Drawing on-screen
- Spotlighting
- Erasing
Cabhair don Mhúinteoir
For every lesson, story, song and activity in Bua na Cainte there is a link to a corresponding Teacher’s Help page where all the language is provided for the teacher.
In addition, there is a complete set of curriculum-focused lesson plans for each lesson comprising language functions and corresponding language exemplars along with the strands and elements – oral language, reading and writing.
Each lesson note contains a variety of teaching methodologies for each phase of the lesson:
- An Tréimhse Réamhchumarsáide
- An Tréimhse Chumarsáide
- An Tréimhse Iarchumarsáide
These notes are presented in a clear and logical manner with suggestions for the informal use of Irish throughout the school day and suggestions are provided also for Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL).
Measúnú
Formative assessment is an integral part of the Bua na Cainte programme. Every theme features a task to revise and assess the content of the theme. For example in the NEW Bua na Cainte 6 the learning outcomes for oral language, reading and writing are assessed.
