An bhuil chead agam dul go dtí an leithris?

Tuesday - 15th May

Today we had our first Year 7 class, them having been busy with a group presentation during all of last week. Like the other classes, we told them their genre (comedy), brainstormed ideas of what makes a comedy story, and split them into groups for the quest.
    My group was very enthusiastic from the start, throwing out suggestions such as a book, a car, the beach, a comedy club, teenagers, donuts and parachutes to use as props, settings, or characters in their story.
    The next class we took was the Year 8 class, and before they got back into their groups, Niamh needed to name her new tiger teddy, so asked the class for suggestions.

Having gone through the PowerPoint with them in class yesterday, it was time to show them the pictures that we gathered for them from the quest so they could use them as prompts to create their characters and settings. The PowerPoint we showed them was the same one that we showed to the Year 9 class, however, it was tweaked slightly to better fit with their genre.
    In their separate groups, we got the students to create a collective character and setting. Both groups had so much fun being free to throw around any idea that came into their head, and each idea brilliantly served the story, which Niamh and I both were very impressed with. While working on the story, and having trouble with some pronunciations, one of the kids asked me how "Madrid" was pronounced in Irish. I simply said "Madrid" back to him, and explained that things can be pronounced differently in Ireland because of the Irish Language. With different accents over letters such as the fada over the "a" in "Sean", they said it wrong, and since they never actually heard the Irish language being spoken before, I decided to teach them a few phrases so they could hear what it was like.
    "Conas ata tu? means How are you?" I say, surprised that I managed to remember so much as that from school "And Dia Duit means Hello". Their particular favourite was the classic line of  "An bhuil chead agam dul go dtí an leithris?" Which means Can I go to the toilet?
    They loved this, and actually took it down in their copies to practice how to say it, and gave us a couple of Spanish phrases to practice, including Cuanto cuesta esto? which means How much does this cost? which is far more practical than the one Niamh and I gave.

    Class ended, them asking if we were to come back to them tomorrow for class, and were disappointed when we told them the next time we'll have them is Friday.

Here is an example of the work that was done from Niamh's group:

Main Protagonist

Name:  Niamh Swaine (yes, they named it after her)

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Clothes: Light, casual clothes

Pet: Tiger, named Emmet

Religion: Catholic

Home: She lives in a chalet with her family

Backstory: She has a secret, that no-one knows

Appearance
Tan
Black, medium-length afro
Skinny
Brown eyes
Tall

Family

Mother – Khloe
Father – Jake
Twin sister – Jasmine
They are a very close family

Education

She is in her graduating year
She studies a lot and gets good grades

Interests

Reading
Going to parties
Nature
Sports
Running – it clears her head
Chess – She is very good at it

Dislikes

Clowns
Her teacher, Daire Behan
She does not like her sister's boyfriend, Jay Kovar

Relationships

She has a boyfriend, named Brian Lynch
Her group of friends consist of:
- Colin Carters
- Ben Doyle
- Shiane Whelan
- Evis Zogaj
- Phil Challoner
- Her boyfriend
- Her sister and her sister's boyfriend
They are all very close

Personality

Responsible
Organised
Funny
Friendly
Empathetic
Beautiful inside and out

Main Antagonist

Name: Jay Kovar

Gender: Male

Age: 19

Clothes: Stylish, branded clothes

Home: He lives in an apartment with his cousin, Mikolas, who is 27.

Appearance

Handsome
Short, brown hair
Blue eyes
Tall
No facial hair

Family

His parents burned to death in a fire (supposedly)
His cousin, Mikolas, is like a brother to him

Education / Employment

He studies a lot
He attends University during the day
He works as a waiter in a restaurant at night / in the evening, and on some weekends

Relationships

He is Jasmine's boyfriend
He is in the same group of friends as Jasmine and her twin sister, Niamh

Personality

He is quiet
Seems very responsible

Setting

2018, modern
Summer, school has just finished