People at Work

Overview

This 25-minute interactive lesson introduces junior infants to basic jobs vocabulary in Gaeilge, focusing on the theme “People at Work.” The plan aligns with the SESE (Social, Environmental and Scientific Education) curriculum while supporting oral language skills development per Aistear and the Primary Language Curriculum (PLC) guidelines for junior infants. Language used is simple and repetitive to accommodate very basic Irish proficiency.

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Learning Aims

• Oral Language: Understand and pronounce simple job names in Gaeilge
• Vocabulary: Recognise and identify common jobs people do
• Social Awareness: Recognise different community helpers and their roles
• Listening & Speaking: Participate in interactive games and role-play

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Curriculum Links

• SESE: Myself – understanding community roles and people who help us
• Primary Language Curriculum (PLC) - Junior Infants
  • Communicating and Literacy: oral language development through repetition and simple vocabulary
  • Oral Language Strand Unit 1: engaging in listening and speaking activities
• Aistear – Themes: Communicating, Well-being, Identity and Belonging

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Resources

• Picture flashcards of simple job roles (e.g., múinteoir – teacher, dochtúir – doctor, Garda – police, bácús – baker, tiománaí – driver)
• Soft ball or puppet for ‘Passing the Job’ game
• “People at Work” large colourful poster or printed images displayed
• Simple labelled props (toy stethoscope, hat, apron) for role-play
• Whiteboard and marker for writing simple Irish words

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Lesson Structure

1. Warm-up & Introduction (5 minutes)

• Greet the children in Irish: “Dia dhaoibh!”
• Introduce the theme: “Daoine ag obair” (People at Work)
• Show the large poster/images and name the jobs very simply and clearly, e.g.,
  • “Seo múinteoir” (This is a teacher),
  • “Seo dochtúir” (This is a doctor), etc.
• Have the children repeat each word three times chorally, emphasising pronunciation. Use gestures/actions (e.g., miming writing for múinteoir).

2. Interactive Game – “Passing the Job” (10 minutes)

• Children sit in a circle. Teacher holds a soft ball or puppet.
• Teacher says a job name in Irish and passes the ball to a child who then repeats the job word and passes it on.
• To add variety: when receiving the ball, the child says a simple sentence: “Is mise an múinteoir.” (I am the teacher.) Show how accompany with a gesture or prop.
• Repeat with several jobs. This kinaesthetic approach supports vocabulary retention.

3. Role-play Activity (7 minutes)

• Organise children into small groups (5 groups of 5 children)
• Give each group simple props related to one job: e.g., toy stethoscope for doctor, apron for baker
• Encourage children to use phrases: “Is mise an dochtúir.” + mime a doctor’s job.
• Teacher circulates, supporting pronunciation and encouraging shy children. Keep language super simple and positive.

4. Wrap-up and Cool Down (3 minutes)

• Gather children back together. Recap the job words quickly by showing flashcards again.
• Count how many jobs they remember by holding up flashcards and getting a choral response: “An bhfuil sé seo…?” (Is this a…?)
• Finish with a song or rhyme about jobs in simple Irish, e.g., “An bhfuil mé ag obair?” (I’m working), sung to a tune such as “Twinkle Twinkle”.

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Assessment & Differentiation

• Formative assessment through observation during games and role-play
• Use positive reinforcement and visual praise (stickers or thumbs-up)
• Support EAL learners or weaker pupils by pairing with stronger peers
• Challenge confident pupils by encouraging them to say full sentence structures

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Reflection Suggestions for Teacher

• Did the children engage with the Irish words through gestures and play?
• Which jobs did the children remember best? Adapt future lessons accordingly.
• Consider adding a digital element next time (e.g., a simple recorded video of people at work in Irish) to support multi-modal learning.

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This lesson plan combines the Aistear focus on learning through play with foundational Irish oral skills, ensuring junior infants have an accessible and enjoyable introduction to “People at Work.”