Ireland: Hurling

Objective & content

This Look Closer episode (Ireland mini-series, episode 130) is a short documentary about hurling, an Irish sport that people often call the fastest game on grass. It explains how the game is played (the hurley, the sliotar, the H-shaped goals and the scoring), then its history, from old Irish legends to the GAA, founded in 1884, and today's amateur clubs, with camogie for women and girls and the All-Ireland final at Croke Park in Dublin. No grammar point is taught. It is a listening comprehension episode: learners listen, then answer the 10 questions in the app: 8 on facts and 2 on vocabulary (hurley and camogie). The study topic is Ireland: its traditions and places, then and now.

Materials & prerequisites

The folder holds the audio, the slideshow and the script; there is no lesson plan. The pupil pack and the teacher pack (answers highlighted) are one A4 page each, with the text, three pictures (a drawing of a ball flying over the bar, a photo of a hurler striking the ball, a photo of two girls playing camogie at Croke Park), the key words and the 10 questions; a pupil sheet and a teacher sheet with the answer key come with them. The text ends with an open question (Think about it: Would you like to try hurling? Why, or why not?). Teachers may want to check beforehand that learners can read large numbers and dates. The pack's key words explain the new words (motorway, hurley, sliotar, goal, point, legend, protect, club, county, camogie, final).

Curriculum alignment

Tagged c4-encountering-others ("Rencontre avec l'autre") and ireland (axis 6, "L'Irlande"), Cycle 4 (4e). The episode targets CEFR level A2+.