YEAR 8 WEEK 1

LESSON OUTLINE
THINK OF BIG CHOICES YOU HAVE HAD TO MAKE IN
YOUR LIFE...

• How did you decide what the right thing to do was?

• Have you ever made a choice you’ve regretted?
• Have those close to you always agreed with your choices?
• If you saw someone in need and you knew you could help,
would you?
• Would you help even if it made your own life more difficult?
• All of these ideas are linked to the first text that we are going
to study.
• But they are also linked to the start of a new school year.
• This is an opportunity to think about choices and changes we
need to make/want to make, and to reflect on the kind of
people we choose to be/want to be.
WHAT DOESYOUR TEACHER EXPECT/WANT
FROM YOU?

• Make a list of what you think I will/

should want from you this year.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT/WANT FROM YOUR
TEACHER?

• Make a list of what you think you will/

should want from me this year.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT/WANT FROM EACH
OTHER?

• Make a list of what you think you will/

should want from each other this year.
• Final Task: Write down 1 (or more)
resolution(s) for the coming year
• Think, pair, share:

• What do you think attitudes towards unwed mothers are like in

Cyprus/your home country today?
• What might attitudes to unwed mothers have been like in 1980s
Ireland?

Think about these questions for 2 minutes; share with your

neighbour for 2 minutes, discussing any differences of opinion;
then we will share with the class.
• Read & Reconsider:

• Read ‘Mother and Baby Homes’ on Showbie, or the first 4 sections (up to and including
Investigative Findings) of: https://www.humanium.org/en/a-shameful-chapter-of-irish-
history-mother-and-baby-homes/
• How does this change your thinking about the questions on the previous slide?
WHAT FACTORS DETERMINE THE LIVES AND CHOICES OF THE
CHARACTERS IN CHAPTERS 1-2 OF SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE?

Consider some/all of the following and make notes in your books as we read:
• the general population of New Ross
• Furlong
• Furlong’s employees
• Furlong’s grandparents (we never meet them, but we learn something important)
• Furlong’s schoolmates
• Mrs Wilson
• Furlong’s children
• Eileen
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PERSUASIVE LEAFLET?

Share your answers with your neighbour,

discussing disagreements, and adding to your notes
(5 minutes)
 GROUP TASK: WRITE YOUR OWN PERSUASIVE
LEAFLET TITLED: COME TO NEW ROSS

1. Find all the information given about New Ross in Chapters 1-2
2. Decide what information can be used in the persuasive leaflet
• This also includes figuring out how to make negative things sound positive
3. Decide what order all the information should go in
• Group similar information together and identify a logical order for your
clusters of information to be arranged into
4. If you have time, start writing your leaflet (but don’t worry if you
can’t)

YOU HAVE 15-20 MINUTES!

 GROUP TASK: WRITE YOUR OWN PERSUASIVE
LEAFLET TITLED: COME TO NEW ROSS

FEEDBACK:
a.How well did they harvest all the
information?
b.How well did they manipulate the
information to be usable in a persuasive
way?
c.How logical is their structure?