Junior Cycle English: All 39 Learning Outcomes Unpacked, with Example Tasks

Do you find the Junior Cycle English specification hard to turn into real lessons? This 40-page guide works through all 39 learning outcomes, one at a time, and shows you what each one looks like in an actual classroom.

For every learning outcome across Oral Language, Reading and Writing, you get:

The specification wording, taken directly from the NCCA specification (amended 2018)
What this means for teachers: a plain-English explanation of what the outcome asks for
What this looks like in the classroom: four practical strategies you can use straight away
A fully planned example task with the text, year group and number of lessons, linked learning outcomes, a student-friendly learning intention, step-by-step lesson activities and “I can…” success criteria

Built around texts you already teach, including Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, A Christmas Carol, Blood Brothers, Of Mice and Men, The Outsiders, Noughts & Crosses, Sing Street and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, plus poems such as ‘Nettles’, ‘Still I Rise’, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and ‘Dreams’.

The 39 example tasks include a round table discussion on who is to blame in Romeo and Juliet, a mock trial for Mickey from Blood Brothers, Scrooge’s persuasive speech, a newspaper front page on the feud, and a lesson where students measure their own writing against a model answer and set targets.

Also included: an opening page that explains learning outcomes, learning intentions and success criteria side by side, with worked examples for writing and reading.

Ideal for:

Planning units of learning and schemes of work
Showing which outcomes you’re covering in your planning or subject department documents
NQTs, student teachers and anyone new to the Junior Cycle
Getting ready for CBAs, with tasks linked to CBA1 and CBA2 preparation
Subject department meetings and CPD

Written by Clare Madden, a secondary English teacher with 15 years’ experience and author of the Touchstones Junior Cycle English series.

Format: PDF, 40 pages