Introducin Weans Tae Scots!

SPL tipsheets INTRODUCIN WEANS TAE SCOTS!

A wheen o times whan ah’m askt tae gang tae a schuil the teachers speir at me that thae arenae shair hou tae gang aboot daein ocht in Scots language wi the weans, an they’re nae shair whit tae dae. Weel, here a few suggestions an ideas hou ye micht gang aboot this ficklie exercise!

Exaumpil Yin: Employ a McGuffin!

Thaim wha are cinema buffs wull ken that a ‘McGuffin’ is the name coined bi Alfred Hitchcock fir the ‘thing’ that a plot/story hings oan, say the statue in The Maltese Falcon, or the Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Your ‘McGuffin’ wull be a bag, or a box, that the weans cannae see intae. It wull be fillt wi wee, chaip, plastic fairmyaird animals (else, ye cuid uise postcairds wi pictures o animals oan thaim). Ye tell the weans, ‘Today we wull be discussin Scots wirds.’ An ye ask yin o thaim tae dip their haund intae the box/bag an pu oot an animal. Weans luve a ‘McGuffin’, an they like animals as weel! Ye then speir o the weans gin they ken the Scots nem fir this animal? Here a wee leet o possibles;

Mouse – Moose Badger – Brock Rat – Ratton Cow – Coo Turkey – Bubblyjock Frog – Puddock Seal – Selkie Crow – Craw Sheep – Yowe Dog – Dug Hare – Maukin Horse – Cuddy Hedgehog – Hurcheon Cat – Baudrins Hen – Chookie Pig – Grumphie Crab – Partan Owl – Houlet Fox – Tod Trout – Troot Sparrow – Speug

Ye inform the weans o the animal’s nem in Scots, then aiblins read thaim a poem aboot this animal; poems anent animals an their Scots nems can be foun in the warks o the likes o J K Annand; W.D Cocker; Itchy-Coo’s productions, an a wheen o ither Scots poets’ warks! (Contact the Scottish Poetry Library fir a leet o animal relatit poems!)

Wee bairns (5 – 7 year auld) wull enjoy the ‘toy’ aspect o this, an wull enjoy the poems anent the animals, as weel as the lairnin experience o these new nems in Scots fir the craiturs! Slichtly aulder weans (9 – 11 year auld) cuid be encouraged tae write a short (ten line?) rhymin poem anent ane o the animals. Saicondary weans cuid be encourage tae hae a think anent ecological issues relatin tae; animal care/ hou we tak care o the laund / food production, etc.

Scottish Poetry Library download your free copy from www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk SPL tipsheets Exaumpil Twa: 5 Senses - Writin a poem in Scots

Gie the weans a sheet o paper an get thaim tae trace roond their haund. Then get thaim tae nem, an then label, each o the fingers wi ane o the 5 senses; Sicht, Smell, Hearin, Touch an Taste.

Then tak the weans oan an imaginary walk; it cuid be tae the local playpark; throu a fairmyaird; alang a riverbank; in the kintraside; tae a Guy Fawkes Nicht bonfire! Etc…

Then gang throu each o the senses in turn, getting thaim tae mak a leet o aathing that they see, hear, touch, smell, taste – it cuid be quite a lang leet!

Introduce a new big wird – ONOMATOPOEIA – an ask the weans tae gie ye some ‘sound’ wirds e.g. animal noises oan the fairm, else souns ye hear at a bonfire nicht! Write these wirds doun.

Encourage thaim tae think oan Scots wirds; chittert – freezing; founert – cauld; dreich – miserable weather; claes – clothes (buits, troosers, bunnets, pawkies, wellies, jaiket, etc..); food (pieces, tattie scones, jeely, tatties an mince!); vegetables (neeps, ingans, tatties, kail).

Then get the weans tae write a wee rhymin poem (ten lines?) anent this, or e’en pent a picture wi wirds written oan it! Agane, poems cuid be read allot tae the weans tae gie thaim exaumpils, an agane, ‘ItcyCoo’ hae some smashin stuff in their catalogue that wid sair this purpose geyan weel!

Gin ye’re spinnin this wark oot ower twa, three days or weeks, then encourage the weans tae speir o their mithers and faithers an graundparents, sae that they can mak up a leet o local Scots wirds that’s aiblins perteecular tae their ain area? This can aftimes throw up some fascinatin gems o local lore an history! A tremendous resource, that the weans aa luve! Is the ‘SCUILWAB’ section oan the Scottish Language Dictionaries website (www.scuilwab.org.uk ). The puzzles there are ideal fir helping the weans tae pick up a basic Scots vocabulary!

Tacklin Scots isnae somethin tae be feart o ! ye anely need a few basic resources an the weans, in ma experience, aa enjoy fuinin oot aboot Scots wirds an uisin wirds that they micht aareadies uise evri day in the playgrunnd, or at hame, but micht hae thocht wir ‘slang’ – whan they’re definitely no! Warkin wi Scots is rich an rewardin! Gang oot an hae some fun!

Rab Wilson INSPIRING RESOURCES

Scottish Poetry Library download your free copy from www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk SPL tipsheets Books

Concise Scots Dictionary Scottish Language Dictionaries, ISBN 978-1-902930-01-2 Animal ABC: A Scots alphabet by Susan Rennie, illustrated by Karen Sutherland Itchy Coo, 2002, ISBN 190292746X A Moose In The Hoose: A Scots counting book, by Susan Rennie, illustrated by Karen Sutherland Itchy Coo, 2003, ISBN 1845020235 Blethertoun Braes: Manky mingin rhymes fae a Scottish toun, edited by Matthew Fitt and James Robertson Itchy Coo, 2003, Itchy-Coo, ISBN 1902927702 King O The Midden: Manky mingin rhymes in Scots, edited by Matthew Fitt and James Robertson Itchy Coo, 2003, ISBN 1902927702 Poems Scots and English, by W D Cocker Brown & Ferguson, 1932 / reprint 1960 Sing It Aince for Pleisure and Twice for Joy, both by J K Annand Macdonald Press, various dates

Audio Recordings Scotsoun Audio Recordings - www.lallans.co.uk various choices of print and audio material

Websites Scots Language Centre - www.scotslanguage.com A brilliant website/resource fir aathing Scots, heichly recommendit! Scottish Language Dictionaries - www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk Scottish Language Dictionaries (SCUILWAB) - www.scuilwab.org.uk LTS Scotland’s Knowledge of Language www.ltscotland.org.uk/knowledgeoflanguage Great section on teaching Scots, with recordings and poems

Rab Wilson Rab was born in the Ayrshire mining village of New Cumnock. His first work to bring him public recognition was his ‘owersettin’, in Scots, of the famous medieval Persian work ‘The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam’ (2004). His first collection of poetry, Accent o the mind ( Luath Press, 2006), contains ‘poetry to rival the best published in Scotland, or written by a Scot, in the past 30 years’ (Scotland on Sunday). Another collection, Life Sentence, and Chuckies Fir The Cairn, an anthology of poems written exclusively in Scots by contemporary Dumfries and Galloway poets, were both published in 2009. In 2007 he took up post as Robert Burns Writing Fellow in Reading Scots, a new post created by Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association and the Scottish Arts Council. He currently sits on the parliamentary working group on Scots Language, set up to explore ways of strengthening and preserving Scots language in the 21st century.

Scottish Poetry Library download your free copy from www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk