This recording focusses on France's historical impact on Australia with a particular emphasis on placenames. Use this as a context for the suggested challenges.
Download Adobe Flash Player to listen to the audio online.
Download
L'Australie (4.9 MB)Overview
With a focus on literacy, learners will develop an awareness of how language has shaped the way places in Scotland were named.
The learners will use this knowledge to create their own placenames and be able to share with others their findings and be able to present an argument for or against the validity of the placenames created.
PDF file: Placenames overview (215 KB)Word: Placenames overview (1.5 MB)Challenges
Ask learners to use the name generator and the glossary sheets to create new place names that have at least two parts to them and work out what these names mean.
Next they might want to draw, paint or write a short description of how they think the places might look, based on the meaning of the names.
Think about some places the learners know and work out how they got their names. They could create new, appropriate names for them, and explain their choice to the rest of the class.
Learners could create and deliver a short presentation which focusses on how language has helped influence how places were named.
Placenames challenge (175 KB)Placenames wordbank (200 KB)Resources
Explore interesting placenames.
- Google Earth
- This 3D software can take you anywhere on Earth, and zoom in from space right down to street level. It's a cross between the weather fly-through on TV and street map websites. It's wonderful for seeing geographical features and tilting and rotating the earth to go from one place to another. The software (for PCs) has to be downloaded and requires an up-to-date graphics card.
- Scots origins of place names in Britain
- Downloadable information about the role of the Scots language in the origins of place names in Britain.
- Gaelic Origins of Place Names in Britain
- Produced by Ordnance Survey, this resource has information on the structure, grammar and pronunciation of Gaelic place names, plus a glossary of hundreds of elements with their meanings, their parts of speech and grid references to help locate them. For example, dubh adj - black - Poll Dubh NH4061, Rubha Dubh NC8068.
- Scottish Place Names
A video on YouTube about placenames in Doric in the northeast of Scotland, created by author G Morrison.
- Scuil Wab
A website produced by Scottish Language Dictionaries, which is in Scots and is described as 'a wabsteid for bairns o aa ages'. Its aim is to encourage a wider use and acceptance of Scots among young people, and to provide ideas and resources for using Scots in a classroom setting.
- Dictionary of the Scots Language
- History and development of the Scots language.