Teaching Languages at First Level

Thea Pallut, 1+2 DO Highland Council

Aims

To give an overview, discuss & share ideas on:

• Big Picture - expectations, planner & progression
• Developing all 4 skills with games/activities
• Challenge based learning
• IDL
• Intercultural Understanding
• Assessment, monitoring & tracking
• Parental engagement

Anything else you want?

Over to you….

Pre-event Task/Task 1 - Watch this video of me teaching French to a P3 class linking in with the class topic of Space. What do you like? What would you do differently? Any questions?

NB. The vocabulary was taken from the Powerlanuage Schools Space resources for lower primary.

Warm Up

1. Daily routines - what are you doing at this Level?
2. Talking/listening - what games, songs, stories, poems do you like to use?
3. Reading - what activities work well for developing reading/reading aloud?
4. How could you develop an understanding of letter/blended sounds?
5. Writing - type of writing activities do you do with your learners?
6. What support do you give to your learners to help them express themselves/understand written & spoken texts?
7. How do you include Languages across the curriculum?
8. How do you bring in cultural appreciation?
9. Any questions?

Discuss & record your ideas online here.

Key Expectations by the end of P4

Building on the expected outcomes preceding this point, by the end of Primary 4, most children will have learned the skills in the modern language necessary to:

• Exchange personal language – orally and written
• Understand and respond to questions with increasing confidence and accuracy
• Read / read aloud with increasing confidence from familiar texts as well as attempting unfamiliar and more challenging texts
• Enjoy listening to stories, songs and poems
• Demonstrate knowledge about cultural differences, customs and festivals particular to a location where the target language is spoken
• Pronounce letter and blend sounds in the target language
• Use the modern language with increasing confidence and accuracy in the four skills of reading, writing, listening and talking

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(Building & Developing Language Skills; expected outcomes for L2 for a P1 start)

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Realistic?

Progression in Languages

Listening

Talking

Writing

Reading

Read key words & sentences & respond, read familiar & unfamiliar words aloud with increasing confidence & pronounce letters & blend sounds.

Write some high frequency words & exchange personal info.

Understand & respond to simply greetings & instructions, take part in simple conversations & exchange personal info.

Click here for more info about progression from 1st - 2nd Level.

Knowledge about Language (KAL)

Embrace language structures rather than being scared by them!

Make links between grammar in L1 & L2. What’s the same/different?

Develop curiosity with questions. Encourage learners to be language detectives - can they spot patterns?

TEACHING LANGUAGES AT FIRST LEVEL

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Discrete language lessons

Intro new language & develop core skills eg. All About Me. Consider using challenges.

Topic Based work

Revise/intro lang related to topic work eg. Rainforest, Rocks & Minerals

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IDL

Literacy eg. make links

Numeracy - eg.use same games

HWB - eg. PE warm ups

Outdoor learning eg. playground games

Daily Routines

Greetings, register, emotional check in, group names, instructions. Click for ideas for differentiation.

Celebrating Languages

Cultural awareness

European Day of Langs

Languages Week

Assembly

Example - Progressive Planner

This is based on the PLS planner.

Ideally daily classroom routines are embedded throughout P2-4.

Useful links for online learning at home.

Example activities for any topic.

VAK approach to games progressing from Early Level.

Games & Activities - Developing All 4 Skills

• Warm up / plenary - Word tennis, exit post its
• Stories - Animated e-books, Bookbox - listen, comprehension, create own
• Songs - Busy Beavers, Alain le lait, Basho & friends - join in, change the words
• Show me boards - draw it/mime it/write it
• Memory master - say it / write it with words/phrases, time limit
• Writing - Post its, find the false one, silly sentences, consequences
• Spelling - Skywriting, Hangman, anagram, vocab test - look/cover/say/write/check
• Mini-flashcards - pairs, order, pass the bag, sorting cups, supermarket game
• Active games - Running dictation, Splat with words, Translation partners, Give 1 get 1
• Reading - read along, spot the mistake,separate the words,word-search
• Combining skills - class survey, topic vocab book, comic strip, role-play

Learning Through Challenges To Develop Language Skills & Knowledge

Getting started with IDL - Themed Activity Cards

Available in French, Gaelic, German & Spanish for use at school or home. Plus more topic based resources in PLS for those who subscribe.

Cross curricular Topic Based work - Space

Science - learn facts about the planets

Expressive Arts - painting of the planets & mobile

Numeracy - Measurement - different ways, ordering

French - revise numbers 1-10, learn words linked to space & describe the planets (big/small)

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Sharing the learning - Perform a play about space in assembly.

Literacy - Storytime from Space (Early/1st) & George’s Secret Key to the Universe (1st)

Task 2 - Developing skills & including everyone

Watch these videos showing different games.

How could you extend/follow up each activity to develop all 4 skills?

Pairs - read to match the words & images, read aloud & order.

Pass the bag - read words aloud, say words from memory & translate.

Task 3 - Developing skills & making curricular links

How would you use this topic based classwork to develop the skills of talking, listening, reading & writing in another language & link it across the curriculum?

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Intercultural Understanding - France

• Key facts - flag, national anthem, capital city, key landmarks, geography, map of France, currency. Check out this song.
• Playground games - Le facteur, Am stram gram
• PE/Outdoor learning - Boules, Yoga, Mindfulness
• Traditions - Easter/Xmas
• Cultural songs, stories & poems - Dans la foret lointaine (song), Petit jaune & petit bleu (story), La semaine de souris (poem).
• Make your own crafts/recipes - Galette des rois, Eiffel Tower

Intercultural Understanding - Gaelic

Visit Scotland: Gaelic Culture

Gaelic Islands: Music and Poetry

Gaelic Islands: Moor and Mountain

Tobar an Dualchais – CLICK HERE

*Songs *Poetry *Stories

Gaelic Games– CLICK HERE

Assessment, Monitoring & Tracking

• How do you celebrate language learning in your classroom? eg. praise, display, stickers, assembly, perform
• Progression - Where is your class? How do you know? What evidence do you have?
• Peer & self assessment - Do your learners know where they are in their learning journey? How do you build in opportunities for this?
• Transition - How do you plan for transition from P1 & into P5?

Assessment, Monitoring & Tracking

TOP TIP: Track what you cover & how well learners know it by traffic lighting. Use 1 document for the whole class at First Level.

Click for a PDF version.

Parental Engagement - How to involve parents/carers?

Powerlanguage French & Spanish for Families course

French topic books.

Homework - example activities for Term 1 for PLS.

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Virtual Classrooms

Learn Gaelic/French together with short video clips & activities.

Useful Supporting Resources

How can I further develop my language skills & how I teach Languages?

Top Tips

• Revise language in new contexts
• Introduce new language, structures & topics
• Be flexible with what & how you teach to engage your learners.
• Develop transferable language skills
• Embed language learning in daily classroom routines.
• Make links across the curriculum & try to see how to combine languages with what you’re already doing
• Be flexible with what & how you teach to engage your learners.

Share your ideas….

Key Documents

Remember - NEW PARTAL Es & Os for P1! Worth a look...

Click each image to go to the document.

Please complete a quick survey - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/F8LX73X

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Click here to complete a quick poll with Slido - How useful did you find this session?

Highland

Contact your Development Officer: thea.pallut@highland.gov.uk

Highland Languages Share-point site (HC staff only) - Classroom Learning & Teaching Resources

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Highland Primary CLPL Languages website

(Anyone) - Training

Highland Council Digital Hub - 1+2 Languages (Anyone) - Parental Engagement

Go Gaelic NA Modules (Glow login required)

Powerlanguage Schools Website (School login required)

Aberdeenshire

Contact your Development Officer: sylvia.georgin@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

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The following site will provide you with support, inspiration and information on all things 1+2. Everything you need is in one place.

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Primary Languages Portal

Glow login is required

*Available to Aberdeenshire teachers at present but will be shared widely in the coming months.

Argyll & Bute Support for Languages

Contact the Area PT for 1+2 Languages- Gwen McCrossan for help and advice. gwen.mccrossan2@argyll-bute.gov.uk

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Explore the SALi blog page for all things Languages related in Argyll & Bute and explore our new Languages Virtual Learning Spaces