Stepping Stones to Grammar: The Child's Voice

Exploring sentence structure in primary languages grammar.How are we getting on?

We have been considering ways to support all our colleagues to deliver appropriate primary target languages grammar as part of the language learning in school.This fourth  round up blog focuses on sentences structure: nouns ,adjectives and  commonly used verbs. 

We want our teachers to be confident enough to share with children clearly and successfully how to use some verbs in the target language.Remember we stage the learning of verbs across four years of KS2 ...so the activities below represent work with different stages of learner and year groups. 


Teacher's guide to the ways  to a step by step developmental understanding of nouns,verbs and adjectives from the perspective of a young child in primary school.


We like to encourage the children to look at texts carefully and become independent language detectives!The magical magnifying glass allows us to ask children to find key language ... and the magnifying glass allows us to search a sentence for the clues we are looking for.



Here is a novel and useful language learning tool that can be used as a device over and over again to explore sentences- putting parts of sentences back together, categorising parts of sentences etc.It can be used with beginners,children who are moving on to the more advanced learners. The device could be an independent activity left in the quiet order for children to use or complete independent grammar tasks during the week etc.




Creating simple descriptive sentences using a  noun, a verb and an adjective in this instance to create  jungle animals for our display back drop.
The activity is transferable to  other contexts and content.




First steps to independent writing ,taking notice of punctuation in the target language.An activity that can then be developed to text based mind the gap writing for dialogues and more detailed text with moving on and advanced language learners.






This is a simple activity that can be used on many different levels . You can work with the children with  key individual words,a series of nouns with adjectives, question , sentence , complex sentence or short text .



A calligram activity to help us fill our suitcase with useful Summer holiday clothes sentences.
A creative writing  activity that can be transferred to other contexts and content and can be used with different expectations of sentence structure outcomes 


a device to track the progress children are making in their ability to write descriptions about themselves and to ask questions- linked to a specific theme .In this case we are collecting leaves as it's based around an Autumn time theme.




This is a great activity using familiar language, drama and grammar for children who are “moving on” in their language learning. It reinforces the literacy work that schools are engaging their children with to understand the grammar of a sentence and the construction of a sentences  . It’s an activity that demands correct pronunciation and intonation of the target language and asks the children to not just decode but also understand the message they read and to demonstrate this through performance! It’s also great fun!




This idea can be used across a wide range of language and contexts but it really made me think about how we can help children to improve their target language with physical prompts.
We were focusing upon nouns ( and definite articles) simple present tense common verbs ( in this instance "to be" ) and adjectives ( colours in this case) and how they need to agree with the nouns they describe in French and Spanish.




Can the children identify the verb, the noun  and the adjective in a song or rhyme?Can they now add their own new nouns ,adjectives ans verbs applying the grammatical rules odf the target language?




Writing sentences using bilingual dictionaries to create a sparkling description of a crown or an object(as activity is transferable to other contexts) Activity on three levels :beginners ,moving on. advanced 





Ways to support children to develop their own independent reading  and writing skills at word and sentence level.




What a marvellous starting point to develop creative writing with young language learners, who have a developing understanding of the simple structure and rules of a target language sentence!




Why not create a class book shop window "display" of target language book covers - one book cover for each month of the year with learners who are moving on.Take a look at nouns, verbs , adjectival agreement and the superlative.Take learning walk along the sentence.Using our magical magnifying glasses, we can analyse the text on the book cover





A creative way to read carefully and show understanding of words,phrases and write our own dialogues 



We can work toward creating with our young advanced  language learners a drama and grammar sequence of activities using nouns, adjectives, adverbs and creating spoken, performed  and written similes!
At the end of the sequence of activities the challenge is to create a "spoken simile silhouette poem" based on a specific groups of adjectives or adverbs. 















Verbs and Primary Languages Grammar. How are we getting on?

We have been considering ways to support all our colleagues to deliver appropriate primary target languages grammar as part of the language learning in school.This third  round up blog focuses on commonly used verbs in the present tense.

We want our teachers to be confident enough to share with children clearly and successfully how to use some verbs in the target language.Remember we stage the learning of verbs across four years of KS2 ...so the activities below represent work with different stages of learner and year groups. 


Teacher's guide to the ways  to a step by step developmental understanding of nouns,verbs and adjectives from the perspective of a young child in primary school.


Using a familiar technique of Maths' functions machines to enable children to keep a re-usable record of the processes they need to apply to access and use grammatical structures



We like to encourage the children to look at texts carefully and become independent language detectives!The magical magnifying glass allows us to ask children to find key language ... so here we could be searching for 
verbs in a text for example. 




Bring Art to life !Practise verbal phrases with beginner learners.I use these  activities mid way/ toward the end of the first year of target language learning .The children are confidently recalling and  saying verbal phrases and personal information sentences about themselves which all contain verbs in the present tense



I like to revisit the same picture with the children as they progress in their language learning and confidence . They can see how much more they are capable of achieving and also we are building a soap opera based on the characters we are getting to know in the picture 


Hot Seating! questions and answers leading to a third person singular description of the character of some of the people the children have explored in the famous  painting.


The activities take the children from being able to ask and say who a character is in the first , second , third person singular and plural to developing personalities behind the masks for the characters and adding performance and drama !



Exploring the present tense of the verb "to have" and creating our own potion.Easily transferable activity to another character e.g. "the Christmas fairy on the tree " etc.




How to create different questions to ask someone else a question using the second person singular of the present tense verb 




Physical and expressive ways to explore and internalise the meanings and use of the personal pronouns we require when working with verbs.



Scroll to the bottom of this blog and see how we can create a ssequence of activities where the children programme each other as robots , using the imperative of the present tense verb( commands)





Creating your own Easter movie based in a simple famous rhyme and practising the use of regular "er" verbs in the third person plural.Great with children who are just moving on to become more independent and able to use bi-lingual dictionaries to find the target language infinitives of verbs 




Investigating verbs, exploring meaning and reconstructing text .












Nouns and Primary Languages Grammar. How are we getting on?

We have been considering ways to support all our colleagues to deliver appropriate primary target languages grammar as part of the language learning in school.This first round up blog focuses on nouns.
Here are some of the ways we have done this......

Teacher's guide to the ways  to a step by step developmental understanding of nouns,verbs and adjectives from the perspective of a young child in primary school.

Using a familiar technique of Maths' functions machines to enable children to keep a re-usable record of the processes they need to apply to access and use grammatical structures.



Ways to help teachers to present nouns and the use of gender and definite/indefinite articles with young children who are just beginning to investigate the structure of language



Several ways to help  beginner learners engage with the importance of collecting and identifying nouns in the target language 




A game that can be used over and over again to help children who are moving on in their language learning .Children use  bilingual dictionaries to explore nouns.



Games and categorising activities to bring together knowledge of nouns as the children advance as young language learners. 



A group activity based on the use of nouns.Each group has the same nouns to investigate and use .The challenge is that the children need to create interesting sentences and performances so just like sculptors they create meaningful and creative spoken sculptures.This will help children to link nouns to adjectives and verbs

















Starting to understand nouns

Emilie,Ana and I have been busy this term supporting colleagues to develop their own personal language learning skills and we have delivered several CPD sessions of beginners and intermediate French and Spanish. 

Here are some simple notes on nouns - once we have talked through these notes our colleagues relax and realise that nouns do not need to be an insurmountable obstacle.We hear colleagues say "the minute I found out there was more than one word for "the" I couldn't do languages any more" or they say " what's with this boy and girl thing with nouns?"

We have been asking the teachers to realise that nouns in French and Spanish  have "tags" .
Emilie explains how she is teaching her own little boy French and always introduces new nouns with a tag (un cochon/la tante) never a noun alone!Ana agrees with this when teaching her little boy Spanish too.

  • We make sure that the teachers can see that words "masculine" and "feminine" do not mean " male and "female
  • We ask them to consider that masculine and feminine are special tags of magic keys 
  • We ask them to visualise pulling nouns out of  "masculine" /"feminine"  tag labelled drawers.
  • The idea of physically opening the drawer and being able to select a noun, take it out and use it seems to work well.
  • Teachers also like the idea of the tag being a "magic key" or a "function button" on a virtual drawer.It works.
  • If we think of nouns collected in drawers as above or treasure chests or butterfly nets  we can quite easily  get the teachers to see the link then between the  le/un  or la/une in French and el/un and la/una in Spanish.
  • Plural words for "the" which we then explain are collectively called definite articles then don't phase them as they can open these imaginary drawers and have a look in and see the plural definite article inside the drawer. Easy in French as the word is always "les" and now no longer challenging in Spanish because in the virtual "la " drawer there is only "las "  that they can see and use for"the"  with a plural word and there is only "los" in the "el" drawer.
  • We love it when the teachers then feel that they confidently use and also explain nouns over a period of time to young learners. 
  • With our intermediate CPD colleagues we are ready to build on this and add adjectives.


Stepping Stones to Grammar : The Child's Voice

Stepping Stones to Grammar : The Child's Voice 

This week I have been busy in all sorts of ways discussing with colleagues KS2 and progression 
One thorny issue which has been cropping up is grammar at KS2. 

Within my network we have been trialling approaches to grammar and ways to engage the learner and support specialist and non-specialist teachers at KS2. Something we keep reminding ourselves about is ,that is primary language learning and that we are working with young children who want a structured and creative programme of learning that allows them as children to explore and grow in confidence as young language learners. They are not frightened by structure and grammar , they just need to have time to enjoy exploring it and playing with it like its code or a puzzle or a pattern!

I have been watching, observing and listening  to the children themselves! And I have come to the conclusion that we need to take small steps and let children stay on a stepping stone to explore before rushing them to the next level . We need to help them to stand up and feel confident on that stepping stone and then hold their hand as they make their way to the next stepping stone and we need to let them think about and connect grammar in a new language to structures they are already investigating in Literacy.

Here are three PDFs with their children's voice to guide us , laid out as in "stepping stones" starting from the child , explaining how they progress as language learners that are  not frightened but excited by new learning , how they become inquisitive and  interested in structure  and maybe intrepid explorers..... ready for secondary languages and the care and attention of linguists at KS3.

If we listen to the voice of the learner and we acknowledge their stages of development as young language learners then in my opinion we will progress with the children and not try to force  progression

The subtitle of the PDFs is simple" from a beginner to an interested and "want to know more young language learner" and that's what I hope I will create by planning for progression using the voice I can hear on these stepping stones . 


Stepping Stones Grammar Nouns Child Voice 

Stepping Stones Grammar Verbs Child Voice

Stepping Stones Grammar Adjectives Child Voice