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thelinguist.uberflip.com APRIL/MAY 2016 The Linguist 17 FEATURES Group. Only girls or only boys are asked to repeat, or one side of the classroom. Mexican wave. The class is divided into three groups from left to right; each group repeats part of a phrase, e.g. J'ai… un… hamster in turn while standing and throwing up their arms; the order can be varied so different groups have a chance to start and finish. Lip-reading. The teacher silently mouths a word and the pupils guess what it is. Missing card. The teacher displays all the flashcards, then removes one and asks which one is missing. Memory game. The teacher hands out flashcards to individuals; the class has to remember who has what card. E.g. Qui a un hamster? or Quel animal a Nathan?. Singing together Songs are a good way of teaching language in a fun way. Performing actions alongside the lyrics helps children to access the meanings and memorise vocabulary. 'Two Little Dickie Birds' is a good song for reinforcing greetings (here in Spanish): Dos pajaritos ('two little birds'; flap arms)/ En una rama ('sitting on a branch'; arm horizontal like a branch)/ Uno es Carlos ('one is Carlos'; finger of right hand pointing up)/ El otro Cesara ('the other, Cesara'; finger of left hand pointing up)/ Hola Carlos ('hello Carlos'; nod right finger)/ Hola Cesara ('hello Cesara'; nod left finger)/ Adiós Carlos ('goodbye Carlos'; right finger flies behind back)/ Adiós Cesara ('goodbye Cesar'; (left finger flies behind back). Children can be invited to write their own lyrics to tunes that are known to them. The following is sung to the tune of 'Here we Go' with children marching, swinging arms and accompanying the song with actions: On y va, on y va, on y va (swinging arms) On y va à la piscine (swimming action) On y va à la bibliothèque (reading action) On y va à l'église (praying action) Across the curriculum Teaching the target language need not be restricted to a 30-minute slot each week. Learning is much more effective if the language is applied little and often, in a range of contexts across the curriculum, for example: Registration. Revision of greetings and question-and-answer forms. PE. Basic warm-up activities with instructions in the target language (here in Spanish): caminad ('walk'), saltad ('jump'); bailad ('dance'), más rápido ('faster'), más lento ('slower'), parad ('stop'). History. Link French with the Norman invasion by listing words that the English language borrows from French, for instance bouquet, café, chauffeur, chic, omelette, restaurant. It is important for the teacher to practise the pronunciation to avoid anglicisms. Can pupils find other examples? Numeracy. Strategies that teachers may already employ to teach numeracy can be used to consolidate numbers in the target language. For instance, 'Think of a number' (Je pense à…), in which pupils take turns to guess a number the teacher has written down. The teacher responds with either oui, moins ('less') or plus ('more'). The child who guesses the number takes on the role of choosing a new one. This article is based on Teaching Primary French and Teaching Primary Spanish (2016) by Amanda Barton and Angela McLachlan, part of the Bloomsbury Curriculum Basics series. See www.bloomsbury.com/uk/series/ bloomsbury-curriculum-basics. Notes 1 CfBT Education Trust (2015) 'Language Trends 2014/15. The state of language learning in primary and secondary schools in England' Learning is much more effective if the language is applied little and often, in a range of contexts © SHUTTERSTOCK ONLINE RESOURCES Among the free online courses for teachers and learners are www.duolingo.com and www.open.edu/openlearn. Lesson plans, worksheets, videos, PowerPoint presentations and activities can be downloaded from numerous websites free of charge with plentiful, high-quality resources at both www.primaryresources.co.uk/mfl/mfl.htm and http://lightbulblanguages.co.uk/ resources-primary.htm, where podcasts are available in four languages.