julieannedevlin

The use of ‘digit cards’ in class

Free maths resources to download! I hope everyone is getting settled back into school life, strange though it may be this September! I think by now maybe you can guess how much I believe in pupils learning through hands-on/ talk activities, be it vocabulary/oral language or in the case of maths, opportunities for mental mathsContinue reading “The use of ‘digit cards’ in class”

Oral Language and Vocabulary Development for children at home (free downloadable)

Oral language is our earliest form of communication and it is essential as we use it daily to communicate our needs.

Ideas to expand ‘feelings’ or ’emotions’ vocabulary in the classroom

‘Feelings’ or ‘emotion’ vocabulary is important for pupils to develop. They can use the vocabulary to express themselves and gain confidence speaking in front of an audience. Developing this vocabulary or doing the following activities can tie into other subject areas such as Social Personal Health Education or Drama.

Oral language & vocabulary development with ‘Three Words’ activities

Storytelling is a great way to build oral language skills and ‘Three Word Cards’ will develop sequential development of plot and encourage listening skills.

These are cards that have three words (and three corresponding pictures for non-readers) printed on them. The aim is for the pupils to use their imaginations and incorporate the three words into a story having a suitable beginning, middle and end.

Using barrier games for the teaching of positional language, demonstration of understanding & categorisation

Barrier games encourage children to be precise in what they are saying and can be used in many ways to practice giving and receiving instructions from others.

Using a ‘Feely Bag’ for oral language in the classroom

A multi-sensory feely bag activity is perfect for the development of oral language skills and vocabulary.

Conversation Stations

An area is set up in the class, where the teacher has an opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with four or five children each day, with a particular topic in mind. Pupils have the opportunity to talk, to have language modelled for them and to get feedback on their conversation/ language. The conversation station can be used with any age group as an effective activity to promote vocabulary and language development in the classroom.

Morning Meeting (language discussion)

Have a section of wall/ board to display topics for discussion during ‘Morning Meeting ’. Ideally this could be in your ‘speaking and listening corner’/ oral language area. It is a perfect oral language activity for revising previous work, practicing and reinforcing new vocabulary and can be used as an opportunity for children to give presentations, look at items using the visualize and discussion etc.

Why is oral Language important?

Oral language is our earliest form of communication and it is essential as we use it daily to communicate our needs. Language to crucial to learning as it gives a child entry to a world of knowledge, unlocking the world of the imagination, reading, providing skills to write and helping us grow as individuals. However, without language, a word gap ensues.

Phrase of the Day

We all know that developing a love for reading in our pupils has many advantages, from expanding pupils’ vocabulary, helping with spelling, grammar, punctuation and much more.

Using the idea of D.E.A.R time (Drop everything and read) or E.R.I.C (Everyone reads in class) for twenty minutes a day, letting the pupils select their own books and read at a time during the school day that suits you, can have tremendous benefits for children (including those who don’t like to read as they just may discover a book that they like.)