Grammar in Key Stage 2

I've mentioned before that the national curriculum document for Key Stage 2 Languages doesn't give us much to go on as far as content is concerned.  It's particularly impenetrable for the non-specialist teacher.  The grammar part is the "bit" of the two-and-a bit pages of the document:

"understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English."

On the face of it, there doesn't appear to be a great deal to it.  However, if you drill down into these simple statements, such as "the conjugation of high-frequency verbs", there are a lot of grammatical points to be covered if children are to build sentences and longer texts successfully.

I have been thinking about exactly what grammar we need to cover in Key Stage 2 to enable this part of the curriculum to be met, to enable children to write longer texts confidently and coherently and, of course, to lay a solid basis for Key Stage 3.  I have used Mindomo to mindmap the grammar that I think we need for French and Spanish.  Please feel free to use these mindmaps to help you in your work and to show your English co-ordinator what you do!  Very many thanks to members of the Languages in Primary Schools Facebook group for their input and lively discussions about what should be included and what we should call it!

French:

 Spanish:

5 in a row

Yesterday afternoon I had an enjoyable lesson with my new Year 6 Spanish class.  At the moment we are learning about sports, mainly to introduce opinions which they haven't done before, being new to Spanish in September. 

The whole-class speaking and listening, and the individual writing, was followed by this 5 in a row activity, which is from this lesson pack. 

• The children played in pairs, and there was one group of three.
• The 5 in a row grid has 64 squares, and the aim of the game is to win by getting 5 squares in a row, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally.  
• Each team member will need a different coloured pen or pencil.
• The children take it in turns to point to the square that they want and then say the right sentence to go with it.  
• If their partner agrees that they are correct, they colour in the square with their colour.  Alternatively they could write their initials in the square.
• The winner is the one who has five squares in a row in their colour.

To say it got a little competitive is an understatement!  There was plenty of target language being used and they were very good at playing tactically to block their opponents.  The group of three found it especially hard to get a line of 5 and had to use nearly all the squares.

This grid could also be used for a Blockbusters-style game, with one student moving vertically and the other horizontally.

It could also be used for a Knights game.  Students move in an L-shape, like the knight in chess, colouring in the square that they reach, as long as they can say the word or phrase correctly.  The student with the most squares coloured in their colour before both players get stuck wins.

If you would like to have a go at 5 in a row, there are quite a few games to try on Light Bulb Languages:

French - numbers to 15

French - numbers to 64

French - colours

French - fruit and vegetables

French - aller (present tense)

French - avoir (present tense)

French - être (present tense)

French - telling the time

Spanish - numbers to 15

Spanish - fruit and vegetables

Spanish - numbers to 64

Spanish - colours

Spanish - places in town

Spanish  - ir (present tense)

Spanish - ser/estar (present tense)

Spanish - tener (present tense)

Spanish - telling the time

German - numbers to 15

German - numbers to 64

German - colours

German - telling the time

Italian - numbers to 15

Italian - numbers to 64

Italian - colours

Italian - telling the time

If there is a 5 in a row game that you think would be useful to your classes and which isn't already mentioned here, please get in touch.  I already have the grid made and it's easy to adapt for a new game.