by Elaine Gallagher
Hello, teachers:
Many times you may ask, “What vocabulary should I be supporting in every-day classroom activities to expand the children’s listening vocabulary, beyond the book?” «What words or phrases, or grammar practices do my students need to know so they can build oral fluency….beyond the book?»
These are great questions, proving that you are a real professional who wants what’s best for your students.
Here is a mini-guide for you to use. Maybe you will want to make flashcards, or a poster, or choose words you know the students need. We hope the list will be a helpful guide for you!
GENERAL VOCABULARY AND TOPICS
Grade 1
Students should be able to discuss and answer questions such as:
- What’s your name?
- How many children are there? (1-20)
- this is / these are
- What’s this? It’s ……..
- The body
- Faces
- What color is it?
- My clothes
- WORDS TO KNOW: bicycles, birds, boys, cats, children, dogs, flags, girls, trees, basketball, football, rugby, volleyball, team
- MORE: bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kitchen, living room, bed, books, cards, computer, cupboard, rabbit, shelf, table
- MORE: arms, feet, fingers, hands, head, legs, tall, short, fat, thin, big, small, long. ears, eyes, hair, mouth, nose, dark, fair
- MORE: blue, brown, green, orange, pink, purple, red, yellow, black, white, box, crayons, paper, pen, ruler, scissors
- MORE: belt, blouse, dress, hat, jacket, shirt, skirt, socks, suit, tie, trousers, T-shirt
- What do you see in this picture? Student should be able to describe the picture, using some of the above-listed words.
VOCABULARY AND TOPICS
Grade 2
- crocodile, baby, doing, playing the piano, bus, monster, cake, horse, floor, jumping, under, on, between, lemon, lime, now, clock, ice-cream, radio, drinking, guitar, wearing, elephant, spider
- all colors covered in first grade, plus: grey; pets, bird, cage, rabbit, fish, beak, behind, in, on, under, tank, wall, flowers
- Pets
- Do you have a computer?
- WORDS: camera, comics, computer, pictures, rings, toys, video game, violin, behind, between, in, on , next to, in front of, under
- Days of the week
- WORDS / PHRASES: in the morning / afternoon, the weekend, go swimming, play tennis, visit grandparents, have a music lesson, paints, cleans, watches, does, goes, visits, plays, cooks
- Where do you live?
- WORDS: a flat, cottage, house, city, town, village, garden, upstairs, downstairs, on the ground floor
- FAMILY: pretty, sister, brother, mother, father, twin sister / brother, grandmother, grandfather
- What time do you get up? WORDS / PHRASES: get up, go to bed, have lunch, do homework, watch TV, go to school, have breakfast, o’clock, half past, quarter past / to, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening
- FRIENDS: bike, film, pizza, cinema, restaurant, swimming pool, tennis club, She plays hockey.
- MONTHS OF THE YEAR: all 12 months, Christmas, birthday, Easter, Mother’s Day, Ordinal numbers for dates: 1st – 31st
SELECTED VOCABULARY AND TOPICS
Grade 3
(all of the previous words, plus:)
many animals, such as animal, lizard, sheep, words dealing with the body and the face , clothes and accessories such as handbag, glasses, trousers; family, friends, and ourselves: dad/daddy, family, me, I, my, their, them, they, woman, women, man, men; food and drink: ice- cream, juice, coconut, onion, sausage, supper, breakfast, burger; the home: armchair, bathroom, bookcase, camera, mirror, phone, street, television, TV, watch, window; school, such as: alphabet, board, colour (color), correct, English, eraser, know, don’t know, letter, listen, question, sentence, teacher, test, understand, write, yes
What’s the weather like?: warm, sunny, cloudy, absolutely, rainy
What do you study?: art, biology, chemistry, multiplication
Free time: music, homework, go out, play video games
Tell me about your town: I live in…… historic city, crowded, quie
What are they doing?: He’s brushing his teeth. shopping, working, watching TV. washing up, reading, eating
Best friends: short, blonde, friendly, straight, wear, strong
Work: What does your father do?: He’s a lawyer.
Where’s your classroom?: It’s down the hall. go along, turn left / right
Grade 4
be, catch, draw, drink, eat, find, fly, have, hit, know, learn, put, read, ride, see, sing, sit, sleep, spell, swim, stand, throw, understand, wear, write; add, answer, ask, bounce, look, paint, pick up, play, point, talk, walk, want, watch
Family matters: using the future, describing people, possessives
Play time: frequency, time expressions, every day, six o’clock
School’s out: holidays, present / future, when, where, why, who
Good sports: likes and dislikes, present continuous, questions
Memorable meals: food, cooking, talking about a meal, future with going to
Nice work: work, jobs, quickly, well, occupations
Shop around: describing ways of shopping, sequencing: first, next, after, finally
In class: talking about the past, comparison / superlative, the best, the most difficult, easiest
Grade 5
(all of the previous words, plus:)
towns, zoos, snakes, monkeys, playground, wrong, afraid, grandma, village, swimming pool, horse, river, carried, wet, robot, holidays
Friends: frequency, giving reasons, recently, a few days ago
Dream machines: probability, could, cheaper, faster, more popular
Cover to cover: books and films, narrating an event, describing a character, the funniest, the most enjoyable
A big bang: festivals & special occasions, during, dates: 4th of July, 31st of December, 19th of March, ordinal numbers, fourth, twenty-first
Watch it: expressing opinions, I prefer
Going for gold: recent and indefinite past, for, since, ever, never
The world tomorrow: possibly, probably, is certain to, certainly, definitely not
Present time: describing events, sequencing, for my birthday, in December, on the 3rd, for Christmas
Grade 6
(all of the previous words, plus:)
badminton, baseball, basketball, bounce, camera, fishing, football, kick, kite, soccer, table tennis, toy, helicopter, lorry (truck), motorbike, at, behind, in front of, next to, afternoon, computer, ordinal numbers 1st to 100th, example.
On the ball: badly, fast, hard, regularly, have to, must, need
Season tickets: in the winter, colder, the wettest, sunbathing, swimming, because, giving reasons, frequency
It’s history: describing past events, how much? how many?
That’s rich: money, ability, skills; If I’m successful, I’ll be rich. Gerunds: good at + —ing: He is good at swimming.
What on Earth….? opinions, describing, have to, must, need; If we ban cars, the air would be cleaner.
In great shape: health, have to, don’t have to, need, don’t need
Wild dreams: describing animals, asking open-ended questions, much, many, more, less, few, little, less
Followers of fashion: describing what people wear, shopping,
expressing frequency: never, occasionally, often, unusually, always, conditionals (first)
ENJOY!
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