After hesitating, I bought both these books from Little Linguist… and why was I hesitating? They are even nicer than I thought! You can get a hold of them too: click here for “What a wonderful word” and here for “What a wonderful phrase”. I think that I have a slight preference for “What a wonderful phrase” as it offers even more opportunities for exploitation…
Read below my ideas on how to use them!
Languages of text: mostly English, with bits of other languages
Type of text: picture book
Author or source: Nicola Edwards & Manu Montoya at Little Tiger
Intended age of students: Key Stage 2/3
Source reference: 9781838913274; 9781848576452
Approaches:
There are 29 words in one book and 29 phrases in the other… more than you need in order to can share a word or a phrase every school week!
My thinking is that each week I will share one of them with my Y5 (9-10 year old) pupils and we will discuss it as part of the lesson, either at the beginning or at the end. I will pick a child to read the word/phrase of the week to the others. I would also like to display the words/phrases somewhere in school – possibly without any definitions, but with a note that says “ask Y5 about this”, so conversations emerge from it and the pupils keep revisiting them. I also want to let them vote for their favourite every half-term – we will have an overall winning word/phrase at the end of the year!
Rationale:
I bought those books with a view to share my love of languages, and not just French, with my pupils.
If you have pupils in your groups who speak the language that one of the words/phrases is in, they can help you with accurate pronunciation (please note approximate pronunciation is included in both books), and tell you if they know it or not – it will make them feel very valued too.
Outcomes:
Children will potentially recognise/learn words in other languages thanks to these 2 books, but more than anything they will enjoy the stories behind the words and phrases. It will help them gain an awareness of the different cultures at play, the different ways of looking at life, the different backgrounds… so it teaches or reminds them that not everyone does and sees things the same way, and that’s great! There is so much richness in words…
Topics or themes:
A weekly dose of amazing language and culture discovery!
How much time required:
a whole year
Do you know of other books that foster a love of language(s) and could be used in the primary classroom? Please share them if the comments below if you do!
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Nathalie