Dunsville Primary School

Vocabulary

Spoken language is one of the main elements of the English Curriculum in Primary Schools. Speaking and Listening skills are a vital part of being able to communicate effectively which leads onto Reading and Writing.  Below, you will see the statutory requirements for Spoken Language which are taught across all year groups.

The content is taught at a level appropriate to the age of the pupils and builds on the oral language skills that have been taught in preceding years. Pupils are taught to develop their competence in spoken language and listening to enhance the effectiveness with which they are able to communicate across a range of contexts and to a range of audiences. We give pupils the opportunities to work in groups of different sizes – in pairs, small groups, large groups and as a whole class. This allows pupils to understand how to take turns and when and how to participate constructively in conversations and debates. Attention is also paid to increasing pupils' vocabulary, ranging from describing their immediate world and feelings to discussing abstract concepts and a wider range of topics and to enhancing their knowledge about language as a whole.

Pupils receive constructive feedback on their spoken language and listening, not only to improve their knowledge and skills but also to establish secure foundations for effective spoken language in their studies at primary school, helping them to achieve in secondary education and beyond.  

As mentioned above, part of our work in English lessons is to teach oracy and vocabulary. One of the ways we do this is by including Tier 2 words within our model text in our Talk for Writing sequence. As such, each class has a word garden, where unknown words are put on the board to ‘grow’. Once pupils understand what they mean and can use them in a variety of contexts and sentences, they are moved to the ‘words we know’ section of the board.

How we teach vocabulary at Dunsville

Vocabulary comes in three tiers, Tier 1 is a group of words that we would use in everyday life and that children are exposed to on a regular basis. Tier 2 words are words that appear in different contexts and can support pupil’s comprehension of a text. Tier 3 words are more subject specific and could be taught in a science topic for example.

Recently, we have started to look more at how we can develop Tier 2 vocabulary across school. We have created a list of Tier 2 words that each year group will teach their pupils. Each class chooses a ‘Tier 2 word of the week’ from the list to focus on. Lessons take place throughout the week that immerse the pupils in reading, understanding and using the word in a variety of situations. We look at the dictionary definition of the word, synonyms that can be used in its place, the word class (is it an adjective, verb, noun?) and how we can use it within different sentence types. Each week, this Tier 2 word is displayed on a sunflower in the word garden as well as in the dining hall for everyone to see.

Have a look at our Tier 2 word lists: