“In the Beginning Was the Word…”

Building vocabulary through story,

to develop complex ideas,from Foundation to KS3

Michael Jones

www.talk4meaning.co.uk

How to describe the causes of the economic downturn in one word…

Banksters

GangstersHucksters

FreeloadersHijackers

CarjackersPhonejackersBankrolling

Freewheeling

Words that conjure up big images and ideas

Larry, Franz Marc’s ‘The Red Horses’, German Expressionism, Appleby Horse Fair and Larry’s Granddaddy in Ireland….. and ‘scumbling’.

Lizzie at 9 years old, talking about a trip to the USA, and ‘stuff and places’

What are her needs, and how would we meet them?

The need for flexibility.

Focusing on vocabulary to replace ‘stuff and places’

Ice cream, potatoes and jelly

Darkness is the Absence of Light:

Developing language through teaching science in Year 1

•Choose a core vocabulary

•Use stories to introduce ideas

•Relate teaching to the children’s experiences

• New Star Science

•Set up a display about the topic….

•Which changes as the topic progresses

•Language always supported by visual aids and practical activities

•Make links with the children’s home

•Balance investigation, measurement and recording over the topic

•Paola. Albanian. In UK for 12 months

•Recorded before topic

•Recorded at end of topic

•Recorded eight weeks after topic

P: I know- I know how many yellow stripes there are. There’s a yellow stripe there, a yellow stripe there and a yellow stripe there. And the jacket has got yellow and grey. But it’s shiny now.

The grey bit is shining.

MJ: And why is it shining? What’s making it shine?

P: The thing that’s making it shine is … mm.

MJ: can you remember what we call that word about this strip- when you shine a light on it, do you remember what we call that?

P: Ok. In this picture there’s a man. A man riding a bicycle. And the man is riding on the bicycle and the man has got – mm..

MJ: Reflect

P: Yes. He’s got a reflective coat and the strips are shining and the car is not shining at all. It’s dull. ‘Cos when you call dark you call it dull. When you call the sun –mm- light, you call it reflect. And it’s about this picture, is that bricks are not shiny

MJ: Now tell me about the picture