Vocab

1. TEACHER EDUCATION COURSE
PRIMARY | ANOS INICIAS DO ENSINO FUNDAMENTAL
A FRAMEWORK FOR
PRESENTING
VOCABULARY IN THE
PRIMARY CLASSROOM

2. MEANING, PRONUNCIATION & FORM
Whenever presenting vocabulary in the primary
classroom, remember that you need to follow the order
meaning, pronunciation and form.
This means that first students need to be familiarized
with the meaning of the vocabulary item, then they will
train the pronunciation of it, and the last thing they will
do is see the written form.
On the next slide, see how this can be done in practice.

3. INTRODUCE
Introduce each vocabulary item with
visual support (slides, flashcards,
gestures, realia etc).
You can show it to students and elicit
what the word is, or you can say it
yourself.

4. CHECK (1)
Ask your learners to respond non-
verbally to your visual support through
actions. For example, can they move like
tigers or elephants? Can they show you a
happy or a sad face?

5. CHECK (2)
Place the visual support around the room , on
the wall, door, window, chairs or floor (or
organize a slide). Ask your learners to point to
the correct item when they hear it. Depending
on the size of the class, learners could run to the
correct part of the room or stand next to the
correct card.

6. CHECK (3)
Give each of your learners a visual and ask them
to show you the correct card when they hear
the item, for example, you could say, 'Show me
the giraffe!', 'Hands up if you've got the jellyfish!',
or 'Point to the yak!' This activity works very well
in teams – give each team an equal number of
flashcards, and the first team to show you the
correct item scores one point!

7. DRILL (1)
After introducing and checking understanding of
the vocabulary item, it is time to focus on
pronunciation.
Choral drill the vocabulary items, as a whole class,
teams or small groups in turn, and then
individually. This can be great fun when drilled in
different ways: say the words slowly, happily,
angrily, loudly, quietly or like an animal, for
example!

8. DRILL (2)
Show a few of the visuals in a line on the
board. Drill each item and remove the last
item. Drill again, up to and including the
missing item. Remove another item.
Continue until all the flashcards have been
removed and your learners can remember
all the missing items

9. DRILL (3)
To keep your learners on their toes you
could 'flash' the visuals fast, upside down
or back-to-front (just so they can see the
outline of the picture or word through
the paper) and ask them to identify the
item. Alternatively, you could cover the
visual and slowly reveal it.

10. FORM
Show students the written form of the
vocabulary items and allow them time to
copy if necessary.

11. FRAMEWORK TO PRESENT VOCABULARY IN PRIMARY
EDUCATION
1. Focus on meaning
2. Check understanding of meaning
3. Focus on pronunciation (drills)
4. Focus on form