As part of our modern languages elective, we had to find three different types of text that we could use in the primary classroom. I thought this task would be quite simple, however, it was difficult to find texts that weren’t too difficult for pupils. Here are the texts I chose:

Menu

I quite like this resource as it is visually appealing and whilst it contains quite a bit of text, the main information can be found through the headings and subheadings. I like how this text is divided up by the meals of the day, contact information and general information. I would aim this text towards P5/6 as younger pupils can consider the headings whilst older pupils can go deeper into meal descriptions.

The questions I would ask my pupils would be:

• What type of text do you think this is? (does looking at the structure and layout of the text give them any clues?).
• What is the purpose of the text? (to advertise, to inform etc?)
• What is the topic of the text? (look at pictures to help)
• What are the main parts of this text? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, contact details and information)
• Do you recognise any of the vocabulary? (theme begins to build up without reading the whole text).
• Who is the target audience? (children, adults, families etc?)
• Can you find any words in Spanish that look similar to words in English (cognates)? (this will aid understanding of the text and help to build learner confidence).
• Are there any words that you don’t recognise? (if so, look them up in a dictionary)

Activities:

• Children could ask and tell their shoulder partner what they would order and how much it would be. (for deeper conversations, more vocabulary required)
• To determine understanding, children could answer basic comprehension questions in English.
• Pupils could recreate the menu.
• Pupils could create their own menu for a restaurant (more vocabulary required)
• In groups, children could research traditional Spanish foods and what they eat at different fiestas and holidays.

Advert

I really like this text as it is bright and colourful with a nice amount of text along with some images to engage children. Whilst this text doesn’t have a lot of writing, it is quite complex in places as it only contains imperatives. To introduce imperatives, I think it would be best to use them in classroom routines and instructions verbally. This way children may recognise them in this text and can determine their meaning. I would aim this text at P6/7 due to the use of imperatives and vocabulary.

The questions I would ask my pupils would be:

• What type of text do you think this is? (does looking at the structure and layout of the text give them any clues?).
• What is the purpose of the text? (to advertise, to inform etc?)
• What is the topic of the text? (look at pictures to help)
• Do you recognise any of the vocabulary? (theme begins to build up without reading the whole text).
• Who is the target audience? (children, adults, families etc?)
• Can you find any words in Spanish that look similar to words in English (cognates)? (this will aid understanding of the text and help to build learner confidence).
• Are there any words that you don’t recognise? (if so, look them up in a dictionary)

Activities:

• Conversation- saying what their favourite drink is and asking their partner (additional vocabulary support required)
• Recreate the poster using different adjectives.
• Create their own poster for their favourite drink (additional vocabulary support required).

Brochure

I found it extremely challenging to find a holiday brochure that was suitable for primary aged children. This would be far too difficult for 4-11 year olds, however, I do believe that P7 could look at the brochure on a basic level and not go into depth. They could look at what aspects of Havana are being discussed and find any words they recognise or cognates to form a general understanding of the text. Children could create their own brochure for their town with some lessons on the general places and things to do in the town vocabulary.