The Young Language Learner Award (YLLA) is an exciting story-writing opportunity aimed at 6-11 year olds. Children are encouraged to send in a story or comic written in a language of their choice, other than a mother tongue. bSmall will provide a template, notes for teachers/ parents/ tutors and a downloadable entry form for entrants to submit the finished story. All entrants have the chance of winning up to 10 books of their choice from the bSmall website.
More details of YLLA will follow as it opens on 15th April 2024. You can sign up on the bSmall site to stay informed, and also look at last year’s three winning stories all on the theme of Celebration to tie in with King Charles’ coronation as well as read a two page review of last year’s competition. You can also read about YLLA 2022 here.
This year the theme is…
TEAM SPIRIT
Image created using AI
Start date: Mon 15 April End date: Mon 10 June Winners will be announced: 24th June
I’ve once more been asked to help judge YLLA and am really looking forward to reading all the entries. So encourage your children to start having a think about the theme and get ready to enter!
After the success of last year’s competition, the bSmall Young Language Learner Award returns.
This year the theme is…
Children aged 6-11 are invited to submit a story written in a language other than English. On the website https://bsmall.co.uk/ylla you can find template, notes for teachers/ parents/ tutors and a downloadable entry form for entrants to submit the finished story.
Winners will receive books from the bSmall and the opportunity to have their work published in PDF form on the website. The closing date for entries is Monday 5th June and winners will be announced on June 26th.
You can read about last year’s contest and see the top three entries in this post
Once more I’ve been asked to be on the judging panel. I’m really looking forward to reading all the entries. So, if you’re looking for a way of celebrating the coronation in class, or you fancy supporting your class/children in writing a story about celebrating a festival, a birthday or special event, why not join in the challenge.
As I shared earlier this year, bSmall relaunched their Young Language Learner Award this summer after several years break. The award invited young learners to submit a story in a language that they are learning on the theme of ADVENTURE.
I was so excited to be asked to judge the award this year with Catherine from Little Linguist . There were lots of entries, some from individuals and some done in class, in French Spanish and one in German. It was hard to whittle them down to our favourites but we all agreed on the winner and runners up after some discussion!
The judges felt that Juliet’s story about a week in the life of Spot el guepardo as he goes on holiday was beautifully presented with clear bright illustrations featuring the eponymous Spot!
If you click on the links you can read enjoy the entries too.
Well done Adam, Alexandra and Juliet! I hope you enjoy your prizes and the glory of winning!
I’m pleased to be say that b small are bringing back their Young Language Learning Award. They ran this competition in 2014 and 2017, and this time the theme is ADVENTURE.
The competition is open to primary aged learners (6-11) who are encouraged to send in a four-page story or comic (two sides of A4) written in a language of their choice, other than a mother tongue.
To enter children need the following documents that are downloadable from the website
They should think about what they’d like to write about. It’s a good idea to choose a subject that interests them as they need to be motivated to write! The finished piece can’t be longer than two A4 pages and can be submitted digitally (scan the story and email) or by post.
If you want to do it as a class, the teacher can submit entries with a single cover form as long as each story is marked clearly with the child’s name, language being learned and their mother tongue to make judging fair!
On the website there are hints and tips as well as a more detailed explanation of what to do including where to send your entries.
Entries close on Mon 01 August and the winners will be announced on the European Day of Languages, Mon 26 September.
b small will publish the winning entry as a PDF on their website, and the winner will also receive 10 language learning books from b small, with 2nd and 3rd runners up receiving 5 books and 2 books respectively.
This evening I presented at The Language Show. For the second year running, this was not at Olympia or Earl’s Court, but from the comfort of my dining room. I was joined by a good number of attendees given the timing (1715 of a Friday evening) including at least one who was enjoying their Saturday morning coffee in the States, others enjoying a cup of tea and another with a G&T. Sounded good to me!
My presentation was on the theme of Using ‘literature’ to support primary language teaching and learning and, having looked at the National Curriculum Languages Programme of Study for some context and a dictionary for a definition, I launched into my talk during which I highlighted a number of types of ‘literature’ and the reasons why we might choose that genre, before giving some examples and some ideas of how they can be used to engage, inspire, teach and provoke in the primary language classroom. I shared some sequences of activities as well as referring to a number of posts that explain in greater detail what I wanted to share.
Below are the slides – if you have any questions or just want a comment, please leave it below or tweet me@lisibo
In these strange times, the online conference is the way to go and thus I sat down at my laptop, coffee in hand and attended the ALL Primary Languages Conference a couple of weeks ago. Nicknamed ‘Acapulco’ by Steven Fawkes (there was a reason but nobody can recall what it was!) the conference was based around five pillars as can be seen from the graphic.
Others have shared their takeaways already, including Nathalie aka Nattalingo, as well as their presentations (Suzi’s is here) and I thought I’d share mine in the form of my sketchnotes. Disclaimer: I had to ‘leave’ early so I’m afraid I didn’t do one for Suzi’s session nor Nathalie’s but you can access their slides at the link above!
Keynote speaker Dr Michael Wardle , OFSTED Lead on Languages “The curriculum needs to be BROAD and AMBITIOUS throughout EACH and EVERY year group.”
Dr Rachel Hawkes, NCELP (and many other good things!) As usual, too much to fit on one page!
Sue Cave talking all things phonics. A strong knowledge of phonics affects all areas of language learning.
Clare Seccombe – learning to walk before you can run is very important! e.g. knowing a small pot of words really well that can then be extended by EFFECTIVE use of a bilingual dictionary.
An excellent conference and really well organised. Not only were the sessions great, the chat was good too with ideas flying so fast it was sometimes hard to keep up with it all! I recommend that you sign up to ALL as there will be future events for members, specifically designed for primary called PHOrum and they will be quality events! You can find out how to join here and also about the other benefits!
Whilst I know that many schools do not celebrate Halloween (mine don’t!) I thought I’d share these ideas that I’ve used, made or seen over the years.
A Halloween Storybird.
Songs about ‘calabazas’
Songs about ‘esqueletos’
A story.
1. A Storybird for Halloween
In 2012 I made this Storybird at the request of the Reception teacher at my school. I say ‘my school’ but at the time I lived in Switzerland and they were missing me!
I happily created it and shared it with them, and then with you via my blog in this post.
Unfortunately in the intervening years, Storybird has changed the way you can share so the link was broken so I created a PPT of the pages and added some activities and extra slides today, then narrated it. The link to it is at the bottom of the post.
2. Songs about ‘calabazas’
I’ve shared the first of these songs before when I subtitled it (using a tool that doesn’t exist anymore so it’s lost 🙁 However, you can switch on the CC subtitles now and whilst, not perfect (the third ‘calabaza’ is ‘enojada’ and the subtitle read ‘que no y no’) they serve the purpose!
As you can see, each ‘calabaza’ is expresses a feeling using the phrase ‘se siente…’ and you could follow up this song with asking ¿Cómo te sientes? (How are you feeling?) with children responding “Me siento…”
Here are the lyrics: Cinco calabazas sentadas en su casa Una calabaza se siente muy cansada. Cuatro calabazas sentadas en su casa Una calabaza se siente asustada. Tres calabazas sentadas en su casa Una calabaza se siente enojada. Dos calabazas sentadas en su casa Una calabaza se siente muy frustrada. Una calabaza sentada en su casa Una calabaza se siente sorprendida Cinco calabazas duermen en su casa Cuando sale el sol, se sienten muy felices.
Cinco calabazas sentadas en su casa.
I’ve just discovered this second video, also about ‘calabazas’ and emotions. This time the ‘calabazas’ are more animated, and express their feeling using the verb estar. Some interesting vocabulary used including gruñona, a great word meaning grumpy or cranky! Another opportunity to discuss feelings, asking ¿Cómo estás? with children replying Estoy… It also offers an opportunity to look at the present continuous Estoy+gerund.
Here are the lyrics: Letra: Una calabaza, sonriendo, sonriendo. x3 Una calabaza está feliz.
Dos calabazas, gruñendo, gruñendo. x3 Dos calabazas están gruñonas.
Tres calabazas, bostezando, bostezando. x3 Tres calabazas están con sueño.
Cuatro calabazas, llorando, llorando. x3 Cuatro calabazas están tristes.
Cinco calabazas, riendo, riendo. x3 Cinco calabazas están jugando.
3. Songs about ‘esqueletos’
I’ve long been familiar with the Babelzone song about ‘Los Esqueletos’ that has a skeleton coming out of the ‘tumba’ every hour of the night as the clock strikes, and have shared it many times! The version below has a bit more ‘movida’ and also uses ‘desde…. hasta’ to give a range of time (from … until) rather than ‘cuando el reloj marca…’ Certainly an earworm!
Tumbalakatumba – very catchy
I also like this version as it’s a rhyme rather than a song; great to work on rhythm and link language learning to music. You could find the percussion instruments and really get a beat going! And then it becomes a song encouraging you to dance. First moving your ‘cintura’, then your ‘cabeza’, ‘rodillas’ and finally your ‘cuerpo’
If you prefer ‘calaveras’ to ‘esqueletos’ you could try this version or this one.
And linking ‘los esqueletos’ to parts of the body, you could try “El Baile del Esqueleto.” To the tune of Dem Bones, the song encourages you to move and dance whilst simply talking about how your bones are connected to one another. You could use it as part of a science lesson on the skeleton, or as an exercise in finding the word for or working out what the lyrics mean using scientific knowledge.
And not entirely a song about ‘esqueletos’ but here’s a ‘Halloween’ version of 5 babies jumping on the bed with skeletons and a ghost Mummy telling them off!
4. A story about a broomstick
During lockdown I recorded a number of stories for my pupils and, like many people, had some online shopping sprees when I couldn’t get out. I combined these when a colleague discovered that I had bought a Julie Donaldson/Axel Scheffler book that is her favourite and asked me to record it for her so she could hear what it sounded like. I’ve uploaded it here for the next few weeks if you’d like to use it. After that, you can have a look at this version which is animated with pictures from the book (but also has some spelling mistakes!) or this one. If you have a Twinkl subscription there is a set of vocabulary to accompany the story here and the bottom of this post has a couple of craft activities too. Obviously, activities for the English version Room on a Broom could also be used and/or adapted, especially craft activities as they have no text on them; here are some examples KiddychartsScholasticTeaching Ideas
So – there are my ideas for Halloween. As I said at the beginning, I don’t celebrate Halloween in my schools, but we do look at another festival at this time of year – Día de los Muertos.
During this strange half term when we’ve been at school but not at school, I’ve been setting Spanish work for KS2 using Showbie. That’s been great as I’ve been able to make use of lots of resources including the wonderful Learn Spanish at home videos made by Clare Seccombe that accompany her scheme of work. I’ve been able to set the work and collect it via the app.
¡Hola a todos!
Showbie allows you to send written comments but also images and voice messages. The latter not only save time but have been particularly popular with the children. In the early stages I had so many comments that ‘it’s lovely to hear your voice!’ and ‘hearing you made me smile!’ This, combined with a wish to stay in tough with the younger children made me think.
I’ve taught Y1 quite a bit this year and they love anything active so I started by recording rhymes as a challenge (see previous posts) Then I moved onto stories like the ones about Elmo and Elmer.
They proved so popular that I decided to try and record one each week and share it via the school website/Twitter. I didn’t always succeed but I’d recorded quite a few by the end of term. Even if they were only viewed by a few children it was worth it.
If we go into lockdown again, I’ll start up once more. And it’s given me an idea for next term when assemblies are banned – I’ll be recording some assemblies based around books that can be played to the children in class. I’ve got quite a pile of suitable ones!
Here’s one of my videos that I really enjoyed recording as it’s one of my favourite books and allows me to be really dramatic. And if you think I pull some amazing faces, you should see some of the ones sent to me via ClassDojo (the platform we used with KS1) 😉
Continuing on the theme of colours, the next story I decided to share with the children is all about Elmer the elephant. In the book, we meet Elmer and his multiple colours, and then discover things that are that colour like snow, an ice lolly and fruit.
Here it is:
Since recording it, I’ve discovered the video below which takes the book towards the story of Elmer in which he wants to be the same as everyone else to fit in. [You can find that story here.] They each colour in a picture of Elmer and explore the idea of being the same but different
Then I found this song that is really lovely and worth sharing with children as it speaks about the value of diversity.
The lyrics are:
De mil colores es su piel se llama Elmer y es genial un elefante quiere ser de igual color que los demás. (2 veces)
Para ser feliz no hay que ser igual para sonreír no hay que ser igual para divertir no hay que ser igual porque el color no importará. (2 veces)
(Elmer, el elefante de colores – Canción del cuento de David McKee Autor: Juan Rafael Muñoz Muñoz Arreglo: Luis Miguel González)
I also like this version of the songs with pictograms to aid understanding. If you’d like another version of the story I shared, here’s a little child reading it. Very different style to me – far cuter! And I also found a couple of activities here that you could do related to the story.
As we continue with ‘lockdown learning,’ I’ve made another video for my pupils. This week, I move away from chocolate and rhymes and ask the question ¿De qué color es Elmo?
Years ago on a trip to Spain, I found some Barrio Sésamo books in a random shop and two have become permanent favourites. Unfortunately ¿Qué oye Epi? disappeared many years ago but I still have one of them which is great for practising colours and the question ¿De qué color es?
In my video we meet Epi and Blas, and discover other members of the Barrio Sésamo gang who aren’t the same colour as Elmo in the story. Here it is.
There are lots of Barrio Sésamo videos that you might like to use in the classroom. I particularly like this one in which Elmo and Abby learn with Rosita how to sing ‘Si estás feliz…’
In case you wanted the words:
Si estás feliz, tú puedes aplaudir. (If you’re happy, you can clap) Si estás feliz, tú puedes aplaudir. Si en verdad estás contento, tu sonrisa es el reflejo. (If you really are happy, your smile is the reflection) Si estás feliz, tú puedes aplaudir.
Si estás feliz, golpear con los pies. ((If you’re happy, stamp your feet) Si estás feliz, golpear con los pies. Si en verdad estás contento, a tu rostro es el reflejo. (If you really are happy, your face is the reflection) Si estás feliz, golpear con los pies.
Si estás feliz, tú puedes gritar ‘¡Hurra!’ (If you’re happy, you can shout Hurray!) Si estás muy feliz, tú puedes gritar ‘¡Hurra!’ Si en verdad estás contento, tu sonrisa es el reflejo. (If you really are happy, your smile is the reflection) Si estás feliz, tú puedes gritar ‘¡Hurra!’
Si estás feliz, tú puedes aletear. (If you’re happy, you can flap) Si estás muy feliz, tú puedes aletear. Si en verdad estás contento, a tu rostro es el reflejo. (If you really are happy, your face is the reflection) Si estás feliz, tú puedes aletear.
Si estás feliz, tú puedes hacer todo. (If you’re happy, you can do it all) Si estás muy feliz, tú puedes hacer todo. Si en verdad estás contento, tu sonrisa es el reflejo. (If you really are happy, your smile is the reflection) Si estás feliz, tú puedes hacer todo.
