Primary

Recommended resources for teaching and learning languages in the primary classroom.

Classroom resources

Aims to increase awareness of the multilingual world surrounding young learners. A collection of activities which leads pupils to discover the role languages play in everyday life. Learners explore: Family and home, friends and school, public places, travel, food and sport.

The resource was developed by the Institut Français d'Ecosse, Goethe Institut Glasgow, Consejería de Educación, Consolato d'Italia nel Regno Unito.

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ebooks - The Happy Emperor and other stories

Produced by CISS, these ebooks aim to support Chinese language learning at all levels. 


 

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Astérix chez les Pictes

From Education Scotland. Learners match the written and spoken word, listen and respond to language and write in French. Also exploers cultural aspects of ‘Bandes Dessinées (comic books). 

Aimed at learners working towards or at second level in primary school.

Les aventures d’Angus

French e-books for first level learners from Education Scotland.

The stories follow the adventures of Angus, a Scottish boy, as he discovers life in France, and come with teacher's notes. They exemplify pronunciation in French and allow learners to match the written and spoken word


Primary French Écosse

Produced by the Institut français and available on Culturethèque.

Suitable for all practitioners, including those who have no prior knowledge of the language, and also specialist linguists who are new to teaching children in primary, the materials aim to train the teacher by providing the subject knowledge that is needed as well as age-appropriate language-teaching methodology.

Access the full Primary French Project


DELF Primary

DELF is a qualification that is recognised in various countries and is available at different levels. DELF Primary covers listening, reading and writing skills. Guide to DELF Primary (PDF).

Resources are free to access from the DELF website.

There are two forms of Gaelic Education in Scotland – Gaelic Medium Education (GME), immersion education which results in qualifications in Gàidhlig, and Gaelic Learner Education (GLE) where learners learn it in the same way as second or third language like French or German, and may lead to qualifications in Gaelic (Learners).

The resources below are marked (F) for Gaelic Medium, (L) for Learners (F/L) for both Gaelic Medium and Learners.

Go Gaelic (L)  A complete course for teaching Gaelic as L2 or L3.

Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig (F/L)  National Resource development for Gaelic Medium and Gaelic Learners.

Bi Sunndach agus Seinn! (F/L) fantastic resource for learning to sing many Gaelic songs for children.  

An Darna Cogadh (F) – Informative resource about the Second World War. 

BBC Aileag (F) The BBC’s magazine programme for Gaelic speaking children of Primary School age.  

Giglets ann an Gàidhlig (F) – A massive library of texts, original and classic for independent reading by children by Giglets.  

Bitesize – A’ Chiad ìre (F) – a range of Gaelic Medium resources for Primary age Gaelic Medium Children at the First Level.   

Bitesize – An Dara ìre (F) – a range of Gaelic Medium resources for Primary age Gaelic Medium Children at the Second Level.  

Seachd – The Inaccessible Pinnacle (F) – a comprehensive resource from Into Film for the Gaelic feature film Seachd. 

Twinkl (F/L) – a commercial resource with some free downloads. 

e-stòras (F/L) – a range of interactive resources, including songs, videos and texts from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. 

German Language Adventure

e-book aimed at learners from P7 to S2. If your school has taken part in the Goethe Institute’s German Adventure project, or even if it hasn’t, you will be find this interactive book an enjoyable way to develop German language skills while discovering more about the culture of the EU’s most populated country. 

Launch German Language Adventure ebook as a new page in your browser.


Further materials

German for children - lesson plans and materials. From Goethe-Institut

'FUNology' for Primary Classes includes exercises for fun dialogues, activity games, ring games, vocabulary games and more. From Goethe-Institut

Voyage Kids includes lots of games, quizzes and interactive features, along with stories, songs and things to make and do. Use the topic overview to access games, quizzes and activities for your current class topic. From UK-German Connection

Teaching and learning resources for Japanese in the primary. Collated by Japan Foundation London.

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Wojtek the Bear

Based on the children’s book by Scottish author, Jenny Robertson, this package provides an opportunity to explore WW2 with a focus on Scottish and Polish shared history as well as introduce Polish language as an L3 learning experience.

The resources have been developed in partnership with East Lothian Council, the University of Glasgow and the Polish Embassy in the UK in Edinburgh.

Wojtek the Bear

Gwiadza Kopernika – The Star of Copernicus

From Education Scotland. Offers learners an L3 experience to develop a basic knowledge of Polish language and culture through film. 

Suitable for second level L2 in primary or L3 insert/stand-alone within secondary BGE.

Gwiadza Kopernika – The Star of Copernicus

Polish Language and Culture Education Pack

From British Council. Helps primary teachers introduce aspects of Polish language and culture to their pupils. Contains lesson and assembly plans and supports Polish as L3.

Polish Language and Culture Education Pack


Find out about Russia

Aimed at primary pupils this website has sections on the Russian language, space, history, science, ballet, food and others. Developed by Scotland Russia Forum.

 

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Teaching materials for Primary and Secondary Spanish. From the Consejería de Educación 

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Songs

World Voice 

Folk DC 

Mama Lisa’s World 

Poetry

Mother Tongue Other Tongue (MTOT) poetry resources and blog

Films 

Languages on screen - selection of short films in a range of languages and accompanying teaching resources. GLOW login required.

Search for foreign language films and teaching resources as well as screenings:

Into Film 

IntoFilm Festival

Discovery Film Festival

Teachers can borrow DVDs of feature films from the libraries of Alliance Française, Goethe-Institut or Institut français.

Stories

World Stories

 

Tools

If you have an interactive whiteboard, don’t forget to search Promethean Planet and SMART Exchange for free interactive resources for languages.

Blogs

ICT4MFL Daily

eTools for Language Teachers 

Demonstrated

Advice on how to create and use QR codes for language learning:

QR Easter hunt

Using QR codes in the classroom

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University of Strathclyde Education Scotland British Council Scotland The Scottish Government
SCILT - Scotlands National centre for Languages