Multicultural English in the primary classroom.

All the resources mentioned (in bold) in this article are freely available for the life of this issue on the special NATE Classroom page at: teachitprimary.co.uk/nateclassroom

One of the best ways to teach children about new and exciting experiences and cultures is to study fiction set in far away lands. Teachit Primary has a range of resources in the Bookshelf section of the website that provide ideas and inspiration for bringing these stories to life.

For younger pupils there are two interactive resources based on the popular book Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne. This story, beautifully illustrated with a simple structure and text, can be used in foundation stage classrooms and throughout Key Stage 1. Handa's Surprise- sequencing is one of the website's 'whizzy' resources, designed to be used with an interactive whiteboard. The key events in the story can be rearranged to the correct order. The activity could lead into a dramatic retelling of the story with pupils balancing baskets on their heads while others, in the style of different animals, take out the fruit in turn.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Akimbo and the Elephants is an extensive resource based on the novel by Alexander McCall Smith. The resource is aimed at pupils in the middle of Key Stage 2 but could easily be adapted to make it suitable for other age groups. The novel is set in Africa and is based around the illegal ivory trade; an issue that would provoke heated classroom debate. The resource provides many opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills through discussion prompts and sequencing activities.

Closer to home, Grandpa Chatterji by Jamila Gavin is a funny and light-hearted novel highlighting the differences in cultures between two grandfathers, one from Leicester and the other from India. Grandpa Chatterji activities contains a range of activities where pupils can explore the contrasting ways the two grandfathers are described, focusing on the author's use of adjectives.

Working alongside pupils who are learning English as an additional language presents a particular challenge to teachers. Research indicates that in the early stages of language acquisition, pupils benefit enormously if allowed to continue to develop their first language alongside learning English. Resources from Teachit Primary can be easily adapted to take account of this, some of which can be found in the Key Stage 1 story writing section.

One example of how this can be achieved is by using The Big Pancake a simple one-page resource based on the traditional story of 'The Gingerbread Man'. It contains a very vivid image of the journey taken by the pancake as it escapes from the house and the places it passes on the way. Pupils will be able to trace the journey along the path and tell the story. The basic sentence structure is then provided with gaps for pupils to write the missing words from a list. You will need the assistance of a parent, bilingual support worker or dictionary to write a translation of the words in the child's first language. This will then enable the child to retell the story in their first language, hear it read to them in English and focus on the new English vocabulary presented alongside their first language.

Another approach to assist pupils who are at the very early stages of learning English is to use rhymes, thought to be innate in most cultures. There are many resources based on rhymes that can be found in the poetry sections of the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 areas on the website. A good example is One Potato, Two Potato based on the simple counting rhyme. The best way to introduce the activity would be to bring in a bag of potatoes and say the rhyme as they are counted out. The resource then encourages pupils to switch to different food items, repeating the same structure e.g. one samosa, two samosa etc.

Once pupils have become more conversationally fluent in English, there are many resources from Teachit Primary that will help them to acquire the necessary grammatical skills and language that will make them successful in reading and writing English. Jack's magical dream is a resource based on the beautiful picture book Jack and the Dreamsack by Laurence Anholt. The resource allows you to focus on the use of time connectives and prepositions, providing a scaffold on which to construct sentences.