Primary

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

Classroom resources

Learning for Sustainability is an entitlement for all learners within Curriculum for Excellence, and as languages teachers we are uniquely positioned to incorporate Learning for Sustainability into our learning and teaching. This toolkit brings together a wide range of reading and resources aimed at supporting teachers who wish to incorporate Learning for Sustainability and Global Citizenship into their languages curriculum.

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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. 

Mandarin at the Museum

Produced by CISS, in partnership with National Museums Scotland, these resources aim to support Chinese as L3 in P5-7 as well as introduce Chinese items from the museum collections. 

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 Project

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.

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.

Find out all about the different ways we can be bilingual, the effects of bilingualism and some of the benefits to us all with these First Level resources developed by SCILT, Bilingualism Matters and Twinkl (F).

The Two Roses (L) gives educators the opportunity to talk about similarities and differences, friendship and kindness, teasing and bullying, all through the lens of the two central characters in this First Level story. Developed by SCILT, Twinkl Alba, and Nil by Mouth.

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. 


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. From UK-German Connection

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

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Ten steps to Polish

Based on the theme of storytelling and travel, this resource offers a rich language and cultural learning experience for teachers introducing Polish as an L3. The resource contains a framework of progression for 10 lessons, links to resources to accompany each lesson and embedded audio and video files to support pronunciation.

This resource has been developed in partnership with the Polish Educational and Social Society in Glasgow and the Polish Consulate in Edinburgh.

Download Ten steps to L3 Polish

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

Gwiazda 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.

Gwiazda 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.

 

Russian Language and Culture

The full version of the Scotland-Russia Forum “Russian language and culture” course (education pack and slides) is now online, alongside the British Council’s shorter version for younger children.

We hope these materials will interest young people at home, as well as teachers. The course could be used in its entirety to introduce Russian as L3 in upper primary or BGE. Or sections could be used separately – an introduction to the Russian language, to Russian literature in translation suitable for children, etc.  Apart from language and literature topics covered are history, space and daily life (the latter includes a child’s letter on coping with the Covid lockdown in the Ingushetian countryside).

The materials include slides and notes for teachers and we will soon be adding video versions of the slides with narration for independent study.

SCILT has collated a series of resources to help support newly-arrived children from the Ukraine in Scotland.

Learners International (British Council)

Around the world (British Council)

Songs

Mama Lisa’s World

Oxfam Global Music Lessons for ages 5-7 and ages 7-11

Hackney Music Service 30 days of Spanish musical activity calendar

Poetry

Mother Tongue Other Tongue (MTOT) poetry resources 

Films 

IntoFilm is UK’s leading charity for film education, with a streaming platform, annual film festival and downloadable teaching resources to accompany feature films in a variety of languages.

Screening Shorts a collection of films, tutorials and resources for exploring films and animations in a variety of languages. Glow login required.

Connect with your local cinema and look out for film festival screenings, outreach opportunities and teaching resources. For example:

Check out your favourite streaming services for clips, films or programmes in different languages.

Films are available for members to borrow from:

Stories

World Stories

 

Drama

Multilingual Performance Project 

All the world is our stage 

New digital tools and innovative ways of using them in language lessons are being developed all the time. For the updates, ideas and new resources keep an eye on updates from:

Hear about the latest CLPL opportunities

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