Beginner Level (CEFR: By end of 2nd grade, A-1)
by Elaine Gallagher
GRADES K & 1
(Vocabulary fluency grows gradually, over time and with practice.)
- Exchanging greetings (Hello, Hi, How are you?)
- Giving personal information (name, age)
- Identifying and naming items given in the lexical list (See list below.)
- Leave-taking (Bye. See you tomorrow. See you later.)
Lexis
(a) Understand (Recognition precedes production!)
- Imperatives for common actions: go, come, show, point, give, touch, stand up
- Question words: what? how many? how old?
- Demonstratives :this, that
(b) Understand and use (Production)
- The present simple tense of to be
- Common nouns in singular and plural (regular), e.g. ear/ears, shoe/shoes
- Simple adjectives, e.g. small, big, green
- Determiners a, the, my, your, his, her
- Pronouns I, you, he, she, it, they
- Personal information
- Immediate surroundings including classroom objects
- Parts of the face and body
- Animals — common domestic, farm, and wild
- Cardinal numbers up to 20
- Colours /colors
- Items of clothing
GRADES 1 & 2
- Indicating the position of people and objects
- Describing people, animals, objects and places very simply
- Stating simple facts
- Informing about possessions
- Asking very simple questions about personal details
Lexis
(a) Understand
(recognition)
- Present simple tense questions
- Question words — who, when
- Present continuous tense questions
- Determiners some, any
(b) Understand and use
(production)
- Present simple tense
- There is/are and has/have got/have you got?
- Question words, e.g. where, what
- Prepositions of place in, on, under, between, next to
- Determiners our, their, its
- Possessive pronouns mine, yours, his, hers
- Yes/no answers to present continuous tense questions
- Rooms in the home
- Household objects
- Family and friends
- Pets
- Possessions
- Days of the week and months of the year
- Cardinal numbers up to 50
Your students should also be able to discuss and answer questions such as:
- What’s your name?
- How many children are there? (1-50)
- this is / these are
- What’s this? It’s ……..
- The body
- Faces
- What color is it?
- My clothes
MORE WORDS TO KNOW and USE:
- • bicycles, birds, boys, cats, children, dogs, flags, girls, trees, basketball, football, rugby, volleyball, team
- bedroom, bathroom, dining room, kitchen, living room, bed, books, cards, computer, cupboard, rabbit, shelf, table
- arms, feet, fingers, hands, head, legs, tall, short, fat, thin, big, small, long. ears, eyes, hair, mouth, nose, dark, fair
- blue, brown, green, orange, pink, purple, red, yellow, black, white, box, crayons, paper, pen, ruler, scissors
- belt, blouse, dress, hat, jacket, shirt, skirt, socks, suit, tie, trousers, T-shirt
- What do you see in this picture? Student should be able to describe the picture, using some of the above-listed words.
GRADE 2
(Vocabulary fluency increases gradually, over time and with practice.)
- All colors covered in Kindergarten and first grade, plus: grey; pets, bird, cage, rabbit, fish, beak, behind, in, on, under, tank, wall, flowers
- Pets
- Do you have a computer?
- WORDS: camera, comics, computer, pictures, rings, toys, video game, violin, behind, between, in, on , next to, in front of, under
- Days of the week
- WORDS / PHRASES: in the morning / afternoon, the weekend, go swimming, play tennis, visit grandparents, have a music lesson, paints, cleans, watches, does, goes, visits, plays, cooks
- Where do you live?
- a flat (British term), an apartment, cottage, house, city, town, village, garden, upstairs, downstairs, on the ground floor
- FAMILY: pretty, sister, brother, mother, father, twin sister / brother, grandmother, grandfather
- What time do you get up?
- WORDS / PHRASES: get up, go to bed, have lunch, do homework, watch TV, go to school, have breakfast, o’clock, half past, quarter past / to /in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening
- FRIENDS and EVENTS: bike, film, pizza, cinema, restaurant, swimming pool, tennis club, She plays hockey.
- MONTHS OF THE YEAR: all 12 months, Christmas, birthday, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day
- Ordinal numbers for dates: 1st – 31st
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Wait for the Plays for Grades K, 1 and 2 that will be published on Part 7.
Next: Part 5 – Specific Vocabulary for grades 3 – 4