at BASIC Level: CEFR A- 1 to A-2
by Elaine Gallagher
1. REVIEW of BEGINNER WORDS(Seen in Grades, 1, 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, 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?
- 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: 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
2. WORDS / PHRASES (for Grades 2, 3, and 4)
(Vocabulary fluency increases gradually, over time and with practice.)
GRADES 2 (Review) and 3
- Describing daily routines, events and weather
- Telling the time and giving dates
- Expressing ability and inability
- Giving very simple directions and locations
- Describing current activities of real people or those in pictures
- Describing states in the past
Lexis
- Present continuous tense
- Can and can’t
- Prepositions of movement from, to, up, down, along, across
- Prepositions of time on, in, at
- Prepositions of place near, in front of, behind, opposite
- Past tense of verb to be
- Ordinal numbers up to 31st (for dates)
- Link words and, and then
- Jobs
- Places in the local area
- Place of study
- Home life
- Weather
- Free time
- Times and dates
GRADES 3 and 4
- Talking about past events
- Talking about future plans and intentions
- Expressing simple comparisons
- Expressing likes and dislikes
- Describing manner and frequency
- Holidays
- Shops
- Work
- Hobbies/sports
- Food
- Weekend/ seasonal activities
- Past simple tense of regular and common irregular verbs
- Going to future
- Adverbs of manner and frequency
- Comparatives and superlatives of adjectives
- Link word; but
- Vocabulary specific to the topic area
- Vocabulary specific to the subject areas
- Adverbs of frequency, e.g. sometimes, often, never
- Adverbial phrases of frequency, e.g. every day, once a week
- Expressions of past time, e.g. yesterday, last night
3. MORE WORDS and PHRASES:
What’s the weather like? warm, sunny, cloudy, absolutely, rainy
What do you study? art, biology, chemistry, multiplication
Free time: music, homework, go out, play video games
Tell me about your town or city. I live in…… historic city, crowded, quiet
What are they doing? He’s brushing his teeth, shopping, working, watching TV. washing up, reading, eating
Best friends: short, blonde, friendly, straight, wear, strong
Work: What does your father do? He’s a lawyer.
Where’s your classroom? It’s down the hall. go along, turn left / right
Family matters: using the future, describing people, possessives
Play time: frequency, time expressions, every day, six o’clock
School’s out: holidays, present / future, when, where, why, who
Sports: likes and dislikes, present continuous, questions
Memorable meals: food, cooking, talking about a meal
Future with going to
Nice work: jobs, work, quickly, well, occupations
Shop around: describing ways of shopping, sequencing: first, next, after, finally
In class: talking about the past, comparison / superlative the best, the most difficult, easiest
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Next: Vocabulary for Grades 4 (review), 5, and 6