How we teach vocabulary at St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Vocabulary comes in three tiers, Tier 1 is a group of words that we would use in everyday life and that children are exposed to on a regular basis. Tier 2 words are words that appear in different contexts and can support pupil’s comprehension of a text. Tier 3 words are more subject specific and could be taught in a science topic for example.

We have created a list of Tier 2 words that each year group will teach their pupils. We look at the dictionary definition of the word, synonyms that can be used in its place, the word class (is it an adjective, verb, noun?) and how we can use it within different sentence types. 

Alongside this list, children are taught the meaning of new vocabulary in the wide range of story, poetry and information texts shared in class.

Furthermore, children are taught the subject and topic specific vocabulary linked to their learning across the range of subjects studied in school.
Children in Reception and Key stage One also access the Bug Club Vocabulary Stories which introduce them to key vocabulary linked to science, history, geography and art topics that they will go on to study in KS2.

How we teach vocabulary at St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Vocabulary comes in three tiers, Tier 1 is a group of words that we would use in everyday life and that children are exposed to on a regular basis. Tier 2 words are words that appear in different contexts and can support pupil’s comprehension of a text. Tier 3 words are more subject specific and could be taught in a science topic for example.

We have created a list of Tier 2 words that each year group will teach their pupils. We look at the dictionary definition of the word, synonyms that can be used in its place, the word class (is it an adjective, verb, noun?) and how we can use it within different sentence types. 

Alongside this list, children are taught the meaning of new vocabulary in the wide range of story, poetry and information texts shared in class.

Furthermore, children are taught the subject and topic specific vocabulary linked to their learning across the range of subjects studied in school.
Children in Reception and Key stage One also access the Bug Club Vocabulary Stories which introduce them to key vocabulary linked to science, history, geography and art topics that they will go on to study in KS2.