Linda Owen, Primary Languages Advisory Teacher, Gloucestershire LA

It’s that time of year when children start bringing ladybirds and spiders in to show you. Why not incorporate some work on mini-beasts into your primary languages sessions? This is such a popular topic with children of all ages, it seems a shame not to capitalise on their enthusiasm.

Here are some ideas you might try to develop a mini-beast cross-curricular theme.

Year 3

Introduce some mini-beast vocabulary, for example ladybird, spider, worm, caterpillar, butterfly, snail, ant and bee. 

Use some of the ideas and resources on La Maternelle de Moustache for butterfly-related maths and art. Even if you don’t teach French there are some great resources, such as symmetry and basic grids using butterfly wings. You need to click on ‘P’ on the left and look for papillon (butterfly). 

If you teach some prepositions, the children can describe where they see the mini-beasts: ‘in the garden’, ‘behind the leaf’, ‘on the flower’, etc. 

ICT can also be used to create repeating patterns of mini-beasts, or to word process the items of vocabulary changing the size and colour - this could then be used in a classroom display.

Year 4

Introduce the words for some habitats and link your science work to your languages work. Children can use their language to name some of the organisms they look at in science. 

You could exchange work with a partner school, where children investigate which mini-beasts are present in their locality, the date they see the first butterfly or bee, the colours of the butterflies they see and so on. 

If you carry out experiments to show where woodlice prefer to go, or what snails like to eat, why not encourage the children to describe their findings in their language: ‘Snails don’t like pizza, but they like leaves!’ 

Children could make posters showing mini-beasts they have seen and where they have seen them, with short, simple texts in their new language. Teachers might like to make reference here to Unit 11 of the QCA Scheme of Work which is about the Carnival of the Animals by Sant Saëns and refers to animal habitats.

Year 5

Teach the children to say ‘is eaten by’ (passive voice!) and then they can make food chains to reinforce their work in science. They can also understand and make classification keys using the language.

They could use ICT to make a presentation about a habitat or their favourite mini-beasts. They could do observational drawings and label them. 

Data-handling exercises could focus on the bee population over time, or the number of ladybirds in a particular place. 

They could have fun with maths based on Un pour l’escargot, dix pour le crabe by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre, ISBN:2-87767-396-0 published by L'École des Loisirs – this idea can be adapted from French to other languages very easily. 

Year 6

Using ICT, children could take photographs, make short nature films or animations with a mini-beast theme. 

They could read a story such as Aaaargh!  Une Araignée’ by Lydia Monks ISBN: 2-203-55309-X and their own stories.

They could revisit colours and describe mini-beasts of different colours, paying attention to adjectives.

They could also describe the life-cycle of a butterfly or frog in the language and look at conditions needed for different organisms to live successfully in a particular place. 

These are just some simple ideas that might get you started. Most of all, have fun!