This activity was used with children in key stage 1, year 1.

Context

Most of the children in the class do not have English as a first language. In curriculum planning, the school included information about the languages and dialects spoken by children to ensure the project supported the acquisition of English and the use of first languages and dialects. Bilingual assistants worked with the children during lessons. Children in the class speak the following first languages:

• Mirpuri (a spoken but not written dialect of Panjabi);
• Panjabi;
• Gujarati;
• Malay;
• Albanian;
• Persian.

The children who speak Albanian and Persian recently joined the school.

Aims

• To explore and learn about a range of languages and cultures using a range of materials.

Activity objectives

• To learn about fruits and vegetables that are available locally.
• To use their first language to access English.
• To develop the vocabulary associated with naming, preparing and eating fruits and vegetables.
• To compare and contrast other children's experiences in their own communities and the wider world.

This activity relates to the scheme of work unit 1c Eat more fruit and vegetables

Activity description

The activity consisted of three lessons.

Lesson 1

The children discussed fruits and vegetables that were available locally and studied fruits and vegetables that they had bought from the local shop. They matched the colours of common fruits and vegetables and, in pairs, sorted them according to their own criteria. They identified different fruits and vegetables and drew pictures of them, and compared and contrasted their colours.

Lesson 2

The children discussed different ways of taking skin off fruit (such as peeling and scraping) and cutting up fruit (such as chopping, slicing and grating). They compared and contrasted these actions using vocabulary introduced during lesson 1.

Lesson 3

The children made and ate a fruit salad. They used a fork and spoon to find the easiest way of eating fruit and discussed likes and dislikes, giving reasons. They also made and ate vegetable soup, using plastic dishes and a spoon after deciding that this was the easiest way to eat these 'chunky vegetables'.

Commentary

This project used the inclusive and accessible context of learning about fruit and vegetables to develop the children's speaking and listening skills, and to encourage them to use their first language. The project was planned with the children's first languages and dialects in mind. The class talked about:

• the names of fruits and vegetables in Panjabi and Mirpuri;
• the word 'shell', which means 'skin' in Panjabi and Mirpuri;
• the action of taking the skin off fruit such as bananas and oranges. Some children tended to use the word 'open' to describe this action, since it is a direct translation from some of the children's first language or dialect, so they were introduced to the word 'peel';
• the action of cutting and how there are many words in English to describe this action (such as 'chopping', 'slicing' and 'grating');
• fruits and vegetables not found in some parts of the world. (Kiwi fruit, avocado and parsnip, for example, are not found in India or Pakistan);
• how their families used vegetables.

In addition, some children added jeera (cumin) to the vegetable soup so it would taste familiar to them.

At the beginning of the project, some children were embarrassed when their first language was used. They laughed and did not acknowledge their own skill in speaking more than one language. However, later in the project, children's attitudes changed. One child said, 'First we were kids; that's why we laughed; now we are grown up. We know we are clever because we speak lots of language.'

By the end of the project, the children had begun to appreciate and value their bilingualism, and tried comparing and contrasting in a variety of situations. They also began to realise they could ask questions about things they did not understand rather than remain silent. There were formal and informal opportunities in the lessons to discuss how one language can help understanding of another. This included introducing words from Asia and the Middle East that are commonly used in English (such as 'bungalow' and 'caravan'). The children started to understand that words in one language are sometimes used in another language (or related to words in that language).

The children became confident enough to talk about their ideas and personal experiences. For example, Khaulah (from Malaysia) saw a photograph of a fruit called a durian on display and told Preeya about it. Khaulah disagreed with her class teacher that a durian smelt horrible but agreed that it tasted delicious. Khaulah had joined the school late in the autumn term and as the term progressed she continued to compare and contrast Malaysia with the United Kingdom.

Suraj (a Gujarati speaker) was keen to teach the class the words in his language for various vegetables.

The children became confident about using their analytical skills to ask questions in a range of subjects:

• in a word-work lesson on consonant clusters, Tabraiz (a Mirpuri speaker) asked, 'Why can't I hear the "i" in my name?' He paused, screwed up his face and asked, 'Is it because it is Persian? I can hear the "br" . . . ';
• in a numeracy lesson on measuring equipment, Geeta (a Panjabi speaker) said, 'You don't weigh bananas in India. You have to tell the man' (she paused) 'to count them';
• in a religious education lesson on making pancakes, Alex (a Gujarati speaker) said, 'Pancakes are like dosas';
• in a word-work lesson, Waqas (a Mirpuri speaker) said, '"Nathaniel" has only got one "luh" at the end.' (He used intonation to indicate he was asking a question);
• in a science lesson, Ryan (a Panjabi speaker) asked, 'Does "sources" mean "tomato sauce"?'.

Follow-up activities

At the end of the project the children visited the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham as part of their annual speaking and listening assessment. They were able to use their knowledge of fruits and vegetables and to appreciate how they grow. The children were excited to see familiar crops such as sugar cane and ginger plants growing in the gardens, and they told their group leaders about their visits to India and Pakistan. They were particularly excited to see a rubber plant from Malaysia as they thought Khaulah would be interested in this. Afterwards, Khaulah wrote a piece of work to compare the seasons in Malaysia with the UK.

To ensure that the children understood that all staff valued their first language, the teachers planned to use the children's D&T experiences as a basis for their writing work.

Steps were taken to ensure that the topic drew on areas of interest to children from all ethnic groups. To encourage this further, the teachers are taking steps to ensure that all resources, including more recipes and products, are inclusive. The following foods were suggested:

• carrots, which are used as a dessert in both the United Kingdom and Asia;
• side dishes, such as yoghurt and cucumber, which are used in Greece, India and Pakistan;
• bananas and custard, which have been introduced to India and Pakistan from the United Kingdom.