Back to School

It's the beginning of the school year and working on school vocabulary can reassure pupils and help them realise they CAN actually remember some of what they learned in previous years. A video and a quiz from the BBC Newsround site are a great way to start the year.

Not all of the videos on the Newsround site can be viewed outside of the UK, but this one can. It's titled Top five tips if you're starting a new school. It's presented by a group of young secondary-school pupils. They are Scottish but don't have strong accents.

The tips are reasonably easy to understand, and backed up with images. And they're great for revising the simple present!

1. Don’t worry if you get lost around the school.
2. Make friends and have fun.
3. Always try to get involved in class and don’t worry if you’re wrong.
4. Set reminders for your homework and don’t leave it till the last second.
5. Always remember to pack your bag the night before you go to school.

After watching, pupils could be asked if they can come up with any more tips.

Back-to-schooler Quiz
In the Newsround back-to-school section there's also a quiz, "What type of 'back to schooler' are you?" There are six questions with five options each time. The language is fine from A2, though as usual stressing they don't need to understand every single word. If pupils do it individually, they'll get a definition of their style at the end (the ultra-prepped pupil, the active academic, the social student, the laid-back learner or the sleepy student). But it would work well to have it videoprojected in class and for each question have a poll to see how many pupils choose each category.

Check out our A1-level school vocabulary resource too!