World Book Day in Primary Languages Lessons
Simple, creative ways to celebrate books in your language lesson
World Book Day is a brilliant opportunity to bring stories into your languages classroom and let pupils experience language in context. Storybooks naturally combine repetition, rhythm, visuals and emotion – all the things that help children remember language and feel confident using it.
Here are some practical ways to make the most of World Book Day in your primary languages’ lessons.
1. Link stories to your current topics
You don’t need to overhaul your planning, instead hook stories into the topics you’re already teaching. All the below titles have been translated in various languages, making them easy to adapt for your target language.
· Fruits and vegetables (Handa’s surprise)
· Animals (Dear Zoo)
· Colours (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?)
· Parts of the face (Go away, big green monster!)
· Family (books by Anthony Browne)
2. Use repetitive, well know stories
Books with repetition are an absolute gem for language learning because pupils quickly join in. Brilliant examples used widely in primary schools and translated in a multitude of languages include:
· Dear Zoo
· The Very Hungry Caterpillar
· Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what to you see?
· We’re going on a bear hunt!
How to use them in languages lessons:
1. Pre-teach key words (animals, food, colours, numbers)
2. Let pupils join in with repeated phrases
3. Act out parts of the story using mime and actions.
4. Pause and predict what comes next
3. Bring in traditional tales
Traditional tales are ideal because pupils already know the story and can focus on the language rather than the plot.
Think:
· The gingerbread Man
· The Enormous turnip
How to use them in language lessons:
1. Repeat one or two key phrases in the target language.
2. Assign roles to pupils
3. Use flashcards or props/puppets to retell parts of the story
You don’t need to retell the whole story in the target language – just dipping in and out keeps things manageable and fun.
4. Explore emotions and tone of voice
Some books are perfect for exploring feelings and emotions, for example:
· The Colour Monster
· Not now, Bernard
How to use them in language lessons:
· Revisit talking about feelings and emotions, introduce new adjectives to describe how you feel
· Practise intonation and tone of voice
· Use voices and drama to bring meaning to the language
This links beautifully to speaking, listening and oracy – and gives pupils permission to be expressive.
5. Compare books across languages and cultures
World Book Day is a lovely moment to show pupils that stories travel across languages and countries.
Compare:
· English and target language versions of famous books
· covers and titles in different languages
· character names
For example:
Roald Dahl
Harry Potter
You might:
1. show both covers side by side
2. spot differences in titles
3. talk about which books pupils recognise
This is a gentle way to build cultural awareness and curiosity.
6. Learn about book genres (and give opinions)
A simple but effective activity it to teach about genres: adventure, fairy tale, mystery, history, etc. then practice simple opinions such as “I like”, “I don’t like”, “because”, etc.
Pupils can then
1. Sort books by genre
2. Do a class survey of favourite types of stories
3. Say which one they prefer and why
This works well as a speaking activity and allows pupils to express their preferences while encouraging a love of reading.
👉Check out PLN YouTube Channel for free videos in French and Spanish about book genres.
7. Make stories accessible for language learners
A few small tweaks make stories much more effective for language learning:
· Use YouTube videos of stories with the volume off so pupils can see the illustrations whilst listening to you tell the story
· Use a visualiser so pupils can see the storybook clearly
· Pre-teach key vocabulary and repeated phrases
· Use flashcards for key words
· Bring in props or toys
· Pause often to repeat, mime and join in
· Encourage expressive voices and actions
You don’t need pupils to understand every word – the aim is enjoyment, confidence, and exposure to language in context.
8. Final time- saving tip
If you’re short on time, pick a book, any book and use it as a springboard for:
· counting objects
· naming colours
· spotting animals or food
· greeting characters
· describing faces or emotions
A single page can become a goldmine of language practice. One illustration can give you five minutes of rich, purposeful language learning – and that’s sometimes all you need on a busy World Book Day.
🌟 PLN Members – Don’t Miss This!
Make sure to watch the recording of the World Book Day Twilight session as part of the Networking Session series, available in the CPD Zone (via the CPD journey on the dashboard).
It’s packed with practical ideas you can use straight away in your languages’ lessons – perfect if you’re looking for more inspiration for World Book Day.