Sunday, February 21, 2016

Dino on the Go!: Overview of Vocabulary

If you've been teaching ESL/EFL for a while, you'll probably be aware of the fact that learning English (or any other language) hinges upon both the amount time spent studying and the amount of repetition involved.

For this reason, knowing what English words kids study in public school can be very useful, even if you happen to be teaching them in a private school.  These are, after all, the words kids are most familiar with, these are the words they use the most often, and these words are the foundation upon which they build future understandings of the language.

Presented below are the words used in the Dino on the Go! textbook series, published by Han Lin 翰林.  Other textbook series will use some other words, but given the government-mandated curriculum the vocabulary won't vary by much.  In my time at Tung Hai Elementary School, we've used five different textbook series, and all of them were/are very similar.

I'll start with the vocabulary, or "Key Words" for each lesson.  These should be the words that students are most familiar with.  The different font colors represent grade levels.  The list proceeds from grade one to grade six.
one
two
three
four

five
Dino
Danny
Irene

Niki
Owen
six
seven

eight
nine
ten
book

pencil
eraser
bag
marker

ruler
blue
green
red

black
pink
yellow
eleven

twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen

a boy
a girl
tall
short

fat
thin
big
small

a bird
a cat
a dog
a rabbit

father
mother
brother
sister

grandpa
grandma
a cook
a teacher

a student
a doctor
a nurse
sixteen

seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty

fly
jump
swim
sing

dance
roller-skate
cook
run

walk
draw
read
write

apples
bananas
oranges
papayas

watermelons
grapes
a hot dog
an egg

bread
juice
milk
a cupcake

tea
twenty
thirty
forty

fifty
thirty-five
forty-five
fifty-five

drinking
eating
sleeping
running

swimming
writing
bathroom
bedroom

dining room
kitchen
living room
yard

a ball
a box
a chair
a desk

a key
a kite
a table
sixty

seventy
eighty
ninety
one hundred

cloudy
rainy
snowy
sunny

windy
go camping
go fishing
go shopping

go swimming
bank
bookstore
hospital

library
park
post office
supermarket

zoo
bears
elephants
horses

lions
monkeys
tigers
turtles

zebras
arms
ears
eyes

foot
hands
legs
headache

runny nose
toothache
one thousand
Sunday

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

Friday
Saturday
Sunday
breakfast

lunch
dinner
a hamburger
noodles

rice
salad
soup
art

Chinese
English
math
music

PE
social studies
cap
umbrella

wallet
workbook
glasses
gloves

socks
backpack
Australia
India

Japan
Singapore
Spain
Taiwan

the UK
the USA
by bike
by boat

by bus
by car
by MRT/metro
by plane

by scooter
by taxi
by train
on foot

listen to music
play baseball
play basketball
play football

ride a bike
surf the Internet
go jogging
watch TV

get up
go to school
have lunch
go home

do my homework
take a bath
go to bed
at home

at school
at the mall
at the museum
at the movie theater

at the restaurant
at the train station
listened to music
played basketball

played the piano
surfed the Internet
visited a friend
watched TV

spring
summer
fall
winter

warm
hot
cool
cold

a coat
a dress
a hat
a jacket

a T-shirt
a skirt
pants
shoes

shorts
jeans




Along with the vocabulary for each lesson, there are (of course) sight words incorporated into the text.  These sight words form the basis of grammar exercises done in class.  Again, the grade levels have been color-coded.
how
are
you
I’m
fine
what’s
your
name
my
is
old
this
that
a
an
color
it’s
years
yes
no
am
not
it
isn’t
who’s
he
she
your
can
can’t
what
do
I
these
those
they’re
like
want
and
time
o’clock
doing
in
the
where’s
on
under
next to
how’s
weather
go
going
to
see
some
many
there
wrong
his
her
hurts
have
has
day
today
for
does
doesn’t
whose
where
from
he’s
she’s
after
free time
were
yesterday
was
wasn’t
did
didn’t
your
favorite
season
much
dollars

There are also phonics words.  Many students will have forgotten the meanings of these words, and many will be unable to use them in a sentence.
ant
apple
bear
boy
cat
cup
dog
duck
egg
elephant
fish
frog
goat
girl
hippo
hat
ink
igloo
jet
juice
key
kite
lion
lemon
monkey
mouse
nose
nurse
ox
otter
pig
pink
queen
quiz
red
rabbit
snake
sun
turtle
tiger
up
umbrella
van
vest
watch
window
fox
box
yo-yo
yellow
zoo
zebra
bad
mad
sad
cat
fat
mat
bed
red
Ted
get
pet
wet
big
dig
pig
kick
Nick
sick
hop
mop
top
cot
hot
pot
cub
rub
tub
cut
hut
nut
bag
cook
doctor
five
gift
happy
kick
marker
nine
pencil
quiet
ruler
spider
teacher
up
van
witch
six
yes
ham
jam
Sam
fan
man
van
hen
pen
ten
bell
sell
yell
lip
sip
zip
kit
quit
sit
hog
jog
log
lock
rock
sock
bug
mug
rug
fun
run
sun
book
cupcake
dance
flower
green
jump
kid
milk
papaya
tea
yummy
cap
cape
bake
hat
hate
cake
kit
kite
hike
pip
pipe
ride
not
note
nose
hop
hope
rose
cut
cute
cube
tub
tube
duke
lamp
pool
seal
rope
deer
flour
bath
teeth
three
that
this
those
whale
when
white
dolphin
Phil
phone
chair
church
lunch
fish
shop
short
king
ring
sing
bank
Hank
pink
Kate
lake
wait
lay
stay
Pete
Taiwanese
green
sheep
tea
cheap
bike
kite
pie
tie
fly
sky
note
rose
boat
goat
low
row
cute
tube
dew
new
fuel
Tuesday
river
singer
summer
teacher
actor
doctor
sailor
tailor
art
car
farm
jar
corn
fork
pork
short
circle
dirty
girl
shirt
nurse
purple
Thursday
turtle
coin
noise
point
soil
boy
Roy
soybeans
toy
house
loud
mouse
shout
cow
flower
shower
wow
lake
wait
bay
Pete
see
tea
kite
pie
fly
rose
boat
row
cute
new
Tuesday
cap
fan
ham
bad
red
yell
hill
pig
sit
fox
rock
top
jump
run
tub
sweet
swim
Spanish
speak
stand
stone
skate
ski
crab
cream
grasshopper
green
tree
truck
drink
drum


And lastly the books introduce additional vocabulary.  These are the "Daily Talk/Words of Wisdom," holiday, and "Classroom English" sections.  I wouldn't expect students to remember these words beyond the semester in which they're taught.

hello
goodbye
happy birthday
good morning
good afternoon
cool
good job
a bat
a ghost
a jack o’lantern
a pumpkin
a spider
a witch
happy Halloween
let’s go trick or treating
that’s right
louder, please
let me see it
try again
nice to meet you
I don’t know
how about you
me, too
a card
a flower
a gift
a heart
love
happy Mother’s Day
this is for you
raise your hands
put your hands down
take out your books
put away your books
open your books
close your books
come here, please
go back to your seats
help
of course
watch out
are you OK
yummy
yuck
here you are
hurry up
a moon cake
a pomelo
eat
Chang-O
Jade Rabbit
look at the moon
let’s eat moon cakes
are you ready
go
let’s count
stop
let’s play
time’s up
please repeat after me
read aloud
time for lunch
hooray
take a rest
come and join us
wake up
wait
it’s here
it’s over there
the Easter bunny
a basket
color the eggs
go egg hunting
let’s color the eggs
let’s go egg hunting
point to the word “cat”
circle the word “cat”
spell the word “cat”
write down the word “cat”
please turn to page 25
it’s your turn
may I go to the restroom
come in, please
good idea
have a good time
sorry, I’m late
follow me
be careful
can you give me a hand
calm down
take care
a bell
a candy cane
a Christmas tree
Santa Claus
a star
a stocking
merry Christmas
let’s open the gifts
excuse me
say cheese
may I help you
you’re welcome
good for you
I see
amazing
what’s the matter
dragon boat race
egg standing
a sachet
a zongzi
we can eat zongzi
let’s watch the dragon boat race
all roads lead to Rome
you’re the apple of my eye
no pain, no gain
honesty is the best policy
firecrackers
hot pot
lion dance
lucky money
rice cake
spring couplet
seeing is believing
east or west, home is best
an apple a day keeps the doctor away
time is money

Some words are repeated in and across lists.  Sometimes these words are used as vocabulary, sometimes to highlight a phonics concept, and sometimes in relation to a holiday.  The alphabet/phonics vocabulary also changes over the course of several books.

There are a few stray words that didn't make the above lists, but these words are used so infrequently that they're not really worth mentioning.  What you see above takes up about 99% of the textbooks.

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