Vocabulary

Vocabulary at Hexham First

At Hexham First, developing a rich and varied vocabulary is an essential part of our English curriculum. A strong vocabulary supports reading comprehension, writing quality, and overall confidence with language — and we believe it should be exciting and meaningful for every child.

How We Teach Vocabulary at Hexham First

We teach vocabulary using a tiered system:

Tier 1 – Everyday Words

These are common words children encounter regularly in daily life, such as house, baby, or happy.

Tier 2 – High-Frequency, Mature Words

These words often appear in a wide range of texts and conversations. Examples include remarkable, anxious, persuade, or predict. They are crucial for developing reading comprehension and expressive language.

Tier 3 – Subject-Specific Words

These are more technical or topic-related words, like photosynthesis (science) or equator (geography), often taught within a specific subject context.

Focus on Tier 2 Vocabulary at Hexham First

At Hexham First, we’re proud to be developing confident, curious readers and writers—and vocabulary plays a vital role in that journey.

What Are Tier 2 Words?

Tier 2 words are high-utility words that children are likely to encounter across many subjects and texts. These words help pupils understand what they read and express themselves more precisely in speech and writing. They aren’t everyday conversation words (Tier 1), and they’re not technical terms (Tier 3)—but they are essential for deeper thinking and comprehension.

How We Teach Tier 2 Vocabulary

We’ve recently strengthened our approach to Tier 2 vocabulary across the school. Each year group uses resources from Vocabulary Ninja, which provides weekly word lists in two levels:

Grasshopper words (Tier 1) – aimed at developing readers
Shinobi words (Tier 2) – for more advanced or confident learners

Every day, each class selects a "Shinobi Word of the Day" from these lists. The chosen word is explored in depth through a range of engaging, practical activities that help embed understanding and use.

Each week, pupils will:

Investigate the dictionary definition
Explore synonyms and related meanings
Identify the word class (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
Use the word in different sentence types and real-world contexts

Why Teach Tier 2 Words Explicitly?

Tier 1 words are often learned naturally through conversation. Tier 3 words are taught as part of subject-specific lessons. But Tier 2 words—the “glue” that holds academic language together—often need to be taught directly.