Describing Taste Words

Overview

This 40-minute lesson explores the vocabulary of taste, helping Year 2 pupils build rich, descriptive language associated with their sense of taste and emotions inspired by taste experiences. It aligns with the National Curriculum for England’s English programmes of study for Key Stage 1, focusing on developing speaking and listening skills, vocabulary extension, and writing relevant to poetry.

National Curriculum Links

English - Spoken Language (Year 2):

Pupils should be taught to:
- Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play/improvisations and debates
- Explain and discuss their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those they listen to and those they read for themselves
Important for this lesson: Listening and responding appropriately to adults and peers, asking relevant questions.

English - Writing (Year 2):

Pupils should be taught to:
- Develop positive attitudes and stamina for writing by writing for different purposes
- Proofread to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation
- Develop a wide vocabulary drawn from stories, poetry, and real experiences

English - Reading (Year 2):

Expand vocabulary and develop understanding of word meanings through exploring new and specific vocabulary in a thematic context (senses/taste).

Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils will:

Recognise and identify vocabulary associated with the tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.
Use descriptive taste words confidently in sentences to describe their taste experiences.
Begin to link taste-related vocabulary to emotions and feelings, enriching their expressive language.
Collaborate with peers to co-create a useful “Taste Words” vocabulary list for poetry writing.

Resources

Real or picture cards of items with distinct tastes (e.g., lemon, chocolate, crisps, black coffee)
Whiteboard and markers
“Taste Words” template worksheet (blank for vocabulary list)
Emotion faces flashcards (happy, disgusted, surprised, neutral, excited)
Paper and pencils
A simple, age-appropriate poem excerpt about taste to share

Lesson Structure

1. Introduction & Engagement (5 minutes)

Begin by briefly revisiting the five senses, focusing attention on taste.
Show an image or real example of a familiar food (e.g., lemon). Ask: “What does this taste like?” Encourage suggestions to start gathering taste words.
Show emotion flashcards and ask: “How does tasting this make you feel?” Link feelings to the taste.

Teaching Tip: Use expressive facial gestures to model emotion connections.

2. Vocabulary Exploration & Creation (10 minutes)

Introduce the four key taste categories (sweet, sour, salty, bitter). Write these on the whiteboard.
Show cards/pictures of different foods and ask pupils to say which category the food might belong to and to suggest describing words (e.g., tangy, sugary, bitter, salty).
Prompt pupils to think of other descriptive words beyond just the categories, encouraging senses-related adjectives (sharp, bland, tangy, zesty).

Interactive activity:

In pairs or small groups, pupils brainstorm and add as many taste words as they can to the “Taste Words” worksheet under the four categories.

3. Linking Taste & Emotions (10 minutes)

Ask pupils to pick one or two words from their list and describe a time when they tasted something like that.
Prompt them to share how it made them feel (using emotion flashcards as prompts).
Model this with an example sentence: “The sour lemon made me pucker my lips and feel surprised!”
Encourage pupils to orally create similar simple sentences, practising language structure and emotional vocabulary.

4. Taste Poetry Seed (10 minutes)

Read aloud a short poetry excerpt (3-4 lines) that uses strong taste vocabulary and emotion. For example, a simple original poem about tasting different foods and how it feels inside.
Discuss with pupils what words they notice and how taste words help the poem feel vivid.
Ask pupils to use one or two taste words from their vocabulary lists to write 1-2 sentences or a simple two-line poem expressing a taste and an emotion.
Support with sentence starters on the board (e.g., “The _______ taste made me feel _________.”).
Pupils share their sentences/poems in pairs or small groups to build confidence and speaking skills.

5. Plenary & Assessment (5 minutes)

Bring everyone together and create a collaborative “Taste Words” wall or board list from their vocabulary sheets.
Ask 2-3 pupils to share one new taste word and how they might use it in a poem.
Collect pupils’ “Taste Words” sheets to monitor vocabulary development.
Provide verbal feedback focused on effective use of descriptive taste words and emotional language.

Differentiation & Additional Support

Provide word banks with pictures for pupils who need additional language scaffolding.
Pair more confident pupils with those needing extra support during discussions.
Offer sentence starters and emotion word lists for writing tasks.
Challenge more able pupils to consider similes or metaphors (e.g., “as sharp as a lemon”) to enrich their descriptive language.

WOW Factor Idea

“Taste Emotion Theatre” – After vocabulary list creation, pupils can role-play eating something sour, sweet, salty, or bitter while expressing strong emotions physically and verbally, capturing how taste affects mood and tone—a fun way to deepen experiential understanding of descriptive vocabulary and integrate spoken language skills.

Notes for Teachers

Reinforce cross-curricular links to science (taste buds and senses) where possible.
Use expressive language modelling during group sharing to enhance pupils’ confidence.
Keep the atmosphere light, encouraging experimentation with words and emotions to prepare for their upcoming poetry writing tasks in the unit.

This lesson provides a focused, multisensory approach to enriching pupils’ vocabulary connected to taste and feelings, supporting their developing confidence in expressive spoken and written English—perfectly aligned to the English National Curriculum for Year 2.

Teaching Instructions