English teacher guide

THE TEACHER GUIDE FOR A YOUNG CHILDREN’S COURSE material to use with very young learners of English (3-11 years) Luc Ciotkowski (with contributions from Lydia Brear) First edition published by ILCEA Linguistic Ltd 2005 Introduction Are we missing the point? Lexical and grammatical fields Materials Vocabulary games The ‘chairs’ game Language specific games II V VIII XII XIV XVI XVII Week Lesson 10 11 Introductions Numbers Commands Halloween Colours REVISION A Emotions This and that This and that Weather Christmas 10 12 13 15 15 19 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 REVISION B Family and pets Body parts I Body parts II Animals REVISION C Can you? In the house Hair and eyes Easter + REVISION D 23 24 27 29 31 34 35 39 42 45 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 He’s big Clothes REVISION E Mealtimes Food Jobs Transport REVISION F Time REVISION G + Goodbye 47 50 53 54 57 59 64 68 69 72 ©2005 I Introduction This guide was originally conceived for the PROXILANGUE language school program and provides material for an English language course for children between the ages of three and eleven years old The course consists of thirty one lessons of one hour which, at one hour a week, represents a full academic year It can be no more than a basis due to the large differences in development between these age groups Therefore, the guide should not be looked at as a ‘one-sizefits-all’ but as a cloth ready to be tailored to specific groups and ages Clearly, you will spend longer using the more simple practice activities and games with groups of younger students, while you will be able to move onto more complex activities and games more quickly with older groups The course is very light on materials and teaches spoken English This allows for maximum communication, interaction and participation, while promoting a new language as an interpersonal tool and not an academic discipline As a result the course is more demanding than many others: the teacher is neither able to rest nor hide behind materials and written exercises However, this is also the very thing that makes it more rewarding for teachers than many other courses The Teacher Guide was developed on these principles: children learn most naturally and effectively through play; learning a language can and should be a pleasant experience I hope the Teacher Guide will be used with motivation in mind I believe that this is the most important factor for increasing the effectiveness of learning (see the piece entitled ‘Are we missing the point?’) and should be a key consideration in any course The activities are designed to promote cooperation, participation and some friendly competition that doesn’t exclude less able students in favour of the more able ones The students are discouraged from reverting to their mother tongue or not participating by the risk of ‘losing’ or isolating themselves from the group; they must participate in order to ‘survive’ This is coupled with the way that activities are presented as play rather than work; ©2005 II it is much easier to get students to something because they want to rather than forcing them to No reading or writing activities are directly mentioned in the Teacher Guide This is not attempt to deny the importance of the written language It is important as a means of making sense of what has been learned, in addition to being a communicative tool However, in a thirty-hour course that consists of one lesson of one hour a week (as this was originally intended) the contact time for actual human communication is too precious to be spent on something which is essentially an individual activity and penalises students with a lessdeveloped level of literacy I recognise that some teachers work under the obligation of teaching written English and the Teacher Guide remains a useful resource to them: reading and writing activities can be added to the end of every lesson to reinforce what has been learned I strongly advise that if a written element must be added then it be added after new language has been introduced through listening and speaking Phonology has to come before phonics, otherwise interference from the phonics of the mother tongue will have a significantly negative effect on pronunciation This is a guide and, as such, is not exclusive: your own ideas and games would be a welcome expansion and if, without losing cohesion or coherence, you can something better you should feel free to so We are breaking away from the tradition of the textbook; to follow the entire guide without adding, taking away or changing anything would be to kill the dynamism we are trying to attain I have tried and tested all the lesson plans and ideas with every age group, although I have never followed a single one to the letter and never delivered a lesson in exactly the same way twice The reason for this is that the needs of each group are as different as the abilities, personalities and needs of the individuals who are in it We need to adapt our ideas constantly if we wish our students to reap the maximum benefit from our classes ©2005 III What we teach children first may be no more important than which leg we put into our trousers first in the morning, but the Teacher Guide tries to cover some of the most frequently occurring and relevant topics and language areas The Guide doesn’t work through a progression of structures and you will be able to see that present tenses appear most frequently (as they in real life spoken English) However, the context is the deciding factor in choosing tenses; if an activity creates a situation where a certain tense is most natural we will not avoid it because it is a ‘higher level’ tense Equally, approaching activities in a different way open up the possibility of using different tenses to those mentioned The games are designed to satisfy both the fun and language aspects of the course No thirty-hour course will produce fluent speakers of English, but it can be a foundation and, more importantly, a positive first experience of learning English You will find a list of the most useful vocabulary and language specific games that are referred to in the lesson plans; these can also be used in lessons where they are not mentioned There are language specific games that are not at all mentioned in the lesson plans; these are designed to be slotted in according to age and ability where you feel they may be appropriate You will see that the vocabulary included follows the norms of British English; this can easily be adapted if you wish to teach another variety of English Finally, I have taught students between the ages of three and eighty-three, of all levels and abilities, and have often asked their opinions of what makes a good teacher The most valued characteristics are almost always the human qualities that are independent of teaching methods or styles I believe it is important to bear this in mind in any teaching situation ©2005 IV Are we missing the point? Applied linguistics has still to uncover exactly how we acquire a second language When applied linguists and second language acquisition experts theorise about how best to optimise the acquisition of a second language, it seems to me, the overriding theme (consciously or unconsciously) is invariably motivation Methodology in English Language Teaching has moved through many different trends in its history (mostly over the last century) and yet no one method has been universally agreed upon The followers of each ‘new’ method have been quick to attack the shortcomings of previous ones and declare that they have found the ‘right’ way to teach English The fact that every method has, to a greater or lesser extent, been able to yield success (people using them have learnt to speak English) prevented any one particular method from discrediting the others and permanently establishing itself as the accepted model The use of the word ‘method’ has even become unfashionable, the word ‘approach’ is now preferred In this sense an approach is taken as an umbrella term indicating an attitude to teaching and justifying the use of several methods The Communicative Approach, which enjoys the most widespread popularity in English Language Teaching today, works on the principle that the goal of learning a language is communication This attitude differentiates it from the idea that a language is learned for its own sake, to study and appreciate its structures (linguistics) While the Communicative Approach holds to the primacy of fluency over accuracy and that this is achieved through authentic communication, it is noncommittal enough to allow the use of a variety of methods to accomplish this In reality, this has allowed practitioners to use methods with which they are most comfortable (often grammar methods), inserting some communicative activities and games Recently an evolution of the Communicative Approach has produced the Lexical Approach, which theorises that fluency is best attained by learning prefabricated chunks of language rather than grammatical structures Once again, students have become proficient users of English with both sets of techniques My aim here is not to criticise or discuss the merits of existing methods (approaches, techniques, etc.) in detail What interests me is that, while the various methods sometimes allude to motivation, the method is generally implied to be separate from motivation I suggest that motivation should not be viewed as a separate consideration in any methodology (and certainly not a subordinate one), but the fundamental base around which it is built and applied What I am promoting is not new or revolutionary in any way, but a refocusing of something that is far too often neglected or forgotten Indeed, it is my hope that these suggestions sound self-evident, in which case let us pay more attention to them ©2005 V Survival/Desire Theory I intend to talk about motivation in the context of English as a Foreign Language, dividing it into two kinds which I call DESIRE MOTIVATION and SURVIVAL MOTIVATION DESIRE MOTIVATION is motivation to something because you like it, enjoy it, want to or are interested in it SURVIVAL MOTIVATION is motivation to something because you feel you need to it The reason for learning the language in the first place is a survival motivation Here are a few examples: the student lives in an English speaking environment; the student needs to pass exams or get good marks; the student’s boss wants him/her to learn English; the student’s parents want him/her to learn English; the student feels he/she needs English for his/her career; the student would like to integrate into an English speaking community; the student likes the thought of being able to speak English; etc Coercion is a form of survival motivation Examples of coercion are: fear of punishment from parents, teachers or bosses if a student does not learn; fear of social exclusion (isolation from other students or people in general) Rewards are also a form of survival motivation, whether that is praise from parents/teachers/other students or pay rises, etc Everyone (that is able to) eats, sleeps, learns to walk and learns his/her mother tongue Why you eat? Why you sleep? Why you learn to walk? Why you learn your mother tongue? These are all examples of survival motivation at its most potent However, ‘Why you learn a second/foreign language?’ is not a rhetorical question and it is unlikely in the extreme that the survival motivation for this could reach the same strength as in those four examples Let us look at when survival motivation for learning a foreign language is at its strongest: when learners live in a foreign country where their native language is not spoken A British family of five moved to France Amongst the family members were a five year-old boy and his forty year-old father The five year-old boy spoke no French at all and the father had learned a little at school, but had barely an elementary level The boy had done six weeks of his first year of school in the UK and said that he did not want to learn French The father, skilled as a builder, said he wanted to be able to speak French for work purposes and to integrate into the local community The son reluctantly began French primary school and cried every day for the first three weeks as his parents left him at the school His teacher reported that after a month he started to speak French in class with no accent After six months his fluency was exactly the same as the other French children in his class The father took intensive classes in French and studied specialised vocabulary in the field of construction He secured building work after two months but relied a lot on help from his wife for communicating in French After a year he felt his French had improved, but still found it a struggle and said there were lots of misunderstandings at work due to the language barrier There were several factors that might explain the differences in proficiency of the father and son after a year ©2005 VI The difference in age and the theory that there may be a ‘sensitive period’ for learning language could certainly be a factor but that is a different discussion, especially as this is not a scientific experiment The level of exposure to French was clearly different, also What interests me is the difference in survival motivation The father could use lots of different ways to ‘survive’ without having to use French He could rely on his wife to communicate for him when he got stuck He could use the similarities to English words when he saw written French to understand signs He could go about his day-to-day business speaking very little French He could fill in official forms using dictionary translations without needing to assimilate the words he was writing In interpersonal relationships he could speak English: with his wife; with his children; over the telephone with his family and English-speaking friends Only in the workplace was he truly forced to use French to survive (and still, lots of gesturing and waving could see him through) On the other hand, the survival motivation was quite different for the son His world consisted of home and school Of course, at home he spoke English and at school he spoke French He could not fall back on the survival strategies that his father was able to Once at school, everything depended on learning French If he did not use French he could not participate; he could not make friends; he could not be accepted He could not ‘survive’ without it Desire motivation is the stimulation of curiosity and enjoyment that has an effect during learning If people think of what their favourite subject was at school, followed by the subject in which they achieved the best grades or put the most effort into, I am sure a high percentage would give the same subject for both answers The same is true if we look at it the opposite way round: we tend to enjoy the things we are ‘good at’ This is why it is so important to give students a sense of achievement Desire motivation, or lack of it, is what makes someone go the cinema twice to see the same film and leave half way through another Newer ‘methods’ and ‘approaches’ advocate the use of authentic materials instead of contrived and wooden examples of English What is the difference if they both give the same end result? There are two reasons: if students can ‘see the point’ they will invest themselves more willingly; if activities or subjects are more relevant to their lives and interests they want to them The movement towards ‘student-centred’ activities and classrooms away from ‘teacher-centred’ ones is also based on desire motivation (as well as promoting learner autonomy) ‘Student-centred’ activities exploit students’ two greatest interests: themselves and other people While considering these observations allows us to recognise what motivates students, it is our job as teachers to exploit them in order to optimise student motivation Indeed, there are more and more teachers who believe the ability to get students motivated and help them to become autonomous learners is as important as (if not more than) the teacher’s knowledge of the language ©2005 VII Lexical and Grammatical Fields Topics Numbers (12+): One; two; three; four; five; six; seven; eight; nine; ten; eleven; twelve… Halloween (6+): Ghost; witch; vampire; pumpkin; devil; skeleton… Eating/drinking (5+): Knife; fork; spoon; glass; plate… Seasons (4): Spring; summer; autumn; winter Christmas (6+): Father Christmas; snowman; presents; stocking; Christmas tree; reindeer… People/Family (10+): Me; you; boy(s); girl(s); man(men); woman(women); mum; dad; brother; sister… Animals (7+): Dog; cat; rabbit; fish; bird; mouse; spider (+ students’ pets)… In the house (7+): House; bedroom; bathroom; lounge; dining room; kitchen; garden Easter (2+): Easter Bunny; Easter eggs… Body parts (15+): Arm; ear; eye; fingers; foot; hand; head; knees; leg; mouth; neck; nose; shoulders; stomach; toes… Clothes (8+): Jeans; jumper; shirt; shoes; skirt; socks; trousers; Tshirt… Times of day (6+): Morning; afternoon; evening; night; o’clock; half past… Meals (3+): Breakfast; lunch; dinner… Food (8+): Apple; bread; cheese; fish; ice cream; meat; potato; tomato… Jobs (7+): Baker; chef; doctor; fire fighter; police officer; singer; teacher… Transport (6+): Boat; bus; car; lorry; plane; train… ©2005 VIII Descriptions Weather (6+): Sunny; raining; cloudy; snowing; foggy; windy… Colours (9-12+): Blue; red; yellow; green; black; white; brown; purple; blond (Orange; pink; grey…) Feelings/ Other adjectives (11+): Fine; happy; sad; angry; fed up; hot; cold; big; small; good; bad; thirsty; hungry… Possessive (2+): My; your… Prepositions (6+): In; on; behind; in front of; next to; under… Actions I can / Can you? (5+): Climb; fly; jump; run; swim… Commands (21+): Be quiet; clap your hands; close your eyes; come here; count to twelve; this; that; go over there; hands on heads; jump; open your eyes; ready, go; sit down; stand up; step backwards; step forwards; stop; touch your ; turn around; wait… (With ‘don’t’ for negative imperative.) Miscellaneous (taught directly or indirectly) If; and; but; or; with; to; the; a; an; of; this; that; these; those; I; you; he; she; it; we; they; for; at; from; here; there; by; not; all; everyone; everybody; not; which; how; where; who; what; when; again; another; other; now; then; some; any; more; up; down; him; her; them; yes; no; out; first (and any other frequently recurring language that the teacher uses) This list is flexible and non-exhaustive and is meant as an indication of the language to which the students will be exposed during the course It is NOT a restriction on what can be taught ©2005 IX www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years times, then get individuals to say the sentence after you Choose your student by passing the picture of the ice cream Play a second game Give a few examples yourself by showing a card to the class e.g the apples, ask yourself the question, “Do you like bread?” because you are not holding the bread, say “No, I don’t like bread”, shaking your head to emphasise the point Ask, “Do you like meat?” because you are not holding the meat, say “No, I don’t like meat.” Shake your head at the same time Get one of the students to stand up and give them a card, the group is going to answer the question and the chosen student is going to answer Student has the flashcard of fish Teacher shows any flashcard to be used in the question e.g cheese Group: Do you like cheese? Student: No, I don’t like cheese Teacher holds up another flashcard, doesn’t matter which e.g potatoes Group: Do you like potatoes? Student No, I don’t like potatoes Teacher shows picture of another picture, this time the fish Group: Do you like fish? Student: Yes, I like fish At this point, you have still only introduced half of the flashcards Now you can introduce the other half Take away the cards that you have been using so far and just use the new ones Introduce them in the same way as you showed the others Play a game of ‘what’ missing?’ Do this several times, giving all the children a turn to hide the card and to guess the missing card Make sure everybody is fairly confident about the vocabulary before you move on Play the game, that you played earlier where one person goes to the side of the room and closes their eyes, you hold up a card and the action of liking or not liking, a student says the phrase which matches your expression and flashcard, the person at the side then opens their eyes, comes back and finds the flashcard and does the expression which corresponds with what the student has mimed This time you can play the game with all the cards 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 58 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 27 Jobs Target vocabulary: Teacher; doctor; chef; singer; baker; police officer; fire fighter Target structures: I’m a He’s a… She’s a… Are you a ….? Is he a… ? Is she a…….? Yes, I am / No, I’m not Yes, he is / No he’s not Yes, she is / No, she’s not Materials: sets of job flashcards Introduce seven words choosing from the above vocabulary or jobs that you think are more appropriate Play at least two games to practise the vocabulary Stand everybody in a circle, hold up one card and say “I’m a …” followed by whatever the card is that you have chosen Gesture for everyone to repeat what you say, as usual first as a group, then, split the group in half and get one half to say it first then the second half See who can say it the best Then, ask students to say it individually Pass the same card round the group and as the students take the card they say “I’m a ….” Just use one card to start off with, as soon as everyone can say the phrase, take that one away and pass a different card round, and then a third card When everyone is clear about both the vocabulary and the structure “I’m a ” give everyone a different card each Go round the circle and ask everyone to say what they are in turn Do this several times Next you can introduce the question Ask one child to show his card to everyone Ask him something he’s not e.g “Are you a doctor?” If he struggles, help him with “No, I’m not” Keep firing the questions at the students, prompting them to say, “No, I’m not” every time they are not something, and of course get them to say, “Yes, I am” when you say the name of the profession on their cards E.g Teacher Student Teacher Student 2005 Luc Ciotkowski Are you a police officer? (He has a baker.) No, I’m not Are you a baker? Yes, I am - 59 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Sit the students round a table and split them into two teams This is the same game that we played in the Halloween lesson Take two sets of job flashcards, give one set to each team If some people have the same flashcard in team one, make sure that team two has the same cards e.g if there are two police officers in team one make sure there are two police officers in team two Team one will go first Ask a student in team one to choose someone in team two and ask, “Are you a…?” saying whatever is on his card, as his aim is to find the person with the same flashcard The chosen member of team two answers with, “Yes, I am / No, I’m not.“ If the member of team one guesses correctly, he gains a point for his team and he and his partner put their cards down on the table and the point is noted down Then, it’s the next person in team one’s turn Keep going until everyone in team one has asked their question and then go back to the first member of team one However, this time, even if he finds his partner he does not get any points Keep the questions coming from team one until everyone has found their partner, but remember you are only playing for points the first time round As soon as all the cards are laid on the table, collect up the cards and hand them out again in the teams This time it is team two’s turn to start, so exactly the same but at the end of the first round of team two’s questions note down their points Keep going in the same order until all of team two have found their partners A, B, C and D are team one E, F, G and H are team two A (He has a police officer.) Are you a police officer? E (He has a baker.) No I’m not B (He has a chef.) Are you a chef? H (He has a chef.) Yes I am B and H put their cards down on the table, and the teacher notes down a point for team one Team one continues until all they have all found their partners Then team two take control of the game Hand out the cards again and ask one student to sit in the middle of the circle Make sure that this student does not show his card to anyone, he can sit on it to make sure it stays hidden You start by trying to guess what card the student is sitting on “Are you a teacher?” the student in the middle replies each time, “No, I’m not.” Everyone in the group asks one question When somebody guesses correctly they can go up and be the person in the middle Carry on until everyone has had a go A is the student in the middle and is sitting on the fire fighter card B Are you a chef? A No, I’m not C Are you a police officer? A No, I’m not D Are you a fire fighter? A Yes, I am D (Goes on to be the person in the middle.) 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 60 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years For a second game, practising the same structure, choose someone to go to the side of the room and close their eyes Stand everyone else in a line, and give them all a card each, it doesn’t matter if some are the same Get everyone to memorise what they have on their card and then collect them back in The student with his eyes closed rejoins the group and takes the cards His aim is to find out which card everybody had He takes the cards, chooses one and asks the student at the end of the line, “Are you a ….?” This student replies, “Yes, I am / No, I’m not.” The ‘eyes closed’ student then asks this same question to the next person in the line He keeps asking until he finds the person who had that card He then gives the card back to this person and goes on to ask another question Let everybody have a go E.g A A B A C C (Opens his eyes He is handed the pack of flashcards, he looks at a card and forms a question around it.) Are you a police officer? No, I’m not Are you a police officer? Yes, I am (Goes up to be the next person with his eyes closed.) Moving on to the next part, choose a boy to stand in the middle of the circle; this is to introduce ‘he’ Ask him to hold up his card Point to the boy and say what he is, “He’s a doctor”, for example Encourage the group to repeat all together, then ask individuals to repeat Ask the boy to sit down and choose another student to go up Do the same again e.g “He/She’s a chef.” Do group repetition and then individual repetition each time Continue doing this until you have described everyone in the group Let everyone keep the same card Point at one of the students and say, “He’s a teacher” Point at another student and say, “He’s a singer” Do this for the whole of the group and then it’s the students’ turn Point to the student to your right, and say, “He’s a …” Make sure that you address the group, not the student you are talking about Gesture for the student to your left to say what you are and their neighbour goes next, moving round in a clockwise direction (Everyone says what the person to their right is.) Make sure that everyone gets the ‘he’ and ‘she’ pronoun correct Do this again, keeping the same flashcards E.g Everybody talks about and points to the student on their right Teacher (Points to F.) He’s a fire fighter A (Points to the teacher.) She’s a chef B (Points to A.) He’s a police officer C (Points to B.) He’s a doctor D (Points to C.) She’s a teacher E (Points to D.) She’s a singer F (Points to E.) She’s a baker 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 61 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Now to add the question, invite two students into the middle of the circle Give one a flashcard, hold your fingers to your lips to show that he is to remain silent Point at the flashcard that ‘the silent one’ is holding and direct your question at the other student, “Is he / she a baker?” The other student looks at the silent student’s card and answers, “No, he’s not.” or “No, she’s not.” Do several examples, with things that the student isn’t before you prompt a ‘Yes, he/she is’ answer Using the same two students ask one to choose another card This student must stay silent He shows this card to the other student, who is outside the circle, and then holds it to his own or her own chest, keeping it well hidden You start by asking the first question, then gesture for the person next to you to ask a question If you need to prompt the students with job ideas have a set of the flashcards handy and hold up what you want them to say The students in the group take turns asking, “Is she/he a ?” Each time the silent student’s partner looks at his friend’s card and replies, “Yes, he is / No he’s not”, depending Keep going until someone guesses correctly, then swap over the silent student and the speaking student Save the student who guessed correctly the last time as he will go up to play next with the student who guesses correctly this time Keep going until everyone has had a go E.g A and B are stood in the middle of the circle A is silent and is a doctor C Is he a chef? B No, he’s not D Is he a baker? B No, he’s not E Is he a doctor? B Yes, he is For another game practising this same structure, choose another student to go and close his eyes at the side of the room and a different student to choose a card The student with the card shows it to all the other students, and then holds it to his chest The ‘eyes closed’ student comes back and this time asks everybody in the group, apart from the student with the card, “Is he / she a ….?” Everybody replies each time in unison “Yes, he is / No, he’s not.” Change over the ‘eyes closed’ student as soon as he has found what card the other student is hiding E.g A is the ‘eyes closed’ student B is a boy and he has the teacher card, he shows it to everyone, then remains silent A Is he a chef? Group No, he’s not A Is he a doctor Group No, he’s not A Is he a teacher? Group Yes, he is 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 62 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years If you have time and the class have got to grips with everything so far, you can go on to this It’s the same as one of the games before, only this time you describe yourself before describing the person to your right You start by saying “I’m a chef” for example “and “he’s a teacher,” pointing at one of the students Say again “I’m a chef, and he’s a singer”, pointing at another student Do this for the whole of the group and then it’s the students’ turn Point to yourself again and say, “I’m a chef”, and he’s a doctor”, pointing to the student to your right, but making sure that you address the group, not the child you are talking about Gesture for the student to your left to say what he is and then what you are (as you are the person to his right): “I’m a teacher and she’s a chef” Go round the circle again, so this time everyone says what they are followed by what the person to their right is Make sure that everyone gets the he and she pronoun correct You can this again, keeping the same flashcards if you think they need to keep practising, or if they are confident about the ones they have already done, swap them over A is the student to your left Teacher I’m a chef and he’s a doctor (pointing to the student to your right) A I’m a teacher and she’s a chef B I’m a police officer and he’s a teacher (pointing to the student who has just spoken If you don’t feel comfortable doing this yet some miming to finish off Call one of the children up, show him/her a flashcard and he/she will attempt to mime the profession The person who guesses correctly goes on to be the next person to mime 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 63 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 28 Transport Target vocabulary: Car; lorry; bus; train; plane; boat Target structures: We’re in the/on the They’re in the/on the (Present simple – to be +preposition + place.) Where are you? Where are they? (‘Question word’ question – to be.) Materials: sets of transport flashcards Counters to represent the students Show your means of transport cards, practise them (group, then individual) and choose two vocabulary games to play afterwards (poisoned pass the parcel, etc.) This isn’t the first time the students have heard ‘where are you?’, is it? - Where are you? - I’m in the garden (Week 18 – In the house.) Yes, we’re looking for the same thing but in the first person plural (‘we’ form) The transport vocabulary is new and the preposition changes now (in the car/lorry and on the bus/train/plane/boat), but the idea is one they already know You can change the ‘Go into’ game from the other lesson, it becomes ‘Get in/on’ Fix the flashcards to chairs or on the wall around the room, with a decent space between each means of transport You say, “Get in/on the (vehicle)”, and students have to find the right one (they go in twos at least, as they will for the rest of this lesson).You’re familiarising their ears to the ‘in the’ and ‘on the’ part necessary for our sentences (it also starts to show that some are on and some are in) Here, just like ‘In the house’, walk ‘into’ one of the vehicles (this time taking a student with you) and say, “We’re in/on the (vehicle)” (pointing to both the student and you) Move round a few times and say it again, to show the ‘in the' ones and ‘on the' ones (then send the student who was with you back to the group) Take a couple of students and put them in vehicles Once they have said “We’re in/on the ” (together, with help from you), invite the rest of the group to get into vehicles in pairs (you can let them choose where if you want) Go round the whole group and ask, “Where are you?” When each pair (or three) of students has said their vehicle with ‘I’m in the’ in front of it, everyone ‘moves on one’ to the next vehicle Ask again, the students reply, and then move round Ask, “Where are you?” every time, so the students can familiarise the question and answer Once this has been done enough times for the students to accept they have to say the ‘we’re in/on the’ part, as well as the means of transport, bring them back into a circle Practise the question on it’s own: you say and the next person repeats Of course, they’ve done this before so you shouldn’t need to spend long 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 64 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Bring back the counters that were used with the ‘dolls’ house’ Put the flashcards in the middle of the circle Choose a student to go and close their eyes In pairs (you join a pair if there are odd numbers), the students put their counters in a vehicle They memorise them, take their counters back and the ‘closed eyes’ student rejoins the group The ‘closed eyes’ student asks each pair, “Where are you?” You can get them to reply together (strengthens the idea of ‘we’), or one after the other (allows you to keep a tighter rein on pronunciation) The ‘closed eyes’ student puts the pairs’ counters in the vehicle they have said A B+C A Teacher B+C A D+E Teacher D+E A Teacher D+E Teacher D+E Teacher Group Teacher A Teacher Group Etc (Comes back to group and doesn’t know where the others put their counters.) Where are you? (Points at B and C.) We’re in the lorry (Puts B and C’s counters in the lorry.) Is that right? Yes! Where are you? (Points at D and E.) We’re in the bus We’re on the bus We’re on the bus (Puts D and E’s counters on the boat.) Is that right? No Where are you? We’re on the bus Is that the bus? (Looks at the group and points at the boat.) No! Boat Where’s the bus? (Asks A.) (Puts D and E’s counters on the bus.) Is that right? Yes! Like the ‘In the house’ lesson (from which this activity is taken), use or don’t use a points system as you see fit The next task we are going to use is the ‘chooser and flashcarder’ task from that same previous lesson Choose one student to take the flashcards and stand at the other side of the room (the flashcarder) Put the other students into pairs You need another set of flashcards for this part Give the second set of flashcards to one of the students in the first pair (the chooser) That student shows one of the cards to their partner (this is where they are) When the flashcarder asks, “Where are you?”, the partner answers, “We’re in/on the ” The flashcarder holds up the card that matches what has been said The pair swap roles (chooser becomes sayer, sayer becomes chooser) and the flashcarder asks the question a second time The chooser chooses, the sayer says and the flashcarder shows the appropriate card The pair then go to the back and are replaced by a new pair This has to move fast so everyone can have a turn as flashcarder, and also so that the students who aren’t involved don’t get bored If you have a large group you can have two games going at the same time (although you would need four sets of flashcards instead of two) 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 65 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Divide the group into two, half sit on one line of chairs and the other half sit diagonally opposite (a bit like this: / \ ) One of the flashcards is placed on the floor or on a chair in front of each line of students Practise, “Where are they?” (just repeating for the moment) Introduce, “They’re in/on the ” to one half of the group, pointing at the other They repeat and point at the other group, like you Do both groups like this, in chorus and individually Bring a student from one of the groups up beside you, in front of the two lines They have to ask both groups (one at a time), “Where are they?” They chorus back, “They’re in the ” Give every student a turn to ask the two groups and change the flashcards with each new ‘asker’ A B █ █ A A B B B A Keep the set up of lines for the team game that we are going to play, but put them directly opposite each other this time (see below) A student from team A comes to the front His team (A) asks him, “Where are they?” Someone from the other team (or you) chooses a flashcard for team B (this is where they ‘are’) The student from team A gets to see the flashcard and tells his group, “They’re on/in the ” Team A shows the flashcard that its representative has said If he says it correctly (the full sentence), and the team show the right vehicle, team A gets a point All the students, from both teams, have one or two turns before a winning team is declared As with any team game that you might play make sure you balance the teams (in terms of ability) Change the teams and play again A A A A B B B█ B B A Our final goal is to join up both the ‘we’ and ‘they’ Sit the students on chairs in a circle Distribute enough cards for every student to have one We are using pairs of vehicles (in a class of eight students there will be four pairs), so make sure there is an even number (you take part if needed) Everyone has a flashcard, which they all pass to the left when you tell them to start The students continue to pass the flashcards on until you say, “Stop!” Choose a vehicle and say, “Stand up if you’re on/in the ” The two students who have this vehicle on their cards stand up You ask them where they are (they reply in the ‘we’ form), and then you ask the rest of the group where these two are (they reply in the ‘they’ form) 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 66 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years E.g A has a plane flashcard when the teacher says stop B has a boat flashcard when the teacher says stop C has a plane flashcard when the teacher says stop D has a car flashcard when the teacher says stop E has a car flashcard when the teacher says stop F has a boat flashcard when the teacher says stop Teacher A+C Teacher A+C Teacher Group A+C Teacher D+E Teacher D+E Teacher Group D+E Teacher B+F Teacher B+F Teacher Group B+F Stand up if you’re on the plane (Both stand up.) (Points at A and C.) Where are you? We’re on the plane (Looks at the rest of the group and points to A and C.) Where are they? They’re on the plane (Sit back down.) Stand up if you’re in the car (Both stand up.) (Points at D and E.) Where are you? We’re in the car (Looks at the rest of the group and points to D and E.) Where are they? They’re in the car (Sit back down.) Stand up if you’re on the boat (Both stand up.) (Points at B and F.) Where are you? We’re on the boat (Looks at the rest of the group and points to B and F.) Where are they? They’re on the boat (Sit back down.) When all students have been asked where they are change the vehicles (or bring back rooms of the house if you’re confident that they remember them) and pass the flashcards around for another try In addition, if you have odd numbers, a student can take your place to ask the questions after the first turn 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 67 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 29 Revision Lesson F Lessons to revise: Week 25 Mealtimes Week 26 Food Week 27 Jobs 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 68 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 30 Time Target vocabulary: Numbers + o’clock / half past Target structures: It’s o’clock / it’s half past What time is it? Materials: Digital times to represent - 12 o’clock Digital times to represent half past – half past 12 Begin by revising the numbers from to 12 and play a vocabulary game to practise This shouldn’t take too long, they know them well by now Bring out the digital times and repeat, “It’s o’clock” with the students as you show each time (I found they could identify the digital times better than analogue ones.) Set all the o’clock times out on a table in order Call out times and choose individuals to find the correct cards Leave the cards and play a game of ‘circles’ With each turn a student must say, “It’s o’clock.” I brought in extra rules for this, because I found there were students who had a problem with the number eight With each four numbers everyone had to sit down or stand up as fast as possible: It’s one o’clock; it’s two o’clock; it’s three o’clock; it’s four o’clock (all stand up); it’s five o’clock; it’s six o’clock; it’s seven o’clock; it’s eight o’clock (all sit down); it’s nine o’clock; it’s ten o’clock; it’s eleven o’clock; it’s twelve o’clock (all stand up) Go back to the table on which with the times are laid This time you point to a time and choose a student to call it out This is where ‘What time is it?’ comes in Ask the question each time you point to a card Bring the students back into the circle Practise the ‘What time is it?’ question, and then give each one a time card (they don’t let anyone see it) A student asks his or her neighbour what time it is, the neighbour has to say the time on their card They show the time and everyone tells them if it’s wrong or right This chain continues until everybody has asked and been asked the time Put the time labels back onto the table (in order) Invite the students to take a time each, they have to memorise it and put it back You ask each of them what the time is, they answer and you give them the card that shows their time Choose a student to close their eyes in the corner While that person is not there, the others take a label, memorise it and put it back The ‘closed eyes’ student comes back and asks the other members of the group, “What time is it?” As you did, the chosen student has to give the time labels to the others, according to their answer Clear the ‘o’clock’ times away for the moment and bring out the ‘half past’ times Repeat the lesson so far using ‘half past’ - until the end of the task where you point to a card, say, “What time is it?” and a student tells you the time At this point, seat all the students but one in a row Show the ‘half past twelve’ label to the students and say, “It’s half past twelve.” Stand up and put your hands on your head Encourage everyone to the same Give a few examples, showing that they only have to stand up and put their hands on their heads at half past twelve Give each student one of the ‘half past’ time labels, they can’t show anyone else The 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 69 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years student who is still standing up has to ask, “What time is it?”, and each student replies when they are asked When the one with half past twelve answers everyone stands up and puts their hands on their heads The last one to it comes out of the line and asks the questions The person who asked the questions before takes the slowest person’s place in the line E.g A is asking the questions B has half past one C has half past seven D has half past nine E has half past ten F has half past twelve G has half past three H has half past six A B A C A D A E A F What time is it? It’s half past one What time is it? It’s half past seven What time is it? It’s half past nine What time is it? It’s half past ten What time is it? It’s half past twelve (Everyone jumps to their feet and puts their hands on their heads G is the last person to it G comes out to ask the questions, while A takes G’s place in the row of chairs.) Play this enough times for everyone to have a turn to ask the questions If it’s always the same students who lose, you should step in and choose someone else to come and ask the questions The job is going to become harder now We are going to combine the ‘o’clock’ times and the ‘half past’ times The problem here is that we say, “It’s three o’clock”, and, “It’s half past three” The three moves, and this makes it confusing for the students Go back to the first table exercise, in this instance with all the times in order: one o’clock; half past one; two o’clock; half past two etc You say, they point It’s easy for them, they can recognise any one of the twenty four times on the table This is both for their confidence and to make it clear that the ones that end ‘:00’ are o’clock and the ones that end ‘:30’ are half past When you have done a few rounds of this change the game to you point, they say This is where you may have to help with word order, as numbers get moved to the wrong side of ‘o’clock’ and ‘half past’ Reinforce the fact that ‘:00’ is ‘o’clock’ and ‘:30’ is ‘half past’ Do the task from earlier on in which you choose a student to close their eyes in the corner While that person is not there, the others take a label, memorise it and put it back The ‘closed eyes’ student comes back and asks the other members of the group, “What time is it?” The difference is that it could be o’clock, or half past Give everyone a turn 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 70 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Our game that incorporates all the language from the lesson is a variation of ‘Hands on heads at half past twelve’ from before Arrange enough seats for all but one student into a circle Put a time label on each seat (a mix of ‘half pasts’ and ‘o’clocks’, of which one is half past twelve) Choose one student to be ‘time master’ The other students have to ask this person what time it is, so they know where to sit down The ‘time master’ chooses to say, “It’s ” (whichever of the times he or she wants) and the student who asked must sit on that chair When the ‘time master’ replies, “It’s half past twelve!” however, all the other students must try to be the first to sit on the chair with the half past twelve label The first one to so wins and becomes the ‘time master’ for the next round (This could be too much for some classes, it could get rough If you’re worried that this might happen, the goal can be first to stand up, behind a chair, with hands on head Less fun, but less dangerous.) You can play this until the end of your class, but cheat a little to give everyone a turn as ‘time master’ Make sure you calm them down before they go! (Sit down, be quiet, close your eyes, count to twelve o’clock One o’clock, two o’clock ) What time is it? – Time to go! 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 71 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 31 Revision Lesson G + Goodbye Lessons to revise: Week 28 Transport Week 30 Time The revision part of this lesson is supposed to take you to the halfway point, leaving you with half an hour to play games (don’t have to be language based), have cakes and soft drinks or whatever you decide 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 72 - [...]... teacher puts E’s plate in the middle of the circle, picks up his or her own plate and everyone hides their plates behind their backs A Teacher A Teacher A Teacher A Teacher A Teacher A Teacher A Teacher B A Teacher B A Teacher A C Teacher C A C A D A D A E A E A Teacher A (A comes back to the group and sees that his plate is missing.) Plate?! Where’s m Where’s my plate? (Points at E’s plate in the middle.)... that they are not allowed to let anyone else see their card TeacherAre you happy? –Yes or no? ANo TeacherNo, I’m not ANo, I’m not TeacherAre you angry? AYes! TeacherYes, I am AYes, I am Teacher( Turns to B.) Are you happy? BYes, I am! Teacher( Turns to C.) Are you fed up? CNo, I’m not Etc 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 13 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years That’s how it should... the group with your items in front of you, just like the students You practise, “This is a ” for all of the vocabulary with the students (group and individuals) Teacher Group Teacher Group Teacher Group Teacher A Teacher Group Teacher B Teacher C Etc 2005 Luc Ciotkowski (Picks up the knife.) This is a knife This is a knife What’s this? This is a knife This is a knife (Picks up the plate.) What’s... vocabulary (they’ve had enough to deal with already) 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 11 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 6 Revision Lesson A Lessons to revise: Week 1 Introductions Week 2 Numbers Week 3 Commands Week 5 Colours 2005 Luc Ciotkowski - 12 - www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 7 Emotions/feelings Target structures:... www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years another student (Student E) Student E keeps Student A’s plate, and you put Student E’s plate on the floor in the middle of the circle Is this confusing? It’s best explained by the example: The teacher puts E’s plate in the middle of the circle, picks up his or her own plate and everyone hides their plates behind their backs A Teacher. .. talking about things in general So be careful not to slip into saying “the ghost” which might be an easy thing to do E.g Teacher A Teacher B 2005 Luc Ciotkowski (A has the ghost) Are you a ghost? Yes, I am (B has the pumpkin) Are you a witch? No, I’m not -7- www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Continue doing this until you are happy with what the students are saying... looking for the answer Between each student ask 2005 Luc Ciotkowski -1- www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years the question so that they associate it with the answer Then, get each student to have a go at asking everybody the same question Do this with each question and answer, starting with the teacher asking the question and then the students having a go You can change... and ask one student all the questions and he replies Do this with all the students in turn Then one of the students can ask the questions, taking the role of the teacher Everyone has a go 2005 Luc Ciotkowski -2- www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 2 Numbers Target vocabulary: 1 2 Numbers Boy; boys; girl; girls Target structures: 1 How old are you? I’m …… 2 How... the circle, encouraging everyone to say the question in turn (If it is a small, well behaved group, throw round a cuddly toy to choose the student who speaks.) 2005 Luc Ciotkowski -8- www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Sit back down again, and show the Halloween flashcards Say if you hold up the ghost flashcard ask, “Are you scared of the ghost?” The students can... different Halloween flashcard Finish the round with some TPR An idea to finish off the lesson is something like a Halloween jigsaw or some Halloween colouring in 2005 Luc Ciotkowski -9- www.realenglish.tk Teacher Guide for Young Children’s Course 3-11 years Week 5 Colours Target structures: What colour is it? It’s What colour have you got? I’ve got …… Target vocabulary: Blue; red; yellow; green; black;