English as a Foreign / Second Language - for kids!
|
'... won't you come and play with me?'
Presentation at Akcent Mini-conference in Praha
Saturday, May 24, 2003
(c)2003 by Nick Miller
First quick note! Murphy reared his head... I HAD made a very nice paper version of this (without all the activity links and not as many comments since there was a lot in the actual presentation). However, I accidentally buried them at home... and so I am rushing to get this posted even faster than I first planned!It was also essentially a repeat of one I have done in Thailand, in several versions, over the years.
The presentation and these notes are primarily for teachers of young children. It was mostly a variety of activities, however includes notes which cover general theory/ideas.
My personal experience was 4 1/2 years teaching 4, 5 and 6 year olds in a kindergarten in Japan. Our class met one day a week, and in the morning I had about 200 kids, divided into about 30 students per 20 minute class. ALL students received the morning session, with most parents sending their kids to an additional 20 minute class in the afternoon. (six morning and six afternoon sessions - quite tiring!) The morning sessions were in their regular classroom with their regular Japanese kindergarten teacher present. The afternoon sessions were in the gym, and given the large class size I had requested a Japanese co-teacher mostly for safety and helping to keep order if needed.
In the Czech Republic last summer I had an intensive 4 week class of four hours a day five days a week. There were just 4 students, ages from 7 - 11, and their level was much higher.
... planning a curriculum for such class.
Questions you must ask when making your plan include: - How long will the class will be?
- Young children's attention span is limited.
- Even in a 20 minute class, I use a minimum of two or three activities, often four or five.
- Each lesson should be repeated at least once. Some activities CAN be done the same way, such as songs, but others you should try to do the same material with other activities!
- What does the school expect? Do you have to follow a text like a robot... or are you lucky and have NO text and carte blanche ?
(Czech note: carte blanche = mit volnou ruku.) Does the school have specific points you must teach?
Any restrictions on activities, rewards, etc.? Some places give candy, others no food. Some a hand stamp, others stickers.- What resources are available?
- Does your school have a library, tools and supplies, or do you have to improvise?
- Do you have a big budget, or are you limited to junk you can find in the garbage? (Don't knock that garbage! See below.)
- What level are the students?
- Any native speakers? Returnees?
- Is it a gifted or special education program?
- Mixed levels? Very mixed with near native kids and beginners? Use the more advanced students to help!
- What are you comfortable with?
- Can you sing? Dance? Sit on the floor?
- Play with the kids?
- Wear unusual clothes?
- If you are not comfortable with an activity - don't do it. But, it will go a long way to making class more interesting... and educational... if you do try to liven it up!
- Are you afraid to try new things?
- Do you improvise, use outside resources; fellow teachers, conferences, & especially your brain!
- Do you, 'push' them a little?
- I believe more teachers err by teaching down than teaching up!
... designing class materials.
Class materials depend on the curriculum, lesson plan, resources, etc. Some materials are inexpensive, others are costly and require advanced ordering. Who pays? Can you afford the best, or are you on a shoe-string budget?
An idea for career teachers: think ahead. If you have the money and storage space, consider buying on sale, trips and off-season. Buy seasonal goods the day after the festival! Think creatively! Save your junk. Fishing boxes are great organizers. Here are a few 'recycling' ideas:
- Colored wax shavings. Use for 'art work', or gift wrap; place a sheet of paper over it and lightly iron (warm!). Could be done on a t-shirt or apron... but washing is a problem!
- Large old plastic tarps, the kind used at picnics, can be made into a variety of board games, kids size! Paint the board you wish to use.
- Milk and juice cartons with a square base can be cut and made into dice, sides can be anything you want. Remember that ONE side's length must be twice the width of the carton and then folded over! You can use a computer to make a T shape form which you can fill in with letters, numbers, words or pictures.
- Old aprons can be cut to size, used for teaching body parts, inside and out, to protect during painting, as costumes, etc. One thing I often planned but never made was a teacher's apron with MANY pockets and Velcro tabs for letters, numbers, foods, words, etc.
- Plastic tray with compartments, from products, can aid in teaching number recognition, counting, and arithmetic.
- Toilet/paper towel tubes, can be used as stethoscopes, telescopes, to transport posters, etc.!
Make materials ahead of time to avoid last minute problems. Don't wait till the students are in class!
... balancing English learning, general skills development & good fun.At this age many feel serious study is not practical. The main thing is to make the kids sense that English is fun; something they desire. Balance excitement, English studies, and activities that reinforce their regular native language lessons, such as motor coordination, volunteerism, color, number and shape recognition, etc.
... creating the magic that makes them glad to see you.
Establish a rapport and the students will welcome your class. Variety is the key to keeping their interest. Some activities keep their interest, but presentations should be short. If their interest fades, move on. Always have more activities on hand than you plan to accomplish. I always carried a fishing tackle box full of extra items. Guess that kind of went along with the last presentation I attended at this conference - called the Naked Teacher. OK, as I like to say, "I am often nude, but never naked" - and kids' class or adults, I like to have a few 'extra' things, just in case. If you make it a habit to carry a small box of cards, games, props, etc. you can be a real 'Boy Scout' and be always prepared!
Select Classroom Activities: Bingo. Using pictures of words they know, make a series of bingo cards (a 3 x 3 is suitable for this age, a 4 x 4 or even a 5 x 5 may work for older students.) Make a set of larger matching cards, to draw from and show if need be. Can be used with any collection of words, especially seasonal for party games. Can even be used with A, B, Cs.
Dialog helpers. Your team teacher, puppets, cards of people/animals can be used to simulate dialogs.
Board races. Have teams race to the board one by one to write the A, B, Cs or perform some other task.
Collaborative puzzle solving. Have them work in teams to assemble puzzles or do projects.
Greeting Cards. Have them make seasonally appropriate cards; give them appropriate cards.
Magic (for small tangible objects). Use simple magic tricks to stimulate their interest in the topic, hide things and get them to name what is missing, etc. The activity I demonstrated had some small objects, which they were asked to name. These were then placed on the floor, and they were once again asked to name them. The objects were then covered with a towel, and one removed under the towel - "What's missing?" Younger students perhaps on the word, older ones sentences, articles, etc.
Drawing and teamwork (for the body). Have Ss trace their hand as a warm up and then a S's body; all color. Use to reinforce body parts. To teach inner organs you can draw on a t-shirt and make papers with the organs and use tape (Scholastic* has a premade one with Velcro stickies).
TPR (for words, numbers, items, colors, etc.) Place items on the wall around a large room. Say the name of an item, Ss run to stand by it. Can also be used with questions like "What is your favorite ...?" Can also be used to test first letter recognition, i.e. display the letters yet say the associated words or vice versa. In my classes of 4, 5 and 6 year olds, I would alternate letters and pictures... i.e. in random order around the room on the walls, might be cards showing: G apple C K mouse horse fence B 'ice cream cone' D egg house J L. Given THOSE cards, I might say "A" and students would run for apple, or Jack-in-the-box and they would run for J.
Seasonal activities: I am a firm believer in seasonal themes, regardless of their basis (i.e. climate, national or religious holidays, special events, etc.) Children do best when they have repetition, and by having a 'theme' for a given period allows you to develop many related activities, but around a core idea which gives the kids a sense of security. I particularly like to 'teach' inter cultural thinking at this age. Kids are open and flexible. In general, I try to pick from a variety of cultures. However in your situation that may not be possible, but you can still choose local cultural activities and teach THEM in English. You can make neat tree ornaments with construction paper (cut in the shape of an ornament), foil (cut in a circle) and a student photo (cut in a smaller circle)! You can trace the outlines on paper and have them cut and paste them, or for 5 and 6 year olds you can give them patterns and let them trace too!
Song adaptations and uses:
Oldies but goodies:There were many old favorites when I was a kid, things kids did just for fun. Many of these can be used in your classes at this age, ask other natives (any natives, not just teachers!) what they did as kids. Just a few that come to mind:
Well, for those who like to keep in touch, I live partly in Praha (where I teach) and partly in Pec pod Cerchovem (where I own a recreational facility). Please be sure to mention you met me here, and if you send email please put something in the subject line (I do not read the ton of spam I get!) You can reach me at: Nick (BUT NO SPAMMERS! I do NOT want ads!) .
* Note: I generally do not like plugging a product or company, and while I have not been as happy with them as when I first started using them many, many years ago, I do have to say that Scholastic is a fairly good source of material for kids' classes.
Note: anyone and everyone is free to use this material in their classes or with their kids... and anyone can link to or mirror this page. However, the credits must remain and NO ONE MAY FRAME THIS OR ANY OF MY PAGES (or place any ads or objectional material on a mirror site)!!!!
