BEGINNING ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE – SUPPORT MATERIALS

YEARS 2 TO 6

TEACHER RESOURCES

TOPIC: ACTIONS

Melbourne June 2021

© State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2021

Beginning English as an additional language – support materials – Years 2 to 6 – Actions is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), indicate if changes were made and comply with the other licence terms, see: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

The licence does not apply to:• any images, photographs, trademarks or branding, including the Victorian

Government logo and the DET logo; and• content supplied by third parties.

Copyright queries may be directed to copyright@education.vic.gov.au

Authorised by the Department of Education and Training, 2 Treasury Place, East Melbourne, Victoria, 3002

Acknowledgments

These resources are based on Beginning EAL – Support material for primary new arrivals (ISBN 0 7306 9017 2), first published 1997.

Illustration: Kat Chadwick

Years 2 to 6 | 3

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Purpose ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4

Teaching grammar through topics ................................................................................................................ 4

Symbols ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

ACTIONS .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Language that could be targeted in this unit ........................................................................... 7

Activities .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

WORKSHEETS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Action words ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Adding ing to action words ............................................................................................................................................ 13

Reading action words .............................................................................................................................................................. 15

What can you do? ............................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Answering questions .................................................................................................................................................................. 19

What are people doing? ....................................................................................................................................................... 21

Do you like? .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 23

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE

The purpose of these resources is to provide practical support for teachers of newly arrived English as an additional language (EAL) learners.

It is intended to be used with EAL learners who:

• have minimal or no English

• are in Year 2 to Year 6.

The resources will be useful for:

• teachers of mainstream classes who may be unfamiliar with the needs of EAL learners new to learning English

• EAL teachers.

These materials are not intended to provide a full EAL learning program for students, but to supply teachers with easy-to-use resources which support oral English language work in the classroom.

TEACHING GRAMMAR THROUGH TOPICS

The resources are organised into topics that are particularly suitable for newly arrived EAL learners. These topics help to familiarise students with the basic English to operate in the classroom and provide them with the means to communicate simple wants and needs in English, and to take part in classroom activities. Students who can use English for this kind of basic communication will settle more quickly into their new school and will be able to take part in everyday classroom life more quickly.

While an interest-based or topic-based approach is a useful way of organising English language learning for newly arrived EAL learners, these are not the only ways of organising a teaching focus. It is also advisable, at times, to organise some teaching that focuses on specific linguistic structures and features, such as:

• Pronouns: you, I, me, him, her, them

• Possessive pronouns: my, your, his, hers, theirs

• Prepositions: in, next to, on, near, behind, between, in front of, around, above

• Demonstratives: this/that, these/those

• Adverbs of frequency: often, never, always, sometimes

• Quantifiers: some, many, all, none, no, a few

• Sequence words: first, next, before, after

• Conjunctions: and, but

• Modals: can, will, might, must.

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Topic Grammar focus Examples

Clothing adverbs of frequency

I never wear a hat.

I always wear shoes.

I sometimes wear a jumper.

Houses prepositions

The bedroom is next to the bathroom.

The bookcase is behind the TV.

The saucepan is on the stove.

My Body possessive adjectives

my leg

her arm

your hair

Food quantifiers

some eggs

a few oranges

many bananas

no pies

Plants sequence words

First, we planted the seed.

Then a shoot began to grow.

Next a leaf grew.

Some topics lend themselves especially well to teaching some of these specific linguistic structures and features, and it is useful to extend in these areas once students have learnt the basic vocabulary, for example:

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THE RESOURCES ARE ORGANISED INTO TOPICS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR NEWLY ARRIVED EAL LEARNERS.

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SYMBOLS

The teacher drives the instruction and explanation of the language and concepts in a task or models the skills and strategies that students need to learn in order to complete a learning task.

An example of learning intention and success criteria for one of the learning activities.

Students engage in speaking and listening activities to learn about the topic. They listen to explanations and instructions. They participate in discussions and practise the pronunciation of new vocabulary. They use modelled sentence structures related to the topic to express their ideas and opinions.

Students use the languages they know to support their English learning, and to continue to develop their language and literacy in their home languages. Students also connect new knowledge with familiar knowledge from their own cultural background.

Students read to practise new sentence structures and vocabulary. They read their own writing to practise reading fluently and check for understanding and accuracy.

Students write and copy letters and words and label pictures and items. They write sentences based on modelled oral language or language from familiar texts. Writing activities are best preceded by extensive oral work.

Students cut and paste words or pictures to match meanings, create sentences, label drawings or make something. While engaging with paper or words in their written form, they use oral language to discuss what they are doing or engage in conversation with their peers.

Students work with a partner or in a small group. They engage in discussions with their friends, and practise social conventions such as listening to each other and taking turns. Cooperative learning can apply to speaking and listening, reading and viewing and writing activities.

Students engage in learning through play, including structured games with rules, with their friends and classmates. They use oral language to discuss what they are doing, take turns, negotiate or engage in conversation with their peers.

Students research information, find words in a word search activity, or find content or key words in sentences to help them understand what they are reading.

Students use their reading and comprehension skills to understand incomplete sentences or words, then fill in the blanks to create completed sentences or words.

Students sort words or items into different categories or groups. Students use oral language to discuss, negotiate and agree. These activities reinforce existing vocabulary, support students to acquire new vocabulary and develop new concepts.

Students use vocabulary and reading strategies to understand words or sentences and match them with pictures, other words or ways of expressing meaning. Students may also match sentence beginnings and endings.

Students draw pictures to match words and sentences. This allows them to demonstrate their understanding of what they are reading or have written.

Students colour in pictures on the sheet. For some students, this is an additional opportunity to practise their pencil grip, fine motor skills and develop finger strength for writing.

Ideas for extending learning for students.

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ACTIONS

The Actions topic introduces vocabulary to help students talk about what they are doing and what they can do.

While learning about the topic, students may begin to:

• use different verb forms

• express what they can or can’t do

• express simple body or spatial awareness

• ask and answer simple questions about actions

• complete simple written sentences about actions.

LANGUAGE THAT COULD BE TARGETED IN THIS UNIT

Functions

• Explaining actions

• Expressing spatial awareness and body awareness

Structures

• Present continuous such as I am walking. I’m running. I’m sitting.

• I can … Can you …?

• I am …

• What is/What are …?

• He is/She is … She’s/He’s …

• They are … They’re …

• I like/They like …

• She/He likes …

Taking it further

Depending on the kind of vocabulary your students are already familiar with, you may be able to talk about some of the following ideas in relation to actions:

• Ease/difficulty: things that are easy to do or hard to do

• Ability: things students are able or not able to do

• Speed: fast/slow

• Imperatives: following and giving instructions such as Walk!, Stop!, Keep still!, Don’t …

• Verb tenses: using different forms of the verbs.

Other resources

The Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre (LMERC) has a collection of teaching and learning resources related to this topic on a searchable database and can provide further advice. See the LMERC home page for more information.

ACTIVITIES

Each activity is preceded by a few ideas for use, and an example of a Learning intention and Success criteria that relates to the activity. Teachers can adapt this resource to suit their classrooms and students.

• Action words

• Adding ing to action words

• Reading action words

• What can you do?

• Answering questions

• What are people doing?

• Do you like?

ACTIONS

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WORKSHEETS

1 ACTION WORDS

Introduce new vocabulary and model the pronunciation and intonation of the words for students. Demonstrate each action and ensure that students can perform the actions and verbalise what they are doing.

Students cut out the pictures and the words and stick them in their dictionary or scrapbook in alphabetical order.

Students use the pictures to make booklets. They write sentences to describe the pictures or create speech bubbles to record asking and answering questions.

Students discuss these words at home or with a home language peer and find out how the words translate into their home language. Students who are literate in their home language can record the translations as well.

Learning intention: Students are learning about action words/verbs/doing words.

Success criteria: Students can say what they are doing. They can write sentences to match the pictures.

Vocabulary

• bend

• bounce

• catch

• clap

• climb

• crawl

• dance

• dive

• fall

• hit

• hop

• jump

• kick

• point

• pull

• push

• sing

• skip

• stand

• stretch

• swim

• talk

• throw

• wave

WORKSHEETS

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ACTIONS ACTION WORDS

1

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X

ACTION WORDS ACTIONS

1

&

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ACTIONS ACTION WORDS

1

&

bend climb fall

bounce crawl hit

catch dance hop

clap dive jump

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X

ACTION WORDS ACTIONS

1

&

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ACTIONS ACTION WORDS

1

kick sing swim

point skip talk

pull stand throw

push stretch wave

&

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WORKSHEETS

2 ADDING ING TO ACTION WORDS

Model the pronunciation and intonation of the words for students. Introduce the question and answer structure What is he/she doing? He/She is …

One student mimes an action while the other students in the class say what they are doing using modelled sentences such as He is/She is …

Students label the pictures with the correct verb and keep the sheet as a vocabulary list.

The sheet can be used to play a Bingo game where students place a counter on the picture when they hear the word spoken aloud in a sentence.

Students write sentences to describe the pictures, using the correct pronoun and verbs.

Learning intention: Students are learning to add ing to action words.

Success criteria: Students can read action words. Students can match the words to the pictures. Students understand that there are different forms of verbs.

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ADDING ING TO ACTION WORDS ACTIONS

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ACTIONS ADDING ING TO ACTION WORDS

2

What is he doing? What is she doing?

He is ... She is ...

pushing throwing skipping pulling

running hopping jumping crawling

&

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WORKSHEETS

3 READING ACTION WORDS

Model the pronunciation and intonation of the words for students. Introduce the question and answer structure What is he/she doing? He/She is … What are they doing? They are … Discuss the use of the suffix ing and how it is used, including spelling patterns such as doubling the last letter in some words.

Students use reading strategies such as letter-sound relationships or visuals to read and select the correct verb to fill in the gaps.

One or more students mime an action while the class describes what they are doing, using the correct sentence structure.

Students rewrite and extend the sentences by providing surrounding circumstances such as She is sitting on the floor.

Learning intention: Students are learning to identify the suffix ing and read action words.

Success criteria: Students can read action words. They can choose the correct word to fill in the gap.

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READING ACTION WORDS ACTIONS

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ACTIONS READING ACTION WORDS

3

She is

___________ .

sitting standing skipping

He is

___________ .

skipping standing walking

He is

___________ .

skipping standing walking

She is

___________ .

sitting walking talking

They are

___________ .

running standing walking

He is

___________ .

walking jumping playing

She is

___________ .

dancing waving clapping

He is

___________ .

pointing playing crawling

She is

___________ .

playing skipping crawling

They are

___________ .

sitting standing dancing

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WORKSHEETS

4 WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Model the question and answer structure What can you do? I can …

Students take turns to ask each other What can you do? The partner responds with I can … and mimes the action.

Students cut out and match the pictures to the sentences.

Introduce the concept of adverbs. Students rewrite the sentences and include adverbs to describe the way they do each of the actions, for example, I can eat my lunch quietly.

Learning intention: Students are learning to talk about what they can do.

Success criteria: Students can talk about the pictures using I can … Students can read the sentences and match the sentences and the pictures. They can read their work.

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WHAT CAN YOU DO? ACTIONS

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ACTIONS WHAT CAN YOU DO?

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What can you do?

I can eat my lunch.

I can wash my face.

I can read a book.

I can write my name.

I can brush my teeth.

I can comb my hair.

I can drink.

&

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WORKSHEETS

5 ANSWERING QUESTIONS

Model the question and answer structure Can you swim? Yes, I can or No, I can’t. Discuss the concept of contractions.

Students practise listening and answering questions using the modelled sentence structures.

Students respond to the questions on the sheet, ensuring that they place commas and apostrophes correctly.

Students read the questions and their answers to the teacher or to a classmate.

Use students’ responses to create compound sentences such as I can’t swim, but I can run. or I can run, but I can’t ride a bike.

Learning intention: Students are learning to answer questions about what they can do.

Success criteria: Students can listen to questions. They can answer questions. They can read their work.

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ANSWERING qUESTIONS ACTIONS

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ACTIONS ANSWERING qUESTIONS

5

Can you swim?

No, I can’t. Yes, I can.

Can you skip?

____ ____ _______ .

Can you dance?

____ ____ _______ .

Can you play violin?

____ ____ _______ .

Can you kick a ball?

____ ____ _______ .

Can you ride a bike?

____ ____ _______ .

Can you?

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WORKSHEETS

6 WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING?

Discuss the simple present form of the verb to be and the pronouns used with it including I am, he is, she is, they are, we are. Model the question and answer structure What is he doing? He is …

Students answer questions orally using the modelled sentence structures.

In pairs, small groups or individually, students mime different actions. Students describe the actions using the correct sentence structure.

Students fill in the gaps with the correct verb to complete the sentence.

Students read their sentences to the teacher or to a classmate.

Learning intention: Students are learning to answer questions using verbs.

Success criteria: Students can answer questions. They can fill in the gaps. They can read their work.

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WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING? ACTIONS

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ACTIONS WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING?

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What am I doing?

I am _________________ .

What is he doing?

He is _________________ .

What is she doing?

She is _________________ .

What are they doing?

They are _________________ .

What _______ they doing?

_______________________ .

singing reading clapping winking drawing

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WORKSHEETS

7 DO YOU LIKE?

Discuss question and answer structures Do you like … Yes, I do or Yes, I like … and No, I don’t or No, I don’t like … Discuss the concept of contractions.

Students practise listening and answering questions using the modelled sentence structures.

Students survey classmates by using the introduced sentence structure. Students record the responses in the table.

Use the results from the survey to create graphs and to elicit comparative language such as more or less.

Learning intention: Students are learning to ask questions and record responses. Students are learning to listen and respond to questions.

Success criteria: Students can ask and answer questions.

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DO YOU LIkE? ACTIONS

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ACTIONS DO YOU LIkE?

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Nam

e

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