teaching english to children

Teaching English to Children

8C8931

Unit 1. Language Teaching Methodology

Language Teaching Methodology DefinedMethodology in language teaching has been characterized in a variety of ways.

A more or less classical formulation suggests that methodology is that which links theory and practice. Theory statements would include theories of what language is and how language is learned or, more specifically, theories of second language acquisition (SLA). Such theories are linked to various design features of language instruction.

These design features might include stated objectives, syllabus specifications, types of activities, roles of teachers, learners, materials, and so forth. This whole complex of elements defines language teaching methodology.


BASIC TEACHING METHODS• Situational Language Teaching• Audio-lingualism• Communicative Language Teaching• Total Physical Response• Community Language Learning• The Natural Approach• Suggestopedia


NEW TEACHING METHODS• Teacher/Learner Collaborates• Method Synergistics • Curriculum Developmentalism • Content-Basics• Multintelligencia • Total Functional Response • Strategopedia • Lexical Phraseology • O-zone Whole Language

Unit 2. Listen and Do activities: Animal Walk

Target language: animals, numbersResources: a dice for each team of playersPreparation: if you do the activity in the

classroom, move the desks and chairs to the walls. It can also be played, for example, in the gym or playground.

Time guide: 10 minutes +

Unit 2. Listen and do activities: animal walk

Activity: write 2 sets of numbers 1-6 on the board. Add names or pictures of six different animals next to the first set of numbers. For example:

Animal number of stomps, hops, strides1. Frog 12. Elephant 23. Mouse 34. Ostrich 45. Monkey 5


Point to the list of animals. Ask the learners or mime how these animals

walk. Do the stomps (heavy step), hop (all or both feet

together) or stride (long steps)? Are their steps long or short, narrow or wide? For example, the frog hops, the elephant stomps with big and wide steps, etc.


Mark the start at one end of the classroom and the finish line at the other end. Tell the learners to line up the start. Roll the dice once and speak to the learner in the line, for example:

Teacher: It’s a one. Bonnie, what’s a one? Point an the list of animals.

Bonnie: Frog.Teacher: Yes, it’s a frog. Roll the dice for the second

time. It’s a three. Hop three times forward like a frog.


The learner makes three hops forward like a frog.

Invite the next learner in the line to play. Roll the dice and continue the activity in the same way. The aim of the game is to be the first one to cross the finish line.

When the learners become more confident, let them also roll the dice.


Variations:1. Play the game in groups of four or five.2. Let learners to make their own list of animals.3. Make the activity more challenging, for

example, using a 12-sided dice or having the list of animals more playful or unusual.

Unit 3. Listen and Do activities: Fingers

Target language: ordinal numbers – first, second, third; rhyme

Resources: nonePreparation: practice saying the rhymeTime guide: 10 minutes +


Rhyme:The first one said:Let’s go to bed. The second one said:Let’s play instead. The third one said: Let’s eat some bread.The fourth one heard: what said the third.The little one cried:Let’s go and hide.


Activity 1. Invite the learners to play with their fingers. Tell them to show you how they wiggle them,

open them wide, make a fist, snap their fingers, etc.

Point at your finger and say: ‘my first finger’, ‘my second finger’, my third finger’, etc. Get the learners to join you and point at their fingers, too.


Ask the learners to put some fingers together. Say, for example, ‘put the second fingers together’, put the fourth fingers together. Make it more difficult by asking them to use a different finger on each hand, for example, ‘put the first finger on your right hand and the fifth finger on your left hand together’.

Unit 4. Listen and Do Activities: Blindfold Walk

Target language: giving directionsResources: board, scarfPreparation: noneThis activity is described for the classroom. A

playground or hall are also suitableTime guide: 20 minutes +


Activity: 1. Ask the class to help you move the desks and

chairs to the walls to create a space in the middle. For example: we need some more space today, can you help me to move the desks and chairs? Let’s be quite.

2. Invite the learners to come and stand in the middle of the room. Make sure everyone has enough space around them. Give simple directions and move yourself.


3. Elicit from the learners which instructions they remember and ask them to show what they mean.

4. Ask a confident student to give directions to the rest of the class.

5. Put the class into small groups and tell them to take turns giving directions.

Unit 5. Activities using recourses: Memory Game

Language: revising recently learned vocabularyResources: poster-sized paper. You could use the

back of the pre-printed poster. With a big class you may need to prepare two identical posters.

Preparation: make a poster with 12 хшсегкуы за the words you want to revise, for example:


Activity: 1. Tell the class that they are going to see a

poster with some pictures on it with the words that they have recently learnt. They must look at tall the pictures quickly and remember as many as possible. Place the poster (s) so that all the learners can see it (them) easily. If you need two posters, place them on opposite walls of the classroom.


2. Ask the learners to stand around the poster and look at the pictures. Tell them nor t to write anything, but just to look carefully at all pictures on the poster for one minute.

3. After one minute, remove or cover up the posters. Tell learners to write down the name of as many of the objects that they saw and can remember. Give a time limit of two minutes.


4. To prompt their memory ask the class these questions - they don’t need to answer yet:How many animals did you see?How many words start with the letter ‘g’?How many things could you eat?What’s got four legs, but no tail?Which things could you use to travel?

Unit 6. Activities using recourses: Packaging

Resource: packaging from food or household productsPreparation:Collect a selection of different packaging from food,

such as biscuits, or household products, such as toothpaste or soap, which has information printed in English. Try to make sure that the prices are kept on. Have enough packaging for each group of 4 to 6 learners and one for yourself.

Time guide: 15-20 minutes


Activity1. Organize the class into groups of four to six.2. Ask each group a question about their

packaging.3. Now divide each group into two and ask

them to compare their packaging of using the same types of questions.


What type of packaging is it?What is the product?Which company made it?How much does it weigh?How much does it cost?What’s in it?What’s the sell-by date?Is there any other information?


Asking and answering questions about packaging, or example:

• How much does it cost?• It cost 50 pence. • How much does it weigh?• It weighs 200 grams.• What’s in it?• It’s got flour, fat, sugar, and spices.


Variations1. The learners can compare the design of the

packaging, by looking at the pictures, the amount of and the clarity of the information given, and the strength and suitability of the packing for the food it held.

2. The language of the advertising on the packaging can be looked at and compared. The learners could make their own advertising slogans for each product.


3. Ask learners to bring in their own selection of packaging. It may take a term to make a large and varied collection, to tell the class to start collecting at the beginning of term. When the class has collected enough packaging to fill a box per group of four learners, you can organize a shopping activity.

Each group arranges their selection of packaging as in a shop on a desk. In turn, one learner from each group stays behind the desk as the shopkeeper. The rest of the class visit the other ‘shops’ and ask for what they want to buy.


4. Each group writes out some questions based on the information on their pieces of packaging. Then they exchange questions and packaging with another group. Each group reads the new packaging to answer the questions given.

Unit 7. Cross-curricular activities: Plants

Target Language: ‘plants’ vocabulary areaPresent Simple; Question form - Does it…? Do

you.? Has it got…?Cross-curricular links: BiologyRecourses: the board, a sheet of paper and a

pencil for each learnerPreparation: draw the picture from stage 1 on the

blackboardTime guide: 45 min


Activities:1. Point to the drawing on the board and tell the

learners that you grow plants at home: a tulip, a bean, a cactus, some basil and some garlic. Explain that you grow the plants in pots from seeds and bulbs, or one part of bulb is called a clove. Only the cactus is from the flower shop. Show where the plants have leaves, stems, and flowers. Point out that the bean has pods with seeds and the cactus a stem with spines.


2. Give everyone a sheet of paper and a pencil. Ask them to write the numbers 1 to5 on the sheet. Tell the learners that you are going to describe which plant grow in each flowerpot. Ask them to listen and write the letters next to the numbers. Describe the plants in simple sentences, for example:


a. The plant grows very quickly. It has a stick in the pot to climb on. It has red flowers and then green pos. I sometimes use the seeds from the pods in the kitchen.

b. I grow the plant from a clove. The leaves are long and narrow. I cut the leaves and use them on sandwiches. They taste milder than the cloves. I also use the cloves for cooking.


. The plant has shiny green leaves. The leaves have a very pleasant and sweet taste. I add them to salads and other dishes. I water the plant very often. It likes sun light.

d. it’s a desert plant. It needs very little water, especially in the winter. It likes a lot of sunlight. It has no leaves, but a thick stem with spines.


e. it’s a spring plant. It has a tall stem and a large bright flower shaped like a cup. I grow the plant from a bulb. The plant doesn’t like when it is too hot.

(Answers: a - bean, b – garlic, с – basil, d – cactus, e – tulip)

3. Check answers with the class.

Unit 8. Cross-curricular activities: Pulse

Target language: Past Simple, numbersCross-cultural links: Biology, Maths, Physical

educationRecourses: the board, a watch with a second

hand or a stopwatch, sheet of paper and a pencil for each learner

Preparation: practice taking your pulseTime guide: 45 minutes


Activity1. Explain or mime the word ‘heartbeat’. For

example, by beating your fist on your chest. Ask the learners where on the human body they can feel their pulse. Show the places on tour wrist and neck. Encourage the learners to find their own pulse.


2. Tell the learners they are going to take their own pulse and do some simple calculations. Do the measurement together with the learners, giving and demonstrating the simple instructions. Invite the learners to follow you. Write the results on the board as an example.


Instructions: Place your fingers on your wrist below the

thumb or under the jaw on your neck.Count the beats you feel for 15 seconds. Stop.

Write down the numbers you have count. Multiply the number of beats you counted by 4.Write the example on the blackboard.


3. Ask a few learners what their pulse is. Tell the learners to walk around the classroom and ask each other what their pulse is. If they find someone with the same pulse rate theirs, they should write down his or her name. Check how many names the learners have in their lists at the end of the activity.

4. Draw a chart with a list of activities on the board, for example:

Unit 9. Cross-curricular activities: Weather

Target Language: ‘weather’ vocabulary area; adverbs of frequency – usually, often, sometimes, rarely; Present Progressive and Present Simple

Cross-curricular links: Geography, ArtRecourses: the board, a sheet of paper and a pencil

for each learnerPreparation: draw the picture from stage 1 on the

blackboardTime guide: 45 min


Activity1. Ask the learners to give you the adjectives to

fit the weather symbols and write the answers on the board.

Then ask what the nouns and verbs are:Adjectives sunny cloudy foggy windy rainyNouns sun cloud fog wind rain

Verbs shine - - blow rain


2. Draw the weather symbols from stage 1 in the window to indicate different kinds of weather. Use the chalk/marker and the sponge to add and wipe the symbols, as in the example on the next slide.

Get the learners to describe the changes of the weather in the window as much detail as they can.

Unit 10. Story telling for very young learners

Why tell stories?• Stories set language in a meaningful context.• Storytelling is motivating for language learning.• Stories are enjoyable.• Stories repeat and recycle language naturally.• Stories develop fluency.• Hearing and reading stories lays the ground for

creative storytelling.

Unit 10. Story telling for very young learners

Very young learners need:• Plenty of repetition - so in many stories

similar pattern recur again and again.• A clear storyline and punch line – so the early

stories are very simple.• Repeated chunks of language.• Mainly oral work.• The opportunity to join in.

Unit 11. Story telling for young learners

As children get older, they still need the fun, activity, and participation they enjoyed as very young children, but they also ready for:

• Linear stories with a sequence of different events – so there is less repetition.

• Stories ерые require mature understanding – for example, children have to work out for understanding of jokes.

Unit 11. Story telling for young learners

• Stories may require inference skills.• Reading and writing as well as oral work.• More structural language work with a focus on

form or grammar as well as meaning.All storytellers are different, changing the emphasis

of their к tales according to their needs, interests, and talents. All listeners understand stories in their own ways, excited by the parts that relate best to their own experience.

teaching english to children

Documents

language unit

animal walktarget language

teaching english

animal walk unit

list of animals

language acquisition

types of activities

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