Submitted by TE Editor on 31 December, 2011 - 14:49
In this article I will briefly focus on how I try to develop listening skills with our young learners who are learning English as an additional language.
Load the Dinosaur dig story. Ss help to make the pre-story puzzle. Ss tell you where the picture comes from (a computer game) and how they know (“3 lives left”).
Play the story. Ss complete as much as they can of part 1 of the activity sheet. Play the story again to help Ss finish. Give the Ss the text of the story to check their answers.
Ss write about their favourite computer game on part 3 of the activity sheet.
Ss design their own computer game. They should decide: the name, the characters, what you have to find in the game, what you mustn’t do, what you have to watch out for, how many lives you have got, etc. Ss can design the front and back cover of the game box, or an advertising poster for it.
Ss re-write the story, based on their own game, with themselves as the characters. Low levels can copy the original story, just changing details, high levels can be more creative.
Ss review some dinosaur vocabulary with this labelling game or through mime. Afterwards you can feed in some more vocabulary from the following activity.
Ss do some dinosaur research. Put up information about different dinosaurs around the room, separated by category not dinosaur: i.e. don’t put all the T-Rex information in one place, put the diet information of all the dinosaurs in one place, the size information in another place, etc. You can find much of the information on the flashcards. Give Ss this report to complete in pairs (tell them what dinosaur they’re going to research). Ss go round the room and find out the information. Once the reports have been completed, display the reports either around the room or on a large map of the world where each dinosaur lived. Then give the Ss the dinosaur facts worksheet, and they read each others’ reports in order to complete/check their answers. Or, Ss can give a mini-presentation on their dinosaur, acting out how their dinosaur walked/behaved etc.
Ss play the Quiz-o-saurus game to review their dinosaur research. Higher levels can try the dinosaur history game and then the dinosaur expert quiz. Ideal if Ss can work in pairs on a computer in a computer room. Or, Ss in pairs can write a quiz for another pair to complete.
Ss play the game in part 2 of the activity sheet.
Experiment: make a fossil! Use the instructions in the discovering dinosaurs worksheet. Ss can imagine a dinosaur or pre-historic creature which their fossil came from.
Draw/show a carpet/rug on the board and elicit what it is. Ask Ss if they know of any stories with a special carpet, and what the carpet can do (fly).
Play the Ali and the magic carpet story. Ss complete part 1 of the activity sheet. Play the story again – Ss can check/complete their answers.
Ask Ss if they remember what the weather is like in the story. Drill the weather language (It’s sunny, etc). You might like to use these flashcards. Ss complete part 2 of the activity sheet.
Give Ss the text of the story. They read the story and complete part 3 of the activity sheet. Check answers. Finally, Ss complete part 4 of the worksheet.
Ss complete the weather map worksheet. If the language is too difficult, it could be simplified to a map of the UK describing the weather in different cities. Then provide Ss with a map of their own country. They draw their own weather map, with different weather in different cities or regions.
Either: play a memory game – Ss in pairs swap weather maps, and test each other: “What’s the weather like in Paris/the north-east?” Or: do a drawing dictation – give Ss a blank copy of the map, and in pairs they ask and dictate to each other the weather from their own map to draw. While demonstrating either of these activities, be sure to drill the question form.
TV weather forecast project! Ss work in groups of 3 or 4. Find simple maps showing 10-15 major cities of any countries, one country per group, on A3 paper. Ss then decide what the weather’s like in each city and make weather symbols on card for those cities, which can be attached using Blu-tack or similar. While still in their groups, help Ss plan and rehearse their weather forecast presentation. Depending on the Ss, you might like to demonstrate with a map and presentation of your own before getting the Ss to start the project. When the groups are ready, introduce each group as if the news has just finished, and each group presents the weather for that country, sticking on the weather symbols as they go. This might be a nice project to film.
Finally, Ss can re-imagine the story. Either individually or in pairs, they imagine where they would go if they found a magic carpet. This would be great story-boarded, Ss draw a picture and write a caption for each place they go, and where they start and finish. The original story text could be used to help Ss write captions. Then the stories could be displayed for the other Ss to read, or some pairs might like to act their stories out.
Edited by Fiona Copland and Sue Garton with Monika Davis This is a book for primary school teachers of English written by primary school teachers of English. It brings together the experience and expertise of teachers from around the world to provide a range of stimulating and exciting classroom activities for the primary classroom. There are 50 tried and trusted activities which have been refined and improved over the years by teachers working in diverse contexts and environments. Children will enjoy practising their English through these stimulating and motivating activities.
Show a picture of a cake and present on the board. Elicit what special day it is (birthday). Get Ss to tell you about presents they got or would like for their last/next birthday.
Load the Monster shopping trip story. If using the flash version, do the pre-story puzzle together and introduce the monsters. Play the story. Give the Ss part 1 of the activity sheet, and they tick the presents which were bought.
Give the Ss part 2 of the activity sheet. Get them to circle the answers they know, and leave the answers they don't know. Play the story again - Ss check/complete their answers.
Give the Ss, in pairs or small groups, the text of the story cut up into paragraphs. Ss read and order the paragraphs. Then they can stick the paragraphs onto paper and draw a picture to illustrate each one.
Give the Ss part 3 of the activity sheet. They draw and label a present, encourage them to say why they chose that present.
Re-tell then re-enact the story. As a class, encourage the Ss to retell what they remember of the story, to a degree of detail or simplicity as appropriate to level. Then, get stronger, more out-going Ss to volunteer for key roles, and re-enact the story, with help and suggestions from the teacher and other Ss as to what to say, where to stand, etc. Finally, put Ss in groups to re-enact the story based on the model re-enactment created by the whole class. Some groups may like to volunteer to re-enact the story as a play for the class. The teacher might like to video these, depending on equipment available.
Role-play a shopping trip. Set up role play situation, e.g. it's your teacher's birthday and you need to buy her a present, and put the Ss in groups of three (two friends, one shopkeeper for all the different shops). Demonstrate a role play with the TA and/or stronger Ss, role plays could focus on language for suggestions (Let's buy her some chocolates, etc), and/or functional shopping language (Can I have, here you are, etc). Depending on how much support the Ss need, provide a written example on board, and/or get the Ss to write their role play down before acting out. Some groups may like to volunteer to re-enact the story as a play for the class. The teacher might like to video these, depending on equipment available.
Using part 4 of the activity sheet, Ss write a paragraph describing their ideal birthday party. Ss should describe where it is, who's there, what presents they get, what theme it is, what games and activities they do, etc. They can use present simple or would as appropriate to level. Then they can illustrate their writing and display it in the classroom if possible.
