Teacher notes
Classroom activities
Preparation ■■ Think of an object that students can find in the playground or near the classroom. This could include leaves or stones. Alternatively, students could collect objects on the way to school or on an excursion – for example, seashells or flowers. The important thing is that these objects can be classified into a small number of groups. ■■
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For this activity, the example of flowers is used; however, other objects may be used as appropriate. Create a graph template on a large sheet of paper or on a few sheets stuck together. This could be a grid with two axes (each labelled in students’ home language and English), and each square numbered for each column.
local language
Number, also in
Example graph template 5
5
5
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1
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Colour of flower, also in home/local language
Activity 1: Collecting objects Objectives ■■
Students group the same type of objects together.
Time 30 minutes Materials ■■
A selection of one type of object in or near the classroom (the example here is flowers)
Steps 1. Tell students that you are going to find out what colour of flower (or other object selected for the task) they like. Ask students to go outside and pick just one flower in their favourite colour and bring it back into the classroom. (Or you might have some flowers to choose from at the front of the classroom.) 2. When the students have returned to the classroom, ask all the students with the same coloured flower (other object) to stand together in a group.
Activity 2: Counting the objects Objectives ■■
Students count in their home language and English.
Time The grid should be large enough for each object to fit inside one square. This may be quite large for leaves or litter, but smaller for beans or shells. You might leave the labels blank until students have collected their objects. ■■
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Also create a smaller graph template as a handout. It should be exactly the same as the large template. Leave space underneath the graph for writing. Prepare some cloze (gapped) sentences (in both the home/local language and English) about the graph. You may need to do this after Activity 3 is complete. Depending on the English sentences your students have learned, some examples might be: ››
There are ____ red flowers.
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There are two _______ flowers.
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There are more _______ flowers.
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There are fewer _______ flowers.
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I had a _______ flower.
20 minutes Materials ■■
Students in groups with their objects from Activity 1
Steps 1. Ask one group to come to the front of the classroom and line up against the board, holding their flowers. Tell the class you are all going to count the number of people who like this colour of flower. 2. Ask the first student to step forward and say ‘one’ in English. Then the next student says ‘two’ and so on. After the group has been counted, ask students to tell you how many people there were. Write the colour and the number on the board. 3. Ask students if they can count the group in another language. If a student volunteers, ask them to count the group aloud in their language. Add this to the board. 4. Repeat this with each group. Count in the home/ local language first and then in English. You could try to count in a different language for each group. Record each total on the board.
100 | Strategies, activities and projects for the classroom