CTEYL | Unit 5

ITTT Specialized Course

Teaching English to Young Learners

YL 005

Unit 5 Teaching themes

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Unit 5 Teaching themes Synopsis In this unit we will study a range of very different teaching strategies or themes.

Songs, chants and music, playing games, using stories, arts and crafts and drama are all considered.

At the end we will put it all together with some actual lesson plans, which you are free to use and base further plans upon.

Introduction This unit is not going to look at the microscopic details of particular language points but rather some macroscopic techniques that can be applied to many, if not all, of the 'contexts' you will have to teach to your students.

The first section of the unit looks at the use of songs, chants and music. n The second section considers games in the classroom. n The third looks at the use of stories. n Section four looks at how arts and crafts can be used in the classroom. n Section five explores seasonal activities around the world. n The final section contains a number of sample lesson plans with materials. n

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Page 1

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Songs, chants and music Songs, chants and music can be used for a variety of learning experiences at all ages and levels of English language teaching.

Why use songs and chants?

For younger learners it is a ver y ef fective memorization technique. It can also be good fun, which is most important.

For older students we can relate it to their culture by using pop songs and famous ‘golden oldies’. It is not unknown for students who have never had any formal English language training to speak some English, which has been gained entirely from listening to Western pop songs.

When we consider songs and chants we are not limiting ourselves purely to a process of singing (speaking activity). Songs also provide ample opportunity for listening, reading and indeed creative writing.

We can use them to work on pronunciation, stress, intonation and rhythm.

There are literally thousands of sources and ideas for EFL songs, chants and music available online. A Google search for what you’re looking for (perhaps a group of vocabulary items or a particular grammar point) should produce something. A similar search at www.youtube.com will also produce some good results.

If you use resources like this, bear in mind that but you should always listen to them in detail before you use them in class to prevent any unfortunate surprises.

Combined with actions we can access kinaesthetic (movement) learning centers of the brain which gives combined left and right hemispherical activity, said to improve learning (and is the basis of the Total Physical Response methodology).

There's a lot more information on TPR on the website of its primary proponent, James Asher: www.tpr-world.com

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Where the world is your classroom

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Page 2

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Authentic materials Bear in mind the following for particular age groups with regard to using songs and chants in the classroom:

For younger learners: Use rhymes rather than pop songs (don't be afraid to make them up!). n Use actions along with the words to aid the learning process. n Use strong rhythms. n

For older YL students: The use of movement (and even singing) can cause embarrassment.

Have them copy lyrics from their favorite CDs and MP3s to bring to class. n Use songs for activities other than speaking (singing). n Make use of Karaoke versions now widely available. n Don’t overdo it (e.g. don't start every lesson with a rendition of Oh what a beautiful morning). n

n

All YL age groups: Recycle (re-use) the language of songs learnt in different contexts.

Songs and chants make excellent introductions to lessons (the engage phase). n Songs have a whole range of applications from simple repetition (drilling), as gap fill activities, and for learning tenses (U2’s I still haven't found what I’m looking for, or Luka, by Suzanne Vega, for example). n

n

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Where the world is your classroom

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Page 3

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Games in the classroom If you make a list of 20 games that you have played and enjoyed in your life and then spend a little time thinking about them, you will find that they can be adapted fairly easily for classroom use.

We will define a game as any activity with a purpose, rules and an element of fun.

There are many games which younger learners play outside of the classroom and these can be adapted for teaching.

For the older learners, you cannot spend all of your time playing games. However when thinking about your longer communicative activate activities you should try to use games, in some adapted form at least some of the time. Your older students spend a fair proportion of their days being serious, so a bit of light relief is always appreciated.

Here's the start of our list: Battleships, Monopoly®, Pictionary®, Trivial Pursuit®, hangman…

There are many more!

So how can these games be adapted for our classroom use?

Let’s take hangman first.

This is a useful warmer activity. It can be used to good effect to introduce vocabulary when you are not sure if they know the word. Play hangman with that word; you can give your man ears and eyes etc to extend it until they fill in all the letters and then ask someone to give you a definition of the word. If they can’t then you will need to tell them.

Hangman can also be used for compound words and short phrases.

The game of Monopoly® can be adapted by making each of the chance and property squares into a question. These questions can cover any area or topic and therefore the game can be used for general revision. No money need be used, instead if you answer a question correctly you get a house; if not you get nothing.

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Page 4

Unit 5 Teaching themes

In Pictionary®, a word or phrase is guessed by a team from the visual clues drawn by a member of the team on the board.

The vocabulary words can be at any level of difficulty and the harder words could be given more points, the students being given the chance to choose their level of difficulty.

Battleships is a paper-based game in which the participants each have a grid, say 10 squares by 10 squares, the top line is letters, A,B,C etc, and the left hand vertical column numbers one to ten. This grid can then be used to fill in 6 to 10 vocabulary words on a theme. Students guess the position of each others' words in the grid by calling out a reference number (A8 for example). With each hit the position of the words become more obvious and knowing the theme they can make guesses at the words as they get the letters.

Trivial Pursuit® is fundamentally a quiz. You can adapt the idea by making your own questions, though it will be easier to use the Junior version. Also bear in mind what the teaching point is, and that you may not need all the categories.

If you are making a board game and creating the board yourself, it is always a good idea to make your board size an exact multiple of A4 size (210 x 297 mm) so that you don't need to make multiple boards but rather just photocopy your original onto paper and stick it together.

When thinking about the use of games in the classroom, a mistake that is often made is that teachers think of a game first and then think about how they can adapt it to a teaching point. This is completely the wrong way round.

Start with the teaching point and think about which games could be used to cover that point. It is unlikely that any particular game can be used without some form of adaptation.

As a final consideration, games by their nature tend to create noise and excitement, be prepared for this and have some strategies available for cooling things down if they do get out of hand.

For some reasonable games resources, try the following sites: http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/fun-games www.myvocabulary.com www.gamestolearnenglish.com

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Page 5

Unit 5 Teaching themes Stories There are many benefits of using stories: .

They are excellent for vocabulary building.

They can be used with any level and age group. n They are motivating (if you choose the right ones). n They are good for modeling writing styles. n All four skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) can be developed with them. n

n

What stories should we use?

There is no set list, just make sure the stories are at the right level, have cultural significance and match your teaching aims.

Pearson English has a range of excellent English graded readers for young learners, with an overview at https://readers.english.com/about/for-younglearners. The books are all presented in accessible English, with activities. Kids Readers have six language levels, and are outlined here. There are four levels for Story Readers, with more information here.

Pearson has some free resources for teachers here and here. These two pages require you to create an account here.

Oxford University Press also offers a number of options for graded readers at various age and language levels.

Oxford Read and Imagine graded readers are at nine levels (Early Starter, Starter, Beginner, and Levels 1 to 6) for students from age 4 and older. Activities provide Cambridge Young Learner Exams preparation. At Levels 1 to 6, every storybook reader links to an Oxford Read and Discover non-fiction reader. Audio in a choice of American and British English is available for every reader.

At Levels Early Starter, Starter and Beginner, this audio is free to download from below for Oxford Teachers' Club members, or from the student's site at: www.oup.com/elt/readandimagine.

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Page 6

Unit 5 Teaching themes

How can they be used with all four skills?

Reading:

If you are practicing this skill alone this should be done quietly (otherwise it's speaking and reading).

Speaking:

This can be a linking activity; how does this story finish?, what happens next?

Writing:

Students can make up their own story in a similar style to the one they've heard, or write to someone about the story they heard, telling them about it.

Listening:

This can be to the teacher, or other students reading. It can also be audio books, etc.

As with songs, stories can be used for drilling, as gap fill activities and if you choose the right ones for showing tense structures. Stories are also excellent for punctuation practice and pronunciation activities.

When choosing your stories be aware of how much new language will be presented to the students; do not try to cover too much new vocabulary in one go.

With older learners there are more opportunities to extend the stories into other linking activities, such as discussions, book reviews, creating artwork, their own experiences similar to the story, collecting information about the theme of the story, reading related articles in newspapers and magazines about the theme, the list is endless.

Some good ideas regarding the use of stories can be found in the following texts: Garvie. E

Story as a Vehicle

Multilingual Matters, 1990

Wright, A

Storytelling with Children

OUP, 1995

Finally take a look at this website, for some excellent ideas and resources: www.storyarts.org/classroom/

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Where the world is your classroom

YL 005 Copyright © 2011 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.

Page 7

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Arts and crafts Before going through the next section of the unit, read some background on Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, how it affects learning and where can you apply it at this website: https://elearningindustry.com/everything-you-needto-know-about-the-theory-of-multiple-intelligences As we have seen previously with James Asher, some theories suggest that we can increase, or accelerate learning by using activities which stimulate both sides of the brain simultaneously. The use of Art and Craft is one such technique.

Here we refer to the term as any activity from painting with your fingers to applying triangulation theory in creating model bridges with plastic straws. Obviously the two examples above cover the whole age range of young learners.

The craft aspect itself is acting as a vehicle for language use, and can also be great fun. The idea is to generate linking activities which can practice language use.

All four skills can be addressed in this way: Speaking: “So tell me about the monster you have drawn.”

Writing:

Adding text to drawings, dialogues for puppet shows, etc.

Reading: Getting background, or further information about the theme of the craft idea.

Listening: To the teacher, or other students talking about their projects; watching and listening to artists talking about their work.

Some excellent websites exist for this type of material. Here are a few: www.crayola.com (yes, the crayon people) www.dltk-kids.com (privately developed site) www.enchantedlearning.com (useful at many levels/ages) www.eslkidstuff.com/craftsheets.htm (many activities)

International TEFL and TESOL Training

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Where the world is your classroom

YL 005 Copyright © 2011 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.

Page 8

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Seasonal activities Seasons and holidays can provide a great impetus for language learning situations. A little care needs to be taken about culturally sensitive issues, but regardless of which country you are in there will be many religious and non religious holidays that come about throughout the year.

Some of these could include: Christian festivals such as Christmas and Easter.

Western seasons – spring, autumn, fall, winter. n Occasional days such as Halloween, Valentines Day, Fathers Day, Mothers Day, etc. n Any local festival day for the country in which you are teaching. n

n

Teaching ideas could include: Creating artwork and associated linking activities.

Reading about the origins and practices of festivals and religions. n Creative writing on the above themes. n Listening to stories based around these times of year. n Poetry, reading, writing and listening. n

n

A couple of good websites to get access to ideas and materials are: www.theholidayzone.com www.theteacherscorner.net/seasonal/index.html

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Where the world is your classroom

YL 005 Copyright © 2011 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.

Page 9

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Drama and movement Once again we should start by making a distinction between different levels or ages of learners. For younger learners we are talking more about mime and movement. For older learners we can move further along the lines of role plays and on to full acting.

The use of drama helps the students learning process by making the contexts of language more realistic.

For younger students, drama can be an excellent warmer activity. This can be a simple game of following the teachers instructions, like a 'Simon says' activity.

“Simon says…stand up” “Simon stays…be tall” “Simon says …be a tree” “Simon says…be a fish”, etc Bear in mind that older students, particularly teenagers, will not appreciate having to, 'be a tree', so you need other options here, such as charades or 'taboo' type games. Obviously their language level is higher, so a useful warmer could be based around vocabulary, for example jobs: Students have to follow the teacher’s lead and introduce themselves, in the following way: ' “Hello, my name is Pete and I'm a …” – they then mime a job starting with ‘P’.

“Hello, my name is Simon and I'm a …” and mime a job starting with ‘S’, and so on around the class.

An excellent site for drama teaching ideas is www.dramaresource.com.

A couple of other good sites:

www.teflgames.com www.teachit.co.uk

For further reading, look at the British Council publication As if… drama based lesson plans for English language teaching, ISBN 0-86355-450-4.

International TEFL and TESOL Training

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Where the world is your classroom

YL 005 Copyright © 2011 International TEFL and TESOL Training. All rights reserved.

Page 10

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Putting it all together In this section we will present actual lesson plans so you can see how some of the ideas are put into action.

Development of a lesson plan 1 The following description shows how a lesson plan can be put together, with annotations to explain why certain aspects appear. The lesson is based around story telling and has the language focus of comparative adjectives.

It would be suitable for elementary/pre-intermediate students in the range 8 years to 10 years of age. The lesson is about 45 minutes in duration.

Learner objectives: By the end of the lesson the students should be able to form and use comparative adjectives in descriptions.

First, here’s the story: There once was a man, who lived in a house. He worked very hard and wasn't very happy. One day he saw an elephant in the forest. The elephant was lifting a log. The man said, “I wish I were stronger, like an elephant”.

Just then the wind blew and the man changed into an elephant. The elephant was walking through the jungle when he saw a cave. “I wonder what's in the cave”, he thought.

He tried to squeeze into the cave, but his body was too big. “I wish I were smaller, like a mouse”, he thought. Just then the wind blew and he changed into a mouse. The mouse ran into the cave and looked around. Above him were big red fruits, which looked very tasty. The mouse tried to climb up the walls to get to the fruit, but the walls were too steep and he couldn't make it.

“I wish I were taller” thought the mouse, “like a giraffe”. Just then the wind blew and he changed to a giraffe. He ate all the fruit and went back out to the jungle. As he walked down the trail he heard a noise behind him. He was very scared and started to run. Because his legs were so long he fell down many times.

“I wish I were a lion” he thought, “so I could run faster”. Just then the wind blew and he changed into a lion. One day he was lying in the sun when a net was thrown over him. He was pushed into a cage and taken to a zoo.

Every day people came to stare at him in his cage, he was very sad. “I wish I were a man” he thought, “I would be so much happier”. Just then the wind blew and he changed back to a man.

He still lives in the same house and he still works very hard. But he no longer wishes to be something else.

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Page 11

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Engage phase (10 minutes) Here we want to get the students talking and thinking in English. It would be useful here to start to introduce some of the vocabulary of the story, so perhaps the easiest lead in would be the animal names.

So we can start by drawing an animal on the board. Don’t worry how bad the drawing is, as the more indistinct the better as it will elicit more responses. Now ask the students to identify it. As they call out the names ask them to spell the words out, allow for self correction, or peer correction if any mistakes are made.

Now ask the students to name their favorite animals. Again board the answers. With all the animal names on the board cover any from the story that they haven't mentioned yet.

A bit of movement would be useful now as they may be restless, so we can add a bit of drama at this point. Mime an elephant as best you can and ask the students what animal you are. Now let them be an elephant for 15 seconds. This could get noisy! Then call out the other animals in turn and let them mime being these for fifteen seconds each.

Create a table on the board with each of the animal names in one column and at the top of the other column label ‘things about it’. Get them started with the elephant by adding words like big, heavy, etc.

Practice phase Complete your table with as many adjectives as you can get from them.

Now draw side by side the elephant and the mouse and put some of the adjectives for each next to the pictures.

Ask the students to complete this sentence on the board: “The elephant is ____________ than the mouse.” (to get bigger, heavier, etc) Repeat this for others pairs of animals to get as many comparatives as you can, including all the ones used in the story.

Now read the story through once while they listen with their eyes closed trying to imagine what is happening as you say it. List on the board the animals in the order they appear in the story and the associated comparative adjective.

Tell the students you will read the story again, but for each animal and comparative you will stop and they have to shout out what it is. Read the story again and let them chorally shout out the animals/comparatives.

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Where the world is your classroom

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Page 12

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Time for a bit of action again!

Split the group into sets of five students, when your numbers don't allow exact splits pair up students within a group.

Number the sets one to five, then, explain that one = man, two = elephant, etc.

The students are going to retell the story, taking it in turns, so the man says the man parts, the elephant says the elephant parts and so on. Demonstrate this for them to make sure they get the idea of the changeovers. Give them some time to practice telling the story in groups and then with what ever time you have left, let the groups present it.

There are some easy additional activities that can follow on from this session, particularly art work, drawing and cutting out etc which can then be used as additional prompts when retelling the story.

Development of a lesson plan 2 The following description shows how a lesson plan can be put together, with annotations to explain why certain aspects appear. The lesson is based around using songs/chants and has the language focus of colors. It would be suitable for elementary students in the range of 4 years to 8 years of age. The lesson is 30 minutes duration.

Learner objectives: By the end of the lesson the students should be able to say the colors in a simple rainbow and use them in simple sentences.

First here are the colors for our target vocabulary: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple (approximately the rainbow)

Engage phase (10 minutes) Get samples of card in each of the colors for our target vocabulary, and make or copy six cartoon people, one in each of the colors. Stick the people on the board.

Tell the students the name of the people Red = Richard

Orange = Olly

Yellow = Yani

Green = Gary

Blue = Betty

Purple = Polly

Ask them if they can see how the names match the colors. (They all start with the same letter as the color.)

Erase the names and try to get the students to tell you the names of the people.

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Page 13

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Practice phase (20 minutes) Put the colors back on the board and take away the people, then ask the students for the names of the people.

Now put the chant line by line on the board. Chant it from the start each time a new line goes up. This is the procedure: 1. Write then chant: Richard is red 2. Write: Olly is orange and chant Richard is red and Olly is orange …and so on until the whole song is on the board. Pair the colors as above using ‘and’ between each pair. You could elicit what to write on the board from the students. In a strong class, one of the students could write on the board for you.

Chant the song all the way through as students follow you singing where they can. Now erase all the information and using the cartoons as prompts, try to get the students to repeat the chant as you hold up the cartoons.

Follow up activity Make a worksheet as shown below.

things I know

one thing

red

tomato

orange

the sun

yellow

banana

green

grass

blue

sky

purple

grapes

International TEFL and TESOL Training

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Where the world is your classroom

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Page 14

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Development of a lesson plan 3 The following description shows how a lesson plan can be put together, with annotations to explain why certain aspects appear. The lesson is based around art and craft and has the language focus of body parts vocabulary.

Learner objectives: By the end of the lesson the students should be able to give a range of body part nouns and use them to describe a creature.

It would be suitable for elementary/pre-intermediate students in the range 8 years to 12 years of age. The lesson is about 45 minutes in duration.

Engage phase (10 mins) Here we want to get the students talking and thinking in English. It would be useful here to start to introduce some of the vocabulary. An effective and enjoyable lead in to get lots of vocabulary is to play the alphabet game: Pair up or make groups of three students, each group gets a sheet with the letters of the alphabet going down the left hand edge from A to Z. Ask them to tell you a part of the body starting with 'a'. You will probably get arm.

Write on the board:

A arm B C D…. etc

Now tell them they have three minutes to write as many body parts starting with each of the letters as they can.

Feedback and board their answers taking some examples from each group.

There will be a few letters that don't have any words, but that's not a problem. It will actually increase their confidence to find out that you can't think of anything either!

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Page 15

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Practice phase (35 minutes) Clear the board and near the left hand edge draw a small circle and tell the students, this is where we live. Ask them where it is, they may say house, the name of the town, city, or country, keep telling them “bigger than that” until you eventually get to the Earth/world.

Now about one third of the way across the board draw another circle several times bigger than the first and put some rays on it. Ask the students if they know what it is and elicit the fact that it’s the sun.

Draw a third circle on the right and ask “what’s here?”

If they don't know tell them there are other planets like the earth and other stars like the sun. Ask if they would like to go to these places and if so why.

What do they think they would see there?

Brainstorm to get lots of ideas on the board.

Tell the students to imagine they had just been to these places but they didn't have a camera, so they will have to draw the creatures that they saw. Tell them to label their creatures with the names of the body parts.

If time get them to write a description of the creatures. They can then present their creatures to their group or the class.

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Where the world is your classroom

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Page 16

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Further lessonplanning materials The lesson plan that follows is adaptable to many age ranges and is based around using a simple storyline.

It is designed to introduce animal vocabulary, and use the present simple tense. It can be used with young learners from age 4 to 11, and can be modified to work with any level.

The objective is to utilize and expand acquired vocabulary by using it in the present simple tense in a short story which students can hear, see, act out, retell, revise and rewrite. Through a simple story line combined with illustrations students will be able to demonstrate their language ability and combine it with new target language in order to add humor, creativity and originality to their own versions of the story. Once they have created their own versions they will be more motivated to communicate these stories to other students.

The images for this lesson are labelled ‘lesson materials’ on pages 21 to 35 of this unit.

Engage phase N. B. The following description is for all levels in principle, but may need to be adapted slightly for higher levels.

Ask the students if they have any pets. Tell them about your pet (if you do not have one talk about an old pet or make one up). Ask each student if they have a pet or if any of their friends have pets. Get students to talk about their pets by asking them questions such as “What is its name?”, “What color is it?”, “How old is it?” etc. To elicit further animal vocabulary and use the present simple tense tell them “My name is Judy and my favorite animal is a Monkey”. You can reinforce this language with some TPR by pointing at yourself when you say your name and imitating a monkey when you say your favorite animal. Go around the room having each student say their name and favorite animal. Encourage them to add movement to their phrase such as you did.

Use pictures to elicit sentences in the present simple about each animal. Picture A is of a tiger. Ask students “What is the name of this animal?” Write on the board “These are tigers.” Ask students where tigers live. If you get one word answers try and get the students to use sentences by giving them examples. “Tigers live in the jungle” or “in a zoo”, or “in India”, depending on what they say. Write the sentences on the board as you elicit them. Ask more questions to elicit sentences in the present simple tense such as “What do tigers eat?”, and “What color are tigers?” Do the same with Pictures B, C and D.

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Page 17

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Practice phase This procedure is designed primarily for the Starter level. You will therefore need to present and use more complex language for higher levels. More adaptations for higher levels follow on pages 19 and 20.

Use a series of four cartoon pictures (teacher resources 1 to 4 on pages 26 to 29) and the corresponding text (resource 5 on page 30) to tell the story of the cat and the bird. Tell the students that you are going to read them a story about a cat and a bird. Show them the first picture and ask them what the picture is of. Show the students the first cartoon picture and read them the start of the story corresponding to it.

“There is a big fat cat. There is also a tiny cute bird.” After reading the text for each cartoon picture (teacher resources 1 to 4 on pages 26 to 29) stop and ask the students questions about the story. For example, “Are the cat and the bird friends?” or “Where does the cat live?” and “Where does the bird live?”

Show the students the second cartoon picture and read them the text corresponding to it. “The big fat cat is hungry. He wants to eat the tiny cute bird.”

Follow up with questions such as “Why is the cat hungry?”, “Is the bird scared?”, “Why” or “Why not?” and “Do you think the cat will eat the bird?”

Show the students the third cartoon picture and read them the text corresponding to it. “The big fat cat grabs the bird.

'Oh no, please don't eat me!' says the bird.”

Follow up with questions such as, “Who does the cat grab?”, “What do you think will happen next?” and “Why?” Show the students the last cartoon picture and read them the end of the story: “The big fat cat asks why he shouldn't eat the cute little bird”. “The cute little bird offers the big fat cat a peanut butter sandwich and asks the big fat cat if they can be friends”.

Ask the students if they liked the story and encourage them to talk about what happened in the story and how it ended.

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Page 18

Unit 5 Teaching themes

Activities Depending on the level there are many different practice activities that can be used for this lesson using this simple story.

Starter level Have the students work in pairs and complete the word search (activity A, page 31). The worksheet can be adapted to include only the animals that have been presented. All can remain in the grid – just white-out the words you don't want in the box. Monitor the activity, and correct.

If time permits have the students work in pairs and try to write a list of all the animals they can remember, without looking at the wordsearch. Monitor the activity, and follow with feedback.

Next have the students work and play pelmanism (activity B, pages 32 to 35), either in pairs or groups of three. The idea is to turn the cards upside-down and arrange them in a grid. The students then try and find a pair by turning over two cards. If they find a pair, they take them and go again. If the two cards aren't a pair, they're turned back over (in the same place) and the next player has a turn. Again, the materials can be adapted so that you include only the animals you want to use. A comfortable maximum number of pairs is between 8 and 12. Demonstrate the activity initially, rather than explain it. No feedback necessary, except for perhaps seeing who managed to get the most pairs in the class.

We’ve also added a page of blank cards in case you’d like to add some more cards of your own.

It’s important to note that the sample resources in this course were created using Microsoft Word and publicly available images sourced online. They are typical of the sort of materials that most people with a basic knowledge of how to use a computer would be able to create for themselves.

Elementary level Give the students a set of the cartoons with only the numbers and no text on them (teacher resources 1 to 4). Put prompts on the board to help the students tell the story to each other without the text. Prompts could be random or corresponding to the picture number. For example: Teacher resource 1 – see, big fat cat, cute little bird.

Teacher resource 2 – hungry, eat Teacher resource 3 – grab, please don't Teacher resource 4 – asks, peanut butter sandwich, friends Have the students work in pairs and practice telling the story to each other. Monitor the activity and help the students form sentences in the present simple tense for each picture. This can be done either written or orally. After they have practiced in their pairs ask for student volunteers to tell the story to the class.

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Unit 5 Teaching themes

Pre-Intermediate level Give the students a set of the cartoons with only the numbers and no text on them (teacher resources 1 to 4). Have the students work in pairs and rewrite the story adding names and additional information about the characters for each of the four cartoon pictures.

Monitor the activity and help the students form sentences in the present simple tense for each picture. Have the students practice reading their version of the story to each other. After they have practiced in their pairs ask for student volunteers to read their story to the class.

Intermediate level Give the students a set of the cartoons with only the numbers and no text on them (teacher resources 1 to 4) except for the last one of the sequence. Have the students work in pairs and rewrite the story adding names and additional information about the characters for each of the three cartoon pictures. Have students write a different ending to the story and draw a new last cartoon picture to match their new ending.

Monitor the activity and help the students form sentences in the present simple tense for each picture. Have the students practice reading their version of the story to each other. After they have practiced in their pairs ask for student volunteers to read their story to the class.

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Picture A

Image © www.freestockphotos.com

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Picture B

Image © www.freestockphotos.com

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Picture C

Image © www.freestockphotos.com

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Picture D

Image © www.freestockphotos.com

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Picture E

Image © www.freestockphotos.com

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The Cat and The Bird Teacher resource 1

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The Cat and The Bird Teacher resource 2

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The Cat and The Bird Teacher resource 3

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The Cat and The Bird Teacher resource 4

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The Cat and The Bird Teacher resource 5 (Script for Starter level) Cartoon 1 (Teacher resource 1) There is a big fat cat. There is also a tiny cute bird.

Cartoon 2 (Teacher resource 2) The big fat cat is hungry. He wants to eat the tiny cute bird.

Cartoon 3 (Teacher resource 3) The big fat cat grabs the bird. “Oh no, please don't eat me!” says the bird.

Cartoon 4 (Teacher resource 4) The big fat cat asks why he shouldn't eat the cute little bird. The cute little bird offers the big fat cat a peanut butter sandwich and asks the big fat cat if they can be friends.

Cartoon 1:

Cartoon 2:

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Cartoon 3:

Cartoon 4:

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The Cat and The Bird Activity A: Animals wordsearch

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The Cat and The Bird Activity B: Animals pelmanism

fish whale panda owl spider

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The Cat and The Bird

elephant horse bear sheep gorilla

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The Cat and The Bird

bird camel pig giraffe snake

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The Cat and The Bird

tiger monkey crocodile frog rabbit

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The Cat and The Bird Blank pelmanism cards

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Unit 5 Teaching themes Task sheet Check your knowledge before attempting the unit test.

Please note that this task sheet is solely for checking that you have understood the course unit content. You do not need to submit this task sheet – just use it to check you have understood the major points.

Note: not all the information needed for the answers can be found in the unit, so you may need to do further research from other sources.

Task 1 – Complete a lesson plan using a teaching theme of your choice, for a 45 minute lesson, on clothes vocabulary, to a group of 20 girls and boys, aged ten years. Include all aspects in the template on pages 6 and 7 of unit 4, describing all stages of the lesson in detail. You can choose the vocabulary, but limit it to 15 vocabulary words.

Supply all of the materials (worksheets, etc) you will use when you submit the lesson plan.

Lesson Plan Teacher:

Time:

Date and time:

Class level:

Room:

Expected number of students:

Language point: Teaching aids: Learner objectives: For the students to be able to

Personal aims:

Anticipated problems for students:

Anticipated problems for teacher:

Solutions:

Solutions: Procedure

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Phase

Timing

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Unit 5 Teaching themes

Procedure (continued)

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Phase

Timing

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Unit 5 Teaching themes

Task 2 – Design a lesson plan to contrast present simple and present continuous, with an elementary level group. You may want to use jobs (He is a pilot.) and activities in progress (He is eating an apple) to illustrate these points.

Describe all stages in detail, and supply all the materials you will use.

Lesson Plan Teacher:

Time:

Date and time:

Class level:

Room:

Expected number of students:

Language point: Teaching aids: Learner objectives: For the students to be able to

Personal aims:

Anticipated problems for students:

Anticipated problems for teacher:

Solutions:

Solutions: Procedure

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Phase

Timing

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Unit 5 Teaching themes

Procedure (continued)

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Phase

Timing

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Unit 5 Teaching themes

Task 3 – Think about five games you have played and enjoyed and state how you would adapt them to classroom use with young learners. Use a different teaching point (for example present simple for habit and routine) for each game, and give the stage of the lesson in which the games would be used. You should cover at least three ability levels.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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