Showing posts with label English for kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label English for kids. Show all posts

7.10.18

Natural Science, CLIL and significant learning.



Today I would like to talk about a somewhat controversial matter: the subject of Natural Sciences in English.

I know that here in Madrid, more than 10 years after the implantation of bilingualism in the Primary school, many parents have left their enthusiasm aside to replace it with the fear that their children will not learn almost anything about the subject in both English and Spanish.

In many schools the greatest weight of the evaluation to pass the subject is taken by the written tests: it turns out that in first and second grade these controls are quite simple: mainly children have to connect a word to a picture, circle parts of a drawing, paint, complete sentences with the given words and little more. The problems begin in third grade, when these controls become quite complex because in addition to labeling drawings or body parts, which implies writing without spelling errors in English, students are asked to fill in gaps in a text, for example, or to read a definition and write the word described, correct statements or even explain with their own words some facts: tasks that not only require spelling correction but also require reading comprehension and the ability to express ideas and concepts using specific scientific vocabulary and correct grammatical constructions (writing skills).

It seems to me that we should keep in mind that at the base of the bilingualism project is the concept of Content and Language Integrated Learning – CLIL– whose objective is for children to learn a language through the study of subjects such as Natural and Social Sciences, Music, Plastics, Physical Education, etc.

However, I have the impression that, despite the CLIL premises, it is still not very clear how to encourage this type of learning. Regrettably, the vocabulary lists copied a few boring times only serve, and not always, to achieve a certain orthographic correction, when the objectives of the subject are to learn the Natural Science in English: children should be able to express and present scientific concepts and facts in more or less correct English, depending on the stage in which they are in.


How can we help our students?

My experience and the cognitive and constructivist theories of learning have led me to this reflection: we should always bear in mind that the main objective of the bilingual project is to learn the language and this is learned using 'complete sentences' made up of a subject, a verb and a direct or an indirect object. In practical terms, it means that children, in class, at home, when doing written exercises, during presentations, etc., should always answer with a complete sentence using the specific vocabulary and the correct grammatical structure (the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms of the present simple and the present  continuous of any verb, together with 'can', 'have got' and not much else).

This may sound banal, but if we look at the dynamics of a class we can see that when we launch a question in most cases the competition to be the first to answer prevails, and that means not having time to think about an entire sentence: our students tend to answer with only one word. On the other hand, the exercises we can find in the book don't help much in that sense either, since most of them are about filling in gaps or answering questions by choosing between already formulated answers. Could you guess how much time and attention a child spends on these types of tasks after 8 hours, or more, spent at school?

To sum up, using complete sentences will cost our students more effort because it requires them to connect the subject of Natural Sciences to that of English, to leave the compartmental units of their books in order to create a more general and flexible narrative; but with time and practice important improvements will be noticed, because there is a greater and deeper understanding of the subject, which will allow them to follow their teachers with less difficulty and assimilate more concepts, unleashing in this way that virtuous circle which improves at the same time the results, self-esteem and control of the language.



--> Quiero leer esta entrada en castellano






3.7.18

Auditory discrimination: i / e

Finally, July! June's been a busy but rewarding month, so today I'm going to share some thoughts, ideas and resources to address the topic of short vowel discrimination with our children, starting with /I/ and /e/.

Short vowels are the first to be learned with the phonetic method but, while on the one hand the children recognize them visually because they associate them with the vowels of the Spanish language, on the other hand more work of auditory discrimination is necessary so that they can hear and pronounce them correctly.

I have noticed that there are pairs of sounds that Spanish speakers tend to confuse more frequently: the i and the e, the a and the lo u, and finally the o and the u

How to do this? Once the 2 sounds have been introduced separately with the appropriate activities and games, it is necessary to point out the difference between the pair of vowels that could generate confusion.

The easiest way to operate is to give each child a letter that represents the e and another that represents the i. Then we tell them, one by one, 3 or 4 letter words with one of the two sounds we are working on; the children have to indicate with the letter what sound they have heard.


For example:
tin/ten
pin/pen
pit/pet
rid/red
miss/mess
sit/set

Ideally, this list should be combined with other words that are not written with the same consonants (net, mist, get, hiss, etc.) and presented in random order, so that the children will be able to guess correctly more easily and feel more confident when it comes to answering. There are many more in the word boxes of the Jolly Phonics© method.

Now you can create more or less fun versions of this activity: in my class we usually jump over the chart, throw balloons or run to the chart to add a little psychomotor skills to the class and thus encourage deeper learning.



What to do when a child is wrong? I tell you what I usually do: first I repeat the word with the vowel he has chosen and then I pronounce it with the correct sound, then I encourage them to repeat it themselves, taking into account the position of their lips, tongue and teeth (phonetic articulation), to finally encourage him to repeat the word correctly and show me the corresponding letter.

Over the years I have come to realize that this is a very important job because the few hours of exposure to English in a school class are not enough for children to acquire this phonemic awareness on their own. It is important to emphasize it. What the children will do is realize, little by little, the differences between the vowels in their native language and those in English.

Here is the link to the pronunciation of the /e/ sound for you to practice ;)

More about phonics on my newest page: reading and writing in English, where I have compiled and will add links to related posts.







  




 

3.7.17

Teaching HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? 

03/10/2013
Five years ago I bought this little book to teach the expression: 

How long does it take to do something? 
It takes…

The book is definitely focused on children's everyday life and suggests them to consider the amount of time they need to do things like zipping up a jacket, going to school by bike, filling in a bucket with sand, taking their shoes off, washing the dog etc.

My students find it quite entertaining, so I wanted to keep thinking about time. I came out with these actions that anybody can time inside any classroom:

- How long does it take to jump 20 times?
- How long does it take to say the English alphabet?
- How long does it take to say "I can speak English" 10 times?
- How long does it take to pile up all your books?
- How long does it take to take everything out of your schoolbag and then put it back in?  

I'm sure you can think about many other enjoyable things to do and time.

Let the children write down the questions and the answers, it'll help consolidate them in their minds.

Finally encourage them to think of their own.

Have fun!

--> Quiero leer este post en Castellano



 

2.8.15

Summer Camp 2015: My House

At Summer Camp this year we learned about 'the house', among other things.
Since the location of the camp is a garden I introduced the topic by asking the children to fetch sticks and dry pine needles to build a simple flat model house in the grass. 

 
Then I let them choose which room was the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom, the bathroom, the garage and the garden and I placed the corresponding flashcards in each 'room'.

After everyone had agreed on the layout of the rooms, we played this simple game: 'Where is the cat (or any other animal or object you know your students may be interested in)?' In this game everybody closes their eyes and you hide the picture of a cat under one of the flashcards representing the rooms.  The children have to guess which room the cat is hiding in. Once they've picked the right room, you can let them hide the cat for the other kids, one by one.

Once the topic was introduced, we read a Cat and Mouse book 'Come to My House' which repeats the same pattern as the game. The protagonists go from room to room asking 'Where is Coco?' the cat family's pet parrot.
 
The next step was learning the song 'Cows in the Kitchen', a pretty catchy song.
We studied animal sounds: moo, quack, meow, baa, oink and meh, with a game in which one kid reproduced  one of the sounds and the others had to guess which animal it belonged to. Apparently the most challenging sound to remember was the goat's Meh, as they kept confusing it with the sheep's Baa.



 

Then we built a cardboard house and stuck pieces of furniture in each room. While working, I left the song on in the background, so the children could continue to learn the words without realising. Other games you can play to teach songs in a more playful way are Musical Statues or Musical Chairs. Kids love them!The last step was painting the farm animals mentioned in the song with finger paint. The most fun part was trying to wash our hands in the garden sprinkles without getting completely soaked. Fortunately the heat wave that covered Madrid for the first 3 weeks of July allowed us to dry off quickly anyway.



 

Summer Camp 2014
Summer Camp 2013

--> Quiero leer esta entrada en Español




             
 


21.5.14

A card game to succeed in Cambridge YLE Flyers!

It's almost June and official exams for children who attend primary school are on their way! 

Is any of your students sitting the Cambridge  YLE Flyers exam?

If the answer is yes, but also if it's no, here you'll find a game to review the most difficult words from the official vocabulary list.

Divide the class into teams, and have children from one team reading the definitions while children from the other teams try to guess what it is being described.

If you'd like to buy the paper version of the game you can place an order on my BigCartel shop. I'll personally send you the .pdf file!

The digital version of Guess What?!? is also available on Amazon.com, Amazon.es, Indigo, Kobo  and Libris

Never underestimate the power of a quiz game when you're teaching English to children!!!

Actually, I think that many adult students could also get some advantages on using this game. 

Have fun!

   



6.4.14

Happy Easter Lesson Plan for Kids

Easter break is round the corner and I'd like to share with you what I planned in order to make it unforgettable for my Spanish pre-schoolers.

First of all I introduced the vocabulary: basket, eggs, bunny, chicks.

Because words become meaningful when they are used, and seen in this case, in a context, I didn't use any flashcards but, instead, these two books:



Then we made our paper basket and filled it with 10 eggs

A great  handicraft that we needed to mime this Easter song.

I also planned an Easter egg hunt and, since I don't have my own classroom, I looked for an easy, but still fun, alternative. So, I printed some little eggs  and hid them under colorful cupcake paper cups.

If you're teaching elder children you can write words on the cups to practice reading and pronunciation.

We also made bunny masks and sang this song about sleeping bunnies.

We've been playing an Easter variation of the circle game Duck, duck…Goose! I invented for the occasion: Chick, chick…Bunny!!! 

For some relaxing moments, after hopping and skipping around the classroom, I found a couple of coloring pages of… a bunny and an egg, of course.

Finally, as a surprise for the end of the class, I bought  tons of chocolate eggs and hundreds of special Easter themed stickers!

Enjoy your Easter classes!!!

---> quiero leer este post en español

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted.