Ideas For Teaching Young Learners PDF
Ideas For Teaching Young Learners PDF
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Young learners
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500 ideas
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for English w Y
teachers of
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young learners
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www.myetpedia.com
ETpedia
Young Learners
© Vanessa Reis Esteves
The authors have asserted their rights in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
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Act (1988) to be identified as the authors of this work.
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Published by:
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Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
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Rayford House
School Road
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Hove BN3 5HX
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UK
Tel: 01273 434 943
Fax: 01273 227 308 w Y
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First published 2016
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Photocopying permission
The resources in the Appendix may be copied, without fee or prior permission, by the
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purchaser subject to both of the following conditions: that the item is reproduced in its entirety,
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including the copyright acknowledgement; that the copies are used solely by the person or
organisation who purchased the original publication.
ISBN: 978-1-911028-21-5
PDF ebook ISBN: 978-1-911028-50-5
Epub ISBN: 978-1-911028-51-2
Kindle ISBN: 978-1-911028-52-9
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10 reasons for using this resource ................................................................................6
10 ways to use this resource.........................................................................................8
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10 facts about the author ...........................................................................................10
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Preparation and planning
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Unit 1: 10 differences between younger and older young learners............................12
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Unit 2: 10 things you should know about young learners...........................................14
Unit 3: 10 roles that teachers have in the young learner classroom...........................16
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Unit 4: 10 things to avoid in the young learner classroom..........................................18
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Unit 5: 10 ways to establish a safe and purposeful learning environment..................20
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Unit 6: 10 ways to get to know your students.............................................................22
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In the classroom
Unit 10: 10 activities for your first lesson.....................................................................32
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Unit 12: 10 tools for managing behaviour in the young learner classroom................36
Unit 13: 10 routines for the young learner classroom.................................................39
Unit 14: 10 thoughts on instructions...........................................................................41
Unit 15: 10 ways to start and end lessons...................................................................43
Unit 16: 10 ways to use stirrers and settlers................................................................45
Unit 17: 10 key resources for your teacher toolkit.......................................................47
Unit 18: 10 situations in which to use classroom language ........................................49
To
Unit 19: 10 reasons and tips for doing show and tell..................................................51
Songs, chants and rhymes
Unit 20: 10 reasons to use songs and chants in the young learner classroom............54
Unit 21: 10 classics for the young learner classroom..................................................56
Unit 22: 10 activities to do with songs and chants .....................................................58
Unit 23: 10 chants for the young learner classroom....................................................60
Unit 24: 10 categories of tongue twister.....................................................................63
Unit 25: 10 fun rhymes to use in the young learner classroom...................................65
ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 3
Stories and drama
Unit 26: 10 reasons to use stories and drama in the young learner classroom...........68
Unit 27: 10 tips for making storytelling a memorable classroom experience.............70
Unit 28: 10 story activities...........................................................................................72
Unit 29: 10 types of story for the young learner classroom........................................74
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Unit 30: 10 favourite drama activities..........................................................................76
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Arts, crafts and games
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Unit 31: 10 reasons to use arts and crafts activities....................................................80
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Unit 32: 10 popular arts and crafts activities...............................................................82
Unit 33: 10 topic-related arts and crafts activities.......................................................86
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Unit 34: 10 reasons to play games in class.................................................................89
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Unit 35: 10 vocabulary and grammar flashcard games...............................................91
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Unit 36: 10 flashcard games........................................................................................93
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Activities for topics
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Further reading
Unit 49: 10 more books about teaching young learners ..........................................130
Unit 50: 10 ELT sites and blogs.................................................................................132
Appendix
4 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016.
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Introduction
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10 reasons for using this resource
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lesson plans and ideas. The sheer amount of available material can be overwhelming,
and finding a tip can be time-consuming. The aim of this book is to bring a collection of
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resources together in one place for faster reference.
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2. Clearly organised
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This resource contains 50 units covering everything from things you should know about
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young learners to activities for teaching a particular topic, suggestions for using songs,
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chants, rhymes, stories, drama and arts and crafts activities. Each unit lists 10 points. Why
10? Well, having a choice of 10 activities for the topic of animals and pets, for example,
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should provide most teachers with a broad enough range of options to enable them to
prepare a lesson on the topic. Similarly, walking into your first ever young learner class
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having read about 10 activities for your first lesson could make all the difference to the way
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the children see you. Finally, having 10 ways of managing behaviour in the young learner
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classroom up your sleeve should improve your chances of avoiding problems and keeping
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3. New teachers
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If you are just starting out in your career teaching young learners, this resource will provide
you with a range of practical activities to support you on your way. In particular, the section
on things to avoid in the young learner classroom will help you start on the right foot.
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4. Experienced teachers
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If you have been teaching for a while, this resource may remind you of techniques and
activities that you haven’t used for a while, and give you fresh ideas for increasing your
repertoire.
‘Movers’ or ‘Flyers’ exams, which are aimed to help children in primary or lower secondary
education improve their English.
6 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016.
7. Teacher trainers
If you are a teacher trainer, senior teacher or director of studies who delivers staff training
on a range of topics, use the checklists of ideas that this resource offers as a way to
prepare your sessions.
8. Materials writers
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The resource includes examples of activities for teaching specific topics frequently found
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in young learner programmes, so anyone developing their own materials for the classroom
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and keen to ensure a variety of activities for a specific topic will find it a useful reference.
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9. Additional materials
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There are photocopiable worksheets in the Appendix. These worksheets relate to certain
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units in the book and provide teachers with instant classroom activities. Many of them
are also available in full colour, and these can be found at https://www.myetpedia.
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com/appendix-materials/. A series of video clips by the author are also available,
demonstrating how to make some the craft materials that are included in the book.
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These are available at https://www.myetpedia.com/etpedia-videos/, and you will be
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guided to these as appropriate.
Introduction
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often than not feel that they need more time to plan, more time to search for resources,
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more time to reflect and develop and more time to focus on classroom teaching and the
students. This resource will help teachers rise to this challenge by offering a collection of
accessible, easy-to-use tips, suggestions, activities and ideas all in one place, allowing
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teachers to save their energy for the place where they are needed most – the classroom.
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ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 7
10 ways to use this resource
This resource has been written for people who teach English as a second or foreign
language to young learners. It can be read and used in different ways according to your
level of experience, needs or interests.
1. Cover to cover
You could start at the beginning and read to the end. If you are finding out about teaching
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English to young learners for the first time, then the resource will work as an introductory
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text to the subject.
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2. Read a section
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The contents page will direct you to the different sections. In each section, you will find
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units containing 10 ideas, tips, activities or thoughts on a particular aspect of teaching
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young learners. Some of these sections might not be immediately relevant to your context,
while others will help you with immediate interests, concerns or questions.
3. Teacher’s block w Y
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Just as writers sometimes have days when they can’t write (a condition commonly referred
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to as ‘writer’s block’), there are days when teachers of young learners search in vain for
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ideas for a lesson. This resource aims to help with any episodes of ‘teacher’s block’. Open
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the book at any page and see if the ideas there give you inspiration.
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4. Plan a lesson
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Perhaps you are preparing a detailed lesson plan for a training course, or you feel that you
want to hone your planning skills. If so, start by looking at Unit 9: 10 tips for planning a
young learner lesson.
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Maybe you’ve tried one of the activities in the resource or found an idea you liked. Make
notes about why it worked or how you adapted it, so you can refer to it again later.
6. Help colleagues
If you work with other teachers, you’ve probably experienced a situation where a
colleague is desperately looking for something to improve their lesson. Perhaps you can
help them out by suggesting they manage a class of excited young learners using some
of the ideas in Units 12 or 16. Or, if they’d like to tell a story in a lesson, share some of the
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7. Last-minute lessons
Most teachers have experienced a day when a colleague is off sick and they’ve been asked
to teach their class at short notice. If this has happened to you, have a look at the section
entitled ‘Activities for topics’ (page 95), which contains an abundance of topic-related
activities to help you teach a complete and motivating lesson.
8 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016.
8. More practice
Many students require extra practice on specific areas of English. For example, they might
need to practise English sounds, or perhaps you’ve noticed that a class needs to be made
more aware of intercultural activities. Use this resource to help you enhance your lessons
and engage your students.
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9. Develop yourself
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If you’re at the stage of your teaching career where you feel you are ready for more of a
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challenge, you’ll find some other titles and resources in Further Reading (page 129).
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10. Write your own 10
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Teaching is always evolving, developing and changing, so why not create your own 10 tips
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or pointers and share them with your colleagues? There is space to add your own tips at
the end of the book (page 247).
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‘Teaching young learners gives
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you the opportunity to see the
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world through children's eyes and
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ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 9
10 facts about the author
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XX runs workshops and delivers teacher training on behalf of schools, universities,
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publishers and the Portuguese Ministry of Education
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XX has co-authored coursebooks for young learners and teenagers in Portugal
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XX has written articles for magazines such as English Teaching Professional
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XX is a part-time teacher at Escola Superior de Educação in Porto, Portugal
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XX delivers training online via webinars and virtual learning environments
XX teaches overseas teachers at the Oxford Teacher’s Academy in Oxford every summer
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XX is currently working on her PhD in 21st Century Skills and Learning.
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Introduction
The 500 tips, ideas, ways and resources in this publication are based on the secrets that I have
learned in my 20 years as a teacher, teacher trainer and author of classroom materials. The
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whole collection is a combination of new and original ideas with classic ideas and activities that
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get passed down from one generation of English language teachers to another. My deepest
thanks, therefore, go to all the students, teachers, trainers and colleagues who have crossed my
path and directly or indirectly helped in the creation of ETpedia Young Learners. In particular,
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thanks to John Hughes and Robert McLarty, who believed in me from the start, Cristina Bento,
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who was my guardian angel, and everyone at Pavilion Publishing and Media, especially my
editor, Penny Hands, whose advice and suggestions were a godsend. Thank you to you all for
making this dream come true.
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10 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016.
10 routines for the young learner classroom
Routines help us to avoid behaviour problems and save valuable teaching and learning
time by encouraging the children to become autonomous. In addition, they make
children feel safe and get them into learning mode. However, routines have to be taught
and practised over and over again before they become automatic. Here is a list of 10
routines that you can introduce in your classroom.
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1. Getting the children into a learning frame of mind
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Get the children ready for learning before
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the lesson begins. Display a ‘Good morning’
chart outside your classroom to tell children
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what you want them to do as soon as they
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enter the classroom. Use topics and key
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words on your chart to make sure that it’s
clear and easy to understand.
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Unit 13
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get them to fill in the attendance chart with their ‘avatar’. To create these at the beginning of
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term, give each child a blank cardboard cut-out of a boy or girl to decorate and write their
name on (see Appendix, p142). Each day when they arrive, they put their avatar on the ‘At
school’ section of the chart. Remember to get a helper to put all the avatars back in the ‘At
home’ section at the end of every lesson. Another possibility is to get the children to fill in
a calendar and weather chart (see Unit 17, point 6). These charts are great for introducing
language in a communicative context.
Develop the children’s sense of personal responsibility by teaching them how to take the
initiative and look after their personal items. Hang up visual reminders in the classroom to
remind them what their responsibilities are. Label the children’s hooks or cubby holes with
name cards in alphabetical order.
4. Singing a song
A song can be a very effective tool to signal a change of activity to children. Try using
a hello song to start your lesson, a tidy-up song to signal the end of an activity and a
goodbye song to end your lesson. See Units 20–25 for more suggestions.
ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 39
5. Picking up homework from the homework box
To make sure that every child knows what the homework is, copy the instructions onto
a slip of paper for each child. Put the slips in a homework box. At the end of the lesson,
each child takes a homework slip from the homework box. This will develop their
responsibility, independence and organisation skills.
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6. Choosing the teacher’s helper for the day
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Implement a fair system to choose a teacher’s helper each day. Get the children to
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decorate a peg with their name on it. Hang the pegs on a piece of string. The first peg on
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the string is the teacher’s helper. Once a child has been the teacher’s helper, move the peg
on the end of the string so that every child gets the chance to be a teacher’s helper.
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7. Asking for permission
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Implement a system in which you reduce the learning time children waste every day asking
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you for permission to go to the toilet or sharpen their pencils. Make a bathroom pass card
for the boys and another for the girls. Hang the passes up next to the door. A child can go
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to the toilet if there is a pass available. You can also make pencil-sharpening passes that
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are hung next to the bin.
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Avoid shouting to get the children’s attention. Instead, use a silent gesture like folding
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your arms and waiting patiently for the children to notice you, or clapping out a rhythm
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which the children echo back to you. Another option is to use a chant which the children
respond to. See Unit 23 for more suggestions.
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9. Forming groups
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40 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016.
10 activities for the topic of THE BODY
Most young learner and very young learner courses have at least one unit on the topic
of the body. Not only is this topic great for a mixed-ability classroom, but it is also
perfect for helping children to recognise and follow instructions. After teaching the
parts of the body, you can complement this topic by teaching the children about clothes.
Here are 10 activities to help you bring this topic to life.
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1. Life-size poster
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Challenge the children to help you make a life-size poster of the body for your classroom.
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This will help to decorate the classroom while exposing the children to new vocabulary,
which they can then revise every day. Get a large roll of paper and cut a sheet large
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enough for one of your students to lie on. Ask that child to spread their arms and legs
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out in a star shape and to lie still. The other children trace the contours of that child’s
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body. Next, the children draw some shorts and a t-shirt on it and colour in and decorate
the sheet. Finally, get the children to make a word card for each part of the body that
you want to teach, and to label the poster with them. Use the poster to play games, for
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example, a ‘point to’ game or a fun fly-swatting game (see Unit 36, Point 10).
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2. ‘Simon says’ game
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Help the children master instructions and learn the parts of the body by playing ‘Simon
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says’. Start by giving an instruction, for example, ‘Simon says touch your head’. Then see
Unit 40
which children are really paying attention by giving an instruction without saying ‘Simon
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says’, for example, ‘Touch your toes’. If the children follow this type of instruction, they are
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out, and have to sit down and watch the others. After a while, involve the children who are
out by letting them give the instructions. The winner is the last child left standing.
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3. Body wheel
Use the wheel template (see Unit 33, Point 7) to help the children make a body wheel to
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learn the target vocabulary that you want to teach them. The children move the wheel
so that they can see a picture and the corresponding word in the magic windows. After
a while, the children can cover the word window, say the word and then check and see if
they already know the word.
4. Crossword puzzle
A nice homework activity or an activity for fast finishers is to get the children to make a
crossword puzzle for other students. Children begin by making the crossword puzzle using
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8 to 10 words. Younger learners can then simply write the words below the grid for their
classmates to fit into it. Older children can write gapped-sentence clues to help their
classmates remember the words in context and then use them to complete the crossword.
106 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016.
6. Monster drama activity
Bring drama into the classroom and practise vocabulary related to the body. Divide the
children into groups. Explain that they have to work together and use their bodies to
follow your instructions and create a monster sculpture: make a monster with three heads,
five legs and four arms. The group that makes the first accurate body sculpture wins a
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point. The group with the highest score is the winner of the activity. To make the activity
more challenging, invite the winners to swap roles with you and to describe the next
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monster that their classmates have to create.
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7. Monster-drawing game
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Divide the children into groups and give each group a monster kit for them to create
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their group monster (see Appendix, p208). They then describe their monster for the other
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groups to draw on the board. The first group to draw an accurate monster wins a point.
The winner is the group with the highest number of points.
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8. ‘Who’s who?’ game
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Give the children speaking practice by getting them to play a ‘Who’s who?’ game in
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pairs. Each child takes a turn to choose and describe a character (see Appendix, p212) for
their partner to identify. Adapt the activity for the mixed-ability classroom by giving less
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Unit 40
advanced students character cards with sentence descriptions to read out (see Appendix,
p213). When the children are ready, take away the description cards.
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9. Play jump
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Spread the flashcards of the words you want to practise on the floor. Choose two players
and get them to stand at a set distance from the flashcards. Say a word and ask the
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children to jump to that flashcard. The first child to get there gives the next instruction and
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continues playing the game. Replace the second child with another child so that all the
children can have a go.
ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 107
Unit 13, point 2: Boy/girl cut-outs
for attendance chart
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144 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. Appendix
Unit 13, point 2: Boy/girl cut-outs
for attendance chart
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Appendix ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 145
Unit 13, point 10: Feedback form
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I like working:
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Now draw:
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146 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. Appendix
Unit 40, point 5: ‘Listen and draw’ monster worksheet
Monster A
1. Describe your monster to your partner.
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208 ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. Appendix
Unit 40, point 5: ‘Listen and draw’ monster worksheet
Monster B
1. Describe your monster to your partner.
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Appendix ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 209
Unit 40, point 8: ‘Who’s who?’ game
Who’s who?
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Nick Bill Ann Lucy Grace
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Unit 40, point 8: ‘Who’s who?’ game
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He wears glasses. He’s thin. She’s thin.
His face is round. He’s got an oval face. She has got an oval face.
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He’s chubby. His eyes are small and blue. She has got big brown eyes.
His eyes are small.
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Lucy Grace John
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She’s young. She’s old. He’s old.
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She’s pretty. She’s got short, He’s bald.
She’s got long, wavy light He wears glasses.
straight black hair. brown hair. He’s got small
Her face is long. w Y
She’s got big brown eyes.
She wears glasses.
Her face is round.
black eyes.
He’s a bit fat.
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She’s got small brown eyes.
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He’s elegant. She has got big green eyes Her face is oval.
and a long face.
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His face is round. and small brown eyes. She has got big black eyes.
Appendix ETpedia: Young Learners © Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd and its licensors 2016. 215
Unit 40, point 10: Body code worksheet
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n o p q r s t u v w x y z
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4 5 6
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7 8 9
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