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Activities for Teaching Young Learners

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
9 views4 pages

Activities for Teaching Young Learners

Uploaded by

c48722499
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Activity 14: Global presentations

34

Activity 41: Tourist role play

88

Activity 15: Hammer battles

36

Activity 42: Traffic lights

90

Activity 16: Handkerchief tag

38

Activity 43: Vocabulary chart

92

Activity 17: Hidden words

40

Activity 44: Vocabulary challenge

94

Activity 18: I have it in my name

42

Activity 45: Walking the words

96

Activity 19: Information translation

44
Activity 46: We are different

98

Activity 20: Label me!

46

Activity 21: Story-telling – Little Red Riding Hood

Activity 47: Where is the poisoned apple?

100

48

Activity 48: Wordle prediction

102

Activity 22: Chain game

50

Activity 49: Words competition

104

Activity 23: Memory game

52

Activity 50: Writing basket for early finishers 106

Activity 24: Messy closet

54

Index grid

Activity 25: My season’s book

56
Contributors 110

© British Council 2012

108

TeachingEnglish Young Learners Activity Book

Introduction

© British Council 2012

TeachingEnglish Young Learners Activity Book

Introduction

Introduction There are many books of activities for teaching English in the primary
classroom, but this book is different. It is different because all the activities have
been tried and tested by the very people who are going to use them, teachers like
you. These teachers work in the most diverse contexts and conditions, sometimes
with large classes, sometimes with very small groups, sometimes with every type of
resource you could wish for, sometimes with only a board to support their teaching.
However, they share a desire to help their students to learn English in an enjoyable
way. We imagine you too share this desire and that is why you have picked this
book. We hope you find the activities useful, engaging and fun too, and enjoy using
them in your class.

original activity in order either to provide very clear guidance, or to make it more
appropriate for teachers everywhere. We are extremely grateful to all those who sent
in activities, whether they are included here or not, and to teachers who gave us
their opinion on them, such as teachers of young learners at the JALT 2011
conference in Tokyo. The Activities

How the book was born

For each activity, we give the ages of the children it is suitable for and the time it
takes. Both of these should be taken as guides only. Very often, the English level of
the children is more important than their age to the success of the activity. In
addition, the timing of the activity depends on the size of the class or how quick the
children are to respond. You will always be the best judge of whether an activity is
suitable for your class and how long it is likely to take.

The book is the direct result of a year-long project called ‘Investigating Global
Practices in Teaching English to Young Learners’ (www.
[Link]/publications/globalpractices-teaching-english-young-
learners). A number of primary school teachers who responded to the survey in this
study told us about the kinds of activities they used in class to motivate their
learners. We felt that these ideas deserved to be shared with primary teachers all
over the world, and so the idea for this book was born.

Each activity has a section called Alternatives in which we give different ideas for
using the activity. These are either related activities that were sent in by other
teachers, or our own ideas. There is also a section called No Resources?, which
suggests ways of doing the activity even if you do not have access to the resources
needed, such as computers, flashcards or even sufficient coloured paper for all the
children. We have also included a Preparation section so you will know how long it
will take you to prepare for each activity.

We contacted over 1,000 teachers who had left their e-mail addresses on the survey
site and asked them to send us their favourite activities for teaching English to
young learners. From the many we received, we selected the 50 that we felt were
the most original and creative, but also the most practical for the greatest number of
teachers. In most cases, we have edited the

We know that many teachers work with large classes and so we have indicated if the
activities are suitable for this context. We take a large class to be 30+ children. Even
where activities are indicated as not being suitable for large classes, it is worth
looking at the Alternatives section as often we suggest an approach for using the
same activity with large classes.

© British Council 2012

Common questions

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The activities in the book cater to teachers with large classes by including indications of whether each is suitable for such settings. For activities that are not explicitly suitable for large classes, the 'Alternatives' section often offers modified approaches that can be implemented in these environments. This ensures teachers can manage and engage all students effectively, regardless of class size .

Input from a diverse array of teachers was crucial because it ensured the book's activities are grounded in real-world teaching experiences. Teachers from different backgrounds contributed to a comprehensive collection of activities that are versatile and broadly applicable. Their feedback also helped refine the activities to be more effective and adaptable, catering to a wide range of educational settings and challenges .

The primary goal of the 'Teaching English Young Learners Activity Book' is to provide practical, tried-and-tested activities for teaching English to young learners in diverse contexts. These activities aim to help students learn English enjoyably, acknowledging the diverse conditions under which teachers operate, such as varying class sizes and availability of resources. The book's development stems from a project to share effective teaching practices globally, ensuring the activities are adaptable and suitable for different classroom environments .

Global collaboration plays a critical role by bringing together varied perspectives on effective teaching practices from around the world. In the creation of the 'Teaching English Young Learners Activity Book', it enabled a compilation of activities that reflect diverse educational environments and challenges, making them adaptable and useful worldwide. This collaboration ensures the educational resource is robust, culturally inclusive, and innovative, drawing upon the collective expertise of teachers globally .

The 'Alternatives' section significant in the book provides teachers with different ideas for using each activity. This section includes variations sent in by other teachers or devised by the editors, offering creative and practical ways to adapt activities to different classroom situations. This ensures the activities remain relevant and useful across different teaching environments, fostering innovation and flexibility in teaching strategies .

The book accommodates varying English levels by providing flexible activity timings and adaptations. While activities mention suitable age ranges, the English level of children is deemed more crucial to the success of an activity. Teachers are encouraged to use their judgment when selecting or adapting activities to ensure they meet the learners' language abilities and respond effectively to their actions .

Teachers using the 'Teaching English Young Learners Activity Book' have the flexibility to adapt each activity according to their specific classroom needs, such as students' English levels and class sizes. This flexibility is facilitated by sections like 'Alternatives,' which provide variations of each activity, and guidance for using the activities with limited resources. This adaptability is crucial as it allows teachers to tailor activities to suit their unique teaching environments and challenges, ensuring effective learning outcomes .

The book ensures reliability by including activities that have been tried and tested by actual teachers in diverse teaching contexts. The activities were gathered from a survey conducted as part of a year-long project, 'Investigating Global Practices in Teaching English to Young Learners,' where many teachers shared their most effective practices. This empirical validation, along with the feedback from teachers, contributes to the reliability and practical applicability of the activities .

The editors address resource limitations by providing a 'No Resources?' section for each activity in the 'Teaching English Young Learners Activity Book.' This section suggests alternative ways to implement activities when traditional resources like computers or flashcards are unavailable. It includes creative solutions to ensure the activities can still be effectively conducted, which makes the book practical for teachers in various settings .

The activities included in the 'Teaching English Young Learners Activity Book' were selected based on originality, creativity, and practicality. They were chosen from submissions gathered during a year-long project called ‘Investigating Global Practices in Teaching English to Young Learners.’ The editors prioritized activities that would be effective for the largest number of teachers, considering varying levels of English proficiency among children and class sizes. Practicality was a key criterion to ensure their widespread applicability .

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