PICTURE and WORD
DICTIONARY
By: Marién Rodríguez
Teaching children should be based on
activities and games. It is important that the
child does not see learning as an imposition,
but as something fun and interesting. The
following techniques and strategies will be
very helpful to teach first grade students.
Strategies and
Techniques for
Teaching English to
Attention:
Call out commands such as: Attention, salute,
march in place...stop, sit down, stand up,
walk in a circle, clap your hands...stop, run in
place...stop, jumping jacks...stop, swim in
place....stop, etc. At first students will copy
you but later they should be able to do the
commands without you.
Cross the River:
Place flashcards on floor in winding
manner. Each card represents a stepping stone
in the river, as students must say
word/phrase/question/etc in order to step on it
and cross the river!
Whisper Game:
Sit the students in a circle with you. Whisper
a word or sentence in the next S's ear (e.g.
"I'm hungry"). S/he then whispers that in the
next S's ear and so on until the last S. S/he
then says the word/sentence out loud to see if
it's the same as the original message.
LEFT/RIGHT
Raise your hand
Sing the “Hokey Pokey” song. (“Put your ____
foot in...”) You may need to colour-code
left/right to help children remember. For
example, children hold a piece of blue paper in
their left hand, red in their right hand.
Silent Ball:
If the students are being loud and off task play
this game with them. It really works and they
love to play it. Have all the students stand up
and give one student a ball (make sure it is
soft). Have the students toss the ball to each
other without saying a word. Any student who
drops the ball or talks must sit down.
Names:
What’s your name?
My name is ________.
As each child says his/her name, write it down on
a big piece of paper or cardboard, to be
hung up in the classroom.
Distribute individual name cards to each
student.
Photo by Kevin Zaouali
Knock-Knock:
This can be used at the beginning of each
class. Teach the students to knock on the
door before entering the classroom. There
are 2 variations for the next step: 1. When
the S knocks, teacher says "Who's
there?". The S replies "It's (Koji)" and then
the teacher says "Come in (Koji)". 2. When
the S knocks the teacher must guess who it is
"Is that (Koji)?". The S replies yes or no - if
no, the teacher continues guessing. Having
your students develop their own knocking
styles makes this even more fun.
Parts of the Body
What’s this?
How many ____ do you have?
Head/shoulders/knees/toes/eyes/ears/mouth/
nose/feet/legs/arms/hands
• Sing “Head and Shoulders” song. When the
children know the song well, you can do it
very
fast, which is a lot of fun.
• Play “Simon Says”.
• Play “Fruit Basket”.
Color Touch:
This game is a fantastic way to teach colours
and is extremely popular with younger
students. The rules are pretty simple, gather
all the students together and call out ‘find
something….’ The children then have to run
around the classroom and touch something
that’s the same colour. This is a great way to
get the children moving, active and engaged.
Plus, it can be pretty funny when they find
the colour on you
Picture Dictionary
English- Spanish
for
1. Hello/ Hola
2. Goodbye / Hasta Luego
3. School/ Escuela
4. House/ Casa
5. Pencil / Lápiz
6. Notebook / Cuaderno
7. Mother / Madre
8. Father / Padre
[Link] / Felíz
10. Sad / Triste
11. Family / Familia
12. Friend / Amigo - Amiga
13. Teacher / Maestra-Maestro
14. Student / Estudiante
15. Breakfast / Desayuno
16. Lunch / Almuerzo
17. Dinner / Cena
18. Eat / Comer
19. Day / Día
20. Night / Noche