TEFL
Teaching Young Learners – Songs, Rhymes and Chants
Task One
Where would you put the stresses on the following rhyme?
I would put the stress on the vowel (letter strings) in each sentence, showing rhyme. Nearly all of these vowel sounds also marry up with the final consonant sounds (n-ew-s / sh-oe–s). I would give the students more examples of these sounds (choose, lose, blues). With younger learners I think vowel sound is important but also the sound they make with the final consonant.
Have you heard the latest news? Isabel has bought new shoes
And did you know that Harry’s dad has got a dog that’s completely mad?
Well, Alice copied Tommy’s work and she’s taken Helen’s skirt
Johnny Jones has been much worse, he’s stolen money from Angie’s purse
Wait till you hear what Cathy’s done, she’s eaten a worm, just for fun!
Task Two
Choose a song or devise an activity that can be used in the classroom. State the age you have in mind.
1. Old MacDonald’s Farm
Age: Young learners
Aim: Practice listening and singing
Practice listening for animal names and sounds
Preparation: Collect pictures of a farm and a farmer, models of animals
1. The teacher starts by showing a picture of a farm and a farmer.
2. The teacher asks the learners ‘who and where is this?’ and gets them to call out the place and hopefully the farmer’s name (Old MacDonald).
3. The learners are told this is ‘Old Mac Donald farm’. The students are asked ‘What animals can you see on a farm?’
4. The students can shout out the names of animals. The teacher can check that they know the English word for the animals.
5. The teacher gets the children to think about their favourite animal that lives on a farm.
6. The teacher then shows some models of animals including the ones in the song. The names for the animals are elicited and chorally drilled.
7. The teacher then asks ‘what sound they make?’ The teacher gives examples.
8. The teacher already has prepared sheets of paper to match animals and their sounds. The teacher gets the learners in groups and gets them to match the animals and sounds. This helps to solidify the exercise a little more.
9. The teacher gives each group the animal models from the song. She tells the group when they hear in the song an animal’s name she wants them to grab the animal. This helps them get an idea of the animals in the song. She plays the song and lets the groups grab the animals. She checks who got the most animals in each group.
10. If it is necessary, stop the song line by line until they get the idea.
11. The teacher gets the learners to sing the song together with the accompaniment provided by the tape. The children may learn very easily by using echoic memory. The teacher could promote mimics, gestures, etc. associated to the meaning to make children play a participative role freely.
12. A follow up could be that the learners make their own farm or individual groups come up to the front and sing.
Reflection on the Article “Hands-on” or “Head-Trip”….. How do you learn best? by Susan. L. Colantuono
(817 words)
Having read Susan L. Colantuono’s “Hands-on” or “Head-Trip”: How Do You Learn Best?, this reflection examines the relationship between the article’s discussion of learning and an experience I had during my SIT TESOL course. Colantuono’s article explores different approaches to learning and presents a four-stage learning process through which learners can experience, reflect upon, conceptualise, and subsequently apply their learning in new situations. I found that a German language lesson delivered by one of my SIT instructors provided a useful example of this learning process in practice.
Today was the first day of my SIT TESOL course, during which our class participated in two German language lessons. During the first lesson, I felt that I was not contributing sufficiently and questioned my level of intellectual engagement. My initial impression was that the lesson felt somewhat flat and lacked the interest, emotion, and excitement that I personally associate with an effective learning experience. However, when I heard the responses of other members of the class, I realised that their perceptions were quite different. Several people described the lesson as amusing and enjoyable. This contrast in perspectives prompted me to consider how differently individuals can respond to the same learning experience, which corresponds with Colantuono’s discussion of different approaches to learning.
Initially, I felt somewhat isolated by the difference between my response and those of my classmates. When another SIT instructor invited us to reflect on the lesson, I commented that I felt “the language learning experience is a long road.” In retrospect, I recognise that this was a relatively negative interpretation of the experience. Although my response was a genuine reflection of how I felt at the time, listening to the more positive reactions of my peers encouraged me to reconsider my own attitude and expectations.
The second German lesson provided an opportunity to apply this reflection. I felt more engaged and involved in the learning process. I wrote more extensively in my notebook, practised more both independently and with my partner, and listened with greater concentration. I also noticed that I was able to use some of the language and materials introduced during the first lesson. This suggested to me that the initial experience had not been unsuccessful; rather, I had perhaps not engaged with it as effectively as I could have. By reflecting on my experience, I began to consider how I could approach the subsequent lesson differently.
Colantuono’s four stages of learning provide a useful framework for understanding this process. The first stage, “concrete experience,” can be understood as my direct participation in the first German lesson. I experienced the lesson without initially analysing my response to it in depth. The second stage, “observation and reflection,” occurred when I considered why I had not gained as much from the lesson as I had expected. I began to question whether my lack of enthusiasm had influenced my perception of the experience.
The third stage, “abstract concepts,” encouraged me to consider possible explanations for my response. Was my reaction primarily related to my own attitude and expectations, or were there aspects of the teaching approach that contributed to my lack of engagement? For example, I considered whether the repetition used by the instructor had affected my enjoyment of the lesson. However, rather than attributing my response entirely to the teacher, I recognised that my own attitude was also an important factor.
The fourth stage, “concepts in new situations,” became particularly relevant when I listened to other members of the class describe the same lesson as enjoyable and amusing. Their responses challenged my initial interpretation and encouraged me to consider changing my approach to the next lesson. From this reflection, I developed what could be understood as a hypothesis for my subsequent learning: if I approached the next lesson with greater concentration, participation, and openness, I might have a more positive and productive learning experience. My experience in the second lesson suggested that this hypothesis had some validity.
This experience has demonstrated to me that learning is not solely determined by the content or delivery of a lesson. The learner’s attitude, expectations, level of engagement, and willingness to reflect can also influence the learning experience. While teaching methods are undoubtedly important, learners have a degree of responsibility for how they respond to and engage with those methods.
Overall, reading Colantuono’s article has encouraged me to view my experience more critically and constructively. Rather than simply deciding that a lesson was ineffective or attributing my response entirely to the instructor, I was able to step back, reflect on my experience, consider alternative explanations, and adapt my approach. This process of reflection enabled me to enter the second lesson with greater focus and engagement. For me, this illustrates the value of reflective practice in learning: an experience that initially appears negative can become a valuable opportunity for learning when it is examined critically and used to inform future practice.
Teaching Young Learners – Games and Puzzles
TASK
Choose a language item from the list below and design a simple lesson plan using one of the games to teach/practice the item.
Student Vocabulary Game
Number of players: 2-6
Age: 6+
Materials: A score/category sheet per group, a deck of alphabet cards and a pencil
Object of the game: To name objects beginning with the chosen alphabet card and to be the first person to get rid of his/her alphabet cards.
| Player name: |
| 1, Toys: |
| 2. Fruits and Vegetables: |
| 3. The Classroom: |
| 4. Things in the home: |
| 5. The Body: |
| 6. Boy’s and Girl’s Names: |
| 7. Sports and Hobbies |
| 8. Animals/Pets |
| Score: |
1) A Student shuffles the cards and deals 5 alphabet cards. The cards are laid face down in front of each player.
2) The remaining alphabet cards are laid face down on the table in front of the group.
3) Alternate people start but the first player to the dealer’s left starts play by turning over their alphabet card, and then naming something from the first category on the sheet beginning with his letter. Once the learner has said a word they must write it on their sheet. Their go is over.
4) They have 10 seconds to think of an answer, if they do not have an answer in the allotted time they must pick up an extra card from the middle of the table and place it face down in front of them. Their go is over.
5) Each student takes turns to turn an alphabet card from their pile and naming an item in the first category. Examples are not allowed to be repeated.
6) The round ends when someone has picked up all their cards and named something from the category each time.
7) The other students must add up how many remaining cards they have, and write that number on their score sheet, e.g. 3 cards remaining = 3 points
8) The process is repeated with the person to the left of the dealer being the new dealer and the person to their left starting the new game. The game continues with objects from the second category.
9) The games continue until all the 8 categories have been completed
10) The person with the lowest score is the winner.
Workshop Title: SWBAT (student will be able to..)
(471 words)
After the workshop, please take a few minutes to jot down any ideas, teaching tips or techniques, etc that were covered, and which you felt were useful to you. How was the content of the workshop relevant to the courses that you teach? What did you gain from attending this session?
The main point I got from this workshop was about having objectives in my lessons. If I do not have objectives, and objectives that I want the students to achieve the lesson does not really have a flow and a definite conclusion. Sometimes a teacher can go through the exercise book and feel they have achieved their quota of the language learning book but has not really focused on the students achieving a goal for that lesson which is to be using the vocabulary, grammar and language speaking associated with that lesson.
I think what I got from this workshop was to be more focused on the students’ needs, their use of English language and achieving goals. The workshop made me think more about the book I use. I recognized more how the Interchange book is structured into cycles. This is that the students have a snapshot, conversation, grammar focus, and listening to assist them with their learning and thus at the end of the cycle, it should give them a freer practice to make sure they can use their newly acquired English language.
For myself, I try to get as much as I can out of each English language lesson I teach. With the information I have been given by the workshop host, I see our team of teachers are finding their way to the end of a cycle. However, there may be a question about objectives being reached for each student. I think from what the workshop talked about is that teachers should try to focus more on students’ objectives. This is the acronym SWBATs. The crux of the workshop was Students Will Be Able To’.
I think SWBAT is a focal point for me. I should be able at the end of the cycle in the book as well as the end of each lesson be able to see and hear the students using the grammar and vocabulary which I have been teaching them, hopefully without major problems. I need to know that each student knew their objectives at the start, worked through the class and hopefully achieved them by the end.
To conclude, what I took from the workshop was that teachers should remember to focus on their objectives while giving students objectives, so in the end there is a purpose to the lesson and a feeling of achievement. Thus, all students will achieve their goal of ‘students will be able to’. and teacher will be asking each other, ‘what are your SWBATs for today’s class?
