Kids' World

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Next comes the introduction of new material. It could be vocabulary, dialogs, listening material, grammar or phonics. Whatever is introduced should always be introduced first orally, with books closed. Kids learning English in an EFL setting need to hear as much comprehensible English in class as possible, because they hear almost none outside of class. The teacher is the perfect source for a lot of this comprehensible English. Cards, stuffed animals, realia and role-play are all excellent ways to introduce material. Here are a few ways:

All In Order (Vocabulary)

Give each student a different review picture or word card. Name the cards in random order. students must stand up and make a line in the given order. Name the cards again, faster and in a different order. In large classes, use eight to ten cards each time. The rest of the class is the 'jury' and decides whether the order is correct.

In The Dark (Phonics)

Place objects beginning with target letters on the table. Blindfold a student. Say a letter or sound (not a word). The blindfolded student tries to find an object on the table beginning with that letter or sound.

Behind Your Back(Grammar)

A student stands up with his hands behind his back. Place an object in his hands and ask What's this? The student responds with 'It's a ___.' If he is correct, he sits down. If not, he continues guessing until he correctly identifies the object.

After the new material is introduced is the ideal time for kids to open their books, see the material in another context, and listen to the classroom tape. However, they must always remain involved – kids don't just sit still and listen for very long. Even the first time they open their books to a new page and hear the new tape section, we ask them to point to the vocabulary items, or the characters speaking the dialogs, or the pictures of kids doing things. Sometimes we ask them to repeat, or check boxes, or circle an item. Simple activities that keep the involvement at a high level.

After the practice is finished, it's a good time to introduce songs or chants. The kids have been using the left side of their brains – working logically with language. Right-brain activity is a good change. It's hard to find songs that fit well with what EFL kids know. Songs written for native-speaking kids usually have vocabulary and structures that are much too difficult. For instance, here's a favorite of native-English-speaking 4-year-olds:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

'Fetch'? 'Crown'? Not exactly the vocabulary in most beginning EFL texts. 'Came tumbling after'? 'Went to fetch'? This isn't beginning-level grammar, either! Nursery rhymes and campfire songs have rhythm and rhyme that make them fun to listen to, but for singing practice, kids need songs they can understand. They also need simple familiar melodies that follow the words closely. SuperKids has two carefully written songs in every unit that follow these guidelines.

After you do a song or chant, it's time to assign homework. The best homework reinforces what was taught in the class. And it's geared to the correct level. Kids in their first stages of learning English can't read. They can't write words. They don't even know yet how to correctly form letters. We can't expect them to do these things for homework until after we've taught it in class. If your class is based on oral, communicative language and lots of listening input, your homework should be the same. Plus, kids have to know, before they leave the classroom, exactly how to do the homework. In SuperKids, we've based the Activity Book on listening. Almost every page of the book uses the cassette to do creative activities that help kids succeed. Also built-in is At school and At home sections on every page, so the homework activity can be demonstrated in school, then the demonstration listened to one more time at home before the kids try it for themselves.

What's left? The wrap-up. An enjoyable activity that finishes the lesson and sends the kids home feeling good about learning English. It might consolidate what was learned in class, or offer an opportunity to use the material in a slightly different way, or bring back material learned earlier. Whatever is done, it's meant to be fun and spirit-lifting, so kids want to come back next time. Need an idea? How about:

Picasso

Choose five to ten cards of words to be reviewed. Divide students into two teams standing in two lines. Show the same card to the first student of each team. Both students run to the board and draw that item. Their team tries to guess the item. The first team to guess correctly is awarded a point. The team with the most points wins.

So that's the lesson plan. I've suggested lots of different activities to fill it, as well as curriculum ideas for what to teach. Let's just summarize those. Kids need to learn:

Vocabulary Useful, functional dialogs Listening Simple grammar Phonics (including alphabet, reading and writing) Culture

If you use SuperKids, you have it easy. The basic lesson plan is used throughout the Teacher's Manual, the curriculum was carefully planned in step-by-step order so children readily understand what they're learning, and there are more activities on any one lesson plan than you can use in one class – which gives you the freedom to choose those activities that work best for you and your class.

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Aleda Krause Aleda Krause has been teaching English for over 25 years. She holds an MA in Linguistics with specialization in TEFL, and has been dedicated to teaching children in Japan for the last 12 years. She is the co-author of SuperKids, one of the most popular children's courses in Japan, and Coordinator of the JALT Teaching Children SIG (Special Interest Group).

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