Very Young English Learners

Beginning writing and reading

PaedDr. Dana Mašínová

aj.damas@gmail.com

Children are playful

try to turn

the language into a big game

are curious use guessing

activities, puzzles and riddles

are creativelet them make

things are agile

let them move, mime, gesture, do exercises

are competitive do simple activities

'who will first...', relays

have short attention span

often change activities,

make them short

Children like

games drama

pictures and toyssupport every activity with pictures and real objects

what is familiarthey feel secure /what may seem boring or repetitive to adults

is not necessarily the case for children

stories

rhythmrhymes, jazz chants and songs

The activities must be

nunyfvilely

mispel

apablteda

alobejeny

+ quick to prepare

+ easy to use

often change short

activitiesgive simple instructions

let the children touch and feel

let the children move a lot

speak slowly and clearly

be visual,use real objects,

pictures, toys

be positive, smileTeacher should

use puppets

Writing and reading in English

extremely difficult, especially for dyslexic children

make it a game and fun

do not stress the children

start slowly, do not ´push´ the children

start with letters and sounds words sentences context /stories/

Pass the ball

Make a circle, pass the ball and say your name /use the puppet, write the phrases on the board/

Hello!/Good Morning!What’s your name?How are you?

Roll the ballSit in a circle, roll the ball, then say the rhyme and clap your hands:

Puppet has the ballPuppet has the ballHey ho round we goPuppet has the ball.

The puppet rolls the ball, asks ‘What’s your name?’ – ‘Hello, Jane!’ Jane stands in the middle of the circle and holds the ball, all the children say the rhyme ‘Jane has the ball…’, Jane rolls the ball to another child and so onContinue until everyone in the class has had the ball

Alphabet games

NO

DE

HI

JKLM

FG

BCTUV

RS

PQ

WXYZ AClock

3

12

9

6TRAIN = 9,35

Jumbled letters

Find the words:

o l o h s c = _ _ _ _ _

o n i l= _ _ _ _

e n p= _ _ _

r h e e t = _ _ _ _ _

n t

a

cr i

a

t

d o

g

ap

ln

e

mirror

tv

cupboard

shelfbath

desk

lamp

bed

fridge

cooker

chairtableSpinner

Names

Sit in a circle

Put letters in a bag

Pass the bag around the circle

Ch draw a letter from the bag

Think of a name for the letter, e.g.Jim,the Jaguar from Japan

Helen,the Hedgehog from Holland

Each Ch has a letter and writes down the name for it

Decoding messages

make a code poster (Ch dictate you the alphabet, write it on the board, write a number under each letter – random)

Ch write simple coded messages

stick the messages on the poster

read the other messages

Alphabet games

alphabetical clock (first letter-short hand, last letter-long hand)

put the words in the alphabetical order

match pictures with the letters

T shows a letter,Ch say a word beginning with it

Kim’s games

Show some words or a list of numbers/letters, then:

turn them face down

cover them with a scarf

remove some of them

Ch say them/write them

Ch write what is missing

scooter

girl

towel

bathroom

morning

mouse

book

rubber

Teddy bear

fridge

Point to/Show me/Run toCH sit in a circle and point to the words the T saysCH mingle around, play some music, stop it, CH read the word that is near themCh have cards with words and hold them up as T says themCh run to the words that are around the classroom as T says them

book

teacher

treechair

flower

schoolstreet

sun

bedroom

housedesk

Bingo

Each CH/pair has a card with 6 pictures

The words for the pictures are in a pile in the middle

CH collect the 6 words matching their pictures

Relay race – Run and grab

two teams

put some FC with words on the board/floor/desk

T shows a picture

CH run to grab/touch the word

the first wins a point for their team

lion doll

train

desk

school

house

cupboard

Grab the word Children sit in a circle

Put some flashcards with words in the middle

T calls out the word, the first Ch to touch the right FC keeps it until the end of the game

The child with the most FC wins

CAMEL

MONKEY

KANGAROO

HIPPO

SNAKE

ELEPHANT

LION

Cross out the wordWrite some words on the board

Ch get into two teams

A Ch from each team comes to the board

T calls a word/shows a picture

The first Ch to cross the word gets a point for his/her team

BIKE

kitchenPLANE

picture

window

com

pute

r

MIRRORgarden

glass

Chinese whisper

2 teams

T shows a picture FC/word/sentence to the first Ch

they pass it on orally

the last Ch finds it

/holds,reads,writes it/

create a sentence/story with older children

Words and numbers

1 ship 6 tram2 lorry 7 bus3 plane 8 train4 bike 9 taxi5 car 10 boat

Odd one out

neck arm cup shoulderplate trousers shirt skirtchair desk cupboard car cinema rice meat breadfeet child teeth people

Three chairstwo teams

Three chairs with signs /categories – vocabulary/

T shows FC with a word

the first Ch in teams run and sit on the right chair

PLACES CLOTHES FOOD

Categories

Large pictures/signs for several categories

Ch put words to right places

Ch put away toys,food,clothes:

HOUSE TOYSHOPSCHOOL FARM ZOO

toybox

tablecupboard

HangmanThink of a word

Write dashes on the board to represent each letter

Ch try to guess the letters

For each wrong guess draw one part of a person hanging from gallows

They can guess the word, but if they are wrong,another line is added to the figure

The winner thinks of the next word

Vocabulary squaresCh have to find words hidden among other letters

Make a grid and write words in it (horizontally, vertically, diagonally, from right to left or bottom to top)

The words should be on the same theme

(Make a copy), then fill in the other letters

You can make it more or less difficult according to the clues you give the Ch:

words

topic

pictures

written definitions

Word chainsWrite a ´starter´word on the board

In teams, the Ch také turns to add a word to either end, as follows:

4 1

KISSTOPLAYELLOW 3 2

Words from words

Write a long word on the board

Ch see how many words they can make, using only the letters in the word

GRANDMOTHER

and, red, hot, her, hand….

Guessing games

There's something

in the box!

What is it?

GUESS!

'Bag, oh, bag,

shake, shake, shake,

Bag, oh, bag,

what can I take?'

Pass the box/bag

CH sit in a circle and pass a box/bag filled with cards each Ch takes out a card or play some music, stop it - a CH who has the box/bag takes out a card

• words to revise vocabulary• letters to practise spelling• numbers /Ch read the word from the board/• words to spell /the others guess the word/• tasks to do

Plasticine each CH gets a piece of plasticine, rolls it and follows the instructions:make a snake, coil it up and make a letter of the alphabetCH get into groups and spell a word /each CH one letter /'decide on letters you need for your word´/one, stand, leg, onCH form the words on a piece of paper, put the words together and read a secret message together

Writing gamesPyramid /form a pyramid of words all beginning with the same letter/

Getting dressed (guided written work)

CH throw the dice and then write: I've got a red shirt.

Team writing:write everything in the classroom that 's red/blue…

do the puzzle, then write what you can see in the picture

1 jumper 1 red

2 shirt 2 green

3 t-shirt 3 yellow

4 socks 4 orange

5 trousers 5 white

6 hat 6 bluea

a n

a r e

a b l e

a c t o r

be- - -

- - - -- - - - -

- - - - - -

Grids/charts/tables

A B C

1 moth bug bumblebee

2 tick cocroach mosquito

3 cricket ant flea

What's B2?

Spell a word – CH guess/find it

Can you spell number C3?

What can you see in the garden/street/sky

Birthday presents

CH draw a picture + write the word, then put it in an envelopeCH get into pairs (they form two circles, outer and inner, play music, stop)'Here comes the postman' they say each other in the pairsopen your present: 'Do you like your present?'

From letters to words

From letters to words

letter FC around the classroom: Ch run/point to themCh hold up the letter as they hear themword building /26 letter tiles/ memory games /15 letters, cover them with a scarf, Ch write them down, then Ch write a word to each letter/Matching: letter/word – pictureboard games /CH read the letter/word and move on/alphabet maze

From letters to wordsspelling dictation/spelling race /relay in 2 teams-say a word, Ch take turns to write the letters on the boardPictures/posters:ABC,I can see something beginning with the letter b, c, m, … Three chairs /two teams, FC with words/ - vocab. Bingo/Domino/Pelmanism/Happy families/Chinese whisper Wordsearch/Categories/Hangman/Running dictationjumbled letters

From words to sentences

From words to sentences

ordering words to make a sentence

jumbled words /cut sentence

words in a box – CH make a sentence

picture pelmanism • sentences with gaps• English – Czech sentences• sentences - pictures

spelling the words to form sentences and read the message /advent calendar/

From sentences to storiesMixed up story

each CH gets a sentence from the story

listen to the story and put the sentences in order

line up in the order of the story, read it

mime the story

skeleton text

reconstructing by first letters

jumbled sentences

text with mistakes

match sentences and pictures

Puzzle /cut story/

memory games

true–false sentences

Picture stories

story in pictures with simple text on the back

each Ch has a picture with the text

Ch read the text and line up in the order of the story

Songs, rhymes

Listen to the song and order the words order the lines put the verses in the right order

Listen and fill in the gaps

Listen and choose/circle the right words

Change the words in the song

Bingo

BINGO

There was a farmer, had a dog,

And Bingo was its name, O!

BINGO, BINGO, BINGO,

And Bingo was its name, O!

a doctor, a baker, a driver,

a singer

mouse,frog,horse,snake,friend

Dingo, Muffo, Carla, Mickey

Jazz Chants, Carolyn Graham

Who has the keys? What keys?

My keys. I thought you had them.

I gave them to you. Who has the tickets?

What tickets? Our tickets.

I thought you had them. I gave them to you.

Who has the money? What money?

My money. I thought you had it.

I gave it to you.

Jazz Chants, Small TalkSalt and pepper.

Salt and pepper.

Please pass the pepper.

Please pass the salt.

Pass the salt and pepper, please.

Please pass the pepper.

Please pass the salt.

 

Salt and pepper.

Bread and butter.

Pass the bread and butter, please.

Please pass the bread.

Please pass the butter.

Please pass the pepper.

Please pass the salt.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a lot for everything.

Don't mention it.

I was happy to do it.

Thanks a million.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a lot for everything.

You're welcome.

I was happy to do it.

Thanks a million.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a million.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a million.

Thanks a lot.

You're welcome.

I was happy to do it.

Where to get materialsPrimary Resource Books for Teachers: Young Learners (OUP)

Jazz Chants, Carolyn Graham (OUP)

Oxford Basics for Children

Primary boxes, Cambridge

Do and Understand (G.Gerngross,H.Puchta), Longman

Time for a rhyme, Knižní klub

www.onestopenglish.com

www.macmillan.cz

www.oup.com/elt

www.cambridge.org/elt/resources/young/

www.mes-english.com

www.bogglesworldesl.com

www.-britishcouncil.org/kids

Heinemann

Giving orders to the class

everybody stand up

come up and sit on the carpet

come and stand round the board

everyone come out here to the front

clear everything up nicely

line up - one behind the other

line up quietly by the door

here we go …

Praise and encourage all the children a lot!

Thank you!