Currently I am teaching english in a school in Hong Kong. I teach once a week and the session is 50 mins.
MY main problem is that this certain class has 10 children, the youngest is two years olds and can't even hold a pencil correctly and the oldest is 4 years old who knows a little english.
I really don't want to split up the class if I don't have to.
What sort of activities can I do so the class is participating as a whole?
Newbie help! How do I deal with a class with ages rangeing f
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EFLwithlittleones
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2004 1:18 pm
Newbie help!
I see you posted in May so your children (if it is the same one) will have developed a bit by now.
This is not an easy situation and can be very frustrating because 2 year olds and 4 year olds are not usually interested in the same things, although toddlers will watch what 4 year olds do. If you have big picture book resources you can use them to focus attention. Pictures of animals especially will initiate responses to 'what's this?' and 'what's that?' which can then be extended to drawing and naming. I wouldn't put any more pressure than that on children to speak. You could also use puppets. Use a puppet regularly and it will begin to develop a character of its own which the children will soon pick up on. Little ones will often find it easier to listen and talk to the puppet than to the teacher.
Fill your classroom with pictures and English writing but change the content regularly. Give each child a big workbook you hand out and take back at the beginning of the session. Have a running commentary on what each child is doing. Don't worry if they don't say very much. If your lessons are stimulating enough and comprehensible you can be sure the children are taking in what's being said.
Change the tempo frequently from quiet through to noisy and still through to runaround. Pair and group the children for shared colouring activities and use your whiteboard like a big tv screen (brush up on your white board drawing skills if necessary ;o).
If the session is 50 minutes you should have at least 8 activities and possibly 10 ranging in length from just a couple of minutes to perhaps 10 minutes maximum. Make sure you have some fixed weekly activities so the children can conceptualise your lesson.
Roam around the net looking for ideas and be patient. If you're new to teaching it doesn't matter what class you have it will still take you at least a year to get your head round what you're actually doing!
This is not an easy situation and can be very frustrating because 2 year olds and 4 year olds are not usually interested in the same things, although toddlers will watch what 4 year olds do. If you have big picture book resources you can use them to focus attention. Pictures of animals especially will initiate responses to 'what's this?' and 'what's that?' which can then be extended to drawing and naming. I wouldn't put any more pressure than that on children to speak. You could also use puppets. Use a puppet regularly and it will begin to develop a character of its own which the children will soon pick up on. Little ones will often find it easier to listen and talk to the puppet than to the teacher.
Fill your classroom with pictures and English writing but change the content regularly. Give each child a big workbook you hand out and take back at the beginning of the session. Have a running commentary on what each child is doing. Don't worry if they don't say very much. If your lessons are stimulating enough and comprehensible you can be sure the children are taking in what's being said.
Change the tempo frequently from quiet through to noisy and still through to runaround. Pair and group the children for shared colouring activities and use your whiteboard like a big tv screen (brush up on your white board drawing skills if necessary ;o).
If the session is 50 minutes you should have at least 8 activities and possibly 10 ranging in length from just a couple of minutes to perhaps 10 minutes maximum. Make sure you have some fixed weekly activities so the children can conceptualise your lesson.
Roam around the net looking for ideas and be patient. If you're new to teaching it doesn't matter what class you have it will still take you at least a year to get your head round what you're actually doing!
Children love having responsibility. Get the four-year-olds to help the younger children, to work in groups. Children also seem to love getting positive attention from older children. Just be careful that the older children don`t stifle the younger children by making the younger children do things exactly as they say.
Damon
Damon