Teacher Discussion Forums

[hadar590]

Hi everyone

im a new teacher
I wanted to ask all of you one of the questions I ask myself about teaching Englsh.

How do you make it fun? How do you make the kids want to know onther language?

[Macavity]

42

[sagit]

hi! if you're teaching pre school kids use a lot of songs, plays. game activities. if we're talking about older kids you should try to find out what interests them and try to build the english lessons refering to that. good luck

[tHEhERETIC]

Use authentic materials where at all possible. My middle schoolers in Korea love their k-pop bands, so I found some old Backstreet Boys (I'm a fan) and introduced them. Same tropes, same kind of sound, but totally in English. They had a good laugh at their outfits, never quite knowing that I felt the same way about their idols.

Magazines of course, depending on your students' ability I'd aim for native-speaker magazines that are written for one grade lower than the one you're teaching. If you're teaching adults, look at gossip and fashion magazines as they tend to be written with lighter vocabulary than, say, Bloomberg. I know that's what I do when I have the time to refresh my French skills.

Setting up e-pals is a bit of work and I've never really followed through, but in theory that's another good way. However I did get a friend to write in-character as her stuffed animal and my elementary students enjoyed writing to the tiger.

[millerd]

I believe that the classroom must be engaging and exciting. To this end, I would seek to learn about my students' backgrounds and find those things in popular culture that will excite the students and begin conversation pieces. In some ways, it is like show and tell, or the use of realia. These material prompts help break the tension. The material prompts can be a poster, music, a popular television show.

D. Miller

[RozannaB]

I think that learning can be fun for students when they see the "big picture" to every activity in the classroom. Every lesson should be meaningful to students and relate to their own lives. I believe that even when the content of a certain lesson is "boring," showing enthusiasm, establishing rapport, and showing a genuine interest in your students will make all the difference! If they can relate to it, are able to set and meet their own goals to some extent, and see the point of each lesson/activity, it will make their experience in learning English more productive and fun. I think activities investigating and allowing the students to share why the students want to learn English will allow them to be more engaged in the classroom. Activities that encourage creativity, risk-taking, and students helping and working together may also help make it more fun. Intrinsic motivation is key