Korean Job Discussion Forums

[philinkorea]

hi there
i'm teaching 5-14 year olds. i'm trying to get some new ideas for particularly the older students who study level of lets go 5, around here. at the moment we play scrabble, occasionally pictionary. and they like drawing but not anything really english related to it. i wondered if there was maybe a good activity book or some other game ideas someone could recommend
thanks a lot
phil

[ajuma]

Word Up is great. You can use it for a lot of levels (even mixed). And check out internet sites. It's amazing what's out there! I even found a way to explain "borrow" and "lend"!!!

[some waygug-in]

I suggest that you get "Teaching English to Children in Asia" - by David Paul, published by Longman. It has 100 game ideas inside, and it also has suggestions to think about when you are designing your own lessons, games or improving on old games. But more importantly, it will challenge you to be a better teacher. It discusses the pros and cons of traditional approaches to language teaching, why they don't seem to work very well here and then offers some very useful and helpful suggestions for how to make your lessons more student centered.

I've only read the first 3 chapters, so far, and already it has helped me improve my teaching style, design a new game which can be improved and modified as the need arises and try to be more learner centered in my classes.

Get it, you'll be glad you did.
Cheers

[waggo]

I think youre missing the point with the drawing....you can really use sketching to help their listening skills,vocabulary and preposition knowledge.

Try getting them to listen to you describing a scene and sketching what they hear.Make the scene crazy and fun...for example

On the left of the picture is a big tree
Next to the tree is a cat
The cat is wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat
In between the cat and the tree is a small mouse
The mouse is bodybuilding....e.t.c

[tomato]

Hello, Phil!

Click on my Website link.
I hope it helps.

[Kanga]

some waygug-in
I've done a search of Longman's web site and also Amazon and can't find any mention of Teaching English to Children in Asia. Where did you get the book from and how much did it cost?
Kanga

[Catalina]

Hi,

Excuse me for jumping in on you some waygug-in. Kanga, I recently bought the book from a plcae called Little John's in Suwon - I think it was about 20 000W and you can always get the teacher's discount.

It really is a great book - it has helped me alot with teaching and definately with the games.

Now - if anyone knows a good book on dealing with the fickleness (aka insanity) of the wanjanim please let me know. I could use a "how to manual"....

Catalina

[some waygug-in]

I got my copy at English Plus, in their dictionary room, they have a section of books for career development. I have seen the book in Kim and Johnson's as well. I can't recall how much I paid, but I think it was less than 20,000 won.

If nothing else, you could try ordering it from Amazon, but that would be expensive. I don't know where you are in Korea, I'm in Busan and there are a lot of well-stocked EFL stores here. It's easy to find useful materials in Busan.

I'm sure there must be one or two good stores where you are that sell ESL/EFL books.

And if all else fails, check out the idea cookbook here on Dave's.
There are some great game ideas, as well as some not so great ones. You will have to look throught them and see what things could be useful to you in your situation.
I hope this helps
Cheers