Summer Camp 2014: IN THE WOODS

I introduced the topic with a nature walk scavenger hunt to make the most of the fact that the classes were being taught in a garden with a lot of pine trees. Here you can download the list of things that the children had to find which you ca use to entertain them during your picnics.

There is a large number of books about woods and the animals that live there but my first pick was "Goldilocks". I showed the kids this video which is quite easy to follow for preschoolers who are attending bilingual schools and then we played several games such as 'Cops and Robbers' using the pictures in this pack.

We also tried to act the story out, we ate a lot of gummy bears and we made finger puppets… They loved it!

Another story we listened to, sang and acted out was "We are Going On a Bear Hunt". It's a good story for children who are learning English because it has a lot of basic sounds that aren't so common in other languages, so kids can practice some phonetics without even realizing.

After that, I scattered some colorful bear footprints around for the kids to run and look for.

A couple of other nice and entertaining stories that are set in woods with animal protagonists are: "I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen and "The Gruffalo" written by Julia Donaldson (video).

During our handicraft time, besides finger puppets, we reproduced a campfire, a porcupine (see pictures) and an owl to make the most of all the dry sticks, leaves and pine needles we were surrounded by.

Oh! By the way, if you're looking for a story about an owl, Kayleigh O'Mara has written and illustrated one that children will definitely find interesting.

Also read: UNDER THE SEA  and AT THE BEACH

Enjoy your summer!

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted. 

                                                   

     


--> Quiero leer este post en castellano

TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS: ERIC CARLE

Eric Carle's illustrated books are my favorite for teaching very young learners.

I own several of them and they've always been successfully welcomed by all of my students.

I'll try to briefly explain why they are so useful and engaging.

First of all, for the choice of the topics presented in his books. In fact, they perfectly suit very young learners' needs: numbers, animals, colors, food, body parts, days of the week etc. Just to start.

The repetition of the same structure is the second aspect I would certainly highlight. 

During those ages, from 3 to 5, constantly repeating terms and expressions is really important for students to assimilate new words, but, please, be careful!

When I mention the word repetition I'm not suggesting you always do 'the same activity'.

Keep in mind that children of those ages have a very attention span: a period of 10 minutes is the most time they can dedicate to someone or something.

This is the reason why you could actually present the same vocabulary during the whole hour but through 4/5 different activities!!! 

(Also consider a certain amount of time between one block and the other to re-arrange and organize the kids and the space, in order to not hurry and stress them).

That's what I mean with the term 'repetition' and that's what Eric Carle does in his books. He shows the same vocabulary set, for example, animals, but using different situations and landscapes. This way he fully achieves the difficult goal of involving our young learners.

Another aspect is, indeed, the quality of his collages/illustrations: I haven't seen one single child showing indifference once he is facing Carle's colorful and expressive characters.

Some of the titles I usually use:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cover

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR 

- adjectives

- numbers from 1 to 5

- food items

- colors

Do You Want to Be y Friend? Cover

DO YOU WANT TO BE MY FRIEND? (lovely guessing book)

- animals 

- sentence structure

- colors

1,2,3 To The Zoo Cover

1,2,3 TO THE ZOO

- numbers from 1 to 10

- animals

- colors

The Mixed-Up Chameleon

THE MIXED-UP CHAMELEON

- animals

- colors

- body parts

- sentence structure ' I wish I could…'

Brown Bear, What Do You See? Cover

BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR WHAT DO YOU SEE?

- animals

- sentence structure

- colors

Today is Monday Cover

TODAY IS MONDAY

- food

- animals

- days of the week

- colors

- song at the end of the book http://vimeo.com/23553723

From Head to Toe Cover

FROM HEAD TO TOE

- body parts

- verbs 

- sentence structure 'Can you…?
- an activity idea

Related activities and little handicraft are available on his official web:

ERIC CARLE'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE

   

I design series of activities based on a communicative method that will help children to practice the grammar they're learning at school.

Many ESL activities, I see, are nothing more than 'fill in the blank' exercises that only teach kids how to fill in blanks and miss the whole point of learning to speak and understand a new language.

It's much easier and more fun to learn by doing, and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll see valuable results. 

You can get my activities on my online store:

http://childreneslworksheets.bigcartel.com

 

Lucy dedicates a lot of time and love to thinking about and writing the posts she shares with all of you. Because she believes that a better teaching is the key for a better future. If you find any help, value or joy in this blog, please consider becoming a supporting reader. A donation, in any amount, will be gratefully accepted.