Summer has always brought new life experiences into my professional life, however, the one which has just ended will definitely be remembered as a special one. I experienced something that you could recreate in your own classroom, especially during these first days of school, when children are starting to get acquainted with each other again or for the very first time.
If you've been following my blog, you'll know that during the month of July I usually run a summer camp in an outdoor environment with students not older than 6, where the main activities are games, songs, and crafts to help them learn some basic grammar and vocabulary. After this summer I can definitely say that little kids are easy to understand and work with; believe me, if they like the activity you have planned,
they'll do it but if they don't, they'll get distracted by anything more interesting, and that's all. Simple and easy to grab.
Unexpectedly, this time I ended up working with slightly older children: a group of 6/8 girls, aged 6 to 9 , who had already started developing their own personalities, which made them completely different from one another, and especially sensitive to impolite leadership attempts. They made it clear from the very first day that this Summer Camp had to be totally different.
First of all I pointed out how essential it was to be polite to each other so that nobody would get offended: I introduced the frequent use of 'please' and 'thank you' and reminded them to use suggestions and express opinions instead of giving orders. This way, instead of saying 'do this and that' they would use should, might or would; in other words, they were being forced to use grammar like never before.
But not only that! The icing on the cake was the ban on the word 'NO' in any form: a more understanding 'YES, BUT…' had to be used instead.
The second step focused on creating cooperation instead of competition by using team building games. Just by luck, I found a copy of "Silly Sports and Goofy Games", by Dr Spencer Kagan, on my overflowing bookcase, which was exactly what I needed. Over the following weeks we played games such as "Movement Chain", "Instamatic", "Detective", "Smile if You Love Me", and "Maze Walker", where the girls worked together to build a maze with their own stuff and all the leaves, rocks, sticks and pine needles they could find in the garden.
Furthermore, in order to encourage relationship skills and equal participation, every time an activity required splitting them into different teams, I made the groups by drawing from a bunch of popsicle sticks with their names on them; this way they couldn't complain about the group they ended up in, because, as I would tell them, 'the sticks rule'.
The third step was to begin each Monday by offering a selection of 3 or 4 week group projects, to choose from: a play, a dance show, the opening ceremony of the Olympics, etc. Each time the main goal was to sit together and decide who was going to do what, how to do it, who was going to wear this or that costume, how to arrange the stage, etc. without screaming, arguing or crying. Once everybody was happy with the decisions, I would participate in the process and add my own suggestions and ideas. They would work together on the project for the following 3 days until, on Friday, they would present it to the other groups.
It was awesome to witness the development of their relationships and the way they ended up working together, communicating politely, making decisions which would suit everybody, showing enthusiasm, rehearsing in the afternoons to come well prepared the next morning. The atmosphere was so friendly and engaging that even the shy ones or those who weren't feeling so confident ended up improving their English speaking skills which you can read about on my parents' comments page.
Oh! And the shows themselves were amazing!
As they say "Time flies when you're having fun!", and July has just flown away. I can't even believe it!
I had the opportunity to teach my own Summer Camp again in the same place as last year, with even more children aged 4 and 5.
This year we worked on holidays and I'm sure you've already guessed the topics: at the beach, under the sea and in the woods.
Let's start from the beginning: AT THE BEACH
First of all, I introduced the new vocabulary using this pack where you'll find flashcards and activities about beach items.
We played beach ball games and...
Simon Says at the Beach
Simon Says at the Beach is simply a game of Simon Says with beach theme movements like these.
Walk like a crab.
Snap like a lobster.
Swim like fish.
Roll your arms like a big wave.
Tip toe like you're walking on hot sand.
Dig in the sand.
Sand Bucket Bean Bag Toss: set up sand buckets and play a beanbag toss game.
What time is it Mr. Lifeguard?
This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to suit any
theme.
The children all line up against a wall or fence.
And one child, (Mr. Lifeguard) or the teacher faces away from the
children, a good distance away from the children.
The children yell, what time is it "Mr. Lifeguard",
Mr. Lifeguard answers 1 o'clock, and the children all take one step toward
Mr. Lifeguard.
The children yell again, what time is it "Mr. Lifeguard",
Mr. Lifeguard answers (fill in the blank) o'clock, and the children all
take same number of step toward Mr. Lifeguard.
This continues until all the children are very close to Mr. Lifeguard,
then Mr. Lifeguard will answer it's midnight, and chases the children back
to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Mr. Lifeguard
touches will be the new Mr. Lifeguard.
Beach Hide and Seek
Play the game the same as above, except hide the beach object. Then
tell the children individually whether they are "hot" or "cold" to the
relation of the object. Allow the other children to have a change to
hide the object, and tell children whether they are "hot or cold". It may be a good idea to discuss the meaning of hot and cold before you
play this game.
Beach Shape Fishing Game
Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of
the string. Cut and laminate many different colored, and sized beach
shapes from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip
to each shape. Spread the shapes on the floor and let your child try to
catch the shapes. Have them try to catch the red shape.. or the biggest
shape. For a twist, label the shapes with letters or numbers. Ask the
children to catch a specific shape, or ask them which shape they caught.
We sang these songs:
My Beach Ball Song
sung to "Mary had a Little Lamb"
Once I had a beach ball
a beach ball
a beach ball
Once I had a beach ball
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce
Beach Song
Tune: The Farmer in the DellSong - words by Laurie Patsalides
I'm walking to the beach; (Walk in place.)
I'm walking to the beach. (Walk in place.)
I think I'll find a shell in the sand. (Pretend to dig.)
I'm walking to the beach. (Walk in place.)
Repeat with different motions for physical activity (running, stomping or marching).
And every day the kids enjoyed a handicraft activity:
Sand Art
Allow
the children to glue sand to a piece of paper to create a beach scene.
Add white torn paper for clouds, colored torn paper for umbrellas.
Make your own Leis
Supply
the children with flower shapes, a hole punch and string. Have the
children punch a hole in the flowers and lace them onto the string for a
necklace.
Beach Towel
Have the children design their own beach towel with scraps of paper, ribbon, markers, crayons etc.
Beach Umbrella Art
Cut
out a beach umbrella shape and have your child decorate it with paint,
glitter, fabric, crayons, or whatever you can come up with.
Sunglasses Art
Cut out a sunglasses shape and have your child decorate it with paint, glitter, fabric, crayons, or whatever you can come up with.
I also showed them a book called "ToThe Beach!" written by Linda Ashman, which besides being a rhyming picture book, it is also really funny. The children couldn't stop saying "These people are crazy!"
Also read: IN THE WOODS and UNDER THE SEA
--> Quiero leer este post en español
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
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