Friday, January 28, 2011

The "Be a ______" Game

by Eric

We teach a wide range of ages in our classes. A lot of students in our adult classes are in their teens or low 20s. Most of the students in our kids classes are 8-12. And then there's First Friends.

It's a class for kids just beginning their English study at our center. A big half of the kids are 7 or 8 and have learned some English at their Viet
namese school. The rest of the kids in this course are 4-6 and come in with almost no English background. I think the parents of these students want them to get a head start on learning English.

As you can imagine, it's challenging to hold the attention of this group
for more than a few minutes at a time. To deal with this, we change activities A LOT! We sing songs, do different activities with the flash cards, and when all else fails, I break out the coloring book pages.

Emma and Tommy are hard at work. Tom is always ready for a distraction...



It's cold outside (temps in the 60s)! But you can't color with gloves on!


A class I started with a few months ago is now wrapping up the first half of the book. The nice thing about this class is that they've had me as their teacher the whole time. (sometimes we have classes added/removed from our schedules in the middle of the course) So these students know the games I like to play and I don't need to re-explain the 'rules' every time. One of the games that's become a favorite is something I call the 'Be A ______' Game.

To play this game, we added actions to the various vocabulary words we've learned (A through I). In one version, I act out the words and they yell out what they think I'm doing. But the most fun is when I call out the word and they all act it out.

How fun is it, you ask? Check it out!


The 'Be A _______' Game



3 comments:

  1. Awe! It looks like they've learned a lot in the short time you've been there. Keep up the good work Sjaardas!

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  2. Oh what cuties! I love it! Horses that hop on one foot and insects that mug for close-ups in the camera!!! That is awesome. :)

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  3. I totally do this with the kindergarteners! so fun!

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