Mastering English Instruction for Young Learners: A Comprehensive Guide
Teaching English to young learners can be both rewarding and challenging. Their initial hesitation or intimidation towards learning a new language requires a delicate approach to ensure successful lessons. Here, we provide teachers with a comprehensive guide to teaching children and teenagers effectively.
Establishing Comfort and Success
Engendering a comfortable and conducive learning environment is crucial. Consider the following strategies:
Mind Your Language: Adapt your language to the child's level, utilizing repetition, rephrasing, and gestures to aid comprehension.
Use Visuals and Objects: Incorporate visual aids such as puppets or mascots to enhance understanding.
Contextualize Activities: Provide clear and relatable contexts for each activity, ensuring they resonate with the child's perspective.
Effective Correction Techniques
While corrections are integral to learning, employing appropriate techniques is essential:
Recasting and Reformulating: subtly correct errors by restating them correctly, without drawing explicit attention to the mistake.
Provide Constructive Feedback: Offer guidance and correction in a supportive manner, fostering confidence in the learner.
Clear Instructions and Guidance
Clarity in instructions is paramount to the success of activities
Break Down Instructions: Divide instructions into manageable steps to facilitate understanding.
Demonstrate Through Examples: Model activities to illustrate expectations effectively.
Utilize Visual Aids: Incorporate visuals and objects to reinforce comprehension and engagement.
Scaffolding Learning
Supporting young learners through the learning process is essential:
Review Language Concepts: Recap language points relevant to the activity or topic.
Provide Supportive Tools: Offer sentence starters, speech bubbles, or visual aids to scaffold their learning.
Ensure Understanding: Regularly check for comprehension to address any gaps in understanding.
Cultivating a Positive Atmosphere
Fostering a positive and supportive atmosphere is key to engagement:
Create a Friendly Environment: Establish rapport with students to cultivate a welcoming learning space.
Encourage Participation: Motivate learners to engage actively by fostering a sense of enthusiasm and enjoyment.
Proactive Engagement Strategies
Recognizing and addressing attention spans is vital for sustained engagement:
Incorporate Movement: Integrate short movement breaks to re-energize and refocus students during lessons.
Encourage Physical Activity: Utilize simple physical tasks to invigorate and maintain student attention.
Conclusion:
Teaching English to young learners requires a nuanced approach that balances linguistic instruction with emotional support and engagement strategies. By implementing these multifaceted techniques, educators can foster an environment conducive to effective language acquisition and student growth.
How to use and open Oxford books eg. Bright Ideas 1?
Are you ready to dive into the world of Oxford books (which are listed at the end of the article including grades children are in) like Bright Ideas 1? Follow these straightforward steps to access and utilize these valuable resources effectively:
Finding the Resources:
Navigate to the Course Profile: Locate the course profile with Bright Ideas 1 book.
Open Materials: Within the course profile, find the "Open Materials" button. Clicking this button will open a new tab on your browser. (number 1 in the screenshot below)
Automatic Access: Access to the materials is granted automatically 15 minutes before your scheduled class time. However, if you wish to access the materials earlier, click "Open Materials" and then "Request Access." (screenshot below)
Sign In: Use the credentials provided under the "Open Materials" button to sign in to the website that opens in the new tab. (number 2 in the screenshot)
Submit the credentials from the course view and click sign in (number 3 in the screenshot below)
Opening the E-Book:
Dashboard: Once signed in, you'll see a dashboard. Click on the "Learn" tab to access the book, then select "Gold B2 First New Edition Reader+." (number 4 in the screenshot below)
Bookshelf: You'll be directed to the bookshelf, where you'll find the coursebook. Click on it to open the materials. (number 5 in the screenshot below)
Using the Interactive E-Book:
The e-book is interactive, with embedded audio and video files. Explore the various tools available, and adjust page display settings as needed. Start to share the screen to show the book to a student. The best way is to share a tab only. Make sure you share with sound so a student can hear the audio.
You can also use the tools available such as zoom in or out, draw, highlight, and more (screenshot below)
β Before closing the e-book, erase everything that you have drawn, written, or highlighted. Then sign out from the account. This way youβll leave the e-book ready for the next lesson. β
Clearing the book
To erase each page with just three clicks, follow these steps:
Click on the "Draw & Highlighting" tool.
Then, click the bin icon to erase all handwritten, drawn, or highlighted content.
Finally, click the "Clear answers" icon to remove all typed or marked content.
Once everything has been erased, you can close the e-book by clicking the "Save and" button.
Signing out
To sign out click on the icon in the right upper side (number 1 in the screenshot below) then move down to the button 'sign out' (number 2 in the screenshot)
β It's crucial to sign out each time to let other teachers use the book to conduct their lessons β
Thanks to these steps, accessing and leveraging Oxford books like Bright Ideas 1 becomes a seamless and enriching experience. Unlock the full potential of these resources to create engaging and effective learning environments for your students. Happy teaching! ππ
Technical issues with the book
To overcome the issues please click the button below. The section 'Technical issues with Oxford and Pearson Books' will be displayed on your screen.
Additional materials for non-adults
ESL resources for kids and teens
Preschool Children under 7
For these young learners, incorporating movement, gestures, and interactive activities is essential to keeping them engaged. Here are some effective strategies:
Utilize Total Physical Response (TPR) methods to engage children through movement and body language.
Introduce educational songs from reputable sources like Super Simple Songs and English Singsing on YouTube.
Incorporate educational games such as those available on ESL Games+ and Games to Learn English platforms.
Utilize flashcards for vocabulary reinforcement, accessible through resources like ESL-Kids Flashcards and Anglomaniacy.
Ensure a safe online search experience by using kid-friendly search engines like kiddle.co
Seek inspiration and resources from educational blogs like "Head Full of Ideas" for lesson ideas and materials.
Maintain a positive and welcoming demeanor as children learn best from those they feel comfortable with.
Foster collaboration with parents by informing them of lesson goals and providing tips for supporting their child's learning at home.
School children between 7 and 14
Engaging school-age children requires incorporating fun and interactive activities into lessons. Here's how to effectively teach this age group:
Continue to incorporate movement and interactive elements like games and activities into lessons.
Utilize resources such as ESL Games+, Games to Learn English, and British Council Games for engaging learning experiences.
Provide interactive exercises and grammar activities from platforms like the British Council Grammar, Cambridge English, and English for Kids.
Access lesson plans and worksheets from resources like ESL Kids Stuff, BBC Teach, and Twinkl to supplement instruction.
Teens and young adults between 15 and 20
Teaching teenagers and young adults requires understanding their unique needs and preferences. Here are strategies to effectively engage this age group:
Speak to teens as adults while acknowledging their developmental stage.
Show appreciation for their efforts and encourage self-expression.
Offer varied activities and exercises to maintain engagement.
Provide concise explanations and avoid overly simplistic tasks.
Understand the teenage brain and foster a growth mindset in learning.
Access lesson plans and resources tailored for teens from platforms like the British Council and Busy Teacher.
Utilize educational YouTube channels such as Learn English Teens, Let's Talk, Ted-Ed Student Talks, and Real English supplementary materials.
Incorporate interactive exercises from resources like Perfect English Grammar and Agenda Web.
Interactive exercises, e.g. Perfect English Grammar, Agenda Web, ESL Lounge
Description of level and books used in teaching young learners
As teachers, accessing appropriate resources is essential for crafting engaging and effective English lessons. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the resources available at Fluentbe, offering valuable guidance for selecting materials suited to various course types and student levels.
For Kids (A1-A2)
A1 Level:
Coursebook: Bright Ideas 1, 2
A2 Level:
Coursebook: Bright Ideas 3, 4
For Teens (A1-B2)
A1 Level:
Coursebook: Oxford Discover 1
Supplementary Resource: Metro Starter or 1 (11 yo+)
A2 Level:
Coursebook: Oxford Discover 2, 3
Supplementary Resource: Metro 2 (11 yo+)
B1 Level:
Coursebook: Oxford Discover 4, 5
Supplementary Resource: Metro 3 (11 yo+)
B2 Level:
Coursebook: Oxford Discover 6
For Young Adults (A0-C2)
A0 Level:
Coursebook: Headway 5ed Beginner
A1 Level:
Coursebook: Headway 5ed Elementary
A2 Level:
Coursebook: Headway 5ed Pre-intermediate
B1 Level:
Coursebook: Headway 5ed Intermediate
B2 Level:
Coursebook: Headway 5ed Upper-intermediate
C1 Level:
Coursebook: Headway 5ed Advanced
β Students have the option to purchase digital or paper copies of coursebooks, they need to contact the office via mail at [email protected]. Note that the "Metro" series is not suitable for children under 11 years old. β