Listening and Identifying Adapted from: Slattery, Mary and Willis, Jane (2004). English for Primary Teachers. OUP

Giving instructions in English Imagine students have just come into class on the first day. Do not look at the book and record yourself giving instructions to sit down and be quite in your best English. Use at least 5 sentences. Listen to the tape. What do you sound like? Practice the instructions on page 21 a few times and then record them. Listen to the tape. Do you sound better? Why do this exercise?

When students are listening and identifying they are: Practising their listening skill Trying to make sense of English words and phrases Developing their vocabulary Acquiring meaning and sound together

Useful tools for vocabulary development Wall charts and pictures. Cuisenaire rods or coloured blocks – – Food, clothes, toys, musical instruments (tambourine) and ?? Objects that students can draw or make from paper, plastic or other materials

Two stages to ‘listen and identify’ activities Talk to the students about the things you want them to learn and their names using examples. Ask the students to point to or show you the things when you name them. –You can do the opposite once they learn the names.

Grammatical Awareness Use pictures etc. to distinguish: –Singular and plural –Gender Younger children acquire a feeling for grammar unconsciously, while older students normally need to study it. Do not start teaching grammar too soon.

A positive approach to discipline We discussed this in the motivational strategies. Examples?

TPR Total Physical Response Tell the students what to do Use clear pronunciation and natural intonation Students understand by gestures or by doing actions Suggest some examples of TPR

Sports and hobbies topics for discussion Be sure to grade your questions (make them appropriate and challenging enough for each each level). Do not transfer incorrect English.

Miming Once students are familiar with the vocabulary used for a particular topic, you can introduce mime. –Be sure students understand when you describe what they have to mime. –Students then have to decide how to perform what you describe. –Give them time to think about this.

Value of Mime Eliciting responses from students. If students don’t know a word, they can also mime. Playing Charades html html

Miming to rhymes and chants Before students begin to say the words in rhymes and chants, the should understand roughly what they mean Listening and miming helps children understand when they are learning rhymes and chants Try using jazz chants

Jazz Chants Use short jazz chants as a fun way to practice stress and rhythm to help students and yourself to sound more natural. Jazz chants can also be used to focus on vocabulary and grammar. Try to do them from memory rather than using a script.