"Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

On Monday I start working with a 5 year old boy and a 6 year old girl, who are both Spanish. I have to speak entirely in English for the hour, but neither of them know any English yet. The girl knows colors/numbers/hi/bye and super basic things, but the boy can't read or write in Spanish yet.

It will be more of just an hour of coloring, listening to songs, doing crafts and stuff, and them being exposed to me speaking in English, but is anyone has specific ideas for things I can do, crafts, songs, etc. any help would be great!

Re: "Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

Hello,

You could show them a Disney DVD and have them repeat some of the funnier lines. One thing is for sure. You will get their attention. Seeing the action on the screen while hearning the words is good. Good luck!

Re: "Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

How about showing them the "Your Baby Can Read" video, although it is purposely good for baby I think it will work well for non-english speakers as well.

Re: "Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

Hello, over an hour of class looks like a long time for children that age! You may have to do a lot of playing.Children´s concentration span seems to be getting shorter and shorter. The Book "Bonanza" helped me greatly when I gave classes to children. If the kids can already use computers and there is one in the house, you could do some games online:I suggest English Club, the segment that is about games. (eg memory, pair matching,colours...) I could send you some more suggestions in the future
Good luck!

Re: "Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

Hello!

I actually teach 5-6 year old children for upwards of two hours a class. My suggestions are as follows:

Start the lesson with a simple warm-up- "Hello, how are you?" "I'm fine!" Use hand gestures when teaching new grammar. You won't have to speak in Spanish or any other language if you can mime it well enough. For instance, "I like pink." If your girl knows her colors, make "I" your pointer finger touching your nose, "like" hugging yourself, and then point at the object of the sentence.

Of course for a first lesson, grammar is too advanced. For the first lesson, I suggest a hopscotch made out of tape or chalk (if you have a sidewalk) that goes from 1-10. Kids that age love hopscotch, so they will want to do it several times.

Another activity is "I Spy Something ____". Use the basic colors (large color flashcards of just a block of red, orange, etc work best) and say "I spy something RED! Touch (motion touch by touching something briefly) RED!" Have the kids find something red in the room. During coloring time, you can drill the colors as well.

Good starter songs for 5-6 year old children are "BINGO" and obviously "ABCs". If you have access to a DVD player, you can burn videos off of Youtube for them to watch from users like this: BINGO from Super Simple Songs - YouTube

I don't usually recommend full length DVDs for several reasons. One, the vocabulary inside any given movie is mostly over the child's head, and two, the vocabulary that does stick is rarely educational. Lastly, as the teacher, I think it is important you remain fully engaged in the class, and making sure they get the most out of their lesson. My students only come to my class once a week for two hours- I usually give them only ten minutes of DVD time. Anything in excess of that is only for children who are unruly or on days where my voice is strained and/or I'm not feeling 100%.

An example outline for one of my kinder classes is as follows:

Unit 1 Daily Curriculum

5 min- Circle Time: Hello Song, How are you?
10 min- COLORS: Review and Colors Songs 1 & 2
10 min- SHAPES: Review and Shape Songs 1 & 2
5 min- Tea Time: Introduce A (Letter & Sound)

10 min- Phonics Worksheets (Color OR Write)
15 min- Craft: Butterfly Balloons- have children describe it
5 min- DVD: ABCs or something similar

5 min- Song: B-I-N-G-O
25 min- Games: London Bridges, Simon Says, Red Light-Green Light, etc
10 min- Story Time: Longer Book (There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed…)

10 min- Games: Student or Teacher Choice
10 min- Reinforcement of Target Language: "It is a/an ___" with plastic fruits
5 min- Educational Song
10 min- Phonics Practice or ABC practice with flashcards or ABC Chant Song
5 min- Story Time (simpler book, if there's time)

Unit Objectives

Vocabulary Target Language
red, orange, yellow, green, blue "It is a/an ______"
purple, pink, brown, circle, oval
square, rectangle, star, heart,
diamond, triangle


I've also attached an excel file with the original :)

Re: "Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

Hi there

Yes one can do a lot more than just crafts and generally speaking English.

Here is a story with lesson plan. This is just right for ages 4,5 and 6.

Stories for preschool ELL children

There are flashcards and a song to go with the story too, email here for details if you would like them, they are a free sample:

info@teachingenglishgames.com

All the best,
Shelley

Re: "Teaching" 5-6 year olds
 

Yes, I agree. You don't have to do arts and crafts.

Get yourself some flash cards, some good games and vary the lesson as much as possible.

I used to work on the 5 minute principal! Children get bored easily, so plan activities for 5 minutes. If they like them or seem interested, extend them a little. But have an arsenal of activities ready in case it takes a while to find one that they like!