The very best way to get an understanding of what we do is to check out our youtube channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0XkhTuz0W3pIAE7zFGyUTA?view_as=subscriber
But I’d also like to write about how a normal class goes. So we arrive to the park at 4 with tablero (white board), easel and bag (that has markers, erasers, candies, balls, cards, etc). Sometimes kids show up right away, other times it takes a while. Sometimes only one kid comes, sometimes upwards of 10-15. We usually start class with “Hello how are you?”
We ask the kids for help writing the words like for example asking them “Como se dice hola en ingles?” Then they say hello and we ask “Como se dice como estas en ingles?” and we continue like that. Getting them to help think of the lyrics before they’re written out is a good way of triggering their memories and makes them think of the way the words sound instead of how they’re written (which I see as very valuable since English pronunciation is difficult based on how it’s written). After we have all the lyrics written out, we have them practice introducing themselves/asking their classmates how they are.
Person 1– “Hello how are you?
Person 2– “Hello my name is ______ and I’m _______” (they pick between good, great, wonderful, tired, hungry and not so good)
We have them pass a ball to each other as they ask. After everyone has asked and been asked, we sing (song includes motions for each emotion)! (Check out the youtube channel).
Then we go on to one of a variety of other activities. Recently, we started teaching “Row your boat”. This song has proved to be a good activity for them. It’s fun and we incorporate motions for each line. It’s great for practicing pronunciation specifically the rhotic r in English which is a totally different sound (r in row, r in merrily, r in stream, r in dream). We split them up into little groups and have them practice one of the lines then line them up and have each group sing their line. That has been effective at getting the kids to really master at least that one line. I’ve sung more “Row your boat” these couple weeks than in my whole life!
Another go-to song that has been a great teaching tool is “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes“. Similar to “Row Your Boat”, there’s a Spanish version of this song “Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas, Pies”. This is helpful because they already are familiar with the tune and rhythm as well as the body parts. We always try to stay away from translations since learning a new word with the image or meaning is better than learning it as a translation in your native language but still the familiarity makes it easier to learn. This song is great because it gets us all moving, we create challenges to see if we can do it faster and the kids learn body parts and pronunciation!!! Some of the sounds we are most often working on because they are challenging for the kids are the “-th” in mouth (which they often do a sound that is closer to an s so it sounds like “mouse”), the “sh” in shoulders (they often say CHoulders) and the “r” in ear)
After these songs we will probably go to the all time favorite game….. the one you’ve all been waiting to hear about……
TEACHER SAYS!!!! This game is everyone’s favorite!!! As with all the activities we ask for their help every step of the way writing the words. “Como se dice profesor en ingles?” etc. We also have them practice the pronunciation as we go through each action. Common errors are pronouncing run like rrroooon with the spanish r and spanish u, pronouncing jump like hump and dance like dance-ay. Then one of us starts as the teacher. “Teacher says run” for example and eventually we get to double commands and even triple “Teacher says run, jump and fly”. We run all over the place and have so much fun. We are definitely a spectacle 🙂 The kids LOVE this game and it really helps the words stick because they’re acting them out the whole time. We also let the kids BE the teachers!!! We have some videos of them being the teachers on our YouTube channel. It makes them feel proud and capable and there’s no better way to learn than to teach! It’s a great way to help them realize they are totally capable of communicating in English and it’s a low-pressure environment where they can shine. We help them when they pronounce things wrong but also give them freedom to make errors with no punishment. I totally recommend this game to any other language teachers!
Teacher Luna calling the shots!
We usually end class (if there’s time) with a numbers game. Once again practicing pronunciation as we write the numbers (one of the biggest mistakes is that they pronounce three like tree so we always practice taking the tongue out of the mouth and between the teeth to make the -th sound). We split the kids up into two teams and the numbers 1-10 are written on each side of the tablero and Christopher says a number and the kids have to erase it. We don’t do points because it makes them go crazy but there is still a sense of competition that motivates them. It’s a simple game but it’s actually effective and still hard for them. It’s good input hearing us correctly pronounce them but they are mostly taught English at school by teachers with thick Colombian accents so it’s like retraining them to understand the number in correct pronunciation. Another thing I’ve noticed is that they can often quickly count to 10 but distinguishing individually which number is which is much harder.
Thanks for learning about how we conduct our outdoor classes! I will write more as we add more songs and games and activities! And here is a pic of how the kids spoil me with love when we let them draw on the tablero <3 CUTIES!
