Artifact 2 -(“Læremiddelanalyse og/eller egen produktion af materialer”)
Activities:
Activity number one:
Activity number one is” Colour dictation” (Read, C. (2007) p.23). We would obviously have to practise the basic colours in the weeks leading up to this activity. This activity is quite easy to prepare, as the children only need items that are usually already in the classroom. The materials needed for this activity is paper with a copy of a line drawing of some kind and some crayons. The line drawing could, for instance, be of a house, a sun, some trees, some flowers, clouds, grass etc or it could be of a farm with animals and tractors etc alle depending on the theme the students are familiar with or perhaps are currently working on. The procedure is to hand out these line drawings and crayons. When everyone is ready we ( the teachers) say sentences like: "The big flower is red and the little flower is pink” and so on and so forth. The children then colour the drawing accordingly. When the drawings have been coloured in the children are asked to describe the house or the flower etc. The teacher can help them with questions like: What colour are the leaves on the tree?” etc.
The target group for this activity is students in year 1. The goal is to get the children to listen to the words and to practise their vocabulary while enhancing their spoken language as well. We have to take into consideration that this is the first year they are learning English, some students might need a lot of help from the teacher, others might be fully capable of doing this task to perfection. It is important to scaffold an activity like this correctly in order to challenge the students enough for them to learn something new and step out of their comfort zone. At the same time we have to support the students just enough so that they do not get bored or frustrated but to the point where they reach their individual zone of proximal development ( Gibbons, P. (2015) p.17).
After the drawings have been coloured in we would be taking a dialogic approach by making sure that there is interaction and a good dialogue between the teacher and the students still with high support from the teacher (Gibbons, P. ( 2015) p.32-34). It is important that the learning environment makes the students confident and keeps them curious and ready to take in new knowledge, hence the high level of support at this stage. We believe this activity would be a great way to work with vocabulary and to enhance their spoken language, because this is an activity which will be used after having learned about the colours. The vocabulary is new but not unseen to the children. It is an activity which demands that the children are taking an active role in their own learning. They are not just passive listeners, but they have to listen and comprehend and process what they heard. Furthermore the children have to describe the drawing themselves which encourages the children to use the new vocabulary orally as well as cognitively. As an extra added bonus, this activity is fun and creative as well.
Activity number two:
Activity number two is inspired by the “fan-n-pick” activity from “Vild Med Engelsk” (Center for undervisningsmidler, u.å.), but we have put our own twist to it by making it about farm animals. The age group in this activity is also for the pupils in year one.
This task is also easy to prepare as the pupils don't need any items such as pencil, paper etc. to complete the task.
The class starts with the teacher making a plan for this specific task and writing it on the board, so the pupils can always look back on how far along in the task they are and/or what the next task is.
The teacher writes:
“Today's task: Learn about farm animals.”
“What do we know about farm animals?”
“Which animals in the picture are farm animals?”
“What are the names of these farm animals?”
Video about the farm animals. “What sound does … make?”
“Can you remember the names of the farm animals?”
Task about farm animals.
“What did you learn today?”.
“What do we know about farm animals?”:
Talk in the classroom about what we know about farm animals and do we know the names of any farm animals. This way we start off by making sure what the pupils know about farm animals beforehand.
“Which animals in the picture are farm animals?”:
The pupils discuss what kind of animals are farm animals with the teacher by looking at a picture the teacher has put up on the screen. The picture shows loads of different animals, both farm animals, pets and animals that live in the jungle.
“What are the names of these farm animals?”:
A new picture of just farm animals comes up on the screen and now the pupils have to say the names of the animals. So the teacher points out an animal and asks out in the classroom what the name of the animal is. The teacher writes the answers on the screen next to the picture and leaves it on there so the children can go back later on in the task and read the names.
Video about the farm animals - “What sound does … make?”:
We then watch a short YouTube video about the farm animals. The video shows the animals and their names and sounds (Youtube, 2019).
The pupils have to imitate what the girl in the video says, when she says the names of the animals. Imitating and repeating words is very useful for the younger pupils as it supports them in learning to expand their vocabulary (Stæhr s. 169).
“Can you remember the names of the farm animals?”:
The teacher then goes back to task number 4, removes the pictures of the animals but leaves the names on the board. Then the teacher points out a name and asks what the name is. This way the teacher tries to get the children to remember the animals by letting them try to read out the name.
Task about farm animals:
The pupils then get a new task where they get in groups of three.
Each group gets two folders with cards in. The first set of cards are pictures of the farm animals, the other set are names of the animals. The group first has to lay out the cards with the names on. The names have to be facing upwards so they can see them all.
The cards with the pictures on have to lay downwards so they can’t see them.
Pupil number one has to say “I’m going to pick this card” and then picks a card with a picture and makes the sound of that particular animal that the card shows.
Pupil number two has to say the name of the animal out loud by saying “I think it is a …”
And pupil number three has to find the name that matches the sound, picture and name that pupil number two said and say “I found the name”.
When they get a pair with the right animal and name, they put it aside, switch roles and goes on to the next card. This goes on until all the pictures find a match with a name.
This task is good as it helps the pupils learn how to use communication strategies to expand their vocabulary by using the sentences to complete the task (Stæhr s. 169).
“What did you learn today?”:
The teacher will ask this question out in the classroom and will expect some of the pupils to answer it. If the pupils have difficulties with answering the question, the teacher will try to guide and help the pupils by using the teacher-guided reporting method. By using this method the teacher and the pupils will together collaboratively build up the answer that the pupil is trying to find. This can occur by the teacher providing scaffolds that for example implies asking additional questions and supporting it with a conversation and/or dialogue with the pupils about the question (Gibbons, P. ( 2015) p.34-35).
Goal for this activity:
The goal for this activity is to slowly expand the pupils vocabulary. It is still a very new language for the younger pupils and therefore it can be a good idea to use topics that the pupils are familiar with and which also can raise their interest. This way the pupils may become more motivated to participate in the class.
Activity number three:
The third activity is inspired by a classic scavenger hunt but since we are putting a twist on it, we present the scavenger hunt with the specific theme of colours. We call it the Color hunt. It can be an effective way to train the students' spoken language and vocabulary as it leverages the theme of colours to provide a contextual, interactive and engaging language learning experience. The theme also makes it more motivating for the students, since it is engaging and relatable for young learners, and hopefully will make the learning experience enjoyable.
The age group for this particular activity is also within the first year. The students are prepared for the activity by learning basic colours in the classes leading up to this specific activity. The materials needed for the activity are a list of colours which I will have prepared for them
List of colours:
Red
Blue
Green
Yellow
Orange
There will be used visual aids like coloured flash cards in order to help students associate the colour names with their respective shade/colours. The colours are introduced to the students in the beginning of the class and ensure that the colours align with the students’ current language proficiency. A brief pre-assessment and observation of the students language abilities helps us gauge their individual zone of proximal development ( Gibbons, P. (2015) ) and the range of tasks they can perform with support. Based on the results of the pre-assessment, the students will be grouped with varying language abilities together. Ideally, each group should have a mix of stronger and weaker language learners. This grouping helps create a zone for proximal development for each student within the group. Working in groups can also make it more comfortable, since the students can learn from their peers in a more low-pressure setting (Gibbons, P. (2015), s. 50)
The groups now go out wherever on school grounds to locate objects matching each specific colour on the list. F.ex the need to find something red, blue, etc. Once students find an object matching a specific colour, they must describe it using complete sentences. Encourage them to be as descriptive as possible. For example, "I found a red ball. It's round, small, and bouncy." Gibbons advocates for the integration of language and content. In this specific activity, language (the colour description) is integrated with content (object), allowing students to learn both language and content at the same time. (Gibbons, P. (2015), s. 208) The ability to describe objects by colour is a practical skill that students can apply in real-life situations. This adds a sense of relevance to the language learning process.
After the colour hunt is complete, the students are gathered and each group is given the opportunity to present what they found. They should describe using the colour names and adjectives. By the end of the class, we discuss together what we learned and found during the activity. The different objects are shown and we emphasize the colour names and the vocabulary used by the students when describing the objects. Students are encouraged to ask questions and make comments about their classmates’ findings.
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you are all doing well! Many of us teachers often face challenges of selecting the right materials to enhance spoken language and vocabulary skills in our educational or professional settings. Here are a few tips to guide you in selecting the most effective materials:
First of all, it's important to define your purpose and goals. When you have a clear objective, it will help narrow down your choices. When it comes to deciding on materials, consider options that are visually engaging and stimulating. That could be colourful illustrations, relatable themes and characters that resonates with the students. You should also consider prioritizing materials that encourage active participation; games, puzzles and interactive exercises.
It's important to remember the key to successful language acquisition in young learners lies in a combination of engaging materials, a supportive learning environment, and skilled educators. By carefully selecting materials that align with the principles, we can provide our students with a strong foundation in English.
Kommentarer
Send en kommentar