A CHRISTMAS TALE TO WORK ON CLASS WITH CHILDREN …weib.caib.es/Recursos/festivals_through_stories/a_present_for_father_christmas/a... · ISBN: 978-84-692-5848-4 Edita: CEP Palma

ISBN: 978-84-692-5848-4 Edita: CEP Palma Dipòsit legal: PM- 2761-2009

A CHRISTMAS TALE TO WORK ON CLASS WITH

CHILDREN AGED 6, 7 OR 8.

TEXT BY AINA TRIAS ROCA

PICTURES BY JOSEP QUETGLAS CONTI

INFORMATIC SUPPORT: PERE DIETRICH

“ A PRESENT FOR FATHER CHRISTMAS “ ©TEXT: AINA TRIAS ROCA

©PICTURES:JOSEP QUETGLAS CONTI


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.- Objectives………………………………………………………….. 4 2.- Sequence…………………………………………………………... 4 3.- Treatment of the basic competences………………………….... 5 4.- Contents and activities divided into sessions…………………... 6 4.1.- Introduction…………………………………………………... 6 4.2.- Session One…………………………………………………. 7 4.3.- Session Two………………………………………………… 10 4.4.- Session Three………………………………………………. 13 4.5.- Session Four………………………………………………... 16 4.6.- Session Five………………………………………………… 20 5.- Evaluation………………………………………………………….. 22 6.- Diversity in the classroom………………………………………... 23




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1. O B J E C T I V E S

The students will be able to: 1.- Act out the story. 2.- Understand the story, discovering and deducing new meanings, without translation. 3.- Repeat the story, with visual aids, matching words and pictures (oral activity). 4.- Combine body language and oral language (dramatising the poem). 5.- Follow the instructions given by the teacher when arts and crafts are being made, following a sequence of actions that would imply manipulation (pinch, roll, press...). 6.- Participate in games and activities respecting the other students. 7.- Once the vocabulary and new structures are learned, take them out of the context and use them in a different one.

2. S E Q U E N CE The whole activity will last 5-6 sessions. Not all of them last the same time. It depends on the activities. In the sessions with short activities, teachers can add some others aspects, such as songs, games, videos... It does not matter if they are not related to the story. Sometimes students need to do different things. We must take into account that talking about a snowman or Father Christmas all the time can be a little bit boring. A suggestion is to start the class with the story and follow the plan. Later, if there is more time, do other things. The sessions have been planned to last 45 minutes. If this time is not filled with the story or its activities, the teachers should do something else. Do not try to do two sessions in one just because there is enough time left. Even if the teacher has time left; it




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is hard work for the students to assimilate so many things in one session.

3. TREATMENT OF THE BASIC COMPETENCES

If we understand a basic competence as the capacity of a student to apply his acquired knowledge, we may notice that the planned objectives in this project are implicitly included in seven competences which students are supposed to attain during their learning process. We will explicitly analyse them in each session, relating each of the suggested activities to the elaborated competences. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that in a piece of work such as this EFL didactic unit, two competences will have priority (“the linguistic and auditory” and “the artistic and cultural competences” ). However, the methodological competences acquire a fundamental role due to the special development of the stories and the great amount of group-activities which are proposed. We are referring to the “competence of learning to learn” . Also the personal type of competences have a place in the project since it is intended that the student will investigate, predict, deduce and find out for himself some structures and meanings in an autonomous way (“competence of the autonomy and personal initiative” ). The location in the physical space (the way the story is told), and the logical mental structure that children need to deduce and connect the meaning with the words can be worked through the “mathematical competence”. And finally, it is important to include as well those competences which refer to the peaceful co-existence (“social and civic competence” and “competence in the knowledge and interaction in the physical world” ). We must not forget that this didactic unit is based in stories bearing to different festivals related to the British culture. It is meant to immerse you in the English culture by means of the festivities British people celebrate. Moreover the identification with the characters together with a respect for their own traditions and language will be one of the mainstays of the whole didactic unit.




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4. CONTENTS AND ACTIVITIES DIVIDED INTO SESSIONS 4.1 Introduction. The idea is to tell a Christmas story, and work on it over several sessions (the month of December is suitable), through different activities. As a starting point, we tell the story, without visual aids and using drama as a warm-up. Later, a lot of related activities (poem, games, arts and crafts...) are done and at the end the children have learnt the story and they are able to tell it in English. If you are a teacher who wants to try this kind of approach in your classroom but have got another objective because you think it is very difficult to use this kind of methodology with your pupils, you can adapt the project to your objectives. If you are not interested in making the children tell the story themselves (maybe you do not have enough time to do it), you can work on the activities as well, changing some of them and focusing your work on learning the vocabulary and enjoying listening to the story. Personally, I suggest that the teachers try working on the story with their main objective being to make the children speak in English. Give them the chance to talk, to act, to feel the story as it was their own. You may think they are not prepared but in the end you will be surprised: they can do it. In each session, a bit of the story is worked on, but it does not last the whole session. Use other activities to complete the lesson. However, in two sessions the whole lesson (30-40 minutes) will be needed. If you do not have such long sessions, you can divide them in two. There are five sessions in the project, and it has been planned to start the first week of December. Plan your work taking into account the length of time of your classes. While you are working on this story, with your little students (remember that this story is suitable for 5 year-olds and the first cycle of Primary), you or the English teacher teaching in third cycle, can teach the play, a long version of the same story. The last day before the Christmas holidays, the students of 6th level can act it out for the ones who have been working on the project. The results are excellent, because the younger students are familiar with the story: they understand what is happening, know the characters...they really enjoy the play, and the oldest enjoy it as well because they love doing drama. There is a copy of the long version for the third cycle at the end of this project along with some suggestions for the setting. Use it!




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4.2 S E S S I O N O N E

CONTENTS:

• 1.- Act out the story “A Present for Father Christmas” without any visual aids.

• 2.- Repetition of structures.

TIME: 10 minutes.

ACTIVITIES: 1.- Start the class using the routines that you normally follow: greetings, songs, poems, puppets... Use a routine to start a story. 2.- Put the children in the “story corner” (if you have one, or wherever you normally tell stories). Sit them in a semicircle, so that everyone can see you. Make sure all the children are paying attention, and start the story, stopping every time you finish a sentence and giving them the chance to repeat what you say and to do what you have done. Remember: If you want the children to talk, you have to ...stop! Do not forget to repeat each sentence, just to make sure all the children are involved in the story. Use a distinctive voice for each character, and a low voice for the narrator. In fact, the children do not need to repeat narration, and this is only useful for organising the story in time. Do not forget body language: use a different movement or gesture for each message. Make simple movements, because the children have to repeat them. To place the characters, use the plans you will find at the beginning of each piece. The teacher, followed by the students, acts out all the characters, so the children will know which character he/she is at each moment, according to his/her position.




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STORY : A PRESENT FOR FATHER CHRISTMAS Scene one: Characters’ positions (the teacher moves around to change character. Children repeat all the character’s voices, but they do not move). Father Christmas

Narrator Child Other children

Narrator: Once upon a time, Father Christmas was leaving presents for the children... Father Christmas: A book for Paul, a ball for Brian, a doll for Sarah... Child (Brian): It’s Father Christmas! Hello, Father Christmas . Father Christmas: Hello, Brian . Brian: Oh, no! Your gloves are very old! Father Christmas: Yes, my gloves are very old. Children (Paul and Sarah): Poor Father Christmas! Father Christmas: Don’t worry. Goodbye, Brian. Goodbye, Paul. Goodbye, Sarah! Children: Goodbye, Father Christmas! Scene two : Characters’ positions:

Mummy Narrator Children

Narrator: Next morning, Brian, Paul and Sarah received their presents, but they were not happy. Mummy: Paul, Brian, Sarah...Aren’t you happy? Children: No, mummy. Father Christmas needs new gloves . Mummy: We can make new gloves for Father Christmas. Children: Yes, Hurrah! ______________________________________________________ Scene three : Characters’ positions:

Postman Narrator Father Christmas

Narrator: Mummy, Paul, Sarah and Brian made new gloves. Then, mummy sent the gloves to the North Pole, where Father Christmas lives.




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Postman: Knock, knock! Father Christmas : Who’s that? Postman: I’m the postman. I’ve got a present for you. Father Christmas: Fantastic! New gloves for me! Thank you, Paul, Sarah and Brian!.

THE END If you have time, and you think the children are not tired, repeat the story (in fact, it is a very simple and short one). They do not have to learn the story, only repeat the dialogues using mime and different voices. That is all.




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4.3 S E S S I O N T W O

CONTENTS:

• Act out the story with a few visual aids. Repetition of the dialogue with comprehension of those words with visual aids.

• New vocabulary (with visual aids): old, new, gloves,

rollerskates.

• Recycled vocabulary (vocabulary they already know, from other stories). Perhaps this is new for your students. If your students have worked on the story “The Snowman”, they can take the following words as recycled vocabulary. If your students do not know the following words, they can be used as new vocabulary. Anyway, it is a good idea to add some old vocabulary in new stories: this way, the children feel confident. They know some words, they understand right from the beginning: present, Father Christmas, ball, book.

• New structures: “I’ve got a (present) for you”, “My

(gloves) are very old”

MATERIAL: A pair of new gloves, a pair of old gloves, rollerskates. Older children (9- 10- 11 year olds) have rollerskates. You can borrow a pair of them from the children. You also need a present (a wrapped empty box, to put the new gloves in), Father Christmas’s hat, a ball, a book.

TIME: 15-20 minutes.

ACTIVITIES: 1.- Tell the story in the same way you did the day before, but this time introduce some of the visual aids.




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When you pretend to be Father Christmas, put on the hat and the old gloves. Show each item when you talk about it (e.g.: “ A ball for Paul “), take the ball and put it near the imaginary Christmas tree. Do the same with the rest of the presents. When you pretend to be the postman and say “I’ve got a present for you” take out the box with the new gloves inside. Remember that Father Christmas changes his old gloves for the new ones. 2.- If you consider that the children are not tired and are quite involved in the story, repeat it. This time, ask for some volunteers to act out the different characters. Give them the objects you have used to perform the story, and help them to repeat the sentences and to move their bodies. 3.- Poem. The poem should be told at the beginning of the class and repeated at the end. This helps to place the children in time. If you make the poem part of your routine, and from this day, repeat it at the beginning and at the end, the children will understand the moment English time starts and when it finishes. This feature gives children confidence. Stand in front of the children and say to them: “It’s time for a poem” and move your arms touching your hips rhythmically, just to keep their attention. When all of them are doing the same as you, start the poem, stopping at each line in order to let children repeat what you have said. You should mime what you say at the same time you tell the poem. Use melody or rhythm in your voice, in order to help them to memorise the words. Do not use any visual aids. They should memorise the poem, little by little, not all in one day, by repeating the poem in each session . Another day, when they almost know the poem by heart, bring a pair of gloves and act out the poem with them. If you want them to be motivated, let them have a pair of gloves and go to another class and act out the poem. They love doing things for others, having an audience.




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P O E M

Once upon a time At the North Pole

Father Christmas lived It was very cold!

“My gloves are very old, What can I do?”

“Don’t worry, Father Christmas, We’ll make new gloves for you”

Note: give the students a sheet with the pictures of the vocabulary (old and new: rollerskates, ball, book, gloves).You can use the flashcards, print them and reduce the size in order to make small cards. See attached document. The children must cut them out for the next session.




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4.4 S E S S I O N T H R E E

CONTENTS

• The poem. Repetition. • The story with flashcards. Comprehension. Repetition of

structures: A book for Paul, It’s Father Christmas!, We can make new gloves for Father Christmas, I’ve got a pr esent for you, New gloves for me!

• Flashcard games: comprehension and use of structures and

vocabulary. • Taking the new vocabulary out of context: rollerskates, ball,

gloves, old, new. • Use of recycled vocabulary: Father Christmas, present,

book, thank you (this is recycled vocabulary for those who have worked on the first story. “The Snowman”)

MATERIAL

• Six flashcards, related to the story. • Flashcards “Old gloves”, “New gloves”, “Old rollerskates”,

“New rollerskates”, “Old book”, “New book”, “Old ball”, “New ball”.

• Rollerskates, a ball. • The cards (old/new) the children have cut at home.

TIME

30-40 minutes.

ACTIVITIES. 1.- Poem. Start the class by repeating the poem, using mime and a rhythmical voice (you can put music to it, if you like...)




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2.- Telling the story with the flashcards. Tell the story again, this time without any acting out. The children sit down in a circle with the teacher and tell the story, showing the flashcards. Show the picture for only a few seconds before saying the appropriate sentence. In this time the children can predict the sentence, because they have heard and repeated it several times. If you consider this too difficult, show the picture and start the sentence (e.g. “A ball...”) and the children continue (“...for Paul”). In the attached document there are the six pictures that summarise the story. These pictures are the reference for the children. In the picture corresponding to the sentence “A book for Paul”, you can add “rollerskates for Brian, and a ball for Sarah”. Show a pair of real rollerskates and a ball when you say the words. Do not worry if the sentence is too long. Some of the students will be able to remember the words. If some cannot, it does not matter. The sentence “A book for Paul ” is enough.(See “Diversity in the classroom”). 3.- Flashcard games. Play memory games with the six flashcards. Turn the pictures over, and say Where is “My gloves are very old”? The children have to find it. Ordering the story. Put the pictures facing up. Say the first sentence “A book for Paul” . The children look for the correct picture. Place it in the first position. Continue with the rest of the pictures, until you get the whole story in order. “Old/New” memory game. The purpose of this game is to use these adjectives in another context, different from the story. In the story, “old” and “new” only appears with the word “gloves”. In this game the children will use them with other words, such as “rollerskates ”, “book” and “ball”. The game is a standard memory game. Stick all the flascards (old/new) on the board, making two groups: one for the new things (new rollerskates, new book, new ball, new gloves) and the other one for the old things (old rollerskates, old book, old ball, old gloves). The children turn over one card form each group. If they make a pair (e.g. old and new rollerskates), they can take both cards and continue playing. Every time the student turns over a card,




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he/she should say the word, and the right adjective. In this way, they practise the new vocabulary and learn its meaning. Play with the class the first time, just to make sure everybody understands the rules. Then, each student plays with his/her cards. They play in pairs. Walk around the class, helping them and reminding them that they have to say the name of the picture when the card is turned over. Finally, they can take the cards home and play with their older brothers, sisters and with their parents. Remind the children to bring a pair of gloves for the next session.




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4.5 S E S S I O N F O U R

CONTENTS.

• The poem. Repetition and comprehension. • Structures: “My (gloves) are very old” (taking this expression

out of the story: comprehension and use)

• Revision: old/new, rollerskates, gloves, book, ball .

• Recycled vocabulary: Father Christmas, present.

• Back to the story: matching meaning with the pictures. Comprehension.

• The structure of the story: putting it in order.

MATERIAL:

• Flashcards (old/new + vocabulary) See attached document. • Six sheets for each child (half the size of a standard sheet)

with the pictures related to the story drawn on them (a copy of the pictures they had in the flashcards I used as a visual aid for the story).

• The cards that they have cut out at home or with their teacher.

TIME:

30 – 40 minutes.

ACTIVITIES: 1.- Act out the poem, this time with a real pair of gloves the children have brought from home. Put on your gloves and show them when you say “ My gloves are very old” . The children do the same. 2.- Game: My gloves are very old. We can play a game to work on this structure. This time we use it in another context, different to that of the story. Before starting the game, show the flashcards and let




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them say the words (e.g. What’s this? Students: A book; An old book or a new book? Students: A new book). When they get familiar with the words and pictures, you can start the game. Divide the blackboard in two halves. Stick the “new gloves” card on one side and the “old gloves” card on the other side. Shuffle the rest of the cards (old and new rollerskates, ball and book) and put them on a pile, on a table, placed in front of the blackboard. Put a bandage over a volunteer‘s eyes. Guide him/her to the table and take a card from the pile. The child has to show the card to the rest of the class. The students shout out what is on the card (e.g. “Old ball” !). Then, the student, with the help of two friends (one to stick on the new objects and one to stick on the old ones), stick the cards on the correct part of the board. Repeat the same with the rest of the cards. When all the cards are stuck on the board in the correct place,the two helpers take the pictures, one by one, and say the sentence related to the picture (e.g.: My rollerskates are very old ). Say one sentence as an example. Remember always to do first what you want the students to do, and to explain the rules of the game at the same time. You have some words in singular (ball, book) and some in plural (rollerskates, gloves); so they need to use the correct verb (My gloves are very old / My book is very new). You can help them to understand this, but, anyway, do not worry if they cannot use the suitable form. It is not our objective, but some of them may be able to understand the rule, and will be able to use the correct form. In this way, if they say “ My book are very old” you take this as a valid sentence, even though you correct them.




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3.- Memory game. You can play this game again, like you did the day before. This game is easier than the game in activity number two. If you do not have much time, do only one of these games. If you think your students cannot do the game explained in activity number two, do this game only. The aim is the same: just adapted to their level. The structure for the difficult version is “My (gloves) are very old” and for the easier version “Old gloves” . 4.- Making the book. Give the six pictures (see the attached document) to each child. They have to put them in the right order. We can help them by saying the sentence that refers to each picture. For example, we say: “A ball for Paul” and the children show the correct picture to the class and to the teacher. If it is correct, they write the number one (1) in the circle on the picture. The children do the same with the other pictures. Then, they can colour in one item in each picture (the presents: book, ball, rollerskates, Father Christmas’s gloves...), because it takes a long time to colour in all the pictures. If they like painting, they can finish this with their tutor, but not in the English class because there is no reason or objective for doing this. The aim of this activity is to put the story in chronological order, and match the words with the pictures,




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and, once they have put the book together, it will be a useful tool for telling the story in English to their teacher, family, friends, etc. To colour in the book, you can work on listening or on speaking. To emphasise the listening activity, the teacher gives the colouring instructions; to emphasise speaking, the students colour in the book as they like and later they are asked to tell the whole class what colours they have used. At the end of the class, the teacher collects all the pictures. Optional: The children can go to another classroom with their gloves to perform the poem for other children. They like having an audience, doing something for somebody, so they will enjoy this activity.




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4.6 S E S S I O N F I V E

CONTENTS:

• -Arts and crafts: A Christmas card: A present for Father Christmas.

• -New vocabulary: INSTRUCTIONS: punch, press, cut, glue.

wrapping paper, cotton wool.

• -Recycled vocabulary: gloves, colours.

MATERIAL:

• -A sheet of cardboard with a drawing of a pair of gloves on it (see attached document).

• -Colourful wrapping paper, cotton wool, glue, a punch for each

child.

TIME: 30 minutes

ACTIVITIES: 1.- Give out the pieces of cardboard with the outline drawing of a pair of gloves (see attached document). Also give a punch and a small piece of carpet to each child. Have your own cardboard and punch. Stand in front of the children and start giving instructions and doing these actions at the same time: “Take your punch and start punching the gloves, like me. Be careful, DON’T pun ch this part!” . Punch your card for just a moment and then, walk around the class to make sure they punch the gloves correctly. Have another card with the gloves completely punched and show it to the class. If they can see the results, they will understand the part of the gloves they have to punch. When the gloves are punched, give a piece of wrapping paper to each child (they can bring the paper from home, or you can provide them with the paper). Say “ Turn over your card, like me, and put




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the glue on the card, then, stick the wrapping pape r on it and press with your hands” . Turn the card over again. Look at the gloves, they are colourful: yellow, green, blue, re d...” (it depends on the paper you use). Gluing the wrapping paper in the right place is very important, so, walk around the class to help the children. And, finally, give out some cotton wool to the children and say “ Put some glue on this part of the gloves, like me. Now put the cotton wool on the glue and press”. Remind them to write their name on the card. When they finish, collect all the cards. You can use the card as the cover for the book. You have to bind their books (schools have special tools for it) . Next day, give them their book. It will be a nice surprise for them. Encourage the children to tell the story at home with their book. They will enjoy it. They are able to tell a story in English. They have made their own story-book...They feel confident using English. They have succeeded! If you consider that making the book is too difficult for your students, you have another alternative: do the sheet “Cut out and order” (see attached document”) using the same method used for making the book. They can take the sheet home and tell the story as well. If they do this, you can use the card “A pair of gloves” as a Christmas card. In fact, both activities (making a book, and “Cut out and order”) have the same objective. One is easier than the other. So you can choose the one that is more suitable for your students. Anyway, the most important thing in both cases is to talk, to speak, to explain the story...using ENGLISH.




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5. E V A L U A T I O N The following will be evaluated: � Participation, involvement in the story. Repetition of the

dialogues. Oral and mime repetition of the poem. Participation in the games. If the children participate, they get involved in the situation: they learn from all the situations.

� The story as a whole. Comprehension of the story, through the

elaboration of the story book. Check if the students have numbered the pictures in the correct order.

� The acquisition of new vocabulary and structures. Check if they

understand the games. � Telling the story with the visual aids. It takes a long time to listen

to each student telling the story. If you want to do this, you can let your students colour in the whole story book; meanwhile, you can call each one in turn and listen to them individually. If this takes too long, there is another way to do it. Let the parents do it. Send them the summary of the story, in Catalan, with a note explaining that their children are going to tell them the same story, but in English. Afterwards the parents sign the note explaining their impressions about the story and how the children have told it.

� Saying the poem. The children will be able to repeat the poem

and act it out at the same time, just to give life to the poem and also rhythm and comprehension.

� Arts and crafts. We evaluate the capacity the children have for

following the instructions. We do not evaluate the comprehension of the verbs used in the instruction (pinch, roll...), because it is not an objective of this unit; what we must take into account are the strategies students develop to follow the instructions the teacher gives them (copying the teacher/other students, the logic used to make the plasticine snowman, etc.). If, at the end of this class, they succeed in making the snowman, the objective has been achieved.

Note that all the items that will be evaluated belong to oral activities.




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6. DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM

Adapting this kind of story for children with a lower level is not a difficult task. We can distinguish between two different activities: � Group activities . The greater part of the activities are done in a

big group (class group), such as acting out the story, saying the poem, the games, making the book... In all these activities all the students can do the same. They just have to imitate what the teacher says, what the teacher does. Children with a lower level can also look at their friends, and imitate them. In this way, they do not get lost and can follow the activity. Maybe they do not understand the English language used at that moment, but they are working like the others. In this case, understanding the oral English is not the objective, because it is too difficult for them. Our objective as teachers is to enable the children to follow the activities. In all the oral games where the objective is to deduce the word or to work on a structure (e.g. “This pencil is for you”),the teacher can help them by saying the word they have to use, and the objective for them is to be able to repeat the word or structure the teacher says, instead of deducing or guessing it.

� Individual activities . In activities like telling the story with their

story book, the same structures are not required for all the children. For the children with a lower level, it will be enough if they are able to say a word related to the picture. For instance, in picture number one, showing the children, happily playing in the snow, the children say “It’s snowing”, and the children with a lower level could say “snowing”. This will be correct, because they understand something, although they do not know how to say it. One word per picture will be fine.

In other words, all the children work on the same story and on the same activities. What is different is the evaluation. But the key point is that all of them learn something from the story: some learn a new story, with new vocabulary and structures. They learn how and when to use it, and they are able to tell it in English. Others learn by imitating the teacher, they also learn a few words and some structures, they are able to say some words related to the story and they understand them. Everybody improves his/her own linguistic competence, according to his/her level.

Documents

A CHRISTMAS TALE TO WORK ON CLASS WITH CHILDREN …weib.caib.es/Recursos/festivals_through_stories/a_present_for_father_christmas/a... · ISBN: 978-84-692-5848-4 Edita: CEP Palma