Communicative Activities for Young Learners Student Booklet

7/27/2019 Communicative Activities for Young Learners Student Booklet

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ICTE-UQ

The Institute for Continuing and TESOL Education

English and Methodology for TESOL Purposes

Communicative Language ActivitiesFor Young Learners


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CULTURE QUIZ - AUSSIE ICONS

With a partner, look at the pictures of Aussie Icons displayed around

the room. Write the names of the icons below the pictures.

1. 8.

2. 9.

3. 10.

4. 11.

5. 12.


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Features of

Communicative Language ActivitiesA Communicative Language Activity usually has some or all of

the following features:

It has a Language purpose or aim

It provides language practice (often including repetition)

It has a Non-linguistic purpose It creates a needto interact / communicate and use

language

It creates a desire to communicate and complete the task

It encourages risk taking

It excites childrens curiosity and imagination

AND

it is usually fun

thus creating an interest in learning English generally


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A: INTRODUCTIONS AND GET TO KNOW-YOU

ACTIVITIES

i) Culture Quiz

Number pictures and pin them around the room.

In pairs, children walk around and decide what the pictures are.

They write the name of each picture next to the numbers on

their answer sheet.

Children then swap answer sheets to correct. The pair with the

most answers correct is the winner. You can ask also children to match labels to each picture.

Pictures can be of cultural icons (e.g. Aussie icons) if they are

learning about another culture, or you can use unclear pictures

such as blurred photos or silhouettes which force children to

guess what they are. Advertisements from foreign magazines

are fun too.

ii) Line ups

Bi thd :


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Names in alphabetical order:

Tell children: Were going to make a line in order of our names - from A-Z.

Put letter cards on floor >> A / Z

Elicit and practise questions and answers

What is your name?

How do you spell that?

Complete & then check that children have the correct order by asking

and answering questions along the line.

iii) Circle names and I like ----ing

Children in circle (perhaps in alphabetical order see activity ii)

Tell children: Think of something you like doing AND do the action. Demonstrate the activity.

Im Michele and I like dancing.

(I like _______ing+ action)

Children introduce each other and then themselves around the circle,


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iv) All About MeNAME CARDS:

This is a good activity to do after speaking activities (i) and (ii) since itbuilds on the language they have learnt and practised by providing some

written practice.

NOTE: The original template is included here. However, you can adapt this

to suit the needs and level of your students.

To follow the previous activities, I changed mine to look like this:

My Name

My birthday_ing _ing


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4. BUNCHES

Children walk / dance / jog / hop / jump in a circle.

The teacher calls a number.

Children form groups of that number.

Copy and Cut, by Paul Johnson, Blake

Education, Sydney


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B: SOME WHOLE CLASS ACTIVITIES

i. BUNCHES: Getting into groups

Children mill in the middle of the room to music.

When the music stops, the teacher holds up a

STOP sign, and the children freeze and wait for

the teacher to say a number.

The children form groups of that number when

the teacher holds up a GO sign. They must not

move before this or they are OUT.

OPTIONAL: Children who arent in a group are OUT, but can help

the teacher with choosing and saying the numbers, turning the

music on and off and/or holding up the STOP and GO signs.

The children left in the game wait for a signal from the teacher to

start again

Repeat with different numbers and different movements:

running, jogging, hopping, jumping, dancing, limping, crawling etc


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iii (Aussie) Clothes Race

Introduce and teach the names of some Aussie clothes. (hat, cap, scarf,

thongs, bag etc) To practice vocab:

Put the children in teams.

Give each team member a number so they can take it in turns to race.

Put items of clothing on a table at the other end of the room.

The teacher, or a student, says I want a ________

Team members race and grab the item and place it in their shopping bag.

The team with most items is the winner.OR

You can ask each team to then correctly name all the items they bought.

The team who can name the most items in their bag, (We bought a.),

wins the game.

iv Whats Different?

The children make a circle in the middle of the room.

One child is in the middle

The children in the circle turn around and close their eyes

The child in the middle chooses 3 items and dresses up.

The children in the circle turn around to face the middle child again.

The child in middle asks Whats different?

The children in the circle describe what (s)he is wearing: X is wearing

a


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v. WHATS THE TIME MR. WOLF?

Check numbers and clock times first (1 oclock etc)

One child is the wolf. The wolf stands at the front of the class withhis/her back to the group, who stand at the back of the room.

The group calls out Whats the time Mr. Wolf?

The wolf turns and shouts out a time (e.g. Its 10 oclock).

The group takes the same number of steps as the hours in the wolfs

time

(e.g. in this case, ten steps).

The wolf turns back again, and the group repeats the question.

At any time the wolf can answer with Its dinner time!The group now

has

to run back to the start. The wolf chases them and tries to catch

someone.

If the wolf catches someone they become the wolf and the game

continues.


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Adapted from : Lewis, G. and Bedson. G, 2003,Games for Children, Oxford University


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vii. Grass Skirts

Put your students into groups of five or six.

List a series of simple instructions on a piece of paper (see example below). Cut the paper into strips to resemble a grass skirt.

Pin one grass skirt for each group at one end of the room. Ask groups to

stand or sit at the other end.

Group members take it in turns to run up, tear off a piece of the grass

skirt, run back to their group and tell them what to do.

When they have followed the instruction, the next player repeats theprocess.

The first group to finish is the winner.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Standup.

Sitdown.

M

akeacircle.

Holdhands.

Fin

dapartner.

swithy

ourpartner.

uceyourself

toyour

partner.

unttote

ninEnglish.


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FISH

RULES OF THE GAME

1. Deal five cards to each player.

2. Put the remaining cards face down in the middle.

3. Players take turns to ask each other for cards which match the ones

they have.

4. If the player has the card, (s)he gives it to the asking player. Then theasking player places the pair of cards down and has another turn.

Excuse me, (Toshi), do you have a

fifteen?


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fifteen fifty doll

door row low

block black rake

blue brick draw

sand lake swing


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sleep sweep sweet

sit seat fly

fry these this

feel fill ship

sheep glass grass


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L

ewis,

G.andBedson,

G.20

03,

GamesforChildren,O

xford

Unive

rsityPress


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kangaroo platypus

koala wombat

emu parrot

snake dingo

Michele Feinberg Page 35 19/10/2013 ICTE UQ 2009


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echidna bilby

possum kookaburra

Tasmanian devil frilled neck lizard



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ACTIVITY ANALYSIS CHART COMPLETE CHARTACTIVITY NON-LINGUSITC

PURPOSELINGUSITC PURPOSE:SPECIFIC LANGUAGE ITEMSPRACTICED

SKILL AREAPRACTICED(S, L, R, W)

POSSIBLE VARIATIONS COMMENTS REAPPLICABILITY TOMY CONTEXT

1. CULTUREQUIZ

Guess /name thecultural icons.Learn about theculture

Its aI think its a.Vocab (related to topic)

Speaking(L, R)

Use blurred photos, silhouettes oradvertisements from foreignmagazines and have Ss guesswhat they are.

2. LINE UPS

BirthdaysAlphabetNames

Name learningGet-To-Know-You(GTKY)Warmers

English AlphabetWhat is your name?How do you spell that?Whens your birthdayMonths and dates

Speaking TRY: Ordering children accordingto height (for measurements &comparatives) ORTime it takes them to get toschool

3. CIRCLENAMES

IntroductionsGTKYLearn names

Im___This is ______I like ___ing(S)he likes ___ingVocab: (activities; interests)

SpeakingListening

TRY: Include adjectives withnames

(Im merry Michele.Im tall Toshi.)

4. ALL ABOUTME

Name cards fordesks.GTKYIdentity / self

Names in EnglishDates, months

Activities vocabLikes, dislikes

Writing Can include other topics on namecard; e.g. address;favourite food, music, songs,stories, games etc

5. BROKENWORDS

To introduce the titleof session.

SpellingSyllablesWord order

ReadingSpeaking

Any sentence, phrase or wordwith multiple syllables.

6. BUNCHES To get in to groupsTo remain in thegame until the end.

NumbersStop / Go

Listening Use first letters of names Some children dont likebeing out. Make surethey are sometimes evenlydivided. Know yourchildren.

7. CLOTHES:RACE &WHATS

DIFFERENT?

CultureNoticing, observationand memory game.

Clothes items / vocabPresent perfect (for changes)Pres and past continuousBut for contrast

Speaking Use other objects or pictures.Use past and present pictures oftheir schools, cities (moreadvanced).



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8.WHATSTHETIME MR.WOLF

Competitive game: toavoid getting caught.by the wolf.

Q: Whats the time?Clock timesNumbers

SpeakingListening

Use different meal times.

9. SIMONSAYS

To stay in the gameand only do what

Simon says.

Parts of the body.Actions

Instructions

SpeakingListening

Use classroom instructions.

10.INSTRUCTIONDOMINOES

To use all yourdominoes and winthe game.

Classroom instruction verbsand meanings

Reading(S)

Use any vocabulary set; halfsentence matching; half words

11.PREDICTOGRAM

To find out yourfortune and to tellothers their fortune.

Vocab (colours, numbers, sports)Future will: You will have a bigfamilyWhats your favourite..?Which do you want?

SpeakingListeningReadingWriting

Vary the vocab sets or messageson any of the flaps to suit yourstudents needs and interest.

12.LITTLEMONSTERS

To identify and orderthe monsterscorrectly.

Its gotParts of the body vocab (arms,body, feet etc)

Adjectives (big, small, fat, thinetc)

SpeakingListening

Use people, animals. and otherobjects instead of monsters.Get the children to draw their ownmonster and then describe it to apartner, who draws it.

13. HALFCROSSWORDS

To complete thecrossword.

What is 2 down / 4 across?Is it?Yes, thats right.Yes, it is. No, it isnt.

Vocabulary

SpeakingListeningReadingWriting

Use any lexical set (seeexamples)

Adjust level to suit your students.

14. THE DOYOU

LIKE..?

GAME

To be the first to thefinish line and win thegame.

Vocab (food)Do you like?Yes, I do. No, I dont.Numbers

Speaking. Instead of food, use pictures ofsimple actions, such as swim,

jump, run, sing: Substitute Canyou? forDo you like..?



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15. GOODSPORTS

(InformationTransfer)

To get all the picturesin the right boxes.

NumbersPresent continuous verbs

Activities (play football, playtennis, ride a bike, etc)

SpeakingListening

Extension: Get children toarrange their pictures by askingquestions such as: Whats Dannydoing? Whos skating? Is Jenny

playing football?

16.PELMANISM(MEMORY)

To get the most pairsof cards and win thegame.

Vocabulary (animals)How many pairs have you got?Ive got.pairs.Numbers

SpeakingReading

Use the cards to play Snap. Seeinstructions on activity sheet inthis booklet.

17. CHATABOUT

To be the first to thefinish line and win thegame.Exchange personalinformation (GTKY)

Question formsI canLikes and dislikes.Expressing opinions.My favourite....is.

Speaking(L)

Change the topics on the gameboard to suit your studentsneeds, level and interests.

18. LISTENINGDOTS

To complete thedrawing.

Simple nouns of any vocab set. Speaking(pronunciatio

n)ListeningReading

Choose words that suit yourstudents needs and levels.

19.FISH To get the most pairsof cards and win thegame.

Vocab (minimal pairs forpronunciation practice).Excuse me, do you have a..?Yes, I do. No, I dont. Sorry.

Speaking(L)

Choose words that suit yourstudents pronunciation needsand level.

20. GRASSSKIRTS

(INSTRUCTIONRACE)

To be the first groupto finish and win thegame.

Classroom instructionsVocabulary.

ReadingSpeakingListening

Instead of the children giving theinstructions, they can just readthe instruction on the grass skirtto their group and get them to do

what it says.



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ACTIVITY ANALYSIS CHARTACTIVITY NON-LINGUSITC

PURPOSELINGUSITC PURPOSE:SPECIFIC LANGUAGE ITEMSPRACTICED

SKILL AREAPRACTICED(S, L, R, W)

POSSIBLE VARIATIONS COMMENTS REAPPLICABILITY TOMY CONTEXT

1. CULTUREQUIZ

Guess /name thecultural icons.

Learn about theculture

Its aI think its a.

Vocab (related to topic)

Speaking(L, R)

Use blurred photos, silhouettes oradvertisements from foreign

magazines and have Ss guesswhat they are.

2. LINE UPS

BirthdaysAlphabetNames

Name learningGet-To-Know-You(GTKY)Warmers

English AlphabetWhat is your name?How do you spell that?Whens your birthdayMonths and dates

Speaking TRY: Ordering children accordingto height (for measurements &comparatives) ORTime it takes them to get toschool

3. CIRCLENAMES

IntroductionsGTKYLearn names

Im___This is ______I like ___ing(S)he likes ___ingVocab: (activities; interests)

SpeakingListening

TRY: Include adjectives withnames

(Im merry Michele.Im tall Toshi.)

4. ALL ABOUTME Name cards fordesks.GTKYIdentity / self

Names in EnglishDates, monthsActivities vocabLikes, dislikes

Writing Can include other topics on namecard; e.g. address;favourite food, music, songs,stories, games etc

5. BROKENWORDS

To introduce the titleof session.

SpellingSyllablesWord order

ReadingSpeaking

Any sentence, phrase or wordwith multiple syllables.

6. BUNCHES To get in to groupsTo remain in thegame until the end.

7. CLOTHES:

RACE &WHATSDIFFERENT?

Culture

Noticing, observationand memory game.

8.WHATSTHETIME MR.WOLF

Competitive game: toavoid getting caught.by the wolf.

9. SIMONSAYS

To stay in the gameand only do whatSimon says.



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10.INSTRUCTIONDOMINOES

To use all yourdominoes and winthe game.

11.PREDICTOGRAM

To find out yourfortune and to tellothers their fortune.

12.LITTLEMONSTERS

To identify and orderthe monsterscorrectly.

13. HALFCROSSWORDS

To complete thecrossword.

14. THE DOYOU

LIKE..?

GAME

To be the first to thefinish line and win thegame.

15. GOODSPORTS

(InformationTransfer)

To get all the picturesin the right boxes.

16.PELMANISM(MEMORY)

To get the most pairsof cards and win thegame.

17. CHATABOUT

To be the first to thefinish line and win thegame. (GTKY)

18. LISTENINGDOTS

To complete thedrawing.

19.FISH To get the most pairsand win the game.

20. GRASSSKIRTS

(INSTRUCTIONRACE)

To be the first groupto finish and win thegame.



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Documents

Communicative Activities for Young Learners Student Booklet