Introduction

About Super MindsWhat is Super Minds?Super Minds is a seven-level course for primary age students, beginning with this Starter level for those taking their first steps in English alongside early literacy in their own language. By building solid foundations, expanding young minds, kindling the imagination and fostering positive values, Super Minds encourages students to become smarter as they develop in the widest educational sense.

A flexible approachSuper Minds offers maximum flexibility:

• Super Minds Starter gives the option of an oral–aural introduction to English, whereas some schools may prefer to begin with Super Minds 1. All the language from the Starter level is re-introduced in Level 1 in different contexts, developing all four skills.

• All seven levels of Super Minds have been specifi cally researched to cater for a variety of teaching situations including those with a higher than usual number of hours of English per week. The units include lessons with a core syllabus focus and additional lessons which can be used fl exibly according to the time available for English. This is explained in the Tour of the unit (see pages ix–xi).

Building solid foundationsSuper Minds Starter is appropriate for students who are not quite ready to read and write in English, offering optional literacy elements in the second half of the book. The students are not required to read or write, but from Unit 5 onwards, core vocabulary and structures are shown on the page for passive recognition and there is the option to trace the core vocabulary in the Workbook.

Four engaging animal characters introduce the students to their world through songs, chants and stories, supported by ample practice material to develop listening, speaking, fine motor and thinking skills.

Expanding young mindsSuper Minds begins from the premise that the students are not just language learners but explorers in every aspect of their educational development. The course enables students to become smart in three ways:

• Think!Think! The development of thinking skills underpins

the course methodology and is clearly signposted in purposeful activities. These thinking skills are the building blocks of learning and the activities keep in step with the students’ increasing maturity through the course.

• Wider thinking through the application of knowledge is encouraged by content and language integrated learning (CLIL), with topic-based material clearly linked with subjects across the curriculum.

• Games and other activities in pairs, groups or as a whole class are designed to improve students’ memory and concentration skills.

In Super Minds Starter, specific activities develop a range of skills appropriate for this early stage, from observation, hand–eye coordination and fine motor skills to thinking skills such as memory, counting, sequencing and categorising.

Kindling the imaginationFrom the very beginning, Super Minds fuels the imagination not just through the adventures of the animal characters in school and home contexts parallel to the students’ own experiences, but also through specific activities.

Rounding up the language and contexts of the unit, guided visualisation activities invite the students to relax and listen before creating the picture that they saw in their mind, and TPR (total physical response) action sequences enable them to act out a simple story.

Fostering positive valuesStories are a highly valuable teaching tool and in addition to the rich linguistic input that they offer, Super Minds also uses stories as a vehicle for the illustration and discussion of values. The students are encouraged through discussion and specific Workbook activities to think about the deeper meaning of the stories, such as the importance of sharing, lending, saying thank you and sorry.

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Introduction

Super Minds Starter components

• Think! Activities to develop a range of thinking skills

•Cross-curricular English for school lessons, broadening the unit topic in the context of other school subjects and offering accessible craft projects

•A Creativity lesson featuring either a guided visualisation activity or an action sequence telling a simple story

•A different topic-based Revision game in each unit

Interactive DVD-ROM This complementary component is included with the Student’s Book, for students to use at home or in the school computer room, and with the Classware CD-ROM, for teachers to use with a computer and a projector. Offering language reinforcement and consolidation while the students also have fun, it contains:

•Interactive games and activities •The Student’s Book stories brought to life with

high-quality animation

•The Student’s Book songs with karaoke versions for the students to record and play back their own voice

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Student’s BookThe Student’s Book contains:

•An introductory Hello unit (6 pages) which introduces the animal characters Mike the monkey, Leo the lion, Gina the giraffe and Polly the parrot, alongside greetings and colours

•9 core units (10 pages) with an easy-to-use single-page lesson format rounding off with revision

•3 pages with the lyrics for the chants and songs at the back of the book, for teacher and parent reference

•Cut-outs (starting at the back of the book and working forwards) for selected activities, including masks of the animal characters for use in the stories

•Stickers for a different activity in each unit

Each unit offers:•An opening scene in contemporary and attractive 3D

artwork which establishes the setting of the unit story and also provides a vehicle for the presentation of core vocabulary

•A memorable chant to practise the core vocabulary•2 grammar lessons with varied presentation and

practice activities

•An engaging song for further language practice•A story featuring the appealing animal characters,

whose interaction illustrates a different value in each unit for class discussion

Student’s Book StarterHerbert Puchta Günter Gerngross Peter Lewis-Jones

Super Minds is bursting with bright ideas

to inspire you and your pupils! This six-level course gives children a confident start

to learning English, and makes lessons a joy for teachers. Perfect for general use, Super Minds also fully covers the

syllabus of the Cambridge Young Learners English (YLE) tests.

In the Pupil’s Book:

Fantastic songs and cartoon stories practise new language ‘Say it with Stella’ sections make pronunciation practice fun Topic sections in every unit give pupils an introduction to learning other subjects through English Communicative activities bring the language to life

http://www.cambridge.org/SuperMinds

Super Mind’s Level CEF Level Cambridge ESOL exams

Level 1Starter

Level 2

Level 3A1 Movers

Level 4

Level 5 A2 Flyers

Level 6 B1 KET

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StarterPupil’s Book audio Cdsworkbook Interactive dVdTeacher’s Book FlashcardsTeacher’s resource Pack Language Portfolio

Singing for pleasure

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Hello! What’s your name? I’m ... 5

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