[LouannePiccolo]

Hi again Sanja,

With three year olds, keep it really simple. It used to drive me mad that at Christmas I'd buy a great present for my sons and they'd end up playing hide and seek in the box it came in, at about that age! Games that you'd find really boring after two turns are more or less what three years olds love.

Here's another really simple animal sounds game you can play:

If your class isn't too big, have them all stand up in a circle and hold out an animal flashcard. If it's a horse, say "what does a horse do?" and begin cantering around the room, neighing like a wild woman. Kids love it. They love a clown and they love to clown around. While you're all cantering around, hold out another card. If it's a bird, say "what does a bird do?" and begin tweeting and flapping your wings.

Kids get quite excited with this game, so remember, if your class is quite big then keep it short and make sure to play a calming game afterwards. For example:
Get the kiddies to sit in a cricle and place all your animal flashcards upside down on the floor. Ask one child, "where's the monkey?". He will turn over a first card, which probably won't be the monkey. If it's an elephant, make the trumpeting sound of an elephant. If you want this to just be a listening game then let them just listen to you trumpeting away. If you want them to join in, make an "all-together" gesture with your arms and get them to join in.
Everytime, the student turns over a card that isn't the monkey, you can make the sound of the animal it is. When he finds the monkey, he can keep the flashcard. Then start all over again with the next kiddy...

Hope this helps!

[sanjajerem]

Thanks a zillion Louanne. I have prepared Old Mac class. I haven't found the book though but I bought another farm book I think it will do. I have Old Mac flash cards and the song. I found a version with more and the other with fewer animals. Which one is better?

Thanks again

Sanja

[LouannePiccolo]

Hi Sanja,

I think the song with fewer animals is best to start off with. Remember to keep it simple. You can always change the song later or add on more animals if your class can handle it.

I was thinking about this and remembered some great resources I found a while back on the BBC site. Have a look at this link for Old MacDonald. It's part of their Brit Lit programme. It's really great, there are flashcards, board games, songs, downloads and all sorts of things. A lot of it is too advanced for your kiddies with regards to their age but some of the resources should be useful.

Have a look around the site because there is also Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk, if I remember correctly.

Let me know how it works out!
Louanne

[sanjajerem]

Thanks Louanne, I thought the short version was more appropriate. I've visited the site already and I used their flashcards. I saw the other two stories so that would be my material when I finish with the old guy.
I let you know how it went. I have the class on Wednesday.

Sanja

[LouannePiccolo]

Great, it sounds like you're all set! Good luck and have fun with him.

[sanjajerem]

I had my class. It was great! I barely noticed that 45 minutes had passed. I want to thank everybody for the help and support, especially Louanne!
So, thank you!!!

[LouannePiccolo]

That's great, I'm glad it was a success. Tell us about it!
How is your other class going?

[sanjajerem]

I didn't have the other class because the children got chickenpox.
With this small ones I had lots of songs I used dream English songs for hello, goodbye, some tpr and old mac. It is the English speaking kindergarten so they knew lots of animals and sounds already. I have 4 children, one is very shy and she didn't really participate. One girl is knew and does not know the language but she was happy to participate. I remembered about clowning around and it worked! I think next time I will do some more animals and the book because they are familiar with most of the animals.
I am thinking about doing Little Red Riding Hood next and covering some wood animals and wood vocab and then I could move on to food for example or body parts.
Yes, we did some colours and numbers through songs and some sorting activity at the begining of the class.
We did those two games that you suggested with animal sounds,it was great we mimed the animals as well. I only had trouble with them trying to take and keep the cards all the time. I will have to find the way of keeping those out of reach in the future.
Wow this post is a bit chaotic but I think you will get the gist. Thanks for taking interest in my classes

[LouannePiccolo]

You're welcome. I hope it keeps going well and if you need more advice, you know where to ask!

[sanjajerem]

Hi again,
I have a little problem. Since my 3 y olds attend english speaking kindergarten they already know pretty much: almost all farm animals, head, shoulders...,..So I am finding it hard to choose the target language for the next class that would be appropriate for their age AND their current knowledge.
I looked The Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk at brit. council site but am not sure what exactly to do them.
I thought about doing emotions with them, or weather like sunny, cloudy, or food and the expressions like how's the weather, are you hungry...
Any suggestion would be appreciated!!!!
Thank you.

[sanjajerem]

Could I teach them days of the week? I have a good song but I don't know how to explain them.

[eaturcheese]

Quote sanjajerem

Since my 3 y olds attend english speaking kindergarten they already know pretty much: almost all farm animals, head, shoulders...,..So I am finding it hard to choose the target language for the next class that would be appropriate for their age AND their current knowledge.

Have you thought about using other children's stories like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears? You can introduce Big and Little along with animals, food, furniture. You can teach colors together with animals or shapes (blue bird, yellow triangle, black cat). You can try teaching basic yes or no questions. Just build on the vocabulary that they already know.

And there's nothing that says you can't teach them new vocabulary. Verbs are fun, and you can play something like Simon Says with kids. It's also a good way to tire them out for a sit down activity.

Are you a cat? No, I'm not. Are you a girl? Yes, I am. Do you like pizza? Yes, I do.

If they study English already, they are probably parroting simple sentences. My just turned 3 yo and her 5 yo brother are completely different in ability level, but she will repeat what I say and can say Yes and No. This is with no previous English. Sounds like your students are well ahead of them.

[sanjajerem]

Eaturcheese thanx for your reply and ideas I will use them.Yeas, I thought about Goldilocks too, I just might do it next week. I am not sure they can do Simon says. They are about 2.5 yo, and I don't speak their native language. They produce only the most simple structures like cow says moo, and I want pee pee, and this is with only 2 out of 4 students. The other two rarely speak at all.
Thanx again,
sanja

[sanjajerem]

Just one more question:
My students are keen on taking the book I am reading to them from me and of course don't want to share it with others. Should I make the rule that only I hold the book and turn the pages (there are only 4 children by the way) or should I perhaps ask each student to turn a page once in a while? They are very young and I know it is only natural that they want to glance through a book, but if I give them a book at the end of the class they will refuse to share it.

[eaturcheese]

I think letting them take turns with page-turning isn't a bad idea, unless you think they're easily excited and will tear it up. Me, I don't trust my kids. I control the materials in the classroom, and I enjoy dramatic page turning

If they want to see the book up close, I will lay it down on a table or the floor, and they can gather around and look at it.

[sanjajerem]

Thanx Eaturcheese

[sanjajerem]

Hello verybody,
I somehow can't post a new thread so I will ask my question here:

I have the opportunity to teach in a newly opened kindergarten which have one mixed group consisting of one 1year old, 2 two year olds, 3 three year olds (I am serious Smile)) and two 5-6 yos. My idea is not to mix the 5-6 yos with others - am I right?
But can I work efficiently with others where there is only one tiny one year old and others 2 and three?
Any ideas how to organize the groups and have efficient lesson plans?
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you!

Sanja

[sweet tooth]

This is great advice! I´ve been trying to follow it as best I can. I´ve also checked out Louanne Piccolo´s site Teaching English Lesson Plans which have some really great ideas and links to other articles & sites. I´ve now got some new flashcard ideas as tend to get stuck doing the same ones. I have two classes of 3-5 yr olds, one class is smaller and only has 5 kids in it and the other class has about 9 kids. I find the bigger class is much more difficult and are not very responsive.They are a bit dreamy and don´t want to do things, they say no, or just don´t join in for example when singing (they don´t even do the actions!).I´m finding it a real struggle and I don´t think they are learning anything!!!!