[sms04n]

Hello, I give individual lessons to a few children ranging from 6 to 8. A few of them love using the book but one doesn't. She hates the student's book. It's hard to play a lot of games because it is an one-on-one lesson. Does anyone have any good ideas? It's only one hour a week. Thank you very much!

[jellybeanenglisch]

I have been teaching 6-8 year-olds for a couple of years. Here are some tips that work for me:
1) structure. Start each lesson the same way (no book required). Greet the student, wait for proper reply, do a few familiar songs or routines before starting something new
2) use flash cards. Ideas on how to work with flash cards can be found at ESL-Kids - Flashcards, Worksheets, Games and Songs
3) bring a cuddly toy. I usually use "George the curious monkey" and pretend that he only speaks English. So to introduce new language patterns or vocabulary, I model the dialogues with George. Also works when kids are sad or reluctant to speak as he is very cuddly (and very nosy). The kids love him!

Hope some of this works for you. Let me know. Good Luck

[sms04n]

Thank you very much for the ideas. I'm going to use them for my next lesson

[LouannePiccolo]

Hi,

To add to the above post, I also find that 6-8 year olds still love stories. Stories are a great way to contextualise language and make it meaningful. You can use flashcards to teach the vocabulary in the story before reading it and play games to reinforce the vocabulary. I find that a lot of my 6-8 year olds even want to try and read the story themselves when the time comes. Then there are games and activities you can do after reading the story. The possibilities are endless. One story can make for at least 3 lessons, if not more, before overkill.

I understand that your student doesn't like the textbook you are using but there are some great stories with activities all ready-made for teachers. My children love the "Winnie the Witch" book adapted to second language learners. The story is simple but funny and the exercises don't resemble textbook exercises.

Hope this helps.

[sms04n]

Thank you very much for your reply. It's hard with one-on-one lessons at that age. If there was two we could play games. Do you know any good 1 on 1 games?

[LouannePiccolo]

Hi again SMS,

A lot of games that can be played with groups can be adapted to one to one teaching (and obviously a lot cannot). The key would be to make sure that the game you are playing is actually useful for language learning.

1. Memory: you can use flashcards for this and it can be used to work on vocabulary. For ex: choose a theme, like animals, and place the cards face down. Ask the student to "show me cat". The child must turn over any card. If the card is "cat" he/she must say "cat" and can keep the card. If not, he/she must say the name of the animal on the card and turn it back over. This game can go on until the child has remebered where each card is and has found them. You can also do it the classical way and have 2 of each card so that the child must remember where the pair is. This game can be used for simple vocabulary reinforcement or for any other language point. For ex: you can use it for structures such as "I like/I don't like/I want/I don't wan't/questions" etc... If you use a food theme you can ask the student to "show me cake" and when he/she turns over the correct card he/she can say "I like cake" or when the incorrect card is turned over he/she can say "I don't like cake".

2. Pictionary. You can use the real game or just make one up using pieces of paper with one word on it that your sudent must draw. It can be used to practise yes/no questions, for ex: "Is it a car?"

3. I live in France and there is a great game for children called "Qui est-ce?" which means "Who is it?". It's great for yes/no questions and I often use it in one to one sessions and adapt it to English teaching. Both players have the same card with a theme of faces/animals/electrical appliances/monsters etc... The aim of the game is for each person to choose one character and then ask questions of the other player to try and find out who their character is before they find out who you are. So, I may have chosen to be the green, drooling, three-armed, two-horned, one-eyed, toothy monster wearing a tie and pink shoes and my partner may have chosen to be the pink, hairy, naked, six-tentacled, monster with his tongue hanging out. Questions can be "do you have teeth/are you pink/Have you got a tie/are you naked". Of course, there are more than one pink monster and more than one monster with three feet. The idea is to eliminate all possibilities until you are left with the only possible monster.

3. Card games like "Go Fish" or "Crazy Eight". They can be adapted to all types of language structures and vocabulary.

4. I spy and twenty questions.

5. Drawing: you can have a simple picture in front of you that your student must draw by listening to you. At the end you can compare to see if the pictures are the same. It's a good exercise for prepositions/vocabulary. For ex: there is a house in the middle of the picture. Next to the house, there are 3 trees. There is a dog in front of the trees. There is a sun above the house. The house has 2 windows on the top floor and one window next to the front door. And so on... Your student can also describe the picture while you draw if he/she is able to.

6. Scrabble for spelling.

7. Any type of trivia game. You can design one according to the level of your student. Think Trivial Pursuit but simpler. You can make your own board to go with the game. Make sure you include a variety of language and grammar points.

8. Simon says, miming and any type of total physical response game. Kids love them.

9. A game where you begin by saying something like "I am in the supermarket and I want to buy butter." The student must say "I am in the supermarket and I want to buy butter and bread". You then add another item and then your student does and so on...The trick is to remember all the items so the game is good for vocabulary and speaking. It can also be adapted to teach tenses, for ex: "Yesterday I went to the beach and I saw the waves". Your student can say "Yesterday I went to the beach. I saw waves and I bought an ice-cream" etc... You can make it as complicated or as easy as you need it to be.

I hope this helps!

[sms04n]

Thank you so much!! I'm going to use one of these tomorrow with our lesson! I really appreciate it.

[LouannePiccolo]

Glad I could help Let us know how it goes.
Once I'd posted yesterday I thought of something else that kiddies also like: role-playing. I can't remember on which board it is but somewhere here on the forum someone posted about photos of a great hamburger stand she designed and made for students. Her work is lovely and you can do the same if you have the right materials. If not, improvise. You can use pictures and realia from your own kitchen...And, of course, you don't have to do restaurant/food/hamburger stand themes. Anything goes: supermarket, two ladies having tea, at the doctor, at the garage...

[LouannePiccolo]

I found it...here it is: The hamburger stand by Arielhud

[Chris Patton]

Lots of great ideas above, but I've always found that the best way to deal with that age group is a combination of variety + routine.

It sounds at first as if I'm talking through my hat, but hear me out.

variety - You need to provide a lot of different types of activites. Bookwork, physical games, songs and chants, puzzles, toy sessions, audio & video, computer sessions etc.

routine - you need to lay out your lesson in such a way that the learner knows what to expect (in general). So for instance, when you do a song, he/she knows that afterward you will review some vocabulary with flashcards etc.

This combination of variety and routine will help you build a safe place for kids to experiment with their language skills while still providing enougn spontaneity to avoid boredom.

Good luck.