Discussion Task #1

Discussion Task #1

Once again, I’m focusing on the very young preschool language learner as I suggest my activity.

Repetition is a key element in getting our very young learners (toddlers and preschoolers) familiar with the English sounds and words, as well as sentences and grammar. But, repetition can be quite boring unless it is done in a playful and fun way. To help my young students, I often build lessons around songs and books that have repetitive patterns. The students hear the same songs each class and begin to anticipate the patterns in the song and start to sing.

I like to use flannel boards that help the students visualize the song as they learn it.

Alice the Camel is one song that my students love. Before we begin to sing, I place a camel with 5 humps on the board. Then as we sing each verse, the students help me remove one hump. By the end of the song, there are no more humps, and Alice becomes a horse, of course! ☺

Verse 1
Alice, the camel, has 5 humps.
Alice, the camel, has 5 humps.
Alice, the camel, has 5 humps.
So go, Alice, go.
Boom, boom, boom.

Other verses repeat the pattern but change the number of humps
Alice, the camel, has 4 humps.
Alice, the camel, has 3 humps.
Alice, the camel, has 2 humps.
Alice, the camel, has 1 hump.
The last verse
Alice, the camel, has no humps.
Alice, the camel, is a horse, of course!

I also use the ‘Itsy, Bitsy, Spider’ song with a flannel board.
For ‘Itsy, Bitsy Spider’, the students put the flannel pieces in order on the flannel board as we sing the song together. Though they are not writing yet, they are becoming aware of the logical progression of English grammar through the sentences in the song. They demonstrate that they understand by putting the flannel pieces in the correct order, following the words in the song.

For older students, you can have them use picture cards with words that they put in order as they listen to the song. Gradually change from the picture cards to word cards that they put in order while listening to the song. Finally, have the students listen and write the sentences they hear as they listen to the song.

For variety, have the students substitute words in the song and create new verses.

Another activity that I do is to have my students play with English sounds, using letter blocks. We start with CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) combinations. They have fun making all types of 3-letter combinations as they put different vowels between the same two consonants. They laugh when they make nonsense words, but gradually begin to learn the CVC combinations that make real words. This helps them train their ears to hear the English phonemes.

Once the students have made some real CVC words, they can put them into simple sentence patterns that they know, and they can practice writing their sentences.