Title



Week Four: Discussion Task #1

A writing activity in which young learners can experience both grammar and writing in a creative way.

One of the challenges of teaching grammar to young learners is showing them grammar is relevant and important. And in my humble opinion educational games make this very clear. The cross-curricular contexts mean that pupils build on their previous experience and use grammar to learn and communicate about something new. This makes learning grammar both motivating and memorable.

I have successfully incorporated the Sentence Strips as an activity in which young learners can experience grammar and writing a new vocabulary in a creative ways. Here, let me describe this activity in a greater detail.

Activity type: Whole-class
Level: Beginners
Time: 20 minutes
Prep-time: 20 minutes
Materials: Sentences cut into strips for each student (see attached picture)

Pre-teach: Various (depends on sentence strips)

Procedure:
Hand out the sentence strips to the students. Each student should get three sentences to complete. After students have written their sentences collect them and hand back two to the students. Make sure that students do not get the same sentence that they wrote. Then have students stand up and find the person who wrote the sentence by asking an appropriate question. Activity continues until all papers have been matched up with the student who wrote it. Some students may find their two sentences very quickly. In that case have students take more from the teacher (each student wrote three sentences so the teacher will have the extras).

My recommendation:
Before doing the activity it is recommended that the teacher demonstrate by having written three sentence strips and having students come up with the correct question. As a follow-up to this activity the teacher can explain whatever mistakes were made during the activity.

In my view, educational game is not just about helping teachers to teach well. It is indeed about helping teacher create a positive environment in which students flourish. Taking a playful, multi-sensory approach to child learning, the class exposes children to language in more meaningful context by using sight, sound, and movement.

Comments

  1. Renata TodorovskaMay 7, 2016 at 12:50 AM

    Nice activity Witold!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Witold ZukowskiMay 7, 2016 at 2:38 AM

    : Thank you for a positive comment, Renata. In fact, at first I was thinking about puzzles, then a game with dice or something colorful but ended up my last task of the course with simple paper slips. (^o^)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Renata TodorovskaMay 7, 2016 at 2:49 AM

    Hahahaha, I also have lots ideas but end up with sth different.... what is important they- had fun...
    I also use paper slips and students enjoy matching them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Juan UribeMay 9, 2016 at 1:29 PM

    Hey Witold!

    Love the double-choice activity you have shared here with us. Children first choose the sentences they want to complete and then complete with whatever they want. Guessing is also an intuitive activity that makes students engaged. Great choice, Witold!

    The more students can choose and come up with content the more personalized and thus relevant it is.

    Hugs,

    Juan

    ReplyDelete

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