1.2 Teaching Elementary Students

[Niko]

Elementary Students (age: 6~12)

In this age group, students start to read simple words and recognise their ABC's.

The English teacher should focus on building essential English reading skills. If the student can graduate from this age group with good reading skills, then quicker learning will result in future years.

It cannot be stressed enough, good reading skills acquired in this age group will benefit the student in future years.

Elementary students respond best to:

• Student / Textbooks
• Songs
• Games
• Plays

Student / Textbooks

There are some excellent student / textbooks specifically targetting elementary students. The Let's Go Series is highly recommended. Simplistic lessons with good illustrations. Reinforcement via role playing and homework is necessary. Homework needs to be explained in detail.

Songs

Less acting and more singing than the Toddler age group. Elementary students tend to be embarrassed easier, and hence are more reserved in the class. Sitting at the desk and singing is preferred over acting and singing.

For each lesson, present a new song and repeat it twice. Whilst it's fine repeating songs from previous months, avoid repeating songs from the most recent lesson. If the words and sentences are difficult, it's a good idea to explain the songs prior to singing.

Games

Games are an excellent reward for conscientious study and provides an opportunity to reinforce learnt vocabulary in a fun way. Games should only be used occassionally and at the end of a lesson.

Try to avoid games that use limited vocabulary. Games that take 10 minutes to finish and incorporate 10 or fewer English words should be avoided.

Students enjoy using flashcards. The Let's Go Series comes with nicely illustrated flashcards. A popular games amongst Japanese students is "babanuki". This involves students throwing down matching pairs. The first student to empty their hand is the winner. The student left with the odd card is the loser.

Most countries will have a popular card game in their culture. Follow your students and go with the flow.

Quality games tend to be rare, so choose carefully.

Plays

If your school agrees, offer to hold an annual Children's Concert! Popular plays as Pinocchio, Snow White and the 3 Billy Goats Gruff bring much enjoyment to the classroom. Such stories are simple to understand, and often the student already knows this story in their native language.

To Summarise

• Students need to graduate from this age group with good reading skills.
• Students learn best from textbooks, songs, games and plays.

[girlygirl]

Thank you so much for taking the time to type all this up. This looks absolutely wonderful. I will definetly be able to put this to some good use. I just started training to teach ESL. We have many spanish speaking individuals in our community and the school have been asking for individuals willing to help out. I am excited to get started.